E-Learning Power on Second Life

Over the last few decades, numerous studies have indicated that students in the United States are underperforming across the curriculum. At the Summit on Educational Games, held in Washington, DC, in 2005, 100 participants from the software industry and the field of education brainstormed to find ways to resolve this crisis. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) was formed in 1945 and today its mission has expanded “to include our country’s critical challenges in housing, energy, and education” and strategies “to harness the potential of emerging information technologies to improve how we teach and learn.” In their 2006 full report, the FAS responded to the problems discussed at the Summit with a call to action for the computer industry, educational institutions, and the federal government to unite and utilize the powerful medium kids understand best—video games—as a learning tool. One of FAS’s educational initiatives is Discover Babylon, a prototype video game where players journey through Mesopotamian time using math, reading, and writing skills to apprehend a renegade professor. Both Walters Art Museum in Baltimore and UCLA’s Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI) permitted FAS to use 3-D photorealistic replicas of museum objects in the game to provide users with accurate historical and scientific information. A product like Discover Babylon not only provides a tool for preserving world culture, it allows users to see these national treasures and makes museum objects tangible to children. Last year, the FAS team was forced to transfer Discover Babylon to FAS Island on Second Life because production costs exceeded their limited federal funding. Delegating technical issues to Linden Research Labs, focus was redirected towards adding content and pedagogy rather than on the mechanics of technical support for end users. In the new virtual world platform, flying, chatting, sending instant messages, and podcasting became possible so that users could fully experience ancient Mesopotamia. A complementary package of FAS Island will be available to everyone (like a PowerPoint template that can be downloaded from Microsoft Office Online). It will allow different user groups to customize and remodel their own islands, keeping them separate from other groups for obvious reasons. Reenactment groups will have fun reciting Uruk wedding vows, while scholars will be able to manipulate third millennium pots for careful analysis. In the teen world, young people will be able to enjoy their own version in a safe environment while morphing their faces into Mesopotamians, flying around on carpets, and riding donkeys. The possibilities for an avatar to role-play and perform scientific studies are endless. Unlike other virtual museums, Discover Babylon will allow user-added content. By creating a warehouse for digital objects, anyone with permission could model, place, and curate them. A “smart guide,” or interactive robot, will assist new players on the island who want full immersion without having to negotiate a steep learning curve. According to Sachin Patil, the Research Associate for FAS Learning Technologies, teams from India and California are working on the art, blueprints, architecture, and 3-D modeling. “Right now, we have one Mesopotamian city, Uruk, and we have plans to develop one more city, Kalhu, in the near future.” What’s both exciting and frustrating about describing a persistent environment is that what may be true today could be deleted on a whim by its creator tomorrow. For now, a sneak preview of Discover Babylon shows pods and boats along the bank to transport Second Life denizens across to the city. Passing by three natives roasting water buffalo on a spit, a discussion can be overheard about the kirrum (wedding feast) they are preparing. In the distance, there’s a schoolhouse with colorfully woven mats to seat many students. Urns filled with sand and tablets are prepared for students to practice tracing cuneiform symbols, an ancient writing skill. The schoolhouse eagerly awaits the teacher who will use it as a place for learning. But will the backlash against Second Life by conservative educators and librarians bring production to a halt before it’s even given a chance to impart knowledge to our youth?” The recent turmoil surrounding Second Life banks, pending lawsuits of residents against other residents, and talk of government interference suggests an uncertain future. At the same time, 9.6 million accounts worldwide is evidence that virtual planets are here to stay. There’s always the possibility, however, that Second Life will come to an end in the future. Patil explains that FAS is prepared if that should occur. “Don’t you produce two different versions of the same program that can be used with two different operating systems? The same could be applicable here. We are developing an open-ended support architecture that can be used with multiple virtual worlds.” FAS is aligned with NASA eEducation who foresees the evolution of many synthetic environments into a virtual universe. If commercial vendors, business leaders, and educators collaborate and answer FAS’s call to action for research and development, we could see characters develop into mega-avatars that could transcend multiple realms; travel between Everquest (a fantasy role-playing game), Discover Babylon, and other “edutainment” worlds would make such avatars almost omniscient. The FAS statement on its Web page explains that the organization is “exploring the uses of advanced, videogaming technologies to create vivid educational experiences for learners from first graders to fire chiefs. Surely the nation can use for its schools the serious technology already effectively training its doctors, pilots, and emergency responders.” Libraries are poised to make these strides. The Library of Congress has granted $590,000 to four universities and Linden Research Labs (the creators of Second Life, a multi-user virtual environment). In January 2008, The Preserving Virtual Worlds Project, led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, will commence with phase I to conduct research related to the preservation of online games and virtual worlds. Possible case studies for archiving include the International Space Flight Museum, Democracy Island, and Second Life e-books. The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) is a “nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to…furthering access to the world’s information and reducing information costs.” George Needham, its vice-president, identifies museums and libraries as having “similar reputations in the past of being quirky, intellectual, stuffy, and low tech….” He explains that museums have undertaken a number of initiatives to change their reputation, including mounting highly interactive displays and popular exhibits with flashy graphics, turning to technology to stay relevant. Many libraries have yet to embrace the new technology. Currently there are more than three times as many museums and galleries than libraries on Second Life. Needham emphasizes that “we in the library field can learn a lot from the best practices going on in the museum field.” The FAS team’s tireless devotion is a role model to libraries and game developers, taking setbacks in stride with their reinvention of Discover Babylon. The director of FAS Learning Technologies, Michelle Roper, is optimistic about the future: “We have a recipe for success with Discover Babylon. More money needs to be channeled into research and development from the government and private sectors. If there can be a coordinated effort, we can have a better appreciation of e-learning.” When Discover Babylon debuts on Second Life next year, schools should consider holding virtual class field trips. Public libraries could play an important role by offering the use of their technology labs to schools. What brave teachers and librarians will answer the call to change the world? The virtual world awaits you!

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Ann Crewdson is Children’s Section Supervisor, Issaquah/Sammamish Libraries, King County Library System, WA, and the Chair of the 2008 ALSC Great Interactive Software for Kids Committee.