Second Life as a Social Environment

Abstract

AbstractWorking and learning are not only possible in the physical world. Virtual worlds like Second Life can be used to generate different types of learning objects. These objects can consist of textual or iconic information and can be three-dimensional items or complex simulations of real-world phenomena. Visitors perceive these learning objects and can often even interact with them. Since online worlds, like the multiuser virtual environment Second Life, are developing into places for social interaction and mutual exchange, we will focus here on the visitors of virtual worlds – so to speak the real persons and their virtual representations (avatars) – and their social interactions in virtual spaces. We understand Second Life as a social environment that facilitates interpersonal interaction and communication. The virtual buildings and rooms of online worlds not only have metaphorical significance; they are symbols of social organization. Their socio-spatial features and affordances relate to everyday spatial practices and build the basis of a common understanding, thereby influencing the success of social activities in online environments. This paper discusses the fields of application and effects of symbolic rooms for communication and collaboration at the Second Life Virtual Campus of the Duisburg Learning Lab. Three examples will be presented: Second Life as an informal meeting space for online students, design aspects of virtual work spaces used to perform learning tasks, and role-playing games as part of social learning.KeywordsVirtual WorldGroup TaskSocial SpaceSocial PresenceOnline EnvironmentThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.