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3D Virtual Learning Case Study
Institution
University of Sheffield
Course/Subject
MA New Literacies – Unit on ‘Virtual Literacy Ethnography in Second Life’
Contact
Jackie Marsh and Jason Sparks (Unit co-ordinators)
Prerequisite Skills
Students have completed one year of postgraduate study
No prerequisite skill in using 3D virtual learning environments assumed
Background
The MA New Literacies is an online course. The course considers how new technologies are
affecting the way literacy and language conventions are changing and at the ways in which
we are using literacy and language differently in a digital age.
This work formed one unit in a module on ‘Research methods in education’. There were 10
students in the year group and this unit was one of three options. Five students wanted to
undertake the unit but two were not able to due to technical difficulties with their home
computers. Three students undertook the unit of work.
Aims and Objectives
The aims of the unit were to introduce students to the concept of virtual ethnography and to
enable them to conduct an ethnography of literacy practices in Second Life.
Objectives:
 To develop students’ understanding of the nature of ethnography in virtual worlds.
 To enable students to undertake an ethnographic study of literacy in an area of
Second Life (i.e. a specific location, or with a group of specific participants).
 To familiarise students with literacy practices undertaken in Second Life and enable
them to reflect on these in the light of previous work on the nature of literacy in a
digital age.
Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of the unit, students will:
 be familiar with the concept of ‘virtual ethnography’ and understand its
epistemological and ontological underpinnings;
 be aware of the ethical issues that could arise when conducting virtual ethnography;
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

evaluate critically the research tools that might be drawn upon in virtual ethnography;
reflect on the nature of literacy practices/ texts in an area of Second Life.
Assessment
As this was an optional unit within a larger module, the work was not formally assessed.
Students presented their findings in Second Life, which included the production of a
PowerPoint presentation and discussion of the content of the presentation in an online
seminar. Students also had the option to complete a 6,000 word essay on the nature of
virtual ethnography Two of the three students who took this unit of work completed this
assignment.
Description of Learning Activities
None of the students had used Second Life prior to the unit of work. We therefore undertook
a virtual induction process. We supported students through a series of activities (see
Appendix 1) which aimed to familiarise the students with the virtual environment. These
induction notes had been piloted previously with work with 18 members of staff in the school
of Education and adjusted accordingly. As the induction did not take place in a face-to-face
environment, we ensured that the instructions could be used by students independently. The
tutors on the unit were joined by a third member of University staff, Sheila Webber, in the
induction sessions and so the students felt that they had sufficient in-world support.
Once induction was completed, we organised three seminars in Second Life:
Seminar 1: The aim of this seminar was to enable students to reflect critically on the
epistemological and ontological underpinnings of virtual ethnography. Students were sent
the readings on virtual ethnography prior to the session. During the seminar, the readings
were used to prompt discussion on issues relating to the nature of virtual ethnography.
Seminar 2: The aim of this seminar was to reflect on ethical issues when undertaking
research in Second Life. Students were sent the ethical review application form for the unit
of work (Appendix 2) and this process was discussed in addition to broader ethical issues.
The session included a focus on how potential research participants might be approached
and their informed consent gained.
Seminar 3: The aim of this seminar was to discuss with the group practical approaches to
undertaking their virtual ethnographic studies of literacy in an area of Second Life. The
discussion focused on possible sites for the ethnography, how to conduct interviews with
participants and the use of field notes.
Following the three seminars, students then undertook individual ethnographic studies of
literacy in an area of Second Life. They each spent approximately 50 hours on average in
Second Life undertaking the studies. Whilst tutors were available to provide support during
this period through instant messages/ emails, there were no formal sessions organised in
Second Life.
Students then, over a series of seminars in Second Life, presented their work to each other
and the tutors, summarising their findings using a PowerPoint slideshow (Figures 1 and 2).
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Figure 1: A student’s presentation
Figure 2: Discussion of students’ findings
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Related material
a) Reflections on the unit of work by tutors
The seminars were useful in enabling students to think through the practicalities of the task,
as well as offering a space to consider theoretical underpinnings of the work through
reflections on the unit readings. Ontological and ethical issues dominated many of the
discussions, including discussions on the findings of the studies, as indicated in the extract
below:
Jackie Darkstone [Tutor: Jackie Marsh in RL]: so did you feel uneasy interviewing, as
Student C did?
Student B: A little bit... especially when my participant didn't understand what I was
asking him. He thought literacy...
Student B: that I wanted him to judge whether or not people were 'literate' or 'illiterate'
Student B: He didn't talk much about how he used reading and writing...
Student B: just wanted me not to include his spelling and typing mistakes.
Student B: He did comment that he thought lots of people were 'technically' literate in
SL
Jackie Darkstone: so he had a traditional model of literacy - just like many in RL!
Student B: Yep!
Student B: So, I had to change course and be really simple... like...
Student B: Do you and your avatar read and write things in SL?
Student B: And then when he said yes... I had to say... What kind of things do you
read and write?
Student B: Just to give him to give me details...
Student B: I think the part about Hine saying that as an ethnographer, you have to be
'embroiled' and that is true
Student B: And the emotional connection IS there...
Student B: and that the 'trust' issue is important
Student C: Yes I agree
Jackie Darkstone: yes because I remember you worried about that before doing the
study
Student B: That being in a Virtual world...
Student B: you do have to make 'judgement' calls differently.
Student B: There are no Discourses to help you as people can just make stuff up.
Issues of trust and reliability were paramount in the students’ reflections on the task and
therefore we focused on asking students to compare the difference between research in the
offline world and Second Life in that respect. It seemed that these aspects were so dominant
for the students that the focus on literacy in Second Life was marginal to their interests, to
some extent. The students did raise a range of very interesting points about literacy
practices and texts in Second Life following their ethnographic studies, but the key focus in
their discussions of the work was the challenge of the studies to their epistemological and
ontological understandings of the research process.
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b) Students’ experiences
Student A
Student A undertook an ethnographic study of literacy in a Star Trek-style role-playing sim.
Her presentation consisted of the following slides:
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In her assignment, Student A reflected on the frustrations presented by technology when
researching in Second Life:
Something must be said about the limitations of technology itself. In Markham’s (1998) study
of online social practices, she outlines for the reader her many technological struggles
throughout the research process. Although technology has become more user friendly since
Markham’s study in 1998, not all social scientists are IT savvy. While conducting research on
Second Life, I had to ask for help to download the software – my first attempt was
unsuccessful. I needed help to understand why my system kept crashing. This was obviously a
liability, while trying to conduct research and maintaining rapport and a presence with my
subjects. Being a newbie is a liability in this circumstance. I also struggled with figuring out
how to log my chats and I spent a great deal of time flying around alone. I also found that
walking and talking were not as easy as they might seem. The learning curve in Second Life
was slow for me, and caused frustration. Annette Markham’s technological problems caused
anxiety and frustration as well. “I had to learn how to download the software from the
internet, to the computer in my office. Once on my machine, I had to figure out how to
‘unzip’ or decompress the software so it would run on my PC… All in all, this involved slightly
more work than setting up another chair in my office next to a microphone” (1998:65).
Markham was so obviously a newbie, it reflects in her book. She says “To have a normal
conversation is impossible because the texts roll by so quickly. It is difficult even to keep up
much less add to the conversation, if I can even call it a ‘conversation’”( 1998:41). Markham
clearly did not follow Knobel’s suggestion regarding preliminary research. Knobel writes
“prior to formal data collection, the researcher is served well by spending a substantial
amount of time getting a feel for the kinds of interactions that take place within a targeted
community” (2002:4). Moreover, other than equipping yourself with the technical prowess to
function in a virtual world, this time spent previous to data collection serves a larger purpose.
It gives the researcher time to understand the social dynamics. It can take time to
understand a virtual community and its members. Knobel points out a possible downfall, is
that going into a virtual community without being aware of newbie’s, or trouble makers, can
affect your data collection. It is pointed out “If a researcher only interviews or studies the talk
of newcomers the insights offered into the community will not be as experienced or as
historically informed as insights garnered from long term members” (2002:4).
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Student B
Student B observed one avatar’s use of literacy in-world over a number of sessions and
interviewed the participant in-world. In her presentation (Figure 3) and assignment, she
focused on issues of representation and trust.
Figure 3: Student B’s presentation
Extract from assignment:
When conducting my own ethnographic study in Second Life (SL), I found
that credibility and trustworthiness were issues with my own participant. Billy
Robo, who has been renamed as in order to preserve his anonymity, had
trust high on his list of concerns inside SL. Billy Robo made these comments
which show his apprehension:
[2008/11/22 10:54]
[2008/11/22 10:54]
[2008/11/22 10:55]
being the Avatar is
Billy Robo:
Billy Robo:
Billy Robo:
I don't trust anybody...
Or very few anyway...
I just don't know who the real person
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This conversation reveals that when conducting virtual ethnography, the trust issue is
complicated by the fact that the interview is not face-to-face. Non-verbal cues are
non-existent for both the researcher and the participant during online interviews and
these are important indicators to measure honesty and to gain trust in real life. Billy
Robo later commented how in ‘real’ life, meeting people was easier to measure
honesty because you can read the non-verbal cues which are non-existent online.
The trust issue is not new to ethnography and I argue here that it is very similar when
conducting research in the offline and online worlds. The level at which trust can
become an obstruction when initially approaching prospective participants adds a
slightly different dimension to this age-old dilemma for the virtual ethnographer
because of the lack of non-verbal cues online.
Student C
Student C undertook an ethnography of literacy practices at Stanford University Libraries.
During his ethnographic study, he undertook an in-world interview with a poet who used the
libraries.
Student C produced a research diary in which he interspersed screenshots of himself in his
chosen ethnographic site (Stanford University Library), along with his reflections. Here are
two excerpts from the diary:
Excerpt 1
23/11/08 – Visit Two (Appproximate time in world 1.5 hours)
Decided to visit an exhibition (Kimono Zuancho) held on the 4th floor of the
Goodfellow Tower
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Lots of text to support the exhibition, as would be expected in the ‘real’ world.
Reflections:
I had considerable difficulty getting into the exhibition, although I finally made it and
even used the lift in the process (very proud of myself) ! Found orientating myself to
be able to read the text within the exhibition difficult and quickly gave up (which was
a little disappointing given I’d spent so much time trying to get into the exhibition). I’m
beginning to recognise some limitations to reading in the virtual world, although this
is probably just a question of where the technology is currently at and in years to
come this will be something that will improve. I dislike reading digital texts at the best
of times, as I always end up with blinding headaches, but needing to constantly
readjust my avatar in order to read, reminded me of how beginner readers must feel
when they struggle with their comprehension of a text because they read every word
so carefully, by the time they reached the end of the sentence/paragraph the
meaning has gone.
Excerpt 2
Preparing for the interview
Spent a day or so mulling over what questions to ask then eventually plumped for
half a dozen or so, with the option of expanding on comments made by the
interviewee. The actual day of the interview was a bit nerve racking, as I was worried
about the quality of my questions and wasn’t sure I’d really glean too much useful
information. However, I was quite excited at the prospect of carrying out a virtual
interview and having spoken to my participant on two previous occasions in
readiness for the interview, I knew he’d be supportive.
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The interview itself took at while to get started due the problems we had cutting and
pasting the consent declaration, but we had a laugh bumbling our way through it, and
there was a real sense of collaboration / willingness by both parties to make this
happen, or at least it felt like that from my perspective. When my participant had told
be on our first exchange (prior to interview) that he was a budding writer/poet, I really
felt like I’d fallen on my feet to find such a participant at the first time of asking. My
thinking being that at least he’ll be interested in the study, even if he can’t really
contribute much, which in the end turned out to be the case. As with most avatars I
have come into contact with (which isn’t that many about half a dozen, not counting
colleagues from the MA) many seem to be relatively new to SL and like me are
taking their first tentative steps in this new world.
One aspect of the interview I need to think about for the future (should I used a
similar methodology and method in my dissertation) is not rushing my next question
(or supplementary/clarifying question/s). Thoughts related to this issue are:
1. In the case of virtual interviewing / online interviewing you’ve got no non
verbal communication or paralanguage etc. to go off. Therefore I could have
been jumping in when in fact my participant was just gathering their thoughts
and were perhaps going to type something else. (one thing I’ve noticed with
online instant messaging is how quick you can get out of synch in the
communication and how quickly to you try to get back in synch often to the
detriment of the point/discussion you were having). I think is did happen a
couple of times during the interview and I should re-visit the script and see if I
can identify when this might have happened and the effect it had.
2. Don’t be afraid of pauses when interviewing either online or offline (think
about your counselling skills?) - was definitely guilty of filling the pauses,
definitely more panicky than usual when messaging, probably because it felt
more was riding on the dialogue.
3. Aware that I wanted to come across as competent to my participant which
undoubtedly added to my speediness of questioning, when perhaps a more
thoughtful approach might have gleaned more. Key learning point – stay
calm! (having said that I was aware my participant was giving up their
valuable time to speak to me, and due to the cut & paste performance at the
beginning that did unsettle me, SO, second key learning point is be
organised, and run through everything before hand to ensure you know how
to do things, especially if you’re in an unfamiliar environment like SL, but I
guess it’s equally true in the real world.
4. Really need to give serious thought to the questions you want to ask, and
maybe spend some time refining them or running them past someone. I think
I probably did ok with the questions I thought of /asked given I was still fairly
unfamiliar with the workings of SL, but if I was doing something like this again
I need to be more certain about what I am looking for.
5. Try on to lead the participant too much in terms of your comments – did I lead
my participant off in the wrong track or influence what they said too much? I
need to revisit the script again and analyse - remember they will probably
want to give a good performance to and he might have been tempted to give
me the response I was looking for, as he picked up on some kind of vibe ?
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Evaluation
We spent some time in the online seminars discussing students’ responses to the unit of
work. The students had found the unit to be valuable and felt they had achieved the intended
learning outcomes.
An online evaluation form using Google Docs was set up. All three students have completed
this. Two students stated that they ‘strongly agreed’ that they had enjoyed using Second
Life’ and one student agreed with this statement. Two students felt ‘fairly well prepared’ for
the virtual ethnography task and one student ‘very well prepared’. When asked what would
have helped them to feel better prepared, one student stated ‘More reading? Practice run?
Spend a bit more time in SL before undertaking work’. Students were asked how useful they
had found the seminars prior to undertaking the ethnography. All three had found them
useful. One stated, ‘Yes, useful and enjoyed the virtual seminars very much, although I had
limited control over my avatars (couldn't work out how to pick a drink up and eat food).’
Students were asked what they would have liked to have focused on in additional seminars.
One response was: ‘Nothing particular re: the ethnographic study more just for the course as
a whole, maybe get learners when involved in other collaborative work to consider getting
together in Second Life’. A second student would have liked an additional seminar on
approaches to discourse analysis. Two of the three students stated that they felt confident
about approaching the ethnography task. Two students felt that they had learned a great
deal about literacy in Second Life as a result of the unit and one gave a neutral response to
this question. When asked what he had learned about literacy in the virtual world, this
student stated: ‘Really not think sure and I think that's what I was worried about, not sure I'm
I really got it.’ The other two students reported: *Lots of literacy intertwined with ICT in SL;
you must be technically literate to participate. *Lots of cultures and subcultures in SL. There
are lots of literacy activities inside SL like book readings and role playing. Students stated
that they had learned the following about virtual ethnography: *Trust your instincts keep a log
take screen shots to remind yourself of stuff later (particularly if unsure what you're looking
for) Maybe do some more reading on the subject beforehand.)*That it is quite similar to real
ethnography (I imagine). *Trust issues are very important for both parties but you have to
take what your participant says at face value; they could be deceiving you, but there is no
way to check it if it is true or not.
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Conclusion
The unit of work was successful in that the students achieved the intended learning
outcomes and enjoyed the unit. This was the first unit of work the tutors had conducted in
Second Life and therefore it was a valuable learning experience for us also. We found that
much of the unit was focused on questions of identity, representation, and trust in research
in virtual worlds. This meant that the intended focus of the ethnographic studies, literacy
practices in Second Life, became somewhat secondary to the key interests of the students.
In future developments of this unit of work, we intend to extend the period of study so that
students have more opportunities to consider ontological issues before undertaking their
ethnographic studies. We will also offer students an opportunity to conduct pilot studies
before undertaking their ethnographic studies. Finally, we will not focus on the findings of the
studies in relation to literacy practices in Second Life in the student presentations, but
instead focus the presentations on the students’ experience of conducting virtual
ethnography.
Relevant References
Hine, C. (1998) Virtual Ethnography. Paper presented at the Internet Research for
Information and Social Scientists (IRISS) conference. Accessed November 2008 at:
http://www.intute.ac.uk/socialsciences/archive/iriss/papers/paper16.htm
Knobel, M. (2002) Rants, Ratings and Representations: Issues of ethics, validity and
reliability in researching online social practices. Unpublished paper presented at the
Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. New Orleans.
Markham, A. (1998) Life Online: researching real experience in virtual space. Walnut
Creek, Calif.: Altamira Press.
Wittel, A. (2000) Ethnography on the Move: From Field to Net to Internet. Qualitative
Social Research Vol 1, No. 21. Accessed November 2008 at: http://www.qualitativeresearch.net/fqs-texte/1-00/1-00wittel-e.htm
Publications Relating to this Case Study
N/A
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Evaluation Tools
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APPENDIX 1
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION: SECOND LIFE INDUCTION
Initial notes
Log on to Second Life clicking onto the green hand icon on the desktop. You will be on
Orientation Island, which is a public space. The induction will take place on Infolit ischool.
There are 2 ways of getting there:
a) Wait on orientation island. I will send your avatar a message offering friendship. Accept it.
Then I will add your name to the list of Infolit ischool members. Again, accept the invitation
to become a member of the group (this will enable you to have building rights). I will then
teleport you to the island, When you receive an invitation to be teleported, accept it and you
will be brought to Infolit ischool. The School of Education building will be to your right as you
land on the island.
b) You can teleport yourself there. Click on the menu ‘map’ on the bottom RH corner of the
screen. In the search box on the RH column of the box that appears, type in ‘Infolit ischool’.
When it appears on the map, click ‘Teleport’. You will arrive on a landing stage on the island.
Turn your avatar around by pressing the left arrow key a couple of times (slowly – otherwise
you may end up in the wrong direction!). You will find a card asking you to click it in order to
teleport to the School of Education. Right click the card and then choose ‘teleport’ from the
menu. You will arrive near the School of Education building. Use the forward arrow to walk a
few steps so that the next person does not land on top of you! You can get started on the
induction activities, but at some point I will send you an invitation to become a friend, then to
become a member of the group – accept both so that you can have building rights on the
island.
Do this next before you do anything else!
Whichever way you get there, before you start the induction activities, make sure you have
created a landmark for Infolit ischool. When you are on the ground next to the School of
Education building, go to ‘World’ menu (top LH corner of screen) and choose ‘Create
landmark here’. A box will appear in which there will be a map of Infolit island and an option
to teleport there. Do not teleport there at this point, just click the ‘x’ in the top right hand
corner of that screen to close that box down. However, in future, whenever you wish to
return to the island go to ‘Map’ (bottom RH corner of screen), find ‘My landmarks’ in RH
column and scroll down until you find ‘Infolit ischool’, then click ‘teleport’. This will be useful if
you get lost in Second Life!
If at any point during the session you get lost and can’t teleport yourself back, instant
message (IM) me and I will teleport you to the island. (I explain how to IM below).
To talk whilst you are in world, click on ‘Local Chat’. Type in text and it will appear above
your avatar. This chat can be seen by all in the surrounding environment. When an avatar is
writing a message to either the group or an individual, their avatar waves their hands about
in front of her/ him as if she/ he is typing, and a series of dots appears below her/ his name.
If you wish to engage in private chat with an individual, she/ he needs to be in your contact
list.
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To add someone to your contact list, click on ‘Communicate’ (at the bottom LH of the
screen), click on ‘Add’ and type in the avatar’s name. Press ‘find’. Click on ‘select’ when the
correct name appears. A message will be sent to the person, offering friendship. Once he/
she accepts, the names will be added to your contact list. A list of people’s avatar names for
today’s session is listed in Appendix 1.
IM-ing someone
Once someone is in your contact list, you can IM her/ him. You click on the arrow next to
‘Communicate’ (at the bottom LH of the screen), click on ‘Contacts’, highlight the person you
wish to communicate with and click ‘IM/ Call’. If that person is offline, the message will be
stored for later. IMs will not be seen by other members of the group.
A final tip before you start the activities below – you can navigate the world from the visual
viewpoint of your avatar if you wish. This is sometimes handy for navigating tight spaces. Go
to ‘view’ (top LH menu) and choose ‘mouselook’. If you want to go back to normal viewing,
click ‘escape’. If you want to zoom in or out in normal view, press control-8 (for zoom out)
and control-0 (for zoom in) (use command button on macs). If you find yourself with a screen
you can’t navigate for some reason (too far in or out, for example), then go to ‘view’ and click
‘reset view’.
The other useful tool to use is the camera control. Go to ‘view’ (top LH menu) and click on
‘camera controls’. Use the arrow keys to look around, zoom in and out etc. This can be a
useful tool if you find your avatar in a tight spot and don’t know how to get out of it – using
the camera control, you can move to a bird’s eye view and find out where you are. Again, if
you ever find yourself with a screen you can’t navigate, go to ‘view’ and click on ‘reset view’.
You can also use the camera to take pictures. When you wish to take a picture, go to file and
click ‘take snapshot’. You can save this to the hard drive, or send as a postcard to someone.
As you are working on university machines today, you would be better sending the picture as
a postcard to your own email address.
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Activity 1
Practice walking around, using the following keys:
Using Arrow Keys:
Up = walk forwards
Down = walk backwards
Left = rotate left
Right = rotate right
Page up = jump or start flying
Page down = descend
There is also a ‘fly’ button to click on at the bottom of the screen (and then click this button
again to stop flying).
Hit Ctrl + R to start to run and press Ctrl +R again to stop running.
Alternatively, use the letters: WASD to move:
W = walk forwards
S = walk backwards
A = rotate left
D = rotate right
E = jump or start flying
C = descend
You can have on-screen controls that work the same as the keyboard (I find these useful).
To access these, select ‘movement controls’ from the ‘View’ menu. Use LH click on the
arrows to move around.
You might find yourself inadvertently under water at some point, even at the bottom of the
ocean (easily done!). If this is the case, don’t panic, even though your avatar can’t swim.
Click on ‘fly’ and the up arrow and this should get you out of the water. If all else fails, go to
‘map’ and find ‘Infolit island’ in your landmarks and press ‘teleport’.
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Activity 2
Practice flying
To begin press the Fly button or hold down Page Up or E.
While in flying mode use Page Up to ascend and Page Down to descend.
Try moving forwards and backwards using either the arrow keys or WASD set-up.
To stop flying, find a piece of land and hold down Page Down, C or press the Stop Flying
button.
Alternatively, click ‘fly’ on the on-screen controls to start flying and click ‘stop flying’ to stop.
Activity 3
Practice sitting down
Walk your avatar up the steps of the School of Education building and stand next to a chair.
Right click on the chair and choose ‘sit here’ from the menu. After sitting on the chair, press
‘Stand up’ (in a box at the bottom of the screen) when you are ready. Walk over to another
chair and repeat the process.
Activity 4
Practice receiving a gift/ item for your inventory
When you are ready to do this activity, IM me. You do this by clicking on the menu
‘communicate’ (bottom LH menu), scrolling down to ‘contacts’ and finding my name ‘ ‘Jackie
Darkstone’. Once my name is highlighted, click on ‘IM/ call’. Then, in the bar at the bottom of
that box, type in your message to me – something like ‘ I am ready for activity 4’ will do. I
will then send you a gift box. You will receive an invitation to accept ‘giftbox2’ or ‘giftbox3’
from me. Choose ‘keep’ from the menu and the giftbox will then be placed in your inventory.
It appears in the inventory as a file. In the next activity, you will open this box.
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Activity 5
Practice using items from your inventory
Make sure you are on an open space on the ground for this activity. Do not do this activity
inside a building. Open your inventory (a tab at the bottom-right hand of the screen). Click on
‘objects’. Find the file saying ‘gift box’ that I have just given you. Click on the file to open it.
Inside the file, you will see two boxes and a notecard. Double click on the notecard to read it.
Then click on one of the boxes and drag it onto the ground of Infolit ischool. It will ‘rez’
(appear) before you. Right click on the box and choose ‘open’. It will invite you to copy the
items to your inventory – do so.
Then, with the inventory window still open, click and drag one of the following items onto the
ground:
Black Streak Bike Improved
Hover Pod Mini v1.1
Right click on the objects and select ‘ride’ to use them.
Once you have finished using them, don’t forget to copy them back to your inventory! Right
click on the object and click on ‘’take’. This will return it to your inventory.
Activity 6
Practice keeping a notecard
One the land next to the School of Education building, find the notecard that says ‘Activity 6’.
Left-click on the sign. When you touch the sign, you will be asked if you wish to keep a
landmark. Click on ‘keep’. This contains the ‘slurls’ (in-word addresses) of educational
landmarks, which will be interesting to visit later in the session if you have time. This will be
now copied to your inventory and you can find the landmarks in there when you are ready to
use them
Activity 7
Practice shopping
On the land next to the School of Education building, find the sign that says ‘Activity 7’.
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Left click on the sign. You will be asked if you wish to keep a landmark. Click on ‘keep’. A
box will then open up in your window that provides details of the landmark.
It will have a button at the bottom of the box that says ‘teleport’.
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Click on this to go to the ‘Free Dove’ shop, a shop full of freebies. Walk around, find
something you wish to keep and right click on the box. Choose ‘buy’ from the menu. A grey
rectangle will open. Once you can see a list of items in the rectangle, click ‘buy’.
Don’t worry, they are free! The items will be saved in your inventory.
You can now edit your appearance and try your new things on. Go back to Infolit Island and
find a space where you can edit your appearance. Other people will be able to see your
avatar changing, so if you are shy, find somewhere private!
Go to the menu ‘edit’ and scroll down to ‘appearance’. You can now try on all the free skin,
hair etc you got! To wear an item in your inventory, right click on the item and scroll down to
‘wear’. To remove the item, right click on it in your inventory and click ‘remove’.
Sometimes clicking on a box in your inventory will not lead to you wearing an item, but
instead a box will be attached to your avatar! This means that there are numerous items in
the box that need to be unpacked. So you need to unpack your boxe(s). First remove the
box from your avatar by right-clicking on it and choosing ‘remove’.
You then need to open the boxes that have multiple items in them. Find the relevant box(es)
in your inventory. Click and drag the box from your inventory onto a space on the ground.
Then when the box appears on the ground, right-click it and choose ‘open’. Copy the
contents to your inventory.
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Activity 8
Practice moving an object
Click on your inventory. Choose an object and click and drag it to the ground. It will appear in
front of you. To move it, right-click the object and click ‘edit’. Ensure the ‘position’ choice is
highlighted. You will see 3 coloured arrows. Left clicking and dragging on these will move the
object. Click and dragging at the same time as holding down the shift key will copy the object
(if you are allowed to copy it; some creators of objects disallow this option).
You can also practice rotating the object by clicking on ‘rotate’. Then left click and drag on
the coloured circles to rotate the object.
Activity 9
Building in Second Life
When you have finished these activities, you might want to have a go at building in Second
Life. Here are some helpful notes from an Induction Programme developed by UNISA:
-----------------------------Very Basic Building
-----------------------------One of the reasons why Second Life is so creative is that you can create almost anything
you like. Through your courses that use Second Life, you will most likely come across the
need to build something, be it a sign, chair, or house; all these creations start from basic
building blocks, called Prims.
Prims are pre-defined shapes such as a cube, sphere, cylinder, torus and more. In Second
Life you can create them, or rez, them onto the ground and then adjust the shape, size,
colour, and skin or texture. Combining these together is how you can create some creative
objects.
When creating an object there are some basic permissions you can give out. It is important
to ensure that your permissions are set up correctly if you wish to give your object to
someone. Allowing the next owner to copy will allow them to put as many copies as they
want out, but not hand it on. Likewise allowing them to modify gives them a chance to
change the object. And finally allowing them to hand it on, means they can give copies to
anyone they like, and if you allow them to sell it, they can sell it forth too.
Building a Cube
---------------------
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 Start by right clicking (command click) in the sand and selecting “Create” from the pie
menu.
 This will bring up the Building window. We start off with the create wand, so click on
the ground and a default cube will be made.
 As you can see there are 3 different coloured arrows coming out of the box. Left
clicking and dragging on any of these handles will allow you to move your object.
 If you hold down Ctrl, you will find that the handles have now changed. These handles
allow you to rotate your object. Try to rotate it so that a corner touches the ground.
 Now hold down Ctrl+Shift, and again the handles will change, this time you can
change the size of the box. Try making it flat.
 You don’t have to do all this using the mouse, you can also perform these operations
using the building window, underneath the object tag. Try changing some of the
values. If you don’t like what happen Ctrl+Z will undo!
 Select the Texture tab, and click on “texture”. This will open a texture select window,
with a folder structure. As you currently don’t have textures of your own, you can
select some of the general Second Life library. Have a go at changing the texture;
 Finally, let’s make a duplicate of this prim. Hold shift while grabbing one of the move
handles. It will automatically create a copy.
 Now to clean up, if you love your creation you can select multiple by holding shift, then
right click and select take from the pie menu. Otherwise, select them and press
delete.
 If you are no long in building mode, right click and choose edit on the object to delete
it, or press Ctrl+B.
There are many different techniques for building and lots of tutorials online, so be sure to
explore this when you have time.
Final note
Now you are on your own! It takes hours of practice to become fluent in Second Life, so do
return regularly to practice these skills. There is a series of helpful videos at:
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Video_Tutorials
You are also welcome to IM me in-world if you need any advice – although I may not have
the answer!
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APPENDIX 2
University of Sheffield School of Education
RESEARCH ETHICS APPLICATION FORM
Complete this form if you are planning to carry out research in the School of Education
which will not involve the NHS but which will involve people participating in research either
directly (e.g. interviews, questionnaires) and/or indirectly (e.g. people permitting access to
data).
Documents to enclose with this form, where appropriate:
This form should be accompanied, where appropriate, by an Information Sheet/Covering
Letter/Written Script which informs the prospective participants about the a proposed
research, and/or by a Consent Form.
Guidance on how to complete this form is at:
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/content/1/c6/07/21/24/appguide.doc
Once you have completed this research ethics application form in full, and other
documents where appropriate email it to the:
Either
Ethics Administrator if you are a member of staff.
Or
Secretary for your programme/course if you are a student.
NOTE
 Staff and Post Graduate Research (EdDII/PhD) requires 3 reviewers
 Undergraduate and Taught Post Graduate requires 1 reviewer – low risk
 Undergraduate and Taught Post Graduate requires 2 reviewers – high risk
I am a member of staff and consider this research to be (according to University definitions)
:
low risk
high risk
X

I am a student and consider this research to be (according to University definitions):
low risk
high risk


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*Note: For the purposes of Ethical Review the University Research Ethics Committee
considers all research with ‘vulnerable people’ to be ‘high risk’ (eg children under 18 years of
age).
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University of Sheffield School of Education
RESEARCH ETHICS APPLICATION FORM
COVER SHEET
I confirm that in my judgment, due to the project’s nature, the use of a method
to inform prospective participants about the project
(eg ‘Information Sheet’/’Covering Letter’/’Pre-Written Script’?:
Is relevant
Is not relevant
Might be relevant
(if relevant then this should be enclosed)
I confirm that in my judgment, due to the project’s nature, the use of a
‘Consent Form’:
Is relevant
Is not relevant
Might be relevant
(if relevant then this should be enclosed)
Is this a ‘generic “en bloc” application
(ie does it cover more than one project that is sufficiently similar)
Yes
No
X
I am a member of staff
I am a PhD/EdD student
I am a Master’s student
I am an Undergraduate student
I am a PGCE student
I have enclosed a signed copy of Part B
X
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University of Sheffield School of Education
RESEARCH ETHICS APPLICATION FORM
PART A
A1.
Title of Research Project: Virtual Ethnography in Second Life
A2.
Applicant (normally the Principal Investigator, in the case of staff-led research
projects, or the student in the case of supervised research projects):
Title: Prof
First Name/Initials:
J
Last Name: Marsh
Post: Professor of Education
Department: School of Education
Email: j.a.marsh@sheffield.ac.uk
Telephone: 28166
A.2.1. Is this a student project?
If yes, please provide the Supervisor’s contact details: Jackie Marsh
A2.2. Other key investigators/co-applicants (within/outside University), where
applicable:
Please list all (add more rows if necessary)
Title Full Name
Post
Responsibility Organisation Department
in project
A3.
A4.
Proposed Project Duration:
Start date:
November 10th
End date: December 19th
Mark ‘X’ in one or more of the following boxes if your research:
Involves children or young people aged under 18 years
Involves only identifiable personal data with no direct contact with
participants
Involves only anonymised or aggregated data
Involves prisoners or others in custodial care (eg young offenders)
Involves adults with mental incapacity or mental illness
X
Has the primary aim of being educational (eg student research, a
project necessary for a postgraduate degree or diploma, MA, PhD or
EdD)
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University of Sheffield School of Education
RESEARCH ETHICS APPLICATION FORM
A5.
Briefly summarise the project’s aims, objectives and methodology?
(this must be in language comprehensible to a lay person)
The project is being conducted as part of the module ‘Research Methods in
Education’ for the MA New Literacies programme. As part of the module, students
investigate a range of research methods. In this activity, students will be asked to
undertake an ethnographic study of literacy practices in Second Life. This may just
involve observations of literacy within the envrionment of Second Life i.e. will not
involve observations of, or interactions with, human participants. However, I would
like students to have ethical clearance so that if they did wish to observe avatars inworld or interview them as part of the study, they may do so.
A6.
What is the potential for physical and/or psychological harm / distress to
participants?
Minimal. Participants would be able to remove themselves from the study at any
point.
A7.
Does your research raise any issues of personal safety for you or other
researchers involved in the project and, if yes, explain how these issues will be
managed? (Especially if taking place outside working hours or off University
premises.)
No.
A8.
How will the potential participants in the project be (i) identified, (ii)
approached and (iii) recruited?
Students will be asked to conduct an ethnography of literacy within the Second Life
environment. They may decide to focus on a particular group of residents (purposive
sample) to determine literacy practices, or they may wish to approach avatars in a
random fashion, dependent upon their activities in world. Students will be asked to
approach avatars if they do wish them to be involved in the study and to offer them
information about the study on a notecard. (Notecards are used in Second Life to
pass on information – it would not be appropriate to use a Word version of the
Particpant Information form.) Some students may, of course, not interact with avatars
at all.
A9.
Will informed consent be obtained from the participants?
X
Yes
No
If informed consent is not to be obtained please explain why. Further guidance
is at http://www.shef.ac.uk/content/1/c6/07/21/15/Ethics_Consent.doc
Only under exceptional circumstances are studies without informed consent
permitted. Students should consult their tutors.
A.9.1 How do you plan to obtain informed consent? (i.e. the proposed process?):
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If avatars/ participants agreed to take part, they would be asked to send the student a
message stating that they agreed to take part, which would be kept by the student.
The students would give participants a notecard with the wording of the agreement,
that participants could paste into the messaging system.
A.10
How will you ensure appropriate protection and well-being of participants?
Participants will be informed that they will be free to withdraw from the study at any
point.
A.11
What measures will be put in place to ensure confidentiality of personal data,
where appropriate?
No avatars’ names will be used in written reports. Consent would be gained for any
photographs taken in-world.
A.12
Will financial / in kind payments (other than reasonable expenses and
compensation for time) be offered to participants? (Indicate how much and on
what basis this has been decided.)
Yes
No
X
A.13 Will the research involve the production of recorded or photographic media
such as audio and/or video recordings or photographs?
Yes
X
No
A.13.1 This question is only applicable if you are planning to produce recorded or visual
media:
How will you ensure that there is a clear agreement with participants as to how
these recorded media or photographs may be stored, used and (if appropriate)
destroyed?
Participants will be asked to agree that in-world photographs may be used and
stored for approximately 6 months, after which they will be destroyed if they have not
been used in written reports. If they have been used in written reports, then consent
will be gained for that.
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Participant Information and consent statements (text to be placed in notecard in
Second Life)
Ethnography of Literacy Practices in Second Life
I am conducting a study of the literacy practices (reading and writing of texts) carried out in
Second Life as part of my studies for the ‘Research Methods in Education’ module for the
MA New Literacies programme at the University of Sheffield. As part of that study, I would
like to observe your avatar/ interview your avatar [delete as appropriate] about the literacy
practices undertaken in second Life.
Use paragraphs below as required:
I will observe your avatar whilst he or she is engaged in normal activities undertaken in
Second Life and will make notes on those observations. I will inform you when the
observations begin and when they end.
I will interview your avatar about the literacy activities undertaken in Second Life. The
interview will be conducted by Instant Messaging and a log will be kept of the chat. The
interview will take no more than approximately 20 minutes.
All data will be anonymised before being written up as a report. Your avatar’s name will not
be used in a report. If a pseudonym is used, you will be asked if you wish to provide the
pseudonym.
I may wish to take in-word snapshots of your avatar engaged in literacy activities to use for
written reports. I will ask your permission before taking such snapshots. Any snapshots not
used in written reports will be stored on the hard drive of my computer and deleted after a
period of six months.
Please be aware that written reports of the study may be used in teaching materials for the
University of Sheffield. No personal details of avatars or their owners will be used in this
material.
If you agree to take part, you may withdraw from the study at any point. You will not suffer
any disadvantages in withdrawing. Whilst you will not directly benefit from the study, we
hope that the outcomes will be used to inform understanding about reading and writing texts
in world and thus enhance understanding about the implications for teaching and learning in
the future.
If you agree to take part, please cut and paste the relevant statements below into a notecard
and then give my avatar this notecard. If you do not know how to do that, then simply cut
and paste the relevant statements below and place them in the messaging box and send to
my avatar.
Thank you for considering this!
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Consenting statements
Please cut and paste any of the statements below that you wish to consent to and paste into
a notecard, then send my avatar this notecard. If you do not know how to do that, then
simply cut and paste the relevant statements below and place them in the messaging box
and send to my avatar.
I agree that my avatar can be observed as part of your study.
I agree that you can interview my avatar about literacy practices in Second Life.
I agree that you can take snapshots of my avatar engaging in literacy practices in Second
Life.
I agree that you may use all of this material, anonymised, in written reports of the study and
that this material might also be used in teaching resources developed by the University of
Sheffield.
Date: