Stefan Schutt : Work-based Education Research Centre, Victoria UniversityMagdi Ghobrial: ICT Coordinator, Debney Park Secondary College

Overview• three year research project funded by VicHealth and SFYS• working with staff and students at Debney Park SC• how might virtual worlds be used with disadvantaged young people?• particularly exploring engagement, social connection, self-agency

Virtual Worlds and Second Life

Virtual Worlds and Second Life

• virtual worlds are computer-generated three-dimensional worlds. Users interact within virtual worlds by way of avatars, a simulated representation of themselves.

• Second Life is the best-known of virtual worlds, though there are many

• originally called Linden World (2006), Second Life is described by its developers, Linden Lab, as ‘a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents’

What can you do in a virtual world?

• simulate real-life objects in three dimensions.

• build 3-D models ranging from "sandbox" experiments to giant building or product simulations ("sims")

• Structured activities in 3-D spaces, such as games and tours

• hold shared, real-time meetings with widely distributed groups of people.

• work in a safe space that lets users project real or ideal identities (Lamont 2007).

Avatars

• Avatars provide a mechanism by which users engage with a virtual world, with others and with objects.

Customising an Avatar

The school

• Debney Park Secondary College is situated in Melbourne's inner west and is located near a large high-rise public housing estate which serves as its main student catchment.

• Has a student enrolment of 300 students aged from 13 -18. • The team worked with 44 students over the life of the project.

• The students we worked were from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, primarily refugees from countries in the Horn of Africa and from low socio-economic backgrounds

Debney Park students using Second Life

The Activities

Introduction to the environment

Activities:• Introduction to the Second Life environment

• Choose Avatar names

• Learn to navigate around the environment (walking, flying, teleporting)

• Learn how to customise the avatar appearance

• Learn how to take snapshots in the environment

• Learn how to access and use the in-world Inventory

The Activities

Looking into a Virtual Mirror

• Students take a photo of themselves in real life and place that on an object within Second Life, they then take a snapshot of their avatar standing in front of their photo, which is posted to the avatar blog with a description of how they found this experience, and how their avatar is related to their real world identity.

Activities

• Creating clothing• Manipulate the Environment: Create a Spinning Earth• Blogging• Exploring the Virtual Environment• Create a Comic Strip, Machinima and Virtual Film Festival

Activities Make Poverty History concert

Activities Sydney Skoolaborate conference

Other outcomes Article in The Saturday Age, October 09

Other outcomes Awards and papers

• Australian Community Technology Awards 2009: Innovator of the Year

• VU Vice Chancellor’s Awards 2009: Citation for Outstanding Engagement

• Number of academic papers and presentations including:• OZCHI Computer-Human Interaction conference• Ascilite• Making Links• Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth conference• Youth Affairs Council of Victoria conference

Some Issues: multiple layers of disadvantage

• Access to the virtual world was problematic

• The majority of these students have experienced multiple layers of disadvantage; many for example are refugees or children of refugees and come from a range of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, a large proportion have been diagnosed as having learning-related difficulties, and almost all are from a low socio-economic background.

Some Issues: Digital Divide

• limited access at school

• no real access at home

• no support at home to continue with the work

Some Issues: access

• The Government school system did not approve access to many of the popular social media or web 2.0 sites such as YouTube, MySpace and Facebook and virtual worlds such as Second Life (although the Second Life block was later lifted)

• Reasons cited included student security, management of risk and control of download expenses.

• Problems with accessing Second Life by under-18s

Some issues: expense

• Internet speed and access - the project team firstly installed private broadband cable into the school, then was able to use school Internet once unblocked

• Hardware – to get around this, the project team supplied the school with a number of high end laptops until they were able to upgrade graphic cards on the school’s computers

• Second Life - can be expensive to do significant work within

Summary: disadvantage is part of everyday experience

• Gaining occasional access to new technology in itself does little to mitigate or weaken the grip of the layers of disadvantage they are experiencing.

• What it does do is offer a space where students are able, given the opportunity and support, to learn a range of new skills and express themselves in ways which traditional forms of the curriculum do not allow.

Thank you!

Stefan Schutt

Senior EducatorWork-based Education Research Centre

Victoria University0410 387 622

stefan.schutt@vu.edu.au