Information Literate in Second Life
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Transcript of Information Literate in Second Life
Sheila Webber, 2008
Information
literate in
Second Life
Sheila Webber/ Sheila Yoshikawa
Department of Information Studies
University of Sheffield, August 2008
Two themes
• Reflecting on an intervention that is part of an
Inquiry Based Learning approach to teaching
information management and information literacy
• Reporting on the findings of the research inquiry
(into Information Behaviour (IB) in Second Life (SL)
that the students undertook
Sheila Webber, 2008
Sheila Webber, 2008
Outline
• Inquiry Based Learning
• Focus for the intervention: Inf104 Information
Literacy
• Second Life (SL) & some SL information tools
• The study of IB
in Second Life
Inquiry Based Learning“IBL is a term used to describe approaches to learning that are based on
a process of self-directed inquiry or research. Students conduct small
or large-scale inquiries that enable them to engage actively and
creatively with the questions and problems of their discipline, often in
collaboration with others. IBL approaches include case-study and
problem-based learning (PBL) methods as well as research projects of
different kinds. It is a key characteristic of IBL that inquiry tasks facilitate
exploration and investigation of issues or scenarios that are open-ended
enough for different responses and solutions to be possible (Khan
and O´Rourke, 2005)” source: CILASS website (Centre for Inquiry Based
Learning in the Arts and Social Sciences)
http://www.shef.ac.uk/cilass/ibl.html
Sheila Webber, 2008
Inf104: Information Literacy
(core, level 1, semester 1)
Sheila Webber, 2008
Background
• Strengthening Inquiry Based Learning approach in our
BSc Information Management programme:
– Help students deepen their engagement with, and
understanding of, Information Management (IM) as an
academic discipline and professional practice
– Give students an opportunity to develop their research
understanding and skills through the whole programme –
starting from day one!
Sheila Webber, 2008
Inf104: Information literacy
• Module aims
– to progress students' information literacy in key areas (working
towards being an information literate citizen)
– to develop their understanding of information literacy &
information behaviour theories and practice
• Assessment
– Website/article/book review
– Analysis of & reflection on research interviews in Second Life
– Reflection on their progress in relation to the SCONUL 7 Pillars of
Information Literacy
Sheila Webber, 2008
Second Life
Sheila Webber, 2008
Second Life
• 3-D Online Digital world, owned by Linden Labs
• Most things created by SL residents: SL fashion designers, architects, bakers, animal makers ….
• Avatars- 3D representation of yourself – free to signup and can live on freebies, but need Linden dollars if want to own land, buy clothes etc.
• Communication through text chat, Voice and Instant Messaging
• Many educators and librarians in SL
Sheila Webber, 2008
*
* Photo Vicki Cormie,
others by
Information tools inworld:
1 - Search in SL
2 - Land info in SL
3 -
Avatar
info in
SL
4 -
Object
info in
SL
Sheila Webber, 2008
Inquiry in SL
• Students undertook critical incident interviews with SL
residents (a time when they had an information need
relating to a SL activity) in SL itself
• Student assessment: Students:
– analysed transcripts in relation to models of RL information
behaviour
– audited their own interview technique
Group 5 BSc IM 2007
Sheila Webber, 2008
Rationale
• Focus in more depth on specific parts of research process (data
collection & analysis)
• Strengthen theoretical element of module with genuinely novel
investigation
• Preparation:
– Class activity over 3 weeks – group research/ presentations on
whether SL was dangerous
– Induction to basics of SL over several weeks: teaching team was me
plus two librarians
– Practice interviewing in real life & SL
Group 5 BSc IM 2007
Models to which students
compared their findings
• Erdelez’ (1999) model of information encountering
• Ellis’ (1997) model of information seeking
• Mansourian’s (2007) information visibility model
Study details
• Treated as a pilot study
• 42 semi-structured interviews (2 per student) carried out in
SL (apart from 2 email interviews) late Nov - early Dec
2008
• Informed consent, and chat transcripts logged
• Convenience sample, mainly solicited through the SL
Educators & (UK) Virtualworlds discussion lists
• 11 Canadian undergrad students; the rest educators,
librarians or SL developers from various countries
• Not a full analysis for this study
Sheila Webber, 2008
Observations
• Examples of topics: buying land; obtaining things
(e.g. business clothes; tables; games); how to open
a virtual parachute; finding good “camping” sites;
preparing for a job fair
• My students (and I) able to identify behaviour
relating to the RL models;
– Accounts of information encountering
– Searches could be categorised using Mansourian’s
model
– Patterns of starting, linking, chaining, monitoring etc
Sheila Webber, 2008
Observations 2
• People important as sources of info and advice
• People and web search common starting points;
also one’s own inventory
• Information encountering common (cf Ostrander)
• Mixture of inworld and outside tools and people
used (much criticism of inworld search)
• Rich mix of sources
• UG students with less complex information
behaviour & using SL-specific techniques/tools lessSheila Webber, 2008
Sheila Webber, 2008
Concluding observations
• Same underlying information
literacy needs
• Specific skills in understanding the nature of
information in SL: possibilities, pitfalls etc.
• The most complex information behaviour from
people aware of, and fluent in, the affordances of SL
• Personal and social connections
for finding & creating information
• As an educational exercise: good
academic outcomes and richer
experience for students
With thanks to the INf104 class of
2007/8 and the interviewees
Sheila Webber, 2008
and to CILASS for paying for the SL
island: Infolit iSchool
Sheila Webber, 2008
Sheila Webber
http://information-literacy.blogspot.com/
http://adventuresofyoshikawa.blogspot.com/
Sheila Yoshikawa
Powerpoint at: http://www.slideshare.net/sheilawebber/
Sheila Webber, 2008
Other material• Flickr set on Infolit iSchool:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23396182@N00/collections/72157604063164433/
• Contributions from Webber about Infolit iSchool & education in SL in reports to the Eduserv Foundation by John Kirriemuir: see http://www.eduserv.org.uk/foundation/studies/slsnapshots
• Infolit iSchool (our SL island) wiki: http://infolitischool.pbwiki.com/
• Margaret Ostrander’s MLIS research project on IB in SL is blogged at http://librariandreamer.wordpress.com/
Sheila Webber, 2008
References
• Ellis, D and Haugan, M. (1997) “Modelling the information seeking patterns of engineers and research scientists in an industrial environment.” Journal of documentation, 53 (4), 384-403.
• Erdelez, S. (1999) “Information encountering: it's more than just bumping into information.” Bulletin of the American Association for Information Science [Online], 25 (3), 25-29. http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Feb-99/erdelez.html
• Khan, P. and O´Rourke, K. (2005). “Understanding Enquiry-based Learning”, In: Barrett, T., Mac Labhrainn, I., Fallon, H. (eds), Handbook of Enquiry and Problem Based Learning. Galway: CELT.
• Mansourian, Y. and Ford, N. (2007) “Web searchers' attributions of success and failure: an empirical study.” Journal of Documentation, 63 (5), 659 – 679.