Contrary to most of the listserves I read, Second Life is not as terribly difficult for new folks to learn as it’s made out to be. At least that’s what the data said. Sure, there is a learning curve…doesn’t every new program have that. But only 1/4 of the research participants complained about it being too hard to learn. The rest of the group felt some frustration…made their share of mistakes…but overall described the process as challenging, but fun.
The dissertation study just completed involved 19 educators new to Second Life, participating in a three week immersion experience into the environment. The three groups very quickly self-identified into three attitude groups…but not based on the things you might expect: prior game experience, tech experience, age, gender…role in education…none of those. Four distinct themes emerged that helped identify how the participants grouped together, but there was one other element that “ruled them all”. The data revealed a “magic ring” that had the greatest impact on the overall experience of the educators in their immersion into the virtual environment. Want to take a guess what that one factor was?
