and all transactions are processed using an in-world unit of trade called Linden dollar,
which can also be converted to US Dollars. It is estimated that the SL’s virtual marketplace
currently supports million of US Dollars in monthly transactions. The in-world transactions
are often related with the purchase of Virtual Lands, places where residents build houses,
establish businesses or simply recreate what they imagine, and with the buy and sell of 3D
objects, such as accessories, clothes, furniture, etc. Moreover, the virtual world is full of
activities and events, which take place at every time of the day, allowing people from all
around the world to participate. Residents can take part in contests and in-world games,
attend a class or visit a museum, do shopping or listen to a concert. Second Life’s interface
is actually equipped with a “Search Menu”, that helps residents find out places and events,
which are classified under several categories (Discussions, Sports, Commercial,
Entertainment, Education, Arts and Culture, etc.).
Virtual worlds are sometimes referred to as games, but this definition appears to be
incorrect, since there are no levels, scores or winners within the virtual environments. On
the contrary, virtual worlds exist in real time, and constitute places where people can
communicate, collaborate and socialize like in RL
5
. Also, Second Life is often considered
as a MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) because of the large
number of people who access it simultaneously, and of the persistent environment
provided.
Figure 1: Second Life logo and slogan “Your world. Your Imagination”
(Taken from www.secondlife.com)
5
RL: abbreviation of real life
- - 8
This work, based on Second Life, aims at understanding communication dynamics
originated within the Metaverse during different educational activities. Three research
questions were formulated, focusing on communication tools and new features provided by
the virtual immersive environment for teaching and learning. The research questions are:
ƒ How do people communicate in Second Life teaching and learning?
ƒ Which are the new features that Second Life provides regarding e-Learning? And
regarding face-to-face education?
ƒ How do teachers use Second Life?
The following pages lay the groundwork for the comprehension of the research questions
and of the analysis method.
- - 9
The Metaverse
The Metaverse is a term and concept coined by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel
Snow Crash. Stephenson is an American writer, well known for his science fiction works,
which could be classified under the “cyberpunk”
6
genre.
The book tells the story of Hiro Protagonist, a freelance hacker and great
swordfighter, who lives in Los Angeles during the 21
st
century. In this technological world,
the politic power belongs to private organizations which control every domain, from
housing development and private security to drug traffic and crime. Drug is an important
element of the story, since the protagonist must stop the diffusion of a dangerous new drug
called “Snow Crash”
7
, which is both a computer virus, which infects avatars in the
Metaverse, and a real virus, which infects people living in the real world. The world
described in Snow Crash is actually divided in two: the real world and the Metaverse.
The Metaverse is a virtual world in which people log in from their computers, using
special goggles to visualize it. The main area of the Metaverse is called the Street, a central
road full of buildings and neons, where people meet together. People’s 3D representations
are called avatars: avatars display the appearances of the person who logs in, but they also
possess a social status. In fact, poor people are obliged to log in from public-access
Metaverse terminals in the real world, and their avatars are consequently characterized by a
black and white low quality, which displays their poverty. On the contrary, sophisticated
avatars are a symbol of “technical acumen”
8
, especially for hackers, who can access
exclusive and restricted areas of the Metaverse, such as the virtual club the Black Sun.
Another important element of the Metaverse is that avatars can see facial expressions,
providing a virtual experience similar to face-to-face interaction.
Stephenson’s Metaverse is based on the personal vision of the author of how
Internet-based virtual reality might evolve in the future. Considering that the book was
6
“Cyberpunk is a science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life". The name, derived from
cybernetics and punk [...]. It features advanced science such as information technology and cybernetics, coupled with a
degree of breakdown or a radical change in the social order.” Wikipedia: the free Encyclopedia. s.v. Cyberpunk.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberpunk [26
th
September 2007]
7
“snow: Anything resembling snow” “crash: to fail suddenly, as a business or an economy” Stephenson, N. 1992. Snow
Crash. Penguin Books (UK). (page 1)
8
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash [25
th
September 2007]
- - 10
published in 1992, when the Internet was available only for a limited number of
governmental and educational institutions, Stephenson provided an interesting anticipation
of today’s virtual reality. Recently many companies, such as Second Life, There.com and
Active Worlds, tried to reproduce the Metaverse described in Snow Crash, achieving a
remarkable success. However, the biggest commercial success was the one reached by
Second Life: the main goal of its creators, Linden Lab, was actually to reproduce a meta-
world like the one described by Stephenson, where users can play, explore, establish a
business and, particularly, communicate.
Nowadays, the term Metaverse is often used to describe 3D virtual spaces and
environments, which constitute a representation of the real world, and where humans can
interact with each other through avatars. As Neal Stephenson affirms in his book “the
words “avatar” (in the sense used here) [i.e. in the book] and “Metaverse” are my
inventions, which I came up with when I decided that existing words (such as “virtual
reality”) were simply too awkward to use”
9
(Stephenson, 1992). The book Snow Crash
and the concept of Metaverse have strongly influenced today’s virtual environments: many
places in Second Life, such as universities and libraries, are dedicated to the American
author, and communication tools displayed in his book, such as hypercards
10
, represent an
essential tool also in Second Life’s communication. Thanks to the recent technological
improvements, Second Life’s Metaverse is also equipped with voice, and this allows a
richer communication, similar to the one expressed by Stephenson in Snow Crash.
However as Clive Jackson, founder and CEO of Pelican Crossing, Inc
11
, affirms “his idea,
although providing an excellent starting point, does not begin to encompass the true
potential of what the actual Metaverse could be. The Metaverse has the potential to be
much richer in culture and content than is suggested in his novel. The Metaverse can
provide a place for training, education, music, art, theater, commerce, virtual heritage,
games and more
12
” (Jackson, 2007).
9
Stephenson, N. 1992. Snow Crash. Acknowledgements. Penguin Books (UK). (page 439)
10
“The hypercard […] is used in the Metaverse to represent a chunk of data. It might be text, audio, video a still image,
or any other information that can be represented digitally” Stephenson, N. 1992. Snow Crash. Penguin Books (UK)
(page 40). In Second Life hypercards took the name of notecards.
11
Pelican Crossing is the developer of Blink 3D™, a system for creating multi-user 3D environments
12
Jackson, C. 2007. The Metaverse 2.0. Pellican Crossing, Inc
http://www.pelicancrossing.com/WhitePapers/TheMetaverse20.pdf [25
th
September 2007]
- - 11
Communication and Education in Second Life
The Latin root of the word education is ex-dùcere, literally to lead out, which
reminds of the fact that the educational activity does not create concepts from nothing, but,
on the contrary, it fosters the growth of the person, respecting his nature and freedom
(Cantoni, Di Blas, 2006). Moreover, education constitutes a communicative activity and,
vice versa, communication constitutes an educational activity: both processes actually
belong to the man, intended as zóon logikón, an existing being characterized by intellect,
reason and language (Cantoni, Botturi, Succi, 2007). A successful educational
communication is consequently reached when the receiver of the message achieves a
deeper comprehension of the reality, thanks to the information conveyed by the emisor.
Education possesses a peculiarity, common to all forms of communication, which
consists in taking advantage of every form of technology, in order to increase its
possibilities (Cantoni, Botturi, Succi, 2007): the use of technology in education
consequently enhances communication, providing several tools and media which enrich
teaching and learning processes. Communication in Second Life is supported by a rich
technological potential, which allows students and teachers to experience different forms
of interaction, which belong to both electronic and face-to-face communication.
Electronic communication in Second Life
Communication in a virtual environment encloses specific elements of electronic
communication, that means all the forms of interaction originated on the Internet and
diffused by electronic means.
The first characteristic of Second Life’s interaction is the multimedia
communication: the virtual world actually provides different communication elements,
such as videos, images and sounds, which are referred to different codes
13
(Cantoni, Di
13
“In semiotics, a code is a sets of conventions or sub-codes currently in use to communicate meaning”. Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia. s.v. Code (semiotics). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_(semiotics) [30
th
September 2007]
- - 12
Blas, 2006). This characteristic is very useful in education, since it provides a wide range
of possibilities for teachers and students, who want to experiment an immersive
communication experience, that simultaneously stimulates different senses, such as view
and hearing.
Another important element of Second Life’s communication is the interactivity: the
easy and rapid interaction, between the emisor and the receiver of the message, allows
forms of open dialogue and direct communication (Cantoni, Di Blas, 2006), which increase
the value of the virtual learning process.
Finally, the communication elements of the 3D environment are characterized by
accessibility: text files, audio and video offered within Second Life are always near the
user, without spatial restraints (ibidem), allowing students and teachers to reach easily the
educational materials.
Face-to-face communication in Second Life?
Second Life provides a sense of presence that lacks in other communication media.
This characteristic is due to the 3D representation of avatars and objects, which contributes
to the creation of a spatial dimension, in which users can move and communicate.
Teacher’s movement and gestures during a lesson, in both real and Second life, are
important communication components. Through his movements a speaker can actually
catch the attention of his public or, on the contrary, lose it. All the process of nonverbal
communication (NVC) such as gestures, body language and postures, assume, here in SL,
a completely new signification: although avatars do not provide facial expressions or a rich
body language (gestures need to be activated right-clicking on the avatar), students who
take part in virtual lessons are projected into an immersive multisensory experience, full of
communication stimulus.
Communication in teaching and learning is also closely connected to the concept of
space: the key elements of an educational environment are actually based on the interaction
between people, on their learning methods and contents, and on the tools provided by the
environment for their educational purposes (Cantoni, Botturi, Succi, 2007). Second Life
revolutions the concept of standard educational environment: lessons can actually be
attended in a garden or in a swimming pool, in a desertic or lunar environment, or in the
- - 13
streets of a well known town; the only limit is imagination. This richness of scenarios
engenders an even richer communication, which is inspired by the multiplicity of objects
and tools that the virtual world provides. Educational communication can also be
influenced by participants’ presence in the space: communication could actually be
classified as syntopic, when participants are in the same place (e.g. a traditional course in a
real classroom), or asyntopic, when students and teachers communicate from different
locations (Cantoni, Botturi, Succi, 2007). Again Second Life provides a mix of both
elements, since it allows an asyntopic communication from people around the world, but,
at the same time, it provides a syntopic communication through avatars, within the
immersive environment.
When analyzing communication, time is also an important parameter, which helps
understanding the impact of learning tools over communication. Communication tools
provided for educational purposes are various: forum, chat, blog, wiki, VOIP,
14
etc. Each
tool possesses peculiar characteristics that influence communication (ibidem). For what
concerns time, a distinction between synchronous and asynchronous communication
should be done. A synchronous communication takes place when the message reaches the
receiver in real time, for example during a phone call, while an asynchronous
communication is characterized by an interval between the production and the reception of
the message (ibidem).
14
“Voice over Internet Protocol, also called VoIP is the routing of voice conversations over the Internet or through any
other IP-based network” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. s.v. VOIP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_over_IP [30
th
September 2007]
- - 14
Communication Table and Media Table
Teaching and learning processes could be considered as communicative and social
activities, which give birth to different communication dynamics. These dynamics are the
result of the interaction between various elements, which strongly influence the
educational process. Three main communication elements are involved in the learning
process:
ƒ people
ƒ contents
ƒ methods
These elements constitute the fundamentals of the educational interaction, and are
particularly useful for those who design and create e-Learning applications, because they
enclose peculiar characteristics, related with both traditional and distance education, that
are needed to guarantee a quality product (Oliver, Herrington, 2007). However, other
specific parameters, such as support, time, space, media, are required in order to describe
and analyse an e-Learning scenario. All these elements could be represented under a
triangular scheme, which displays the connection between each parameter.
space
time
media
communication
support
METHODS
interactivity
DESIGN
CONTENTS
PEOPLE
Figure 2: Key elements of an e-Learning scenario. Cantoni, L. and L. Botturi, C. Succi,
New MineE Lab. 2007. e-Learning Capire, progettare, comunicare. (page 149)
- - 15
Ricevi informazioni sui nostri servizi, sulle offerte e non perdere news e consigli su università e lavoro.
