{"id":3861,"date":"2007-07-01T15:12:55","date_gmt":"2007-07-01T19:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/?p=3861"},"modified":"2014-11-14T16:02:35","modified_gmt":"2014-11-14T21:02:35","slug":"second-life-breathes-new-life-into-cross-cultural-exchanges-collaborative-projects-and-online-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/2007\/07\/second-life-breathes-new-life-into-cross-cultural-exchanges-collaborative-projects-and-online-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Second Life breathes new life into cross-cultural exchanges, collaborative projects, and online learning."},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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\nRonald Lee<\/strong> <\/em><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

At any given moment, thousands\u2014maybe even millions\u2014of people across the real world log onto a virtual world called Second Life. One of those individuals is Ronald Lee<\/strong>, professor, Decision Sciences and Information Systems in the College of Business Administration.<\/p>\n

For Lee and a group of five doctoral students, Second Life is not just a place for casual social networking conducted from behind the anonymity of an alternate personality or avatar. Instead, it offers a potentially promising environment for collaborative work and cross-cultural understanding\u2014two arenas of vital importance to the business school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are exploring how Second Life\u2014a three-dimensional, highly interactive, Internet-supported platform\u2014can enhance these efforts,\u201d Lee said. \u201cWith our university\u2019s multicultural emphasis, our position as a gateway to Latin Am\u00e9rica, and our leadership in expanding online learning across borders, we are interested in exploring the contributions Second Life can make.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welcome to <\/em>FIU Ryder Island<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\nRonald Lee<\/em><\/strong>, professor, Department of Decision Sciences and Information Systems, meets with his <\/em>Systems Management (In a Changing World) students, represented by their avatars, on <\/em>FIU Ryder Island on Second Life.<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The college has purchased an area on Second Life\u2014FIU<\/em> Ryder Island\u2014on which students have undertaken a number of collaborative building projects. Among the constructions: the \u201cMusketeers\u201d clubhouse, where the doctoral students gather for weekly meetings; a facsimile of the new building complex (under construction at both Modesto A. Maidique Campus and on FIU <\/em>Ryder Island), a hotel, a container ship, and a cruise liner, all in progress.<\/p>\n

Katherine Franceschi<\/strong>, a PhD student in management information systems (MIS), is researching how virtual worlds like Second Life might provide a sense of group presence and cohesion for group-oriented e-learning, aspects not well addressed by current e-learning technologies.<\/p>\n

Second Life has role to play in business education and in business.<\/em><\/p>\n

Because Second Life is so popular, with more than seven million members, it has an easy-to-learn and use interface. Last semester, Lee taught a group of 45 undergraduates how to use the site and said that \u201cmany were remarkably talented in picking up the skills.\u201d He also involved them in a competition to construct the Musketeers clubhouse, an example of learning by doing through which students do not merely chat but make things together . . . from remote locations.<\/p>\n

Lee sees opportunities for expanding the use of Second Life in both educational and business settings.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWorking in teams is the missing link in e-learning, and Second Life may be able to provide it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014Ronald Lee<\/strong>, professor, Decision Sciences and Information Systems in the College of Business Administration<\/p>\n

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\u201cE-learning is growing in both environments, but the format is still dominated by online textbooks and email,\u201d he said. \u201cWorking in teams is the missing link in e-learning, and Second Life may be able to provide it. Also, much of the project work that takes place in face-to-face business school courses involves collaborating in groups\u2014an important learning aspect that is difficult to replicate in the online versions of these courses. \u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, because Second Life enables visitors to travel virtually to other sites, some of them replicas of real places, \u201cthey can gain insights into other cultures, which is an important angle for international business,\u201d according to Lee. \u201cBeyond these ideas, we are looking at several specific industries, including hospitality and travel, to uncover ways Second Life could support their activities, such as marketing across cultures.\u201d<\/p>\n

He will be extending his use of Second Life in his classes to mimic various real-world business challenges. One project will require the integration of independent stores the students have created, which will raise supply chain issues for them to solve.<\/p>\n

\u201cLots of technologies come and go, but people who recognize their best uses early emerge as winners,\u201d Lee said. \u201cThe college\u2019s leadership in innovative uses of technology in business education is reflected in our multi-faceted exploration of Second Life.\u201d<\/p>\n

To take a tour of the new business building complex on FIU <\/em>Ryder Island, visit http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QLuHCbDUjCE<\/a>. To view a video about how Second Life can be used for business purposes, visit http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=synxFmQJ_0A<\/a> (a company called Text 100 in Second Life).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ronald Lee At any given moment, thousands\u2014maybe even millions\u2014of people across the real world log onto a virtual world called Second Life. One of those individuals is Ronald Lee, professor, Decision Sciences and Information Systems in the College of Business Administration. For Lee and a group of five doctoral students, Second Life is not just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,10],"tags":[3959,1467,1924,2308],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3861"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3861"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24247,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3861\/revisions\/24247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}