California coast at sunset, near Bodega Bay Second Life landscape at sunset   
Photos by Jeska Linden
Hi there. My name is Stephany Filimon and I am currently conducting a study on communication modality and learning in Second Life.

Have questions? Please feel free to contact me via email at filiste [at] iit [dot] edu or stephany [at] lindenlab [dot] com.

All participants who successfully complete all phases of this study will receive $10 USD via PayPal or a $10 USD Amazon.com email gift certificate.




Study Information

Study Background and Goals
What will study participants be asked to do?
Your Anonymity
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Study Background and Goals

This research project is an effort to better understand communication in Second Life and how it impacts learning.

For a few years now, the media has written about the potential of social virtual worlds like Second Life for things like remote meetings and conferences, collaboration, and education. Many of these claims are unfounded and have little or no data to support them. This project is one effort to investigate the learning potential of, and better understand communication in, Second Life in a sound empirical way.

Your participation in this research project will provide an improved and reliable understanding of learning and communication in Second Life, and will help universities, educators, and others to improve Second Life and better support these activities.

What will study participants be asked to do?

This project is comprised of four main parts and takes part entirely online. You do not need to leave home or go anywhere to participate. You will be asked to:
  1. Read and complete a consent form that expresses your willingness to participate in this research project.
  2. Complete a brief screening questionnaire about your Second Life experience, communication preferences, and computer equipment and settings (after submitting the consent form).
  3. Attend a single, one-hour class in Second Life called Introduction to Building in Second Life.
  4. After the class ends, complete one questionnaire and a few additional questions about what you learned in class.

The data gathered and analyzed will consist only of statistical measures of questionnaire responses, measures of learning from the building class, and communication transcripts (voice, text, or both) from the building class.

Expectations of Study Participants

1. Communication Mode: After submitting the Consent Form and Screening Questionnaire, you will be randomly assigned to one of three possible groups. Your group may be one that prefers to use text communication, voice communication, or both. Since group assignment is random, you MUST agree to use the communication mode used by your group. Please do NOT complete the consent form and screening questionnaire if you are not willing or able to use text communication, voice communication, or both for any reason.

2. Class Attendance: You will be asked to attend one of several available Introduction to Building classes based on your group assignment. This class will take place in Second Life. You may choose the class time and date that is most convenient for you, but you must attend one of the classes listed. Your class list is based on the group to which you were randomly assigned.

Please do NOT complete the screening questionnaire if you cannot commit to attending the Introduction to Building class for approximately one hour sometime during the next few weeks. Your attendance will be noted during the class. You only need to attend once.

3. Time: The total time expected from you is 2 hours (from screening questionnaire to post-class questions)

4. Valid Email Address: You will receive an email at the email address you provided in the Screening Questionnaire. This email will contain additional information on participation, a schedule (dates and times) of available Introduction to Building classes, and other relevant information.

Your Anonymity

No identifying information about your avatar (besides the avatar name, which is shown in Second Life in your avatar name tag), your Second Life usage, or real-life data is needed or desired for participation in this study. A valid Second Life name is needed only for verification, to ensure that the name is a valid Second Life account and that you can log in to Second Life using that avatar name. During the data analysis phase of this project, all data will be tagged with unique numerical identifiers. No data will be tied to either your Second Life (avatar) name or real-world identity. We do not want avatar names to skew the way researchers think about the data they need to analyze!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

  1. Can my friends participate too?

    2. Definitely! We need more people to join the study, so please give them the URL of this web page if you think you know someone who might be interested. Your friend can then complete the consent form and screening questionnaire and see if they meet the requirements.

  2. Who are you?

    3. I am a Ph.D. candidate at the Illinois Institute of Technology, doing this project as part of my dissertation. I am also a full-time employee at Linden Lab in San Francisco, where I've been for a couple of years now.

  3. What will you do with this research?

    4. As I write more about this work, I will publicly post any papers and welcome your comments. I also welcome your feedback at anytime at filiste [at] iit [dot] edu or stephany [at] lindenlab [dot] com. I am also often available in Second Life during standard business hours on Pacific Time as Stephany Linden.

  4. How do I know this is the real deal?

    5. If you have any questions about the validity of this study, please contact the Illinois Institute of Technology Institutional Review Board (IRB). You are welcome to contact Glenn Krell MPA, CRA, Executive Officer of the IIT Institutional Review Board (IRB) at irb [at] iit [dot] edu or (312) 567-7141.

Thank you again for your interest in participating!

About Me

I am a Program Manager of Engineering at Linden Lab in San Francisco, CA, where I work on Second Life. I completed my M.S. at IIT in December 2004 and am completing my dissertation work for a Ph.D. in Technical Communication at IIT. I expect to graduate in May 2009. My supportive committee members are:

Next Step:Read and Sign the Consent Form >>