Abstract

Second Life Fireside Chats: Social Presence in Online GIS Courses
Track: Teaching with GIS in Higher Education
Author(s): Michael DeMers

A key component of the constructivist educational model often applied to online learning is the learning community. Methods of developing online learning communities include shared biographies, required student-to-student interaction, voice communication, and video contact via webcam. One aspect of learning community known to have a positive impact on student success, whether online or face-to-face, is called social presence. Social presence connotes salience, perceived intimacy, and immediacy. The online community known as second life© provides an opportunity to increase the social presence in online courses by allowing students to have their alter egos called avatars be present and interact with each other as though they were actually together. I employed a virtual fireside chat metaphore in second life where students gathered in an informal setting to share techniques, lab experiences, ideas, and GIS horror stories. This paper describes the concept, methods, approach, relative merits, and initial student reactions to this approach.

Michael DeMers
New Mexico State University
5435 Remington Rd.
Las Cruces , New Mexico 88011
United States
Phone: (505) 496-5231
E-mail: demers01@gmail.com