Second Life: A CollaborationUIS-CSU-IDPH

Presented by

Deb Antoine-Vidorah Messmer

Veronica Halloway-No Morane

Julian Scheinbuks-Jules Gigamon

The Collaboration

History of the Collaboration

• Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Developed online BASUAH training – Target Audience

• UIS experiments with Second Life• Chicago State University

– Encourage students in Biology of Sexually Transmitted Diseases for non-majors to become BASUAH Ambassadors

– Experiment with teaching in Second Life

University of Illinois at

Springfield4700 students 21 bachelor degrees25 minors20 master degrees1 doctoral degree

14 fully online degree programsE-tuition30% growth91% retention in online programs

Chicago State University

7,000 students37 bachelor degrees22 graduate degrees1 doctoral degree

Largest Minority Population in Illinois• 80% African American• 0.6% Asian American or Pacific

Islander• 6.7% Hispanic American • 0.1% Native American• 9.9% Caucasian

70% women, 30% men

Illinois Department of Public Health

BASUAH Initiative• Nationally, AIDS is the leading cause of death among African American women age 25-34 and the second leading cause of death of African American men age 35-44

• Of the total reported HIV cases among females in Illinois, 70 percent were African-American. • Among the total male population with HIV in Illinois, 47 percent were African American.

Illinois Department of Public Health

BASUAH Task• Reach our target audience – college age students 25 – 35

• educate them about HIV/AIDS and the importance of testing

• .convince them to become peer-educators (there peers are more likely to listen to them)

• Offer them free training that they can take on their own time.

• Offer them a venue to practice/use what they have learnt.

Illinois Department of Public Health

BASUAH Solution• Opportunity to collaborate

• UIS-OTEL had expertise in developing e-learning - familiar with state government

• Offered a venue for Ambassadors to practice/use what they have learnt.

Development of the BASUAH Education Center

In 2007 the University of Illinois Springfield’s Office of Technology-Enhanced Learning began developing the BASUAH Education Center with the IDPH.

Benefits of the Collaboration

• Engagement and Retention of BASUAH Ambassadors

• State-wide networking• National networking• Global networking

• Experiment with teaching and learning in Second Life

Resources• ArticlesLearning in the Zone: A social constructivist framework for distance education in a 3D

virtual world

– http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=22045&from=NEWDL

Three-dimensional virtual worlds and distance learning: two case studies of Active Worlds as a medium for distance education

– http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2005.00477.xDesign-based Research Strategies for Developing a Scientific Inquiry Curriculum in a

Multi-User Virtual Environment

– http://muve.gse.harvard.edu/rivercityproject/documents/nelson_edtech_nov2.pdf

• Recommended Reading:– Second Life for Dummies

• Video Tutorials for Second Life– http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Video_Tutorials