NMC Campus Observer

NMC Publishes Results of 2008 Educators in SL Survey

CDB Barkley (aka Alan Levine) : Dec 6, 2008 10:48am

Yes, we took out our virtual clipboard back in May 2008 to conduct a followup to our first survey in 2007 of Educators in Second Life. We appreciate the great response this year, with nearly 360 educators completing the survey, an increase of 170% from 2007

Agaqin, we provide the survey results for free under creative commons licensing, along with a summary of comparison between the 2007 and 2008 surveys:

• 2008 NMC Educators in Second Life Survey Summary
• 2008 NMC Educators in Second Life Survey Results

Among the summary points, we found:

• Educators are moving from exploration to use of Second Life for teaching and learning. More respondents report being involved in an educational-related activity in Second Life (increasing from 54% in 2007 to 71% in 2008). More than half report that the organization they are affiliated with owns a sim (up from 36% in 2007) and 74 individuals report in 2008 they own their own sim. This year 29% of survey participants report holding virtual office hours in SL; 37 of them (12%) have taught a class entirely in SL (up from 14 or 8% in 2007).
• Educators are expanding their Second Life social networks.  This year recorded an increase in the numbers of people educators maintain as contacts. In 2007, 53% reported 10 or fewer contacts while in 2008 , this percentage dropped to 32%. The most common range for the size of their contact list in 2008 was 11-30 and the number reporting more than 100 contacts doubled from 2007 (4% to 8%).
• This year’s educators are much more experienced in Second Life.  The percentage who have been in Second Life for 1-3 years increased from 30% in 2007 to 56% this year. However, the demographics of this group are about the same; in terms of game experience most self-classify as “Pac-Man” generation. More then two-thirds are between 36 and 55 years old, and more than 75% do not play console games or MMORPGs. Also similar to last year, about half of the respondents find time for Second Life by watching less television.

Again, more findings are shared in the Survey Summary. Thanks again to everyone who participated.

Story filed under: Campus Headlines
Tags: educators, survey
See all stories by CDB Barkley (aka Alan Levine)