IF+in+SL

//** Why Second Life? **//
 * on the edge
 * reaching to the future
 * embracing the unknown
 * harnessing the energy but with a willingness to follow the flow
 * engages and challenges all the senses
 * another layer of literacy
 * potential for learning and for play
 * playful interaction with the environment
 * place-based learning
 * experiential learning
 * engaging learners
 * social interaction
 * feedback
 * networking
 * support
 * collaboration

Second Life as a platform for communication, creativity, and collaboration holds tremendous potential: the collective potential of all of the participants. Virtual worlds like Second Life raise the bar for defining what constitutes communication, bringing people to the edge of what is possible. Technology, in the form of Web 2.0 applications, has already altered traditional communication by making it possible for anyone with Internet access to create, disseminate, and retrieve content. Virtual worlds offer another vehicle for sharing that content. As with Web 2.0 applications, Second Life thrives on user interaction. Second Life content is created solely by the residents in conjunction with the host company [|Linden Labs]. "having the exceptional property that it (the online world of Second Life) advances the capabilities of the many people that use it, and by doing so affects and transforms them in a positive way."

"...the Residents of Second Life rely on individual and collective resourcefulness to achieve their goals in a complex, vast and ever-shifting virtual terrain... (from the [|Linden Labs'] website). Successful Web 2.0 technologies also rely on collective resourcefulness. As interactive Web applications evolve and influence how we use technology, we will continue to see new structures for communication. What becomes of those innovations depends on how we incorporate them into our daily lives. It is equally important to keep an eye on the policies that will affect how we are //allowed// to incorporate them.

Second Life represents another layer through which participants can experience learning. The learning is: informal and transient, personal and collective, specific and general, superficial or thought-provoking. Depending on the path(s) you follow, Second Life offers a rich, experiential interface. It takes part of real life, mixes it with technology, and creates a mash-up; a cultural remix. Embracing the result, this cultural remix, opens up an infinite realm of creativity.



It is a prime location to root oneself as a librarian, an educator, a community activist; anyone charged with providing access to information

Still nascent in that there are many rough or clunky details, Second Life reeks with potential. People exploring and manipulating the potential have one foot in Real Life and the other firmly planted in Second Life. What is most compelling is that the early adapters, the technologically adventurous are helping to guide the evolution of the next manifestation of the Web: 3.0.

The focus here is Second Life as an educational resource. How are educators incorporating it into their curriculum? How are students reacting to it? How are community organizations using it? What has been the response of their constituents?

Clay Shirky, in his book, //[|Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations]//, discusses the moment in which we are now; technology has become so ubiquitous that we no longer have to think about the software and hardware that support the applications we use. This freedom supports exploration of applications most people would not have been able to access even a few years ago. According to Shirky, in a [|presentation] at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, we are "living through the largest increase in human expressive capability in history." This is beacuse of the Internet and how it has evolved in the very recent past. The Internet is "not a decoration on society, but a challenge to it."
 * //Thoughts about an emerging culture for the 21st century//**


 * //How we are going to meet the challenge and embrace the potential it represents is a critical component in assuring intellectual freedoms as we knew them prior to this moment are able to thrive as we move into the future.//**

Because of the social capabilities of the Internet, evidenced in the ubiquitous success of Web 2.0 applications, networking, collaboration, and group forming "just got easier" (Shirky). These virtual networks have changed, and continue to change, the nature of our culture. In regards to intellectual freedom, the way people are using the Internet to access and manipulate information is so social, the interaction actually alters the nature of information and communication. Because of the Internet's group forming capability, "freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly all now the same freedom" (Shirky).

//**How is access to information influenced by such a fundamental change in how information is presented?**//

Two terms I float around when thinking about technology, culture, and intellectual freedom are 'remix' and 'mashup.' Both these terms are most often identified with the music world where artists take pieces from different works and combine them into a new work. Mashup also refers to a web application that combines data from different sources into one tool. The meanings are similar.

Wikepedia Definitions: [|Mashup] (music) [|Mashup] (web application) [|Remix] Lawrence Lessig- [|Presentation at the iCommons Summit 2008] addressed copyright issues in relationship to the new communication and creative content possible beacuse of the Internet and Web 2.0 technologies. While his focus is copyright, his message can be equally applied to intellectual freedom. He argues that the creative expression from remix is in its turn creating the culture relevant to the 21st century. Remix exemplifies the original intent of what should be protected by copyright: the ability to build on previous work to create something new.

Intellectual freedom is also about the ability to build on information to make something new. In this case it means using information to develop a thought further, to better inform oneself, to be able to explain a concept to someone else. The new freedom of expression is available to the amateur because of the advances in technology, but it is still, perhaps more critically, important to protect these freedoms so that everyone will continue to be able to learn, create, and express themselves.

"this technique (remix) is now democratized taking the sounds and images from the culture around us and doing something with it in a way that expresses ideas powerfully, more powerfully than they could be expressed in simple words... it is writing in the socially, culturally relevant sense for the 21 st century and to be able to engage in this writing is a measure of your literacy in the 21st century; the literacy of a new generation building a certain kind of culture; a read/write culture" (Lessig, from the Summit presentation).

Lessig introduces the idea of the Global Commons as an arena where people come together to celebrate the opportunities the Internet technology represent and to facilitate its potential. He suggests it is an opportunity to find an equitable co-existence for law and free expression of ideas. To paraphrase Lessig, when the architecture of technology comes into contact with the architecture of technology policy, this generation's intellectual freedom is endangered (from the Summit presentation). Unless;

the library as an entity that promotes equitable access to information and supports a platform for freedom of expression is where the culture is. Ideally, the library would be ahead of where the culture is trending by understanding the tools/technology. It can be even more in the lead by becoming the native welcoming people to the new world(s) possible with technology and protecting the untamed wilderness as an area that will stand for intellectual freedom for any of its inhabitants.

//**How can we ensure the Internet retains its unique strengths and is accessible to anyone who wishes access? What will happen to the 21st century creative culture if we don't?**//

Education is critical to alert all parties to the cultural precipice on which we are perched. To move policy into the 21st century along side the creators of this new culture requires a neutral advocate who understands the potential of the culture and the missed opportunity in stifling it.

Below are two examples of a remix or mashup. They are meant as an example of Lessig's point that this new form of communication is often more powerful than a written text.

[|A Remix Manifesto]

[|Yes We Can]

//**To be true to the potential of the remix culture, please use the discussion tab to share your thoughts. If you have any examples of positive remix that will support the discussion please add them with a brief explanation directly to the page.**// **//Please//** **//add any ideas and suggestions to this page in a different color * font to help track the changes.//**


 * //* ////for help using wiki features please see the 'How to Wiki' page or visit the official Wikispaces help by clicking on Help at the top of any page. // **

Now comes the hard part! There are a multitude of considerations in implementing a Second Life interactive exhibit featuring the different layers and issues of intellectual freedom in the 21st century; not the least of which is my and Aubergine's lack of technical skill. As the name of the following link implies, we are still in the planning phase.  //**We welcome and suggestions and tips!**// Planning the exhibit