Second Life in Education: Dip, Cliff, or Cul-de-Sac?
While sitting in Atlanta Airport after NECC awaiting my flight, a small gathering of educational technologist gathered to continue discussing all things education. With a whirlwind of ideas and thoughts being expressed, one technologist brought out Seth Godin’s book The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When To Quit (And When to Stick)” as strong read. Not one to pass down a good read, I went out and bought the book only for it to gather dust on a pile of “must reads”.
Just this past week, I finally got a chance to read this book and it couldn’t have been at a better time given the recent discussions about Second Life in the blogosphere.
The general premise of Godin’s book is that successful people recognize what is worth the investment and what is worth quitting: “Quit the wrong stuff. Stick with the right stuff. Have the guts to do one or the other” (2007, p.4). To do this, Godin describes three curves that a person must recognize in making such a decision: The Dip, Cliff, Cul-de-Sac.
As Second Life has reach a point where many educators are now familiar with this virtual world and have even begun exploring it, the time is right to ask the question of whether or not Second Life in education is in the Dip, Cliff, or Cul-de-Sac.
Curve One: The Dip
According to Godin (2007), The Dip is both fun and exciting at first including a lot of people expressing support for the move. Soon there after, engagement peaks as learning and growth occur rapidly sustaining excitement: “the rapid learning you experience keeps you going. Whatever your new thing is, it’s easy to stay engaged in it” (p.17).
However, eventually there comes a dip, the challenging part where some give up and others push through leading to success. As Godin states, “The Dip is the secret to the success” as it forces people to drive harder to the next level where few exist, a place beyond mediocrity.
Curve Two: The Cul-de-Sac
The Cul-de-Sac is quite simply a dead end where “you work and you work and you work and nothing much changes. It doesn’t get a lot better, it doesn’t get a lot worse. It just is” (p.19). Obviously, these situations or projects are a waste of time and it is where Godin’s idea of quitting comes into play. By strategically quitting these dead ends, it allows for more time and energy for The Dips.
Curve Three: The Cliff
The Cliff, like The Cul-de-Sac, is another curve that one should get out of as quickly as possible. However, it seems to be the most challenging because The Cliff seems to have an unlimited upside or growth scale making it harder for a person to quit the longer they stay with the situation. The problem comes when eventually the cliff suddenly appears and “you fall off and the whole thing falls apart” (p.21).
Second Life in Education
For many, there is little doubt that Second Life is a Dip but I’m not convinced. In fact, I’m seriously beginning to believe that Second Life is far from a Dip and more of a Cul-de-Sac if not a Cliff. However, this thinking leads to a problem! It means I must quit, something I’m not use to doing as I’ve always seen it as a sign of failure.
However, Godin sees quitting as an intellectual strategy, an addition by subtraction theory. In fact, he sees it as “smart and represents real insight and bravery” if someone quits a situation that is a Cul-de-Sac or Cliff. In fact, he says, “the biggest obstacle to success in life is our inability to quit these curves soon enough” (p.22).
So I’m seriously pondering whether Second Life in Education is in a Dip that will have a serious impact on education if more time, energy, and effort are put into it, a Cul-de-Sac where we are spinning our wheels and making excuses on how it has potential and will get better, or if it is an exciting situation with the Cliff right around the corner.
Thus, if Second Life in education isn’t a Dip, what is the point of sticking with it?
Resource
Godin, S. (2007). The dip: A little book that teachers you when to quit and when to stick. New York, NY: Do You Zoom, INC.
Comments
I would agree that Second Life is in the first part of the curve and is rapidly approaching the "Dip." The question becomes this: How will those with a passion for Second Life lean into the Dip, negotiate it, and help others to do the same?
Posted by: David Jakes | July 29, 2007 2:17 PM
Ryan, could it all be in the perspective? I have just discovered SL and am so excited to share about it with my school. I am watching closely what people like Kathy Schrock are doing. Schools are so slow to move with technology, I am positive many have never heard of SL. They could be described as at the bottom of the first hill. I wouldn't quit yet...
Posted by: Tina Steele | July 29, 2007 2:45 PM
Ryan, could it all be in the perspective? I have just discovered SL and am so excited to share about it with my school. I am watching closely what people like Kathy Schrock are doing. Schools are so slow to move with technology, I am positive many have never heard of SL. They could be described as at the bottom of the first hill. I wouldn't quit yet...
Posted by: Tina Steele | July 29, 2007 2:47 PM
Tina:
Perspective is reality, right?
The problem is the perspective is often blinded by initial excitement and it seems Second Life might just be one of those situations.
As I reflect on over a year in Second Life, I'm really beginning to feel as though Second Life is a cliff where the excitement is so high but eventually it comes crashing down.
Don't get me wrong. I see MUVEs as a great tool in education and will continue to explore how to bring these into education, but I've reached a point of evaluating my investment/return with Second Life.
In other words, I see MUVEs as reaching the Dip and I'll continue to invest time, energy, and resources into these but I have some serious reflecting to do on whether Second Life is the best MUVE.
I would encourage those that have yet to or just starting to enter Second Life "see the curve in advance" and look past possible blind excitement.
However, I'm asking the three questions Godin suggests before quitting: Am I panicking, who am I trying to influence, and what sort of measurable progress am I making.
Posted by: Ryan Bretag (Existential Paine) | July 29, 2007 3:30 PM
Great question David. I guess I'm stepping back and thinking about it from a different perspective.
I am pondering and negotiating my thought pattern that suggests MUVEs have reached or are approaching the Dip but Second Life is possibly a Cliff.
Thus, your question is a powerful one indeed but I'm replacing Second Life with MUVE or Virtual Worlds.
Thanks for the powerful, reflective question.
Posted by: Ryan Bretag (Existential Paine) | July 29, 2007 3:35 PM
You are making a great point by distinguishing Second Life from MUVEs in general. In this case, if you decide that SL is not the right tool to continue in, it wasn't wasted time. Even spending new time and effort on it won't be wasted if the experiences and lessons learned can give you insight into what to look for in the next MUVE.
Posted by: sylvia martinez | July 30, 2007 5:03 AM
I couldn't agree with you more. I still believe that MUVEs have value in education but I believe that after more than a year on Second Life that it simply isn't the MUVE for education.
What MUVE is ready for education? I'm really not convinced one is out there currently. However, I have spent so much time on Second Life that I haven't fully explored all the options.
At the same time, I'm not turned away from Second Life as a personal learning landscape option. Given that the majority of educators in virtual worlds seem to be in Second Life, it only makes sense that this is the best option currently simply on a matter of population (gosh knows, it isn't on reliability and performance).
It is all about looking at quitting as an opportunity to put energy into projects that have greater potential for educational change. For me, I'm starting to see that Second Life just isn't one of those projects worth investing the time but I am still convinced, more than ever, that MUVEs are!
Posted by: Ryan Bretag (Existential Paine) | July 31, 2007 1:45 AM
I couldn't agree with you more. I still believe that MUVEs have value in education but I believe that after more than a year on Second Life that it simply isn't the MUVE for education.
What MUVE is ready for education? I'm really not convinced one is out there currently. However, I have spent so much time on Second Life that I haven't fully explored all the options.
At the same time, I'm not turned away from Second Life as a personal learning landscape option. Given that the majority of educators in virtual worlds seem to be in Second Life, it only makes sense that this is the best option currently simply on a matter of population (gosh knows, it isn't on reliability and performance).
It is all about looking at quitting as an opportunity to put energy into projects that have greater potential for educational change. For me, I'm starting to see that Second Life just isn't one of those projects worth investing the time but I am still convinced, more than ever, that MUVEs are!
Posted by: Ryan Bretag (Existential Paine) | July 31, 2007 1:49 AM
Hi Ex,
I was in SL tonight. It was relaxing, a fire, friends and lots of chat. I am still looking for purpose for SL. Currently, I find more excitement in Webcasting, simulaneous chatting in a chat room, while talking and then creating a podcast with chat log. When voice comes to SL, maybe it will be a Cacophony which we will determine then if there is even more purpose.
Posted by: Cheryl Oakes | August 1, 2007 3:05 AM
My experience with Second Life has been less than positive, and I struggle to find out why there is so much excitement surrounding it.
I am an experienced computer user, technician, and web developer for schools. I found SL to be slow, bug-ridden, overloaded with bloat and unnecessary features, and not worthy of praise. Even the online community of World of Warcraft, for example, are infinitely more polished.
Most schools are not running the brand new computers. The Mac version of Second Life in particular is close to unusable on even modern Macs.
While the Second Life team may be cashing in on the trend and idea, the implementation is weak and inefficient.
Posted by: James | August 7, 2007 8:25 PM
I like the article .. many thanks ... for what is, I suspect, similar to the health warnings on the side of a packet of cigarettes.
My problem with this is that I never know if I'm wasting my time until after I've already used it .... but don't see it as a waste even if the outcome is not to continue with a project.
If I could predict the future I wouldn't be an educator I'd be a stock broker.
I'm certainly accelerating on the 'Roller Coaster" graph above in relation to S.L. and am really having fun and it's a great learning experience ... with skills but more importantly the interactions and exploring new opportunities for T&L.
One of my thoughts (I'm in Asia) is that if (when) a Pandemic strikes again then S.L. could be an excellent tool to supplement the CMS/LMS/VLE that individual schools (k-12) already have in place ... so if students are confined to their home for a period of time then T&L could take place more easily.
Yours
... a non-smoker ;-)
shamblesguru Voom
Posted by: Chris Smith | August 8, 2007 5:23 AM