Free Instructional Design Services in Second Life?

Reflecting on the last couple of posts, I have become aware of an assumption I've implicitly made regarding faculty teaching and working in Second Life. I have assumed that faculty working in Second Life have an instructional design or educational technology background, but that's apparently not the case. Why did I assume that, and more importantly, what are the implications of that realization?

I believe I assumed all educators in Second Life had some instructional technology background for three reasons. First, I have that background, so I blindly thought others did - really just didn't give it a thought. Second, while our backgrounds are different, to this point, most of us are speaking the same language focused on early teaching experiences in Second Life. Third, the teaching and learning experiences developed by early adopters in many instances is truly phenomenal from an instructional design and technology perspective, so it appeared that the majority had some sort of a background in the field or were working with an instructional designer. At the very least, most of the education I've seen taking place in Second Life hasn't exhibited quality gaps that are attributed to instructional design - hype perhaps, but not instructional design. Ultimately, I realized that Second Life early adopters may be incredibly talented, experienced and innovative teachers, but that does not mean however they have an instructional design, educational technology or educational psychology background that specializes in the use of technology to facilitate learning.

This realization has two implications, for me.

Initially, there's two levels of conversations to engage regarding the use of Second Life for educational purposes; the latter of the two, I believe, is important to the continued development of education in Second Life. The broader conversation is the one I've been engaged in to this point: a focus on more general descriptions of teaching projects and the use of Second Life as a tool to develop digital assets. The more granular discussion is the one I've started to engage over the last couple of weeks, and that's discussing more specific elements related to teaching in Second Life: assessment, learner motivation, social presence, learner engagement etc.

Finally, I understand that many educational institutions do not employ an instructional designer or educational technologist with formal training in that field. In that situation, I am willing to offer, as much as I possibly can, pro bono assistance with instructional design needs and ideas for Second Life projects; simply contact me at topher at muveforward dot com. I'll do what I can to help and make arrangements for a voice conversation (20-30 minutes) or two via Skype or the first look viewer in world.