Virtual 3D Teaming
An exercise in Second Life
Steve Mahaley, Duke CE
Robin Teigland, SSE
November 2007
Purpose
 This document presents a pilot seminar in which a virtual
3D teaming exercise was conducted in Second Life on
November 12, 2007.
 The exercise was developed for use in various masters
and executive education programs by
− Steve Mahaley, Director of Learning Technology at Duke
Corporate Education (www.dukece.com)
− Robin Teigland, Associate Professor at the Stockholm School of
Economics (SSE) (www.hhs.se)
 The exercise is still in the developmental phase, and this
was the very first time that it was conducted.
 The participants of the 3D exercise were Master of Science
students in the Global Entrepreneurial Leadership (GEL)
course offered by the Stockholm School of
Entrepreneurship (www.sses.se) taught by Dr. Lena
Ramfelt.
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Contents
 Virtual 3D teaming exercise participants
 Exercise preparation
 Delivery of exercise
 Debriefing and feedback
 Powerpoints used in class to present the
exercise
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Seminar faculty participants
 GEL Course Faculty
− Dr. Lena Ramfelt, [email protected]
− Uchenna (Benjanmin) Chinwe, [email protected]
 Second Life Teaming Exercise Faculty
− Steve Mahaley, Director of Learning Technology at Duke
CE, [email protected], more info at
http://www.dukece.com/our_people/staff/Mahaley_Steve.
htm
− Robin Teigland, Associate Professor at the Stockhlm
School of Economics, [email protected], more info
at www.knowledgenetworking.org
− Staffan Åkerblom, Program Director at IFL at SSE,
[email protected]
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Exercise student participants
 The participants were Master of Science students
− Enrolled in the Global Entrepreneurial Leadership (GEL) course
offered by the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship (SSES)
 Students were from various regions of the world
−
−
−
−
About 50% European and 50% Asian with a few North Americans
Technology backgrounds
About 30% women
Originally scoped at around 20 but the ‘experiment’ attracted over
50 participants
 SSES is a partnership between the following:
−
−
−
−
The Stockholm School of Economics (SSE), www.sse.edu
The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), www.kth.se
Karolinska Institute (KI), www.ki.se
The University College of Arts Crafts and Design (Konstfack),
www.konstfack.se
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Contents
 Virtual 3D teaming exercise participants
 Preparation
 Delivery of exercise
 Debriefing and feedback
 Powerpoints used in class to present the
exercise
@teigland.com 2007
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Faculty preparation
 Steve and Robin created 21 avatars for the students to use,
each with its own look and inventory
− A color-coded t-shirt indicating team membership
− A set of specific parts for building a bridge
 Steve and Robin also prepared the exercise environment
− Built 4 teaming stations, including in-world Instructions Notecards
for the participants to use
− Located 4 people to be in-world coaches / observers to help each
team answer questions (Steve, Robin, Lena, and Staffan)
− Built a debriefing area in-world complete with seating and a display
panel showing the debrief questions
− Assigned 1 person (Coca Cooljoke aka Carl Palsson) responsible for
taking video and pictures of the event as it unfolded
− Prepared a ‘tips’ sheet for printing that the participants could have
on-hand during the experience (found on slide 11).
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Exercise preparation
•A Bridge Kit was
assembled for each team
•Inside these folders was
a specific sub-folder
containing a limited and
unique set of parts for
each avatar on the team
•This was designed to
push the conversation
among the team members
regarding what resources
each person had to
contribute
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Student preparation
 Students were invited to participate in this experiment
− A non-graded event during one of their regularly scheduled classes
 Participants were given the following preparatory
assignments:
− Download and install Second Life and create an avatar
− Explore the Second Life orientation areas and learn how to
navigate and communicate
− Secure a working headset for voice communication
− Read a couple of articles on Second Life and virtual teaming
− Research and find an article about Second Life
 Click here for the full preparatory instructions
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Contents
 Virtual 3D teaming exercise participants
 Exercise preparation
 Delivery of exercise
 Debriefing and feedback
 Powerpoints used in class to present the
exercise
@teigland.com 2007
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Delivery of exercise
 Given the high number of students interested, we decided to pair
up the students
 In total, we had 21 avatars operated by pairs of students
(therefore, 42 students) while the remaining 14 students stayed in
the classroom to observe the exercise on a big screen
 After a brief introduction to the exercise in the classroom, the
students were sent off in their pairs to find a location in the area
with strong network connectivity
 The students were also given a printed copy of the tips sheet
(covering the basics of SL) and Steve’s email address to contact
when they were successfully inworld. Click here for the tip sheet.
 Once in place, students contacted Steve, who immediately
distributed the account information for the avatars
 Students then began appearing in-world and worked to find their
teammates and a starting point at one of the teaming stations
 Teams worked more and less effectively, some having trouble with
voice chat vs. text chat, and a few that just checked out and did
not participate
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Opening the Instructions Canister
•Each Team’s
Instructions Canister
contained an
Instructions Notecard
•We wanted to
capitalize on the
‘adventure’ feeling of
this experience by
having this somewhat
mysterious item for
them to open
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Sample Instructions Notecard
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Starting the exercise
Each team had the same colored t-shirt.
The Swedish team had white t-shirts.
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Building the bridges
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A completed bridge
•Each team member
needed to be able to walk
from the land to the
platform without falling in
the water
•Note that this team
decided to put posts in
place to support the
bridge
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•This was actually
unnecessary as the parts
can ‘float’ – and a good
debriefing point related to
assessing one’s
environment and thinking
outside of the box when
faced with a challenge 16
Contents
 Virtual 3D teaming exercise participants
 Exercise preparation
 Delivery of exercise
 Debriefing and feedback
 Powerpoints used in class to present the
exercise
@teigland.com 2007
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Debriefing
 After all the bridges were nearly complete, we directed the
students to the debriefing area in world
− This was chaotic and students were too distracting and distracted
− Soon it became clear that we should have the students convene in real
life back in the classroom for the debrief
 During the debrief, students noted a number of positive and
negative aspects of the experience based on these questions
− Question 1: Take a minute to reflect on what was challenging about
this exercise

What was different about doing this in Second Life as opposed to doing a
similar experience in real life?
− Question 2: Tell us about how you organized yourselves



How did you decide who was going to do what?
How did you come up with your design?
How did you find out who had what parts?
− Question 3: Tell us about your individual processes


Did you experience any intense feelings (positive or negative) during the
exercise?
When and why?
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Debriefing session
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Feedback from students
 Largely, the feedback was positive
− Participants discovered something about virtual worlds and what can
be done in them and about some traps in those worlds that
challenge teams
 There was some criticism of the setup
− We did not have the participants do enough in advance to be
proficient with the Second Life technology
− We should tighten up the range of options participants had during
the event – have them appear with their team members already in
place and at the same time, further limit the construction items in
their inventories, etc.
 Internally, we came up with a laundry list of items to
tighten as well
− Initial preparation, e.g., get very specific about what teaming
behaviors we wish to spotlight and test and provide specific reading
material on that in advance
− Delivery, e.g., lots of small tweaks to manage the logistical aspects
and to perhaps make an in-world debrief work
− Follow-up work, e.g., have the participants more accountable for
their reflections on the experience
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Reflection assignment
 Students were assigned the task of submitting a
reflection piece to the course program website and to
interact in a discussion forum
 Steve interacted with some of the students in the
discussion forum for a period of about 2 weeks postevent
 Click here for one of the team assignments
 Click here for a summary of the reflection feedback
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Potential for application
 What this environment and teaming exercise are clearly good
at highlighting are issues related to the following:
− Communication


Text and voice chat offer options, but in both cases the distance can
highlight communication that is not clear or plainly absent
Clear communication becomes essential and requires more attention
− Team chartering


Clarity around team mission, organization, roles and process are equally
important
This is of course tightly linked to communication as without that, the
chartering and clarity that could provide will not happen
− Trust


This is a somewhat more subtle aspect of the experience, but it is evident
that some participants questioned the motives and actions of the
‘strangers’ with whom they were arranged as teams
This environment has the potential to provide shared experience for
participants that can build trust before they arrive at a face-to-face event
− Innovation and Problem Solving
One rather amusing insight the participants (most of them) arrived at was
that the virtual world did not require that their bridges have supporting
structures
 Pushing and manifesting innovative thinking can be visually evident in this
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space 2007

Thanks!!
 We would like to extend a big thank you to Lena
Ramfelt and all the GEL participants!!
 Also to Staffan Åkerblom and to Carl Palsson for
helping out in running the exercise!
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Contents
 Virtual 3D teaming exercise participants
 Exercise preparation
 Delivery of exercise
 Feedback
 Powerpoints used in class to present the
exercise
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