The 13th International Scientific Conference

eLearning and Software for Education

Bucharest, April 27-28, 2017
10.12753/2066-026X-17-084

USING A VIRTUAL SCHOOL FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING THE BASICS

OF 3D MODELING AND LSL SCRIPTING IN SECOND LIFE

Ladislav VÉGH
Department of Mathematics and Informatics, J. Selye University,
Bratislavská cesta 3322, 94501 Komárno, Slovakia
vegh34@gmail.com

Márta TURCSÁNYI-SZABÓ
Department of Media & Educational Informatics, Eötvös Loránd University,
Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
tszmarta@inf.elte.hu

Abstract: Since the appearing of multi-user virtual environments, there were many attempts to use those
in education. In the modern, 3D, multi-user environments, like the Second Life virtual world, users can
move, communicate, create, and modify 3D objects using their avatars. Organizing online conferences
and lectures is probably the most common usage of virtual worlds for educational purposes. However,
except for this type of passive learning, the Second Life virtual world offers possibilities also for
student-centered, active, creative, constructive, and collaborative learning. In this contribution, we
introduce a virtual school that we developed in Second Life. While we created different areas of this
school, we were focusing mainly on the possibilities of teaching the basics of 3D modeling and
programming in Linden Scripting Language (LSL) - which are the two essential skills needed for
developing user-created contents in this environment. Besides the educational tools for teaching and
learning these subjects, we also created some interactive didactic games for practicing English as a
second language (ESL). In this paper, we describe our observations, summarize the possibilities of
using virtual worlds in computer science education, and we mention some of the pros and cons of using
Second Life as an educational platform for teaching and learning 3D modeling and programming.
Because the virtual area of the school is publicly available for every user of Second Life, we also
wanted to know who visits our educational space. For this reason, we created a questionnaire, which is
available 24/7 in the entrance hall of the school. The questionnaire asks for some demographic data,
user’s activities in Second Life, experiences related to 3D modeling and programming, and future
interests in online courses in this environment. The results showed that users have a positive attitude to
learning in Second Life, many of the respondents are interested in 3D modeling and LSL scripting
courses. The detailed results of the questionnaire are presented in the last part of the paper.

Keywords: virtual worlds; virtual school; Second Life; online learning; 3D modeling; programming.

I. INTRODUCTION
Modern, multi-user virtual environments, like virtual worlds, allow users to move,
communicate, create and modify 3D objects using their avatars, i.e. using virtual representations of
themselves. The largest-ever 3D virtual world created entirely by its users is the Second Life
(www.secondlife.com). Users of this virtual world can create 3D objects using a build in editor or
external modeling application, write scripts to make these objects interactive, share objects with
others, or sell them on the marketplace for virtual money. However, except developing interactive 3D
objects, there is more to do in Second Life. Users can build different virtual spaces (e.g. art galleries,
shops, clubs, schools, beaches, forests, castles), organize and participate in events (e.g. live concerts,
discussions, lectures, building classes, parties, role-plays) and much more. The virtual worlds were

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also recognized as educational platforms. More than 300 universities and educational institutes use
them for teaching, learning and research purposes [1-3]. Probably the most common way of using
Second Life for educational purposes is organizing lectures in virtual classrooms. However, virtual
worlds not just offer this type of passive learning, but also student-centered, active, creative,
constructive and collaborative learning, too. For example, there have been attempts to use Second Life
for teaching and learning English as a second language [4-6], photography [7], entrepreneurship [8],
computer programming [9-14], catering and tourism education [15], 3D modeling [16, 17], computer
animation and graphics [18-20], and much more [1, 21-27].

II. A VIRTUAL SCHOOL IN SECOND LIFE

In this paper, we introduce a virtual school which we built in Second Life for Hungarian
speaking users. Our original goal was to create an educational space only for our students, but as we
developed our school, we decided to make it available for everyone. We wanted to help those
Hungarian users, who are interested in learning 3D modeling and programming in this virtual
environment, but do not speak English very well. Currently, the group of our school has more than 160
members from different real-life places, mainly from Hungary and Slovakia, but we have members
also from the USA, UK, Romania, Brazil, France, and Serbia.
Any place in Second Life is accessible using a special 3D browsing software - Second Life
Viewer, downloadable at http://secondlife.com/support/downloads/. The SLURL (Second Life URL)
of our virtual school is secondlife://Hippoden/92/132/27.

Figure 1. Areas and levels of our virtual school

As we built the virtual school, we were taking into consideration different feature of Second
Life. For example, we tried to design open spaces to make flying possible among nearby areas; around
seats are free spaces for creating own objects; we also took into consideration that the text chat
distance is 20 meters and the voice chat distance is 60 meters in Second Life; we design different
learning areas in the sky to make them free from any disturbing factors; users can easily access
different areas of the school using teleport boards. Figure 1 shows the structure of the virtual school
and the locations of the different areas in the 3D space.
In Figure 2 we can see the main building of the school, where the welcome area, help area for
new users, and a chatting area is located. Next to the building is a sandbox for general purposes (such
as for creating, modifying and sharing objects, creating small temporary buildings).

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 Figure 2. The main building and a sandbox of the virtual school

Using virtual worlds in education has many advantages, but also some disadvantages. Among
advantages, we can mention that the 3D environment is engaging, it resembles the modern 3D game
environments. This environment motivates students to create their own interactive objects and avatar
accessories, which can be even shared with other users or sold for virtual money. Another advantage
of using virtual worlds in education is that it offers collaborative and creative learning, students can
work together to build 3D objects or imaginary places even when they are physically miles away from
each other – they only need a computer and an internet connection to log into the virtual space. For
easier communication, they can use voice chat instead of text chat [17, 24, 26, 28].
Unfortunately, there are also some disadvantages of using Second Life in education. As many
3D environments, Second Life also requires a strong graphic card and broadband internet connection
for seamless user experiences. The next problem arises when new students would like to use the
virtual world for the first time – to learn how to move, run, fly, teleport, use the text and voice chat,
customize their avatars, move the camera, and interact with objects takes some time and patience. To
overcome the initial difficulties a group of more experienced users and easily understandable
information boards might help. Except these, we also created some instructional videos and published
them on the website of the virtual school (http://luckstonesuli.blogspot.sk/) [17, 22].
Other problems that might arise from the design and use of virtual words in education are:
applying instructional design principles creatively, leveraging the learning affordances, designing the
proper user experiences, and evaluating pedagogical efficacy [19].

2.1 Teaching and Learning the Basics of 3D Modeling

Creating 3D models is one of the basic skills needed for developing user contents in Second
Life. While students try to build new 3D objects, they can use their creativity and imagination.
Furthermore, they can collaborate in virtual world by working on the same project [16].
There are two main methods of creating 3D models in Second Life; the first one takes
advantage of the in-world object editor. This first method is the most immersive way of creating 3D
models, where students mould the shapes of the 3D models interactively. Different primitive objects
are available in the virtual world, e.g. cubes, cylinders, spheres, cones, tori, which can be resized,
rotated, cut, sliced, twisted, tapered, sheared, hollowed, or grouped together to create new 3D models.
Even though it is possible to create many different shapes using the primitives and the built-in editing
tools, there are some limitations. The vertices of the objects cannot be edited, like in professional 3D
modeling software. In our virtual school students created some simple objects using this method, e.g. a
snowman, a candle (see Figure 3), an Easter basket. At the beginning of every class, students got some
textures and scripts for animations. For creating the basic shape of the objects, they had to use the
built-in editor, following the instructions of the teacher. During the class, they used their imagination
and made the 3D models more personal by choosing different textures, colors, etc.
The second common way of creating 3D models for Second Life is by using external 3D
modeling software products. The objects are created in a professional 3D modeling software, e.g. in
Blender or Maya, exported into Collada (dae) file format, and imported into the Second Life virtual
world. Even though this is the hardest way of creating 3D models, there are no limitations in the
shapes of the objects. Regarding the teaching of 3D modeling in Second Life using this method, it is
necessary to use a screen sharing application (e.g. TeamViewer, Join.me). However, the shared screen
can be projected onto the in-world whiteboard, so apart from the collaborative learning that a screen

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sharing application offers, students can also use the advantageous features of the Second Life, and will
still have the immersed feeling of being together in the same room.

Figure 3. Students are building candles in the classroom of the virtual school

In the virtual school students can also learn 3D modeling individually. Around the learning
area for creating 3D objects (SLURL: secondlife://Hippoden/112/138/3002) interactive information
boards are placed containing 45 topics with gradually increasing difficulty levels, 144 textures, and six
step-by-step instructions of building various 3D models.

2.2 Introduction to Programming Using LSL

To make the 3D models interactive, students can add LSL scripts to the objects. LSL (Linden
Scripting Language) is an event-driven, C-style programming language, developed especially for the
Second Life virtual world. Except for some basic data types and data structures (integer, float, string,
list), it also contains special data structures (key, vector, rotation). In LSL, standard control structures
can be used (if, if..else, for, while, do..while), however, the switch statement is missing from the
language. Because the LSL was developed for 3D environment, it contains many functions for
manipulating the 3D objects and textures. Users can write their own functions, as well.
Learning the basics of programming by writing LSL scripts in virtual worlds can be highly
motivating for students. Using LSL they can make static in-world 3D models interactive; they can put
these interactive objects on their virtual land, share them with friends, or make them available for
millions of other users using the Second Life marketplace (http://marketplace.secondlife.com).
Unfortunately, teaching LSL as first programming language might have some drawbacks.
Firstly, the language is still evolving; new functions often appear in it, and some of the functions
become obsolete. Another disadvantage of using LSL for teaching the basics of programming might
be that the language contains many similar functions for manipulating the 3D objects and textures –
for new programmers it might be difficult to choose the right one from the long list of functions.
However, these educationally disadvantageous features of the language can be eliminated by
assembling adequate syllables where the educator selects only the most important, basic functions to
teach in the introductory classes.
Next, and probably the most unfavorable feature of LSL for using it as a first programming
language in education is that many important data structures are missing from the language – there is
not array, record, structure, or set in LSL. Instead of these data structure only the list data structure
can be used, however, using lists could be circuitous and labored in most cases.
For teaching the basics of LSL scripting in our virtual school we developed a few simple, but
motivating tasks for students [13]. The first scripted object that students created together in class was
an animated butterfly which follows its owner (see Figure 4). During this class students learned about
two basic events (state_entry(), touch_start()) and two simple functions (llSay(), llSetTextureAnim()).
The second scripted object created by students was a changeable emoticon (see Figure 4).
Users can modify the image above their head by typing commands into the text chat. Acceptable
commands are: :), :(, :P, <3, B), 8), zzz, brb and back. During the class students learned how to use
variables, four type of events (state_entry(), touch_start(), listen(), changed()) and some functions
(llSetTexture(), llListen(), llGetOwner(), llDetectedKey(), llResetScript()). To solve the task, they also
had to use the if and if..else statements several times.
In the virtual school students can also learn LSL scripting individually. Around the learning
area for writing LSL scripts (SLURL: secondlife://Hippoden/112/138/3202) interactive information

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boards are placed containing 56 topics with gradually increasing difficulty levels, and 43 sample LSL
scripts.

Figure 4. A scripted butterfly that animates and follows the owner in the virtual world,
and a scripted emoticon above the head of the owner

2.3 Practicing English in Second Life

Virtual worlds offer many possibilities for practicing English, as well. In educational spaces
for language learning communities (e.g. Cypris Chat, Virtlantis) usually free activities are organized
with native English speakers. These activities include reading, pronunciation, grammar classes, as well
as game activities and field trips. During these activities, it is highly recommended to use voice chat
instead of the text chat. The possibility of using a headset and chatting with nearby avatars through the
microphone is one of the greatest advantage for using Second Life in language learning. Students can
talk with native English speakers without leaving their room while they can be virtually in the same
place. Because the language learners usually do not know each other in the real life, usually even shy
students are braver to join the conversations. During field trips, they can visit imaginary places
together (such as cities, castles, forests, beaches, shops, restaurants, hotels, bus and train stations,
museums), and talk about the visited locations or get involved in role-plays. Because Second Life’s
main grid size is more than 1500 km2, it is easy to choose different interesting and motivating places
for every class.
For the students of our virtual school, we wanted to give the opportunity to practice English,
as well. For this reason, we created a small area within the virtual school (SLURL:
secondlife://Hippoden/124/135/3398). This area contains a calendar of free English classes in Second
Life, a globe with teleport links to explore interesting virtual places together, and some language
games (vocabulary matching games, forbidden words game) to practice English playfully in a group.

III. USERS’ ACTIVITIES AND FUTURE INTERESTS FOR LEARNING IN

SECOND LIFE
After building our virtual school, we were interested who visits it, how much experience they
have in 3D modeling and programming, and what would they like to learn in Second Life. For this
reason, we created a questionnaire and made it available 24/7 in the welcome area of the school.
Between 2014 and 2016, 26 Second Life users decided to fill in our questionnaire [22].
The questions and the answers of respondents are illustrated on the Figures 5-9. As we see,
even though, they had only a few experiences in creating 3D models and writing LSL scripts in virtual
worlds, most of them were interested in these topics. Students who visited our modeling and
programming classes also had optimistic attitudes to learning in Second Life; at the end of the
activities, they provided positive feedbacks about learning experiences in this environment.

IV. CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, we introduced our virtual school in Second Life. While we built the areas of the
school, we were taking into consideration different features of the virtual world. The final arrangement
of the school presented in this paper seems to be suitable for introducing new users into the usage of
Second Life, for group and individual teaching and learning of 3D modeling and programming, as
well as for practicing English. Education in Second Life can be done in different ways. However, it is

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necessary to take into consideration many of the advantageous and disadvantageous features of the
virtual worlds. By developing adequate syllabus with motivating assignments, applying collaborative
and creative learning, 3D virtual worlds can be used successfully in teaching different topics. As we
see in the result of a short questionnaire, students of different ages and genders, with different
experiences are interested in learning in this engaging and motivating 3D environment. Students who
visited our classes found them entertaining and helpful; they would like to visit more classes in Second
Life.

Second Life age of respondents

6
4
2
0
less than 1–6 6 – 12 1–2 2–5 more than
1 month months months years years 5 years

Gender of respondens Real-life age of respondents

12
Female
38% 8
4
Male
0
62%
… – 19 20 – 29 30 – 49 50 – 69 70 – …
Figure 5. Results of the questionnaire – Demographic data 1

What kind of activities and how offen do you do in Second Life?

20

15

10

0
Text chat
Arranging my own house

Voice chat

Creating own 3D objects

Modifying my avatar

Exploring new places

Dancing in music clubs

Visiting exhibition, art galleries

Writing own LSL scripts

Participating in role-plays

Practising a foreign language

Shopping in in-world shops

Participating in building classes

Shopping on marktplace website

Never Sometimes From time to time Often Constantly

Figure 6. Results of the questionnaire – Users’ activities in Second Life

1“Second Life age” is the time that elapsed since the user’s registration; it expresses how long the respondent used the
Second Life virtual world.

577
 How experienced are you How experienced are you If you have ever used
in building objects from in building objects using modelling software, which
primitives and texture external modelling one was it?
them in Second Life? software products?
(Respondents might select
1 - not at all 1 - not at all more answers.)
5 - very 5 - very 8

20 6
4
15
14 2
12 10
0
10 5

Maya
Blender

3D Studio

Autocad
8
6 0
4 1 2 3 4 5
2
Figure 7. Results of the questionnaire – Users’ experiences in 3D modeling

How experienced are you If you have ever written

How experienced are
in writing programs (using programs, which language
you in writing LSL scripts
any programming did you use?
in Second Life?
language)?
(Respondents might select
1 - not at all
1 - not at all more answers.)
5 - very
5 - very 8
20
6
15 4 15

2 10
10
0 5
Pascal

Haskell
PHP
Java

C++

0
5
1 2 3 4 5

Figure 8. Results of the questionnaire – Users’ experiences in programming

Would you like to What should be the topic

participate in Hungarian- of the online courses you are interested in?
speaking free online (Respondents might select more answers.)
courses in Second Life?
15

No 10
19% 5
0
Modelling,

programming
English as

Second Life

animations
Book club
Language
texturing

Second

Creating
Usage of
Writing
scripts,

Yes
81%

Figure 9. Results of the questionnaire – Users’ future interests for learning in Second Life

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