october 2012 - TOJET the Turkish online journal of educational ...

TOJET: The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology – October 2012, volume 11 Issue 4
Instruments
In this study, two different instruments were used to collect data. First, an online questionnaire was designed to
determine the general views of SL users. Second, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the active SL
users.
1. Online Questionnaire: The questionnaire consisted of 14 questions. The first two multiple choice
questions were related to the personal information while five multiple choice questions were concerned
with Internet, Facebook, MSN, Twitter and SL use amount of users. Three multiple questions were
related with the number and gender of avatars. Two Likert type questions were related to user opinions
about SL and educational activities in SL. Three open-ended questions were related to participants’
opinions about SL, what they were doing in this environment, the value of SL for formal education,
educational activities that can be presented in SL.
2. Semi-structured Interview: The interview consisted of three different parts. In the first part, the
researchers asked the users about their personal information and avatar choice. In the second part, the
participants were asked about their use of Web 2.0 technologies and the Internet. Finally, they were
asked about their opinions about SL, specifically what they were doing in SL and their views on its
educational use.
Procedures
The questionnaire data were gathered via the Internet from active users. To maximize the participation of active
users, the researchers placed explanatory notices on the Facebook pages of Turkish SL user group. The purpose
of the study was also advertised within SL and users were invited to complete the questionnaire. SL users were
given the option of completing the questionnaire on the researchers’ website or by responding to a “notecard”
communication sent to them by the researchers.
The interview sample was deliberately selected so as to try and access the opinions of a diverse group of SL
users. The researchers purposefully tried to identify active users to interview. As the users were in different cities
in Turkey, the interviews were carried out in different media. The oral interviews took 18 minutes on average.
Five interviewees participated in oral interviews conducted on the Internet via Skype and SL. Four of the
interviewees expressed their time limitation for oral interviews and they preferred to put down the interview
questions in writing. One participant who was living in the same city as the researchers agreed to be interviewed
face-to-face.
Data Analysis
In the data analysis, the researchers analyzed Likert-type and multiple choice questions by a spreadsheet
software. They also used content analysis technique while analyzing the data came from semi-structured
interviews. During the analysis, the researchers first organized all the data, transcribed and controlled for any
misunderstandings transcribe. Then, the researchers generated the codes and themes from the data. The
researchers coded the data separately and then compared the results for ensuring the consistency.
Validity and Reliability
Expert opinions technique was used to ensure the validity of the data collection instruments. Based on their
opinions, the questionnaire and semi-structured interview schedules were re-organized; some new items which
seemed necessary were added while some others were removed. The qualitative data were audio-recorded and
then transcribed. In addition, the field experience of the researchers and their effort to clearly introduce
themselves and the aim of the study to SL users made it possible to obtain more reliable data from them. The
results of the questionnaire, interviews and overall observations of the researchers were cross-checked for the
purpose of triangulating the data prior to finalizing the findings of the study.
FINDINGS
Characteristics of Turkish Second Life Users
Internet, Web 2.0 Technologies and Second Life
The results showed that most of the participants (n = 77; 65.3%) used the Internet for more than 6 hours daily.
The participants were also asked about average hours they spent on using SL, Facebook, Twitter, and MSN per
day; most of them (n = 79; 67%) responded that they used Facebook 0 to 3 hours daily while 21 participants
(17.8%) were not registered on Facebook. On the other hand, most participants (n = 109, 92.4) stated they had no
Twitter account. Furthermore, most of the participants expressed they are using MSN for an average of 0-3 hours
daily (n = 58; 49.1%), while some of them (n = 12; 10.2%) had no MSN account. Two of the participants
explained their views as:
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