Second Life: Teaching Tips from the Virtual Frontier
Copyright Cynthia M. Calongne, 2008.
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Cynthia CalongneColorado Technical University
TCC 2008 Conference April 15-17, 2008
Teaching in a Virtual World
• Tips -- add your ideas during this session– People -- that sense of presence
• Avatars, movement and communication
– Places -- learning environments and meetings• Class settings that support teaching styles
– Content -- course designs• Pedagogy, activities and class projects
– Assessment -- for a future presentation• Assignments, rubrics and course assessments
MBA 770 Class at Wright State
Shu’s students prepare for a collaboration exercise in Second Life
How we Teach and Learn in SL• Self image
• Mentor, collaborate
• Social networks
• Class projects
• Roleplay
• Learning games
• Blended reality
• Exploration
• Build
• Create an avatar - you!
• Office hours, facilitation
• Share ideas, hold meetings
• Applied learning
• Immersive learning
• Interactivities
• Real & virtual meetings
• Visit, tour, study
• Create and customize
80% of the world’s Internet users will be in a virtual world by 2011 (Gartner, 2007) -- Are you ready?
Getting Ready to Teach
• Readiness checklist– Avatar -- yourself!
• Appearance• Communication
– User interface• Using the tool• Motor skills• Camera controls
– Class content• Activities
– AssessmentLyr Lobo in Second Life
Sense of Presence
• Appearance– 1st self or ideal self?
• Movement– SL user interface– Animation override (AO)
custom device
• Communication– Voice, text, gestures
• Hair, skin, shape and clothes
• Moving your avatar – Arrow keys or View menu
and Movement
– Poses and animations
• Looking at the class– Camera controls
• Arrows or View menu
The Many Faces of CTU Faculty
Communicating with studentsin Second Life
Left to right
TeleportGroup Notice
2nd rowVoice Chat (*)Instant MessageURLs embedded
Middle School Students at Ramapo
Roleplay andconflict in animmersive literature class
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, portrayed by Suffern Middle School students
Looking at Objects and People
• Camera orientation– Hold down your alt key
and left mouse click on a person or an object to focus on it
• Your display will follow the person or the object’s movement
• Use your scroll wheel to zoom in and out
– Use the Escape key twice (Esc) to return to your view
Controlling What You See
• Camera controls– To move around a person or
object• Let’s look at your face!
– Press and hold down• ctrl + alt + left button
– All 3 at the same time
– And on a Mac?
• Move your hand down, around and up while pressing these keys to move your camera around the object
Navigation ControlsCan also use the arrow keys
Camera ControlsHandy for Capturing Video
Shall we dance?
Movement in Second Life
TCC Learning Times Reception
Dance animation menu displays after clicking the floor; control menus on screen
Social Networking
A screenshot of the TCC Reception in Second Lifefrom a dual monitor system; notice Twitter in the back channel
If You Build It, They Will Come
• The interaction between people and content– Students, faculty, instructional designers
• Support for active and passive learners
• Support for a variety of learning styles– What are your favorites?
• Discussion
• Exploration
• Discovery
• Creation
Otis College Art Projects
Virtual World Learning Spaces
• An environment for learning includes– Communication tools
for sharing ideas
– Content that maps to the the course objectives
– A variety of course delivery methods
Nanotechnology Lab in Second LifeAn asynchronous learning environment
Instructor-designed classrooms
use creative and innovative
environments
ExperimentalDesign
Classrooms
Content at Virtual Hallucinations
Words leap out at you,simulating an experience
CS 820 at CTU included novice users who learned to build their class projects
A self-guided tutorial for building a 20-minute project
Student projects and class content on display at Acheron LV426
Interactive Learning Spaces
Dr. Dobb’s Life 2.0visit http://life20.net
Acheron LV426CTU class work space
Science Comes to Life
The National Physics Laboratorypresents the advances in
Nanotechnology
Interactive Nano Labs
Preparing for student presentations and usability testing
Building class prototypes in a virtual world with students new to SL
Virtual Meetings, Interactive Content
(top two images, left to right)
The House of Seven Gables session
(bottom image)
Jared Bendis on Digital Tattoos
NMC Fall Symposium in SL 2008
Content and Virtual Spaces
• Virtual world classes support– Immersive, interactive, imaginative settings
• Asynchronous and synchronous support
• 3D graphics, sounds, gestures and interaction
• Immersive literature, immersive history, scientific discovery, contextual settings, applied math, creativity and social networks
– Activity-based learning• Can you think of other learning activities?
Second Life: Teaching Tips from the Virtual Frontier
Lyr Lobo in Second LifeRyl Redgrave on the Teen Grid at Ramapo
For more information, contact
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