The second "Learning in 3D" class had a few technical difficulties. Second Life was slow and not everyone could log in. And our other 3D space was not accessible either. Our goal of this class was to view a number of educational locations to see what types of educational environments are being created within Second Life.
We had a great guest speaker, one of our graduates, Bart Pursel.
Bart did a great job with his presentation in spite of the technical difficulties. First he created a very helpful link on this blog providing a number of SLURLs which are worth visiting. Check them out at Learning in 3D Talk
He also summarized his experiences with the class in a great posting titled Learning in 3D Wrap Up. He also lists a number of hints for conducting a class like this in Second Life.
I then distributed some note cards to the MSIT group (after some difficulty) and the students then have a chance to go back into Second Life and see some of the places on their own. They are then asked to write their experiences on a note card and then we will discuss those experiences in our next class.
I also created a Machinimia assignment which the students are creating interesting 5 to 7 minute videos to show how Second Life works and how the technology could be used for creating educational sessions. The videos will be placed on YouTube for future viewing.
You can check out all of the class activities at MSIT Second Life Wiki. There is a great discussion going on under the Discussions tab.
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Tuesday, July 17, 2007
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22 comments:
Karl,
We're following the Second Life class with anticipation. Please don't allow the students to give up. The possibilities are SO HUGE once the wrinkles are ironed out.
I would like to request that the videos be cross-posted on TeacherTube as well as YouTube. Many of your education track students will STILL find that YouTube is filtered out at school.
Thanks for keeping the blogsphere posted on your progress.
KP - '99
TechRuminations
So far, I feel that the class is going very well, albeit for some technical difficulties. Since class, I have been able to log on to Protosphere, so I'm really looking forward to getting into that interface (maybe?) this week. It seems to be a cleaner, more educationally-oriented environment, so I'd really like to see how the avatars can interact there, compared to Second Life. One of the biggest problems I'm having in Second Life is filtering out all of the unnecessary chatter, gestures, and sounds and trying to focus on what's actually being discussed. It's frustrating at times, but I'm sure it will get better as the course progresses!
Once again great class!!! The quest speaker was both very interesting and informative. Before last night I had no idea how to teleport to places by using the search function. It absolutely amazed me just how many colleges, corporations, and companies that are in Second Life. The creations and landscapes of some of the islands are so well done they look almost real. Also once you get the hang of teleporting, it absolutely fascinating of all the places you can travel to, and how fast you can get from one Island to another. All of the places he took us were really neat; I found myself hours after class still exploring.
I really like the assignment of traveling to other places and recording thoughts on the note card, I began to look at creations, environments, and islands as a whole, much more critical. It gives us many ideas of things we like and dislike about a particular island.
Therefore, if we so wished we would be able to create our own island in a way that would better foster learning. Although the machinimia assignment sounds fun it is scaring me at the same time, many of the aspects of the assignment I have never done before or even attempted.
ChaseSteven Bailey
The class from this Monday night was a little disheartening. I realize this is the nature of the beast when it comes to new technology but it's still very frustrating. I didn't even feel like I was a part of class. But thank goodness I have some classmates who are kind and helpful when situations like these occur. Even if they're just lending a supportive comment.
My problem was a server problem. You can't get inworld with server problems. Needless to say, I tried getting into SL the whole time but could only listen to class.
Anywho, I received the tour the next day and enjoyed it very much and found that the island called "future" is a marvelous place. If only it was real, I would live there. It is so peaceful and serene. I could see learning going on there about relaxation techniques and alternative healing methods. Hopefully, next class I won't have problems. It's also unfortunate, when paying for your education, that not all the computers at the university can support the second life software, which means only a few students can use them at a time. Oh well, guess that's life.
I am extremely upset for i couldnt make out what was going on in class. I couldnot use Second Life and breeze on the same computer and because of this I was completely lost.
Like everone else i couldnot log into Protosphere. In all a very disppointng class for me.
-Aman Tyagi
Technically, the second class went fairly smoothly for me and I enjoyed the tour of SL locations. Sometimes it was difficult to know exactly which part of a particular island the "tour guide" was at, but I enjoyed the exercise. I began visiting some of the locations on Dr. Kapp's notecard, and I've begun to think about how to design a space for people who fly more than they walk... an interesting problem. --Mary Ann M
Kurt,
First, thanks for the support, it is greatly appreciated.
Second,great suggestion about TeacherTube! We will do that.
Karl
Class two went by just as quickly as class one! Bart was a great insight to secondlife and more of the educational possibilities.
After spending two weeks logging in and getting a little more accustomed to the tools and movement commands, I'm feeling much more comfortable with this environment.
It's exciting that we have some followers. Adds a little more pressure to the machinima assignment to make sure everything is just right so as not to disappoint anyone! No worries though.
Crossing my fingers for no technical problems next week!
I agree with one point Bart made in his presentation - classes should be more interactive than making a classroom with chairs and PowerPoints. The more content there is to play with, the better the class (and attention spans!)
The tour showcased a multitude of good educational constructs. Altough i felt useful interactivity was lacking in a lot of it. The Dell island was probably one of the more interesting constructs, with the computer tour. keeping the constructs interactive is key to making them useful in a 3d space, otherwise people don't pay attention.
This second class was yet again very interesting and enjoyable despite some technical difficulties. My audio was not working properly for a portion of the class and so I could not hear anything. Once I rebooted my PC, things were much better, although I still could not login to Protosphere, which I think was a common problem on Monday.
I felt that the guest speaker, Bart, was very knowledgeable of the educational side of SL and how it worked and I was pretty surprised to see the places that he took us. I would have never imaged that so many schools and businesses actually use SL for their independent purposes. I hadn’t even heard of it until last semester! Bart did a fantastic job of taking us through many unique places and answered questions without hesitation. Overall, he did a great job and it was a great class!
~Kristen Tricarico
Class two had its ups and its downs. It was tough to get a flow during class with all the technical aspects. I thought we had a sensational guest speaker. Also I feel that I am no more acclimated to being in Second Life and am by far more comfortable exploring the 3D world
class two started out badly for me, b/c I went to the lab computers to work with others since I had trouble navigating second life the first class. We all had trouble getting Second Life to work on the lab computers, once I got it to work I had no audio! (thanks anyway to Aman who tried to give me extra headphones)I then went home and was able to get on, but missed the guest speaker. It is hard going back and forth between Second Life and Breeze, hopefully i will get the hang of it soon! I did take the tour and am getting much more comfortable with getting around in Second Life. The graphics are beautiful, it was a very fun tour.
Class two was rather exciting. I have found that it is just easier to run 2 computers during class. This has reduced some of the problems associated with running SL and Breeze at the same time. I did have difficulties at the beginning of class due to an update that was forced through on SL. It required me to reboot and took about 10 minutes. I ended up a being a bit late for Breeze because of this.
Bart was a GREAT speaker and provided us with a wonderful tour of SL. I am still amazed at the amount of information and design of these SL locations... WOW!
As I continue learning SL, some of the tasks/assignments are creating a bit of stress especially now that I realize that people are watching us closely---geesh the pressure :-)!
Class two was really wonderful. It took me great pleasure in listening to our speaker’s experience on SL. So far, it was the first time for me to have an idea about some universities which also built up virtual environment in SL. During the class, teleporting to different places in SL gave me more experience and learn more about SL. Really enjoy visiting new places. The only problem may be the Protosphere. I could not log into it as Dr.Kapp required. Hope it will work well for toginte
Yan
I found Class Two very interesting, althought I always got lost. I think I still need time to get familiar with the basic techniques of SL.
----- Hong Sun
Class two was definitely interesting. We definitely got a little bit more involved in Second Life and visited some pretty interesting places. It was cool to have a guest speaker take us on a tour and show us some of the interesting places other universities have created. After class I took some time and visited some of other areas surrounding the MSIT island and talked to some interesting people. I spoke with an IT guy from the University of Louisville and he told me how his school was integrating about 12-15 classes into Second Life. He asked me how I felt about bringing freshmen into Second Life and if they would be able to easily adapt to the environment. I laughed and told him probably not. He decided that they may actually use some sort of hands on training to prepare the students.
-Matt Monahan
I really enjoyed the second class. Now that I am more familiar with moving around in Second Life, things are much easier. We'll see how things go next class. My new computer should be here by then and I'm anxious to see if everything will work with Vista.
Kim Shaw
Thanks for the positive comments everyone, I had a great time doing the virtual tour and providing my take on design-related issues that are unique to Second Life. Maybe we'll have the technology ironed out for future guests :)
The best advice I can give is to login and explore frequently. If you're new to Second Life, this will help you learn the environment and raise your comfort level. Plus you can almost always find new and interesting content to explore.
I feel much more comfortable and confident in class two. It was a great class. I have learned a lot. Bart did a great job. Although sometimes I could not go to the right place in time, I know how to use the map, teleport, and others. Homework is great too. I am ready to explore...
Hongyan Yuan
Karl,
Our clas on Tuesday went much smoother than the one the first night, at least for me. I feel that it was smoother because I now have a little better feel on how to navigate and manuveur around in SL. The assignment of checking out different locations throughout SL was great. It not only help me move around better, but it also opened my eyes to see how big SL really is. I learned that there are many other benefits to SL rather than using it as a game. It can be used as a learning tool. Used almost as a virtual field trip, for example, the underwater reef.
It was a great class and much more enjoyable this week.
Corey
The second class was good, definitely better than the first. This whole summer course is a learning experience for us all. This class will more productive once all of the kinks are worked out and more courses are taking place within SL. I enjoy this course because it is more engaging than a course on centra. You really have to immerse yourself in the activities and discussion to participate in class.
Bianca Pichardo
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