Learning in 3D Blog Book Tour: Success

By all accounts, the Learning in 3DBlog Book Tour was a resounding success. Books were sold, buzz was created, consulting and speaking engagements obtained and the collective conscious of the learning community was raised in the area of 3D virtual worlds for learning. So, first of all, thanks to everyone who participated in the tour and who followed the tour, we are so pleased with results and the enthusiasm surrounding the subject.

Here are some highlights, look for a Blog Book Tour Lesson's Learned posting in the near future.

Tom Haskins of the Growing, Changing, Learning, Creating blog wrote a great entry Assessing blog book tours where he explains why blog book tours are so effective.

One unintended but really positive result of the tour is that it actually boosted traffic to the stops on the tour and then continued the flow of traffic.Performance Punctuated the blog of the development company Performance Development Group got a boost from the tour and when the followers of the tour saw all the great content they visits remained at a high level and have grown ever since.

Several times the book was ranked #1 in different Amazon categories.

We were also able to generate buzz through a Twitter hashtag #lrn3d and encouraging tweets about the book.

We created a Facebook page that has now over 500 fans.


And a group has created an awesome virtual book club to discuss the book. Click here to learn the details of that book club.

Stats for Learning in 3D Blog Book Tour during January 11 to February 22nd, 2010

• 410 unique page views on Kapp Notes first day of blog book tour.
  
• 660 books sold during tour.
  
• 13 hardcover copies of the book sold directly from my cite via Amazon and 4 Kindle versions of the book sold directly from Kapp Notes blog.
• 13,639 best overall Amazon rank
• 147,281 life time rank in Amazon
• 1100 books sold to date.
  
• Ranked number 25 in Technorati,s list of blogs about "elearning"
  
• Blogs actively participating in the tour
  
• Over 500, number of fans on book's Facebook page
  
• 12,625 number of unique visitors to Kapp Notes during Learning in 3D blog book tour.
  
• 9,723 unique visitors to Kapp Notes during the tour.
  
• 743 visits from India and 6,428 from the United States.
  
• 1 visit from Swaziland.
  
• 305 views of the entry Learning in 3D Blog Book Store Starts Today

Don't be left out, pick up your copy of the book today:




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Exciting Changes Coming to Kapp Notes

I've been blogging for four years on Blogger and am in the process of some exciting new developments to the blog. Stay tuned for neat and interesting changes, all for the best. Details will follow in the next few months.

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A Question about 3D Virtual Worlds that makes me Crazy

Constantly I am asked this question about 3D that really make me crazy. Here is my short rant.

1) Where is the empirical data about the effectiveness of 3D learning? We can't do anything until we see the evidence of its effectiveness for learning.
Seems valid. Let's see, I must have the evidence of the effectiveness of 3D learning under my pile of reports on the effectiveness of classroom instruction. I'm sorry, where are all those reports and all that evidence about the effectiveness of classroom training? Oh, there is not that much evidence on the effectiveness of classrooms instruction, what's that? Classroom instruction isn't that effective.

Instructor-led training is held up as the gold standard of training excellence because it is has been around for thousands of years but its not that GOOD. In fact, many studies show the transfer of knowledge from an instructor-led training session to on-the-job performance is dismal. Please, don't ask that question.

Ask...can people learn effectively in a 3D environment? or how does learning in a 3D environment contribute to job performance? or what elements of 3D environments make them effective for learning?...but please do not ask if it is as good at instructor-led training, we can only hope its BETTER.

Another answer I want to give when someone asks that question is, "Well I don't know right now where all that data is, why don't you wait for your competitor to conduct those studies. Then we'll know." If you want to be innovative, ahead of the curve and thinking outside of the

box...like all big companies claim to want, you can't wait until all the research is done. Research takes time, can be conflicting and is often hard to generalize especially in the field of learning...but companies want to know that it is "safe" before acting. You cannot stay ahead of competitors by being safe, you can't innovate by being safe. You have to make mistakes and learn to work with them.

Look at Google, they put out Lively and it failed so they pulled it. They put out Buzz...not working so well but they innovate, they'll keep putting something out and something will eventually stick...you can wait for the evidence but your competitors are not waiting they are acting. Google is the gold standard of innovation because...wait for it...they innovate.

Don't talk to me about innovating and out maneuvering your competition by waiting for research results. Didn't Tom Peters once say "Ready, Fire, Aim" is the way to go. Please, we'll all grow old waiting for conclusive evidence of results.

I am not sure Twitter waited for research to show that people would use it for learning and collaboration, I don't think Facebook did a lot of research either.

Sure, I live in academia and respect research and results but I think more and more people use "waiting for research" as an excuse for inaction. History books are not filled with people who waited for the research results before taking action.
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3D Virtual Immersive Environment: Conceptual Orienteering

Conceptual Orienteering is a learning archetype where learners are given activities or situations in which they are presented with examples and non-examples of environmental or situational conditions for the purpose of discrimination and creating an understanding of key concepts.

Orienting a learner to concept of how to properly lift weights without injury and for maximum benefit.

Image courtesy of Randy Hinrichs of 2b3d and author of an upcoming handbook about learning in 3D.

Teaching concepts involves providing the learner with examples and non-examples of the concept and then allowing the learner to determine the attributes that describe the concept. This allows the learner to recognize and apply the concept in a variety of different environments. In the archetype of conceptual orienteering, learners are shown a number of different items, examples, or situations which they can mentally compare. Then the facilitator asks the learners to identify the similarities and differences.

The process of side-by-side comparison allows learners to recognize and apply concepts in a variety of different environments. Learners studying to be FDA inspectors could be teleported from one manufacturing line to another to see the difference between inspecting a plant that creates medical devices versus one that creates ingestible drugs.

The goal is to provide a visualization of the differences to the learner who can then determine what attributes apply to the concept and what attributes do not. The learners can visually see attributes and do a mental comparison through the ability to instantly move from one location to another. These do not always need to be physical attributes. For example, you could create a 3D environment to resemble what it looks like to someone who is legally drunk and provide a frame of reference for the person attempting to understand the impairment that occurs when a person has too much to drink. The learner can then get behind the wheel of a virtual car and see and feel the effects of trying to drive while "drunk."

You can take this concept beyond physical items into the mental arena. For example, there is a location in Second Life that shows what the world looks like from the view of a schizophrenic. The idea is to give the learner a conceptual orientation of what it would be like to have the condition. The learner can then better understand the implications of the event or the condition. You can use the same concept to display what it would be like to work in a dimly lit coal mine, a confined space or other unfamiliar environment.

In other types of conceptual orienteering a participant can participate at both the macro and micro levels. You can shrink learners to the size of blood cells and propel them through the blood stream to observe a drug’s interaction with a virus. Or a person can fly over a proposed subdivision to observe the layout and intersection of roads and sidewalks. Or be transported to another time and place to observe customs of the people.

Steps to conducting a conceptual orienteering lesson
1. Introduce the learners to the environment or area that illustrates the concept.
2. Allow the learners to “experience” the concept.
3. Debrief the learners on their experience with the concept.
4. Ask questions to identify misconceptions and send them back to environment to clarify.

Advantage
One advantage is that a learner can experience a concept which is not otherwise possible because of time and space limitations or because of potential danger. They can stand in the middle of a tsunami or fly around a molecule. The 3D virtual immersive environment can also allow the learner to repeat the experience over and over again so they can really grasp a concept.

Disadvantage
Disadvantages include the time it takes to create the environment necessary to convey the concept. It is also sometimes difficult to determine the best environment to create to effectively immerse the learner into the concept. If the design is not established properly, the possibility that the learner may not learn the concept from the environment does exist.

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Presentation Recap for the U.S. Air Force’s Global Learning Forum

Agenda for the Global Learning Forum

Last night I had the privileged of presenting to the U.S. Air Force’s Global Learning Forum (GLF) group in Second Life at Huffman Prairie Chi. It was a great event.

GLF represents a collaborative group of educators from across government and private universities and organizations exploring and prototyping the use of open 3D worlds in support of learning. A little over a year ago Air University formed GLF to help support virtual collaborative prototyping efforts and research. The group now have over 300 educators, from across several universities, engaged in various collaborative efforts within the 3D world of Second Life. Second Life is used as our primary open access platform for collaboration.

Once a quarter, the group hosts an in-world GLF event on based on a theme of that is of interest to members. I had the opportunity to speak on the topic of "Learning in 3D" and also got to listen to some very engaging speakers.

The event kicked off with Dr. Arthur M. Langer the Senior Director of the Center for Technology, Innovation, and Community Engagement and Dr. L. Lee Knefelkamp, professor of psychology and education both of Columbia University talking about Digital Literacy.

Event kicking off with introductions.

Dr. Langer and Dr. Knefelkamp discuss a model to help understand the elements of digital literacy. 

Next, I spoke about "Learning in 3D" covering the concept of sensibilities and archetypes. Here is the set of slides that were used for the presentation.

Learning in 3 d for vwbpe

Slides used in my presentation. You can View more presentations from kkapp by clicking on these links.

Next, Dr. Fil J. Arenas spoke. He is currently an assistant professor of Organizational Leadership at the Squadron Officer College arriving and an adjunct professor at Troy University,
Montgomery campus in graduate studies. He spent 28 years in the military (14 USAF and 14 USN)and retired as a Lieutenant Commander, he served as a Medical Service Corps officer until he retired. He spoke about the Squadron Officer College (SOC) and how they are incorporating virtual worlds into their training program.

Dr. Arenas making a point about the Squadron Officer College educational program.

A look at the elements making up the Squadron Officer School.

Then, we had the privilege of touring the virtual campus of the SOC. We got to witness a holodeck like feature with different environments and toured the virtual facility.

At the SOC several aircraft are on display around the campus. 

The holodeck even had a scene from ancient Egypt complete with a scary mummy.

At the SOC information desk, we were able to pick up some freebies.

It was a wonderful tour of the SOC. Good presentations and great audience members, I had a great "virtual time."
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Second Life CEO Resigns, Founder Back in Charge

Event

This just in:

Linden Labs, the creator of the 3D virtual world Second Life has announced that company founder Philip Rosedale has been named interim CEO and that Mark Kingdon is stepping down as CEO.

Philip Rosedale, in a posting called Returning to the Lab stated:

Our thinking as a team is that my returning to the CEO job now can bring a product and technology focus that will help rapidly improve Second Life. We need to simplify and focus our product priorities -- concentrating all our capabilities on making Second Life easier to use and better for the core experiences that it is delivering today. I think that I can be a great help and a strong leader in that process.

This comes just a short time after Linden Labs announced a layoff of 30 percent of its staff.

Analysis
It is not really surprising to have a CEO shift after the layoffs and apparent shake up of staff. The company is strong on the consumer side but it would be difficult for almost any organization to live up to all the hype that Second Life has had in the past. It is a good platform but with some scalability, usability and channel issues.

Also, in speaking with industry insiders, I've learned the corporate culture at Linden Labs is a very relaxed which doesn't always translate well into the growth stage of a company when decisions have to be made based on "finance and strategic planning" rather than "cool and neat projects".

This is part of the natural churn within any tech industry and because Linden Labs and Second Life is the biggest player in the space, events like this get a lot of press. I think the company is going to hunker down a bit and start to really focus on the consumer-side and technical capabilities prior to making a serious run at either the academic or corporate markets but, we'll have to see as the days progress what happens when a software development firm cuts staff and resources while trying to revamp technical aspects of its product.

Not sure this change is going to be like Steve Jobs coming back to Apple but it should re-charge efforts on the consumer side.

*Thanks to Mike Qaissaunee for the "heads up".

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Don't Forget the Power of 3D Machinima

One creative element of 3D Virtual Immersive Environments that many people tend to forget is the power to create machinima.

"Machinima is the use of real-time graphics rendering engines, mostly three-dimensional (3-D), to generate computer animation. The term also refers to works that incorporate this animation technique." Wikipedia Definition.

Recently, Ariella Furman a Machinimatographer at Framedin3D emailed me to explain that with machinima, you can increase learning and collaboration on almost any topic. What it allows you to do without elaborate cinematic sets or budgets is to be able to tell a story cinematically. Learners then get to know the characters in ways you otherwise wouldn't wrap your mind around. The machinima stories connect with the learners using mulitiple senses. The machinimatographer records sound and visuals, then compiles the story strategically for learning results. (She also mentioned in her blog she doesn't like the Wikipedia definition of Machinima.)

The great thing about machinima is that it has no limitations. Anything you can imagine, can be achieved. Messages and learning events can be encapsulated in intriguing and unique ways.

Check out this great machinima done for IBM by Ariella and the team at Framedin3D that describes requirements planning. I think it makes some very abstract concepts, very real.

IBM Episode 6 from Ariella Furman on Vimeo.

Here is another interesting machinima illustrating the concept of "data". Again, machinima has the real ability to allow the learner to visualize abstract concepts and ideas and to make what seems intangible, tangible and "real." It can illustrate concepts in the way few other media can because of its versatility and cost effectiveness.

Visualization of Data from Ariella Furman on Vimeo.

To learn more about the process and concepts behind Machinimia check out Framedin3D's blog.


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Learning and Development Articles of Interest

Recently a colleague of mine and an alumni of Bloomsburg University's Instructional Technology program both had articles published.

First, Brian Miller who blogs at eLearning Rebel and has his own company called Learning Mind wrote an article for Learning Solutions Magazine called Overcoming Obstacles To Avoid “Shovelware” E-Learning Strategies

Here is a broad overview of the article:

If we want to take our e-learning to the level of learning by doing within authentic contextual challenges, we need to make some changes. We need to recognize that good e-learning requires skills in multiple instructional design, cognitive science, media arts and computer science. If we do not have these skills in house we should consider building the business case to either develop the skills or hire externally.

The article requires you to Subscribe or log in to read the full article. You can log in using your eLearning Guild username and password but it is worth the read and you can become an Associate guild member for free.

Second, Bloomsburg University alum Shawn Rosler penned a piece in ASTD's T&D Magazine titled Trimming the Fat: Using a Practical Eye for an Academic Process. Again, you need to be a member of ASTD or purchase the article for a nominal fee. But if you are a member of ASTD, then check out the article or become a member.

Congratulations to the authors and enjoy reading their work!


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Volatility in 3D Virtual World Industry

There is a great deal of "churn" in the 3D virtual immersive environment space. I think it is natural churn in a market that is fast emerging but some of that churn can seem unfriendly and one can certainly see the industry as "half-full" as the analogy goes. However, I think it is just part of the evolutionary process. Let's look at some of the positive churn events and negative churn events of the past few months.

Positive

Got a great email from someone who works at Forterra, "I wanted to let you know, since being acquired by SAIC in January of this year, OLIVE has seen unprecedented sales in both the Federal and commercial space. I can tell you that we are busier than at any time over the last 4 years at Forterra!" Good news on that front, a lot of people speak highly of the platform and they have done some great projects in the 3D space.

Microsoft has awarded one of its innovation awards to 3D Virtual Immersive Environment Enterprise provider ProtonMedia. See my analysis of the recognition in What it means that MS LifeScience Award Goes to 3D Virtual Conference Design

James A. Parker, President of Digitell, Inc.informed me that he had a great reception and a tremendous amount of buzz around his VirtualU product and many of the people with whom he spoke are desperate to find a more engaging platform than 2D virtual classrooms.

Venuegen has offered to help Second Life Enterprise users move from the SL Enterprise edition to the Venuegen platform for free. This provides a great way for corporate users of 3D spaces to not loose any investment and to seamlessly move from one venue to another.

The University of Washington Virtual World Certificate officially had its first graduation. The student's worked hard and excelled at mastering virtual worlds in theory, design, development and big ideas. This is one of the first virtual world certificate graduation of which I am aware and it means that people are seriously studying the subject and becoming experts in building virtual immersive environment for educational, corporate and government uses.

Here is a machinima of the graduation:




Negative

The 3D virtual world business space isn't big enough to support Thinkbalm's analysis efforts. See Change is under way at ThinkBalm

Linden Labs announces layoffs, appears to be contemplating shuttering Enterprise Edition efforts.
it looks as though Linden Labs, the developers behind Second Life, may be downsizing their corporate efforts (Second Life Enterprise Edition). Two sources indicate that Linden may actually be shutting down their Enterprise operations.. The story broke in a number of places, Virtual Worlds News reports that Linden Lab Lays Off 30 Perfect Of Staff. And Massively, a blog that provides daily information about MMOs. Reported the following in an article Linden Lab laying off staff, closing Singapore office. For a great take on what is happening in Linden Labs and the enterprise perspective check out Dusan Writer's post Linden Lab Lock Step, Out Of Synch.

Back in March There.com shut down and Forettera was sold (for the better it appears).

Conclusion
So what does this all mean, to me, it is just churn. Check out a 2007 posting which sums up what is happening, The Metaverse Hype, Decline and Realism Cycle--We've Seen It Before
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What it means that MS LifeScience Award Goes to 3D Virtual Conference Design

Event
By now you've probably already heard that the Microsoft Life Sciences Innovation Award 2010 has gone to a project that uses a 3-D virtual environment to hold a virtual scientific poster session. The session, held by the pharmaceutical company Merck was conducted in Photosphere and featured the opportunity for scientists to gather and interact with each other. To learn, collaborate and exchange knowledge. This is the type of usage of 3D environments Tony and I wrote about in Learning in 3D

As MS announced as they gave the award:“The companies that received awards are on the cutting edge of integrating life sciences and information technology to advance research and benefit patients around the world,” said Michael Naimoli, U.S. life sciences industry solutions director, Microsoft. “By demonstrating quantifiable results, each of the award recipients is not only showing how Microsoft technology can be implemented to revolutionize the industry but also providing a road map for other companies that want to advance their own organizations.”

Results measured after the poster session demonstrated that the virtual environment was effective for scientific meetings and was well accepted by the current generation of scientists, suggesting that these environments can be used to deliver immediate value.

Analysis
The most fascinating features of this news to me are:

1) Microsoft recognizes the importance and significance of 3D. We've all read about IBM jumping into the 3D space and working hard to create a presence in 3D but one could always contend that they are being innovative because they are bringing innovation to their clients and want to "resell" 3D. But Microsoft with no known 3D product or initiative has recognized the importance of 3D for innovation. I wonder if they are not going to have a major push in the near future in the area of 3D? We know the company has a lot of resources and, although they sometimes arrive late to the party (internet browsers, game consoles)...once they arrive, they make a huge impact. It will be interesting to see what comes of Microsoft's interest in 3D.

2) The pharmaceutical industry is highly regulated and rightfully concerned about social media and what is allowed to be said and what is not allowed to be said. (see Pfizer's $2.3 Billion-Dollar Settlement)Yet, at least one pharma company (and I know of several others) has embraced 3D virtual immersive environment (VIE) technology. I think this is very telling. If an industry as highly regulated and concerned about messages can embrace 3D virtual world technology, other industries are not far behind.

3) In addition to being highly regulated, the pharmaceutical industry has been notoriously conservative in its approach to training. I know of several large companies that have just recently embraced the "new fangled" elearning and virtual classrooms and others who have started to innovate only to go backwards because of new leadership and these are the large companies, mid-sized and small pharmaceutical companies are even more conservative. So when a major pharmaceutical company not only embraces 3D virtual immersive environment technology but also applies for an award for using the technology, you can sense an industry moving in a particular direction. I see the pharmaceutical and medical device industry rapidly moving in the direction of 3D. This is further underlined by Kaplan-EduNeering's partership with Protonmedia.

4) Corporate monies are about to be thrown behind 3D in a BIG WAY. This is because of the link between pharmaceutical companies and the larger "healthcare industry". And the impact is huge. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Healthcare industry provided 14.3 million jobs for wage and salary workers in 2008, holds ten of the 20 fastest growing occupations and will generate 3.2 million new wage and salary jobs between 2008 and 2018, more than any other industry, largely in response to rapid growth in the elderly population. So imagine when pharmaceutical companies begin to offer healthcare providers 3D virtual learning, eduction and conference experiences then the trickle down impact will mean that 3D environments will impact over 14 million people in terms of training for their jobs. To me, the tipping point for 3D will be in the healthcare industry based on the resources and efforts of pharmaceutical companies.

Conclusion
Microsoft's interest in 3D coupled with the 3D efforts of the pharmaceutical industry will push virtual 3D world technology from the fringes of organizational training and collaboration efforts to the forefront of organizational learning and collaboration efforts. It is only a matter of time.

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10 Common 3D Virtual World Training Questions and Answers

Recently a number of folks have asked me some questions about 3D worlds that I think can be answered in some of my previous posts so here are some of those posts as answers to frequently asked questions about virtual immersive environments:

1) How do I get started in 3D?
Five Tips on 3D eLearning and Training Courtesy of VenueGen

2) How do I create the right environment for my organization's 3D learning space?
Creating the right 3D learning space environment.

3)How do I overcome the objection "3D environments look too much like a game?"
Overcoming the objection: 3D environments look too much like a game.

4)How do I evaluate or measure the learning that occurs in a 3D virtual immersive environment?Looking for Ideas on How to Measure Virtual World Learning

5) Should learners be allowed to customize their own avatar or should we just give them generic avatars to get them started?Encourage Avatar Customization in a Virtual World Class

6) Will virtual immersive environments really work for virtual conferences?
I Have Seen the Future of Conferences...and it is 3D!

7) What are some "lessons learned" from 3D implementations?
Three Lessons from Virtual World Implementations

8) What are some design principles for developing a learning event in 3D?
Eight 3D Virtual World Design Principles

9) What are some tips for creating meaningful 3D virtual world training events?
Using Virtual Worlds in the Conspiracy to Create an ah-ha Moment and Creating a "Story" as the Foundation for Virtual World Learning Events

10) What are some "not-so-obvious" things about virtual worlds for learning?
Three "Not So Obvious" Obvious Things about Virtual Worlds

BONUS: What is pushing organizations toward 3D virtual worlds for learning and collaboration?8 Scary and Uncomfortable Reasons for the Growth of Virtual Worlds

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Interesting Developments in 3D Learning and Collaboration Space

Some interesting developments in the 3D Learning and Collaboration Space.

First, it looks as though Linden Labs, the developers behind Second Life, may be downsizing their corporate efforts (Second Life Enterprise Edition). Two sources indicate that Linden may actually be shutting down their Enterprise operations. While this has not been totally verified by dozens of data sources. The story seems to have broken in a number of places, Virtual Worlds News reports that Linden Lab Lays Off 30 Perfect Of Staff. And Massively, a blog that provides daily information about MMOs. Reported the following in an article Linden Lab laying off staff, closing Singapore office:

...there are signs of what seems to be a significant series of layoffs in progress at Linden Lab.There's a pattern at work when various key staffers are about to depart from the Lab fold. A sudden rise in job-oriented social networking (particularly reconnecting with ex-Lab staffers), a sudden burst of recommendations and references, and so forth. We watched it all over the weekend, in some very unusual places. Some staff have already gotten notice, while others are evaluating their options in case they're tapped in a subsequent round.

Most or all of the team that engineered the Second Life Enterprise product was let go not long after it went into production...At this moment, our information is far from complete but it's a pretty good bet that if you're a part of the Lab's market-development or business-development groups, you're already clearing out your desk this week.

Additionally, sources inside the industry indicate that Linden seems to be more focused on its customer-focused 3D environment than its business-to-business efforts. This can't be making IBM happy. They where one of the first to invest corporate resources to incorporate Second Life into enterprisewide options, as I reported back in 2008.

Second, ProtonMedia, the developers of ProtoSphere has announced a strategic partnership with IBM (specifically the Global Services Division.) Here is what the press release indicates:

IBM and and ProtonMedia have entered into a teaming agreement that will result in the delivery of innovative, 3-D virtual collaboration and communication solutions engineered specifically for global life sciences organizations. Under the terms of the agreement, ProtonMedia’s ProtoSphere technology will be the basis for customized, 3-D virtual collaboration environments to create high-performance workplaces. IBM’s Global Business Services division will provide consultancy, integration, deployment, and installation services to life science customers around the world, leveraging the ProtoSphere platform. The companies are also in discussions for cross-marketing initiatives for their solutions.

See press release here.

I find the announcement of the two issues, the potential closing of the Linden Enterprise Edition and the teaming of ProtonMedia and IBM to NOT be a coincidence. IBM, if you remember, was one of the first large organizations in Second Life and was a pioneer in using Second Life for its clients and now it is moving toward another 3D virtual immersive environment vendor. Interesting development.

Third, yesterday, the University of Washington Virtual World Certificate officially had its first graduation. The graduating class has Deborah Frincke, Chief Scientist for CyberSecurity Research, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as our guest speaker. Deborah has been instrumental in supporting the students in the development of Cybersecurity Island, which they presented to the attendees shortly after graduation. This year the student speaker was Valibrarian Gregg, aka Valerie Hill, MLS, Lewisville ISD and PhD Student at Texas Woman’s University. She reflected on the journey her classmates have made this year, which has been prestigious and arduous. The student's worked hard and excelled at mastering virtual worlds in theory, design, development and big ideas. This is one of the first virtual world certificate graduation of which I am aware and it means that people are seriously studying the subject and becoming experts in building virtual immersive environment for educational, corporate and government uses.

Here is the 411 (information) on the Virtual World Certificate program.

Fourth, and perhaps most important (tongue firmly in cheek). An announcement was made that SpongeBob is going to be made into a 3D virtual world. According to Worlds in Motion.

Viacom division MTV Networks Asia and Singaporean developer GigaMedia Limited announced plans to co-develop and jointly publish a massively multiplayer online game based on animated TV series SpongeBob SquarePants.

I find these announcements interesting as the 3D virtual worlds begin to separate into distinct offerings. The industry seems to be more clearly and firmly drawing the line between companies that support 3D virtual worlds for games and as social networks and companies that are seriously focused on the corporate advantages of 3D virtual worlds. The industry is undergoing some interesting but necessary changes as some players become more corporate focused and others become more consumer focused.
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Great Time at Innovations in eLearning Symposium

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to present a workshop at the Innovations in eLearning Symposium. I've been to this conference once before and find it to be energetic, exciting, innovative and informative. You get to meet and interact with all kinds of people and learn about all kinds of bubbling ideas and concepts within the field.

Last time I attended was two years ago.

This year I co-presented a workshop titled Strategies for Enterprise Learning in Virtual Worlds with Dan Bliton a Learning Strategist at Booz Allen Hamilton and, again, had a wonderful time. You can see the resources for that presentation at 3D Slideshow and Interviews.

Dan Bliton and Karl Kapp relax after presenting virtual world workshop.

Traveling to conferences also gives me a chance to catch up with alumni. I got to see Brad who was in Colorado for a while and is now back on the East Coast. It was good to see him and hear about the work he is doing.

Karl and Brad talk about old times in Bloomsburg 

University's Instructional Technology Program.

I also got to see David Metcalf for a minute at lunch, as well as a brief hello to Aaron Silvers and a short discussion with Chris St.John and Jay Allen. I also met @busynessgirl whom I've corresponded through tweets many times and with whom I had my picture taken. And had some really insightful and provocative questions posed by Nada Dabbagh and I spoke briefly with Kevin Clark who is the director for the Center for Digital Media, Innovation and Diversity and who is using Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning
in a survey course...Kevin you are awesome!

@kkapp and @busynessgirl pose for a picture.

All in all a great conference, you can catch the tweets at #iel2010
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3D Slideshows and Interviews

Here is a list of the 3D Slides I've posted on Slideshare and some interviews about 3D. (all in one place).

Slideshows

Learning in 3D

Learning in 3D: Examples, Samples and Models

Learning in 3D: Postcards from Learning in 3D (Presentation to Best Practices in Virtual Worlds)

3D Learning Archetypes

Why 3D? (Presentation given at Penn State)

Interviews

RWD Speaks about Using 3D Virtual Environments for Learning and Collaboration

Interview with CEO of ProtonMedia and President of Kaplan-EduNeering on 3D in Compliance Training and Collaboration

Interview of Tony and Karl at Metanomics (Done in world of Second Life)

Karl Kapp on Learning in 3D (audio interview)

Video Visit with Learning in 3D co-author, Karl Kapp (at the ProtonMedia blog)


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