Learning in Virtuality Archived Session

Access the archived Horizon Wimba session go to Blackboard>Course Design Institute>Communications>Live Classrooms>Learning in Virtuality Archive.

[slideshare id=485368&doc=virtua2-1214409150287338-9&w=425]

SDSU-DistanceEd-SL

Yesterday’s LAT published a piece about corporate America’s embrace of Second Life. New World Notes’ Wagner James Au, shared some of the back story. Great journalism, it was and what I love about the blogosphere.I added my 2 cents to his post, as I have been here and there, in the Metaverse- YouTube, Twitter,etc. I’m still refining it.

The LAT article is another tidbit to add to my box-o-examples of using SL in courses at SDSU. For now. Change is always afoot.

We’re just starting to go distance-ed at SDSU. Let’s get our footing in the 2D virtual realm first. Let’s get some experience under our belts with the tools we got already. And more importantly let’s start thinking anew about teaching and learning at a distance. It’s a different paradigm, model and set of theories.

It seems that the corporate world has allowed SL to become “official” meeting places for their globally distributed workforces. And why not. It’s outrageously cheap. It’s a new approach. What it offers (small and large scale social events at cool places with cool activities) are simulations of events. I could be mistaken, but I can’t imagine that IBM hosts Aspen ski weekends for it’s middle management in RL (real life). I could be wrong.

In any event, without making this more important than it is, three conditions come to mind and make this relevant to SDSU, 1) People cannot get together face to face, 2) People value (enjoyment, connection, etc) entering SL to meet with others.  3) It’s an alternative, not the only way of adding social connection to a distance learning endeavor.

Alternatives to SL

This blog post was written almost a year ago. Nonetheless, it’s comprehensive and an insightful overview of the immediate terrain of virtual worlds.

Serious Games: Online games for learning

Serious Games: Online games for learning This white paper looks at serious games and their potential as learning tools. Some of the answers questions it answers:

Author: Anne Derryberry, SDSU Ed Tech Alumni.

Do You Need a Second Life - A 4-part article

by Patricia Deubel, Ph.D.

This is Your Brain on Video Games

I’d like to preface this article by pointing out that Second Life is not a game. It doesn’t have a predetermined setting, storyline or plot. It has no built-in tasks, goals and rewards. In SL participants (residents) design what happens there. This distinction makes SL more educationally significant than a video game because it allows us to design learning.

Research on video games is relevant to SL. It helps us understand immersive, digital environments where users engage in socially-situated experiences, activities and tasks which are the key elements of designed learning in such environments.

Excerpts from the article

‘To understand why games might be good for the mind, begin by shedding the cliché that they are about improving hand-eye coordination and firing virtual weapons. More than 70 percent of video games contain no more bloodshed than a game of Risk, and are popular because they challenge mental dexterity.”

“If you create a system in which rewards are both clearly defined and achieved by exploring an environment, you’ll find human brains drawn to those systems, even if they’re made up of virtual characters and simulated sidewalks.”
Read More