e-Learning Design & Virtual Worlds …

A quite lengthy post but it encompasses some of the interesting points raised in today’s lecture.

26 March 2008

Today in class we merged with Anne’s class for an experience in virtual worlds. I didn’t get the chance to attend the virtual worlds lecture last semester but I had my preconceptions about it, which I may say have definitely been changed. Last semester after reading Eddie’s blog about her contempt for the technology, I totally agreed with her on many counts. Today however, after been given the privilege of seeing what it was like and hearing about it from an expert point of view I do realise the benefits that it does bring to the educational setting.

It is particularly interesting to have heard as well that UTS is in the process of implementing Second Life in a teaching and learning situation. As part of academic board, I also attended a meeting this morning which discussed a review of UTS’ strategic plan. One of the points raised was that we are a technology university and so to hear that Second Life was potentially going to be introduced really shows that we are progressing to encompass emerging technologies.

I still have my reservations about the technology but in saying that, the unique learning experience that it delivers is one worth exploring. Via Skype, our guest lecturer, Jo, showed us through a number of virtual world landscapes. She attributed the success of Second Life to the fact that it was a first generation virtual world (it is still in its beginning stages) and because of the large community in which it has drawn and the ability of this community, and its individuals, to create the environments. Her particular investment into Second Life was also driven by, as she stated, the technology being a virtual economy and the practical aspects it provided for the education sector as well as its full range of features. Also, through Second Life, there is the potential to build skills and knowledge that can be transferred to other environments and benefit them.

As part of our experience we visited a few virtual landscapes.

1. Corporate Space – Dell Island
Dell has been one of the first big companies to become involved in Second Life. It was designed not only for training and corporate practices, such as providing private meeting spaces, but was a way of leveraging clients and connecting the user with the brand. In the educational setting, enabling students to have access to such an environment prepares them for work in organisations such as these in the future. Another feature of Dell Island were the shopfronts, one of which was a newsstand which linked to Reuters. Many media companies looking for different avenues and perhaps more up to date avenues of distributing content have also become engaged in Second Life. Dell, keeping in touch with the current issues, also had the feature of planting trees, interactive objects, as an initiative to offset carbon emissions. A particular aspect of Dell Island which Jo drew our attention to was the way in which they Dell built their brand through the design of the architecture. She also raised the question of what it was that Dell implemented in order to draw people back to the space. As e-Learning designers, this is something we should really consider. In regards to the educational context, Jo reinforced the opportunities presented in these spaces for incidental learning. As these are spaces which encounter a lot of traffic, you never know what or who you come across as you are travelling.

2. International Space Flight (ISF) Museum
This particular space was designed for public education purposes and is also an environment in which people can come together and explore a common interest. It is also a way in which scientists can publish and share their knowledge and developments within the field. One of the things Jo taught us to do in this space was to launch a rocket into mars which in a way allowed the user to engage in some sort of interactivity.

3. Swinburne University – Koala Island
This was a project Jo was involved in and the design of the space was intended to replicate the campus environment. The buildings and architecture were designed to reflect those on campus and upon entering one of the buildings, you could see a display of artworks along the walls. Not only is this an aesthetic measure but also an avenue through which digital media students could display their work. We entered a vacant room which Jo, upon the teleportation of objects, changed into a conference room where we could engage in discussion. One of the interesting and perhaps useful things about this teleportation feature is that rooms can be reconfigured at one click to cater for different learning situations. Being able to change the learning environment can be very beneficial to the learner as one of the things you can do is incorporate stimuli, such as artwork or graffiti or colour and so on, which crates a space in which learners can come up with their own ideas and build a knowledge base that is merely facilitated by the educator rather than dictated by the educator.

At this stage of the lecture, we took some time out in the “conference room” to talk about some of the things that had been brought up. A few classmates spoke of how easy it was to use the technology and perhaps the biggest issue raised was the problems we had with the hardware. There was a problem with the computers lagging but it was also reiterated that the Second Life platform as well as the hardware, needs to be greatly improved in order to really engage with the technology. The issue related to synchronous environments, not being able to communicate with people internationally because of time differences, was also brought up. In response to that Jo said that there are ways in which we can document things to tackle the problems this poses.

Anne asked the question of where Second Life/virtual worlds can be used in educational settings and below were some of the responses:

• In distance education – to compensate for the loss of interaction that you get when you are physically present.
• In vocational education – the ability to immerse students in different environments, to learn skills and be accustomed to different work environments and policy and procedures that come with being in such environments.
• For role paly
• As informal learning spaces

To conclude the lecture, we discussed the key educational strengths of virtual worlds:

• it offers new ways of delivery
• it offers new ways of facilitating
• they are student centred spaces
• it enables engagement in cooperative and active learning
• it enables students to connect
• it promotes a shared experience
• it promotes the rewards of being able to feel that you have done something together, which is particularly important and powerful for young children

The final question was about how you advertise these spaces to gain visitors to your space and Jo spoke of the importance of social networking, blogging, rss feeds and the like to arouse interest.

To close this blog, I’d like to say that today’s lesson was very informative and did make me see the benefit of using virtual worlds within the educational setting. Although personally I found the technical aspects of it to be quite confusing, I think with consistent use, you become more competent. However in saying that, consistent use does tickle a bone with me as I think over use of the technology is really not good for your health and social life. The potential (as paranoid as this sounds) of technology overtaking our lives is something that worries me and I think we need to really limit how much we immerse ourselves in using technology.