Homebase for our Amazing Race in SL
Last night our participants in Teaching and Learning in Virtual Worlds engaged in a learning race. Some would say it was Amazing.
For regular edutim readers, I will follow up with another blog post describing our process. This post is for our participants to react to the process. From here on out I am talking to them.
Hey guys. How are you? Hope you have recovered from last night. I know that as we fight to climb the learning curve of Second Life it can be exhausting. My hope is that you are gaining skill and experience that will serve us well later in the semester.
I would like you use the comments of this post to react on the process you went though last night. What did you think of the process? What did you learn? What did you think of the locations you visited? What issues/problems did you run into? How is your concept of virtual worlds changing?
We are using Intense Debate for comments. You can reply with text or video. Make sure to check our Moodle page for instructions on that. It is pretty straight forward. I am looking forward to seeing your thoughts. See you in the comments.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
've been to a few of the locations before, but that gave me the opportunity to look at different things. I hadn't been to the Darfur one or the CDC ones before, and I thought that there were a lot of opportunities to get support, join to help efforts, and get good information. The NASA one was also interesting, though I couldn't get everything to work properly. On Vassar Island, I was again amazed at the detail at the Sistine Chapel; when would you be able to be almost alone there and able to see everything so closely? (Aside from the burrito-fart noises, it was very impressive.) I did wander around a bit more, and I found math puzzles I want to go back and play with. They aren't necessarily any better than web applets with the same puzzles, but perhaps others could view how someone completes them. My greatest frustration was the rez-speed. I often thought I'd been everywhere, as I'd look around and see only ground, maybe a tree or two. I thought I was "done," but when I ventured into these open spaces, eventually things would appear and in a while, they would start to come into focus. That held us up a little on our adventure, as we couldn't easily find things or read signs. One thing that keeps popping up in my mind is that in a virtual world, if we use locations such as this, if there are specific learning goals (and there should be, at least after an initial exploration), there need to be more explicit instructions. I often felt like I was just wandering aimlessly, and perhaps that's been the goal over the past few weeks, but if I were to have students explore any of these places, I might have a more detailed list of things for them to do or find. Perhaps they could have free exploration time, but for some students, they might never learn whatever it is I was hoping they would learn. This is not really that different from in-person classroom/textbook work; if you aren't very clear with instructions, some students can "wander" in the dark and never get where you want them to be! ~Amy
I've been to a few of the locations before, but that gave me the opportunity to look at different things. I hadn't been to the Darfur one or the CDC ones before, and I thought that there were a lot of opportunities to get support, join to help efforts, and get good information. The NASA one was also interesting, though I couldn't get everything to work properly. On Vassar Island, I was again amazed at the detail at the Sistine Chapel; when would you be able to be almost alone there and able to see everything so closely? (Aside from the burrito-fart noises, it was very impressive.) I did wander around a bit more, and I found math puzzles I want to go back and play with. They aren't necessarily any better than web applets with the same puzzles, but perhaps others could view how someone completes them. My greatest frustration was the rez-speed. I often thought I'd been everywhere, as I'd look around and see only ground, maybe a tree or two. I thought I was "done," but when I ventured into these open spaces, eventually things would appear and in a while, they would start to come into focus. That held us up a little on our adventure, as we couldn't easily find things or read signs. One thing that keeps popping up in my mind is that in a virtual world, if we use locations such as this, if there are specific learning goals (and there should be, at least after an initial exploration), there need to be more explicit instructions. I often felt like I was just wandering aimlessly, and perhaps that's been the goal over the past few weeks, but if I were to have students explore any of these places, I might have a more detailed list of things for them to do or find. Perhaps they could have free exploration time, but for some students, they might never learn whatever it is I was hoping they would learn. This is not really that different from in-person classroom/textbook work; if you aren't very clear with instructions, some students can "wander" in the dark and never get where you want them to be! ~Amy
I have to agree with your comment about "wandering" – as much as I enjoyed exploring and the freedom it created, at times I got a little frustrated with not knowing where to go/what to do etc. For other learners – kids and adults – I imagine this would be true also.
[seesmic aaHYmDqfFd|http://t.seesmic.tv/thumbnail/ly4YCnRAeM_th1.jpg http://www.seesmic.com/video/aaHYmDqfFd seesmic]
Shucks, my first attempt at a video comment didn't go so well. I got the Seesmic window but couldn't activate anything. I'll try again.
[seesmic ZcCYzqtpQn|http://t.seesmic.tv/thumbnail/sQ69YZFr6A_th1.jpg http://www.seesmic.com/video/ZcCYzqtpQn seesmic]
Sadly, I can not get Seesmic to record video so I am relegated to typing and lots of spell checking. If I was vlogging (just made that up) you would see that just as in SL, I have my red cap on.
My teammate, Jason, and I visited three sites. The Hallucinations, Better World and StarTrek. I had some personal reactions and some thoughts generated by my constant educational focus.
Lets talk about me first! I found it difficult to keep up with all the windows. Perhaps this is because I am on a 13" laptop. One difficulty I had was needing the IM chat window up to talk to Jason and the local chat window up to blog. More than once I typed into the wrong window and that was probably frustrating for both of us.
I found arrivals at each place disorienting and I am going to get that in mind when I get my island going. The only spot I felt comfortable in, ok well guided in, was the hallucinations site. It was pretty straight forward. The Better World site was overwhelming purpose but also because of it is so big. Some guide posts or "You are Here" signs might have taken away from the Darfur display but would have been welcome at the StarTrek Site. I was very disappointed not to have found the Startrek suit but I will have one before the class is out (she says muttering under her breath).
The teleport to the class location was a nice touch. I have a Black Bear teleport but it is to the sandbox, where I spend most of my time.
What about the learning? I am glad Amy brought up the SAMR continuum because I had forgotten about it and when I am thinking about using new applications this certainly one of the good frameworks to use as a filter.
The StarTrek sight was fun. I would use this in a pragmatics course for students who need a tool to aid social interaction. In fact the entire concept of the Amazing Race (scaled down of course) is a the perfect platform for social interaction in a stressful situation. The idea of using a virtual world to help students practice interacting is one of the original things I investigated.
Some things need to be done in isolation. I found the Hallucination site very convincing and it was unsettling to wonder if my teammate was hearing the same thing. This simple yet effective site was impressive.
The Better World site was very moving. The pictures and sounds portrayed the horror of the situation. Despite the urgency of this situation and considering that I don't teach this, I wondered if this couldn't be taught as well or even more effectively in other ways.
I continue to gain insight into teaching with virtual material and I look forward to hearing from other teachers.
Sadly, I can not get Seesmic to record video so I am relegated to typing and lots of spell checking. If I was vlogging (just made that up) you would see that just as in SL, I have my red cap on.
Still trying to recover even thou it is Wednesday already. It first I didn’t really care for the challenge of racing even thou I am experienced Second Lifer having of the usually difficulties of maneuvering around or opening objects. As I reflect back I think it has more to do with the first item the green team had to find the colors of Hepatitis B and of course being the over achievers that we are wanted to find the Bonus Task item being the hazmat suit which I couldn’t detach from my Avatar’s shape until I attached my original skin back on. Then there was the challenge of people being friendly like the normal are on Second Life wanting to chat when I was hunting for items for the race.
As for the process it was fun and frustrating to find items that you really had know idea where they were unless you have been there before which know of the island I had been to before at least not that I remember. But to explore the island was so interesting like the Star Trek and the Vassar Island which I have every intention of going back to for some more exploring and watching a video or 2 popcorn anyone.
The only big problem was the lag on the Star Trek Island, which slowed down the process of searching for the uniform, then loading and putting it on besides having to revert my skin so I didn’t look like a marshmallow.
Overall I would do it again and working in groups was a huge help because 2 eyes are better then one when we are looking for particular items. I had a wonderful partner who I have to say found the clues faster then I did kudos to Zmrzlina.
Freedom to explore and discover a particular concept with my "Amazing Race" partner was very enjoyable. I liked that we were collaborating to solve the challenges faced and appreciated the shared responsibility and experience. It was "real" as we discussed the tapestries in the SL Sistine Chapel, and I totally see the value to creating such a learning environment where we can talk and share ideas and experiences. The places we visited were definitely interesting, but as with any kind of learning, relevancy is key. While I appreciated visiting such a diverse set of locations on this scavenger hunt, I can imagine how exciting (and more relevant) this would be if time were taken to create a learning space that was focused on a particular content area or concept. The independence of this experience was good, but I can also see where it might be a negative. There were definitely times when I started to feel frustrated that I couldn't find what I was looking for – this goes directly to the need for exceptionally well-planned learning spaces with ways to seek help. I know this isn't necessarily always going to be a factor, but I felt considerable pressure of time to compete against the other groups (and the clock) to achieve the goals. Maybe that is just my competitive nature, but there were definitely times when it assumed more importance than it should, likely to the detriment of my learning. Overall… loved the experience, and am fast becoming a believer in the value of virtual worlds as potential learning spaces. Nice work teach!
I agree; if there is a well-designed location that ties into what you are teaching, and students can move around and explore, it would be amazing. Some of the sites we visited the other night were great for this, but many "educational" locations seem to have lots of information, but not a lot of "setting." If the only things there are links to information, I think the virtual world piece could be very distracting, and perhaps a website would be as useful. But when you can BE on location somewhere and see and experience what something is like, it's definitely more powerful.
Again, I will mention the Night of Broken Glass Holocaust location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/US%20Holocaust%20Muse… where you can experience WWII Germany and hear stories from survivors. This is an experience that no one today could have. Yes, you could watch a movie, but this allows for choice and self-direction.
[seesmic 4ts8cVDe3M|http://t.seesmic.tv/thumbnail/O6DWaS2jlJ_th1.jpg http://www.seesmic.com/video/4ts8cVDe3M seesmic]
Josh… congrats on getting the video to embed. I enjoyed seeing and hearing your response versus the traditional reading of text – another example of providing an alternate way to communicate – like we are doing in SL. That Tim guy is pretty smaht
I wanted to try this on facebook link but it doesn't show up on mine. Only IntenseDebate and twitter. But enough about that. I enjoyed visiting the places with a purpose but did feel rushed. It was hard to cope with all the chat windows as well as all the actions. I did enjoy the game. I like games but do tend to be competitive. I did go back to see some of the places I didn't get to and reading these, I think there is one more place I didn't get to. I will visit that. I am surprised, listening, that the Hallucination site didn't really affect me. It didn't look real enough but I also went through it my myself so maybe that made a difference? I just got back from another foray into SL where I had explored a landmark and got a warning that I was entering a private area and I had to leave in 10 seconds. Spooked me a bit and I quickly chose someplace else to teleport hopefully before my 10 seconds was up. I also kept getting messages in a freebie store that some vampire wanted permission to animate my avatar. While I like the dancing animating that's my limit so far! Back to class though, I really enjoyed learning about new places to visit and it just makes me realize how huge SL really is!
I had a lot of fun with the Amazing Race in SL. Of course, I had the
best partner (Laura),to help me with my navigation issues, which, had a
lot to do with my slow connection I believe. As Laura Said in her
comments, I felt the Hallucinations site was the most stright forward,
however, the intermittant voices, surprised me, and creeped me out,
more than I care to admit. I found the Darfur site very moving, and
informational. It was the one sight that I have been to so far, that
really made me think that SL would be good for education. I teach about
the holocaust and Genocide, and use Darfur as a current example,
however, my students never really seem to grasp the concept. I think If
I could take them to that site, even in computer generated characters,
they would feel more like they were connected to the issue, and have a
more movin experience, as I did. I thought that using the concept of
the amazing race was really a great way to get us motivated to explore.
I will admit, so far, I don't explore much on my own, so being forced
to, and going to pre-designated areas, was a great thing for me to
experience. Having a partner to help me along was also great. If I
didn't have Laura, I would have gotten lost a lot, and probably lally
gagged around looking at stuff, rather than doing what we were supposed
to. I was sad to see that we had only visited three of the six places,
because after we went to Star Trek, I was excited to see the other
sites, seeing as Tim is obviously a man after my own heart, a top
sci-fi/fantasy man, to say the least!
As for Star Trek…All I wanted was to get that uniform!!! And I
couldn't! My computer lagged so badly, that Laura had to help me
teleport back to BBI, and we never got to find the stuff we wanted. I
was frustrated to no end.
Either way, it was a lot of fun, and very informational. Thanks Tim!