If you’re a kid who’s played one of the math games offered by Tabula Digita’s DimensionM series, you might think so. I learned about DimensionM from the recent 2009 NMC Summer Conference in Monterey (thanks to Bryan from NITLE!). As part of my survey of the educational gaming landscape, I downloaded & played a couple of games from the DimensionM series. The series is designed to help elementary and middleschoolers learn about algebra. In one version of the game, I found myself applying my knowledge of cartesian coordinates by using a HUD (heads-up display) to navigate my way through a mission. Unlike most game-based HUDs, this one uses an actual coordinate system, complete with negative numbers. The game demo did a good job at balancing immersion with checks for understanding, while staying “in character” — not an easy thing to do.
After digging around for some press, I read an article from a local NY news station titled, “Video Game Competition Puts Math To The Test”. The news article highlights a video from an actual live game competition where students put their skills to the test in what’s known as the DimensionM 2009 MegaBowl Tournament. The tournament is a math competition that uses a multiplayer game system that lets kids compete. Very Neat - O.
Most of the recent posts have focused exclusively on Second Life and virtual worlds. However, I’d like to turn my attention towards another, albeit related platform–educational gaming. One of the most interesting aspects about gaming is its interdisciplinary nature. From the complex cross-section of skills needed to design an educational game, to the cross-section of skills that one puts to use to play games such as World of Warcraft or Civilization, games (or simulations if you prefer that term) have the potential to engage, immerse, and challenge us. Serious games such as Global Conflicts, Latin America to serious games platforms such as CivWorld (which uses the Civilization game platform to build academic content) provide immersive opportunities for learning. What are the educational benefits of gaming? What are the affordances of gaming platforms? What are the barriers to adoption? Is it possible to customize or build course-specific simulations affordably?
Last semester I was asked by a philosophy professor here @ SEU if I could build what will be SEU’s first Sim Second Life. Of course, I said “yes!”–after which time I decided to figure out how to build what was asked. As it turns out he wanted a recreation of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave–from his work, The Republic.
I took the opportunity to dive headlong into SL — from sculpties to particles to LSL and invisible prims — and constructed what is now a working draft of a sim. The main premise behind the Allegory of the Cave centers around the question of what life would be like if all we knew came from watching flat, 2-D shadows that were cast on the back wall of a Cave. We, in fact, would be chained to our family members and would live life this way, until one day we would escape our bonds and venture into the world outside. We would of course return to tell our family members what life was really like, but of course…they wouldn’t believe us. So, our version of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is an attempt to help students explore this concept by presenting them with a cave, and with the opportunity to experience this story for themselves.
The build isn’t complete since the educational content–including background materials and quizzing system still need to be installed–but the core of the simulation is functional. To visit, go to this SLUrl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Teaching%203/85/206/23 .
Whether or not you’re a part of the class that I’m teaching on Virtual Worlds & Second Life, feel free to take a look at compilation of links that provide an Introduction to Virtual Worlds. From Sun Microsystem’s Darkstar & Project Wonderland initatives to Second Health simulations in Second Life, this pdf and the corresponding presentation will provide an introduction to the use of online environments for learning and immersion.
I’ve been busy at building a “working draft” of our SEU Campus in Second Life. To visit the campus, go to: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Teaching%203/27/217/24 after you have signed up for an avatar using the New Media Center’s sign-up process @ http://sl.nmc.org/join/ .
In the SEU SL space, you can find a variety of classroom environments, ranging from small-discussion, ampitheatre presentations, as well as a “traditional” classroom space. In addition, there is an “exhibit / resource” hall, a skybox “annex” space intended for overflow or for simultaneous use of video, and a “Sandbox” area for building.
Resources currently available in the exhibit hall include Landmarks to a variety of places of interest in Second Life. To navigate the SEU space, a teleportation system has been installed to enable easy access to all areas in the SEU space.
For those who are interested in visiting even more educational areas within Second Life, I’ve put together a list of SLUrl’s for a presentation at St. Edward’s University. Anyone interested in joining us on a “tour” of these spaces should download the .pdf and come along!
One resource that may be helpful for educators interested in Second Life is to take a look at Educause’s “7 things you should know about Second Life”. This straightforward view of the impact of Second Life for educators is succinct and presents both advantages as well as disadvantages of the environment.
Another item of interest is a recent unveiling of the University of the Pacific’s campus in Second Life. The New Media Center has a great write-up on this project, as well as a video (otherwise known as machinima) that showcases the university’s goals for the space. The university’s SL location can be found by visiting: http://slurl.com/secondlife/U%20Pacific/166/141/22
Given the rich array of resources to educator’s in Second Life (SL), I realized that some people may benefit from some pointers about ‘how’ someone can interact in SL. Although Linden Labs offers tutorials on a range of general topics in SL, I wanted to help people see how interaction tends to work in the context of educational sims. To do that, I constructed a tutorial walk-through of 2 educational sims: Genome Island & the Exploratorium. This Flash-based tutorial is called: ‘Making the Most of your Sim Walkthrough’ . The tutorial is about 10 minutes in length, and provides a walkthrough of exhibits in both sims. The tutorial is designed to help people learn how to:
- Use the mouse to interact with objects
- Collect & retrieve objects from the inventory
- Listen or view audio/video content
- Save & retrieve locations of interest
If you’re interested in visiting some interesting educational sims, SL has a handy way of referencing their addresses. Since access to SL is done via installing an application on your computer, it isn’t a web browser in the traditional sense of the term. Web browsing is possible with the SL client however, and locations within SL can be accessed with a “SLurl”. A Slurl is a link that points to a location in SL, which can be accessed via your web browser (and therefore bookmarked for later retrieval). Clicking the SLurl will prompt you to login to SL, after which point your avatar will be “teleported” to the correct destination. I suggest taking some time to explore each sim–interact with the surroundings. I’ll discuss interactivity a bit more in future posts, but when you run across an exhibit, or something that looks interactive, clicking these objects can give more information. In some cases, directions will be given on what to do. In other cases, curiosity and exploration become very useful attributes when touring SL.
Here are a few SLurls for education-oriented sims to explore in SL.
Dante’s Inferno: designed as an immersive learning tool for students:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dante’s%20Inferno/128/128/2
Only Yesterday: A recreation of life in a 1930’s town:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Only%20Yesterday/104/125/35
Okapi Island in SL: OKAPI participants & Berkeley archaeologists (including students & faculty) built a sim of a prehistoric village in Catalhoyuk, Turkey:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Okapi/128/128/0
Vassar’s Virtual Sistene Chapel:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Vassar/200/85/27
Educators looking to get into Second Life may want to check out the .pdf, “An Introduction to Second Life for Educators” by Beth Knittle. It’s a great general overview of what educators can expect out of Second Life. Another great resource is the New Media Consortium (NMC)’s SL resources page. If your campus is a member of the NMC, you’ll likely also be able to use the NMC spaces for your class.
Other educator resources that may of interest include:
The Educator’s Co-Op:
http://www.educatorscoop.org
ISTE - International Society for Technology in Education:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/107/66/30
SLolar Central: A Second Life Scholars Google Group:
http://groups.google.com/group/slolar-central
The Metaverse - teaching & learning about technology & society:
http://trumpy.cs.elon.edu/metaverse/
101 Uses for Second Life in the College Classroom:
http://facstaff.elon.edu/mconklin/pubs/glshandout.pdf
Second Life in Education Wiki:
http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/
