Virtual World Watch informally presented at the CETIS / Eduserv Foundation workshop at the University of Strathclyde earlier this month. The presentation gave a swift overview of the snapshot surveys to date, drawing out some generalised findings.
Jan 21
A record number of responses, in various formats, have come in for the January 2009 snapshot. VWW is still going through them, and chasing up various leads and snippets of information. The subsequent report will be out soon, and will be available from here.
VWW has also received feedback about what kind of information actual and potential UK academic virtual world developers need that would be of use to them. More feedback is welcome; this is an interesting issue in itself. Obviously, a seasoned academic in year three of using Second Life for teaching and learning has very different information needs to an academic trying to make the case, inside their institution, for the purchase of an island.
Over the next four weeks, some such information will appear and/or be linked from the Virtual World Watch website.
Jan 20
Judy Robertson (lecturer in computer science) and Nicole Cargill-Kipar, from Heriot-Watt University, describe some of their activities for the latest snapshot survey. Their island can be found at:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/HeriotWatt%20University/94/139/28/
What are you doing in virtual worlds?
Judy: We are teaching first and second year computer science and information systems students on a 12 week module called Interactive Systems (total 138 students). The students learn how to program in Linden Script, and some simple 3D modelling. The module is 100% course work and their assignment this semester was to create an interactive virtual pet. We are collecting data on this project and will publish it in due course.
The reason we have chosen to use it as a teaching platform for introductory programming is because the students can see an immediate result in the virtual world from the scripts they write. It is easy for them to see the results of their program running in-world. They can also see what their peers are working on, which has a motivational effect. Technically speaking, it is quite an interesting language, so they learn useful programming concepts.
Do you think you’ll do more virtual world “stuff” in your institution in the next academic year? What will this be?
Judy: Yes, we will teach the same module next academic year.
Nicole: There have been discussions with lecturers in other disciplines, such as the Built Environment, who are interested in finding ways to use SL with their distance learners. There is a possibility of looking into cross-subject SL work, i.e. Computer Science students might build 3D objects (such as buildings with specific requirements) for Built Environment students to fault find, survey, etc. This is a tentative thought, but one that might be worth pursuing, if funding can be secured.
Tell me interesting “stuff” – anything you think is relevant.
Judy: We have questionnaire data which indicates that our students don’t like SL very much. It has had negative publicity recently which makes some of them think it is “sad”. However, the students do on the whole like our module. They seemed to enjoy making their pets and are proud of them. There is not a straightforward motivational effect for SL itself, and it would be a mistake to use it on the assumption that the students will like it because it is fashionable.
For blog entries about our SL work, see judyrobertson.typepad.com/ and flexiblelearning.wordpress.com/
Nicole: I gave a presentation at the RSC Virtual Worlds conference at Stirling University in November 08, where I talked about the findings of the 07-08 project in the light of group work and motivation. I also wrote a BJET colloquium article on the 07-08 module, which will appear in the next issue. Furthermore, I am about to give a presentation at the Durham university Bb conference about aspects of learner motivation in virtual worlds, in the light of reflective learning logs.
This summary is to show that the data that both the 07-08 and 08-09 modules yielded is extremely rich and can be analysed in the light of a diverse range of learner centred topics, such as group work, motivation, individual learning, identity and peer learning, etc. The use of SL in these particular Computer Science modules was motivational because of its direct visual abilities (students see peer work, they learn from others, help others, set their own goals and standard through motivation by others) but, as Judy said, not because of the medium/tool of SL itself. To us, SL was the most suitable tool currently available, no more, no less.
Jan 15
Andy is the Learning Team Leader at the University of Nottingham. As well as answering the latest snapshot survey, Andy provided a beatiful screenshot of the University of Nottingham marina in Second Life, which forms the title screen of my presentation tomorrow.
The university island can be found here:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/University%20of%20Nottingham/98/43/25
What are you doing in virtual worlds?
We are exploring using SL to provide a web based campus to support teaching and research. This is a fairly new initiative for the University (since Sept 08), but even in this relatively short timeframe the island has already been used to support teaching and research activities.
Are you doing any teaching or learning in virtual worlds such as Second Life?
Yes. For both staff and students. SL has been used to support teaching of undergraduates, as well as sessions aimed at staff who teach. We have also developed a sand box with freebies and tutorials to further develop SL skills, plus additional online support via our e-learning support website. We plan to use a combination of online support and taught sessions (in SL and RL) to widen exposure to the potential of MUVEs for teaching and learning.
Do you think you’ll do more virtual world “stuff” in your institution in the next academic year? What will this be?
Yes. A recent internal call for e-learning projects has resulted in a number of SL based bids. This is encouraging in terms of interest and active use to support teaching and research. These projects will be explored and developed further over the coming months.
The School of Geography at Nottingham is also part of the DELVE project (JISC funded) and they are exploring using virtual worlds.
Tell me interesting “stuff” – anything you think is relevant.
At an upcoming Nottingham e-learning seminar (January 09), I have invited a colleague – who recently used our island to support his teaching – to present to the audience via SL. He is now in Lebanon and I will meet him in SL, he will then use the voice facility in SL and discuss his experiences to an audience in RL. I will relay questions to him from the audience.
Jan 14
This is where I did my degree several decades ago now, so it is pleasing to see the University (or Hatfield Polytechnic as it was then) being active in virtual worlds. The respondent, Andrew Marunchak, was also the first person to reply to a snapshot survey request, way back in 2007.
Why are you?
My name’s Andrew Marunchak, I work in real-time 3D and am the chief developer of the University of Hertfordshire’s Second Life presence.
What are you doing in virtual worlds?
I started work on the SL UH presence, in a part-time capacity, over a year ago. Since then, interest has grown and two new members have been added to the team. Originally, the goal of the project was to gain exposure in a popular 3D social network but it has since been altered to include research into how such environments are able to facilitate communication and learning. I now work full-time as part of a team dedicated to creating real-time 3D simulations and architectural visualisation inside SL as well as various other 3D engines at the UH.
David Lee, the Virtual Campus Manager, also contributed a reply to this question: Researching and teaching in SL. Currently we have finished building our island and are actively using it to teach Law, Radiography, 3D interactive media, Real time media streaming, 3D animation, creative writing, Computer Science and much more. We have started researching Unity for simulations, Visualisations and to build a private MUVE that is webpage accessible.
Are you doing any teaching or learning in virtual worlds such as Second Life?
I’m currently assisting a module called “3D Interactive Media”. It is the first we have run inside a networked virtual environment and is designed as a means of introducing students to the concepts of networked 3D worlds and cyberculture in general.
The presence is freely available for all staff to use and we encourage them to leave us feedback. We have streamed live events such as our Science and Technology Research Showcase and Digital Animation exposé into SL.
Do you think you’ll do more virtual world “stuff” in your institution in the next academic year? What will this be?
Most of the activities currently taking place are research oriented. There is growing interest in this field and as a growth industry there is plenty of data to collect. We need to establish best practices for teaching and learning so as to bring some order to how we engage with this new medium.
Tell me interesting “stuff” – anything you think is relevant.
The key to making a virtual world usable for an educational establishment is accessibility. In the case of Second Life, people have to download the client and register an account, which has proven to be a confusing process for (some) staff and students alike. We have gone to great lengths to streamline this process to the point of installing the SL client in our Learning Resource Centre and using the ‘Reg API’ (registration assisted programming interface) provided by Linden Lab to allow students to create accounts from inside the university network.
We are also working on a way to fix a few issues we’re having with voice chat (we have a separate network for staff and students, freeing up ports is proving to be problematic).
Jan 08
Dr. Will Tuladhar-Douglas is an anthropologist specializing in religion, ecology and technology at the University of Aberdeen. His web page (previous link) makes for some pretty interesting reading (especially the stuff about sharing parasites with bats – eww). Anyway, some of his response to the latest snapshot survey follows.
What are you doing in virtual worlds?
We’re building a Buddhist monastery as part of a 2nd year course on the anthropology of Buddhism. It’s not designed to be ‘authentic’ – rather, we’re focussing on the student experience. A subset of the class will create avatars, learn to socialize in Second Life in all its indulgent glory, and then surrender all fashion, wealth and gender to become temporary monks/nuns. After engaging with other inhabitants as mendicant renunciants for a few weeks, they will go back to their ordinary life.
Do you think you’ll do more virtual world “stuff” in your institution in the next academic year?
Yes. We’re planning to integrate with Sloodle and I’m looking to collaborate with creative colleagues on building ‘living manuscripts’ and the like.
Jan 06
Thank you to all those who have responded to the current survey. And especially those who spent time over Christmas and the New Year doing this. Two responses came in on Christmas Day, tho’ that may be a reflection on how bad television is nowadays 
If you are thinking “Oh no, I’ve just missed the deadline!” then it is okay to get something in in the next few days. The response rate has been good, and therefore VWW is ploughing through a collection of replies.
We (myself and Andy Powell) look forward to meeting some respondants and other UK academics at the CETIS / Eduserv Foundation workshop on Virtual Worlds on Friday January 16th. I will be there for the whole day and evening, and also some of the day and evening before. If you want to meet up, then please get in touch.
Thanks again,
Virtual World Watch
Jan 03
Another interesting response today to the latest snapshot survey, this one from Ian Truelove, a principal lecturer in the faculty of Arts and Society at Leeds Metropolitan University.
Ian is an experienced developer in Second Life, and has contributed to previous snapshot surveys. Part of his issue with Second Life concerns the ongoing saga of payments for the islands that he, and the faculty, use for teaching and learning.
Ian researches on the JISC funded Open Habitat project; he blogs about his virtual world activities, and you can also find him on Twitter. You can visit LeedsMet island at:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/LeedsMet/128/128/128/
Are you doing any teaching or learning in virtual worlds such as Second Life?
Through the Open Habitat project, we are piloting various approaches to teaching and learning in Second Life and OpenSim with Art & Design students based at Leeds Met. We’ve been mostly using OpenSim standalone to provide large numbers of students with a quick, sign-up free virtual world hit, following this up with a more intense Second Life project with a smaller group of volunteers.
Do you think you’ll do more virtual world “stuff” in your institution in the next academic year? What will this be?
As the ongoing saga between our finance department and Linden Lab continues (I just got an email to say that one of our islands was about to get sunk due to confusion around payment), and as a result of our findings from the Open Habitat project, I am determined to make 2009 the year of OpenSim.
We plan to set up our own OpenSim server for our 600 art & design students to enjoy, free from some of the obstacles that we have encountered whilst trying to use Second Life.
Tell me interesting “stuff” – anything you think is relevant.
The Open Habitat project has highlighted many issues regarding the use of virtual worlds in formal education. Whilst I value the power of role play and the endless sources of learning in a truly massive online world like Second Life, I also need a more controlled environment that all of my students can easily access. I am nervous about requiring students to sign up to a commercial service, and I can envisage a situation in the future where we provide a closed virtual environment to support our enrolled learning community, with an option to enter an open grid, either via the OpenSim hypergrid or Second Life (or both).
I am excited about the potential for welding together bespoke web-based tools with OpenSim to provide students with a virtual studio environment to support the studio-based learning approach that has proved so successful in art & design education. We are currently testing out our own eportfolio-like tool in the School of Contemporary Art & Graphic Design at Leeds Met, combining the best ideas from Web 2.0 to provide a tool that serves the needs of our students. The addition to this tool of a virtual world that uses the same user authentication, and accesses a central database of student generated content, is an attractive prospect. I think that OpenSim currently looks like the best candidate for this job.
