Getting your project/institution listed is dead simple – just visit www.daden.co.uk/bsf/ and follow the link to the entry form – it should only take a minute or so to complete. We are interested in how virtual worlds are being used both for science research and for science education/communication/outreach. For our purposes a virtual world means a space which is a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE), with each user being represented by an avatar who can communicate and interact in-world, and where there is a shared sense of place and time.

We are also looking for some good images to illustrate the project page – so please add a link to a good image as part of your form submission.

We hope to run a virtual safari as a fringe event as part of the Festival – if you’d like to take part in that then please let us know.

If possible please make your entry by 10th September so that we can get the map ready for the opening of the Festival.

Many thanks and we hope you can find the time to participate. If there is enough interest we hope to keep the directory and map running permanently as a resource for virtual world users and researchers.

–

Andrew Jinman
PIVOTE Product Manager
Daden Limited

E: andrew.jinman (@) daden.co.uk
W: www.daden.co.uk
sl: http://www.slurl.com/secondlife/daden%20prime/160/184/26
SL IM: AndrewDaden Eiren

First, this website is being reworked to carry VWW through the rest of 2010 and all of 2011, and is currently undergoing some interior design. For a while, links may not work, text may be in the wrong place or unfinished, stuff may not be quite right. It should all be done by the end of April.

Snapshot #8 is complete and is going through the usual pre-publication checks; people who know what my grammar be like will understand why. When they’re done, it’ll be live.

Data collection for snapshot #9 will occur through June 2010. However, in the meantime if any UK academics have something they want to say to the wider world, then get in touch and it can go up on here.

Five respondents who got their entries in for snapshot #8 before the end of February were drawn (or, more accurately, pawed) at random by Ellie the pub cat. Each wins 10 pounds:

- Marc Conrad. Marc has donated his to charity (”if your cat draws the ten pounds for me, please donate to charity”) and thus his was given to the Haiti Earthquake Appeal.
- Mary Hudson
- Christa Appleton
- Shelley Hales
- Steve Thompson

Winners can either collect their tenner when they next see me, or provide a (secure) address for posting the money to.

And … there’ll be another 5 * £10 draw for snapshot #9.

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At UWS we are continuing to use virtual worlds across teaching and learning and research with limited activity in commercialisation. The SLOODLE project was funded by Eduserv until October 2009 – and I’ve been working on grant proposals since then (waiting to hear back from one currently… fingers crossed.) Current students in my Introduction to Virtual Worlds class include some members of staff, so I’m hopeful that this will make it easier for us to expand our use of virtual worlds in subsequent years – while informal staff workshops have been held in the past, the irregular nature of those made it difficult to sustain interest and growth.

I was disappointed when Metaplace closed at the beginning of the year – as we had used it previously (although not heavily) and it was enjoyed by students. SmallWorlds fills a similar niche – but without the opportunities for content creation. It does seem to have a stronger business model though, so for people looking for isometric, flash based virtual worlds for online discussions and activities, it should do the job. Like Metaplace, it seems to lack some of immersive qualities of a 3D virtual world – but some students do take to it.

Classroom chat

The new viewer for Second Life (Viewer 2) does look like it will make life easier for newcomers to Second Life. While it has its own issues, I am hopeful that it will help overcome some of the initial challenges. But when it comes to new user experience, Second Life could really learn a lot from SmallWorlds – which is full of ‘quests’ and challenges that introduce users to the worlds and features of the interface. But they have improved a huge amount – including improved lists of recommended locations to visit.

Finally, I am still making good use of Second Life’s ability to bring people together across large distances. I’ll be giving several talks this semester to student and professional audiences worldwide, and have scheduled virtual guest talks for my own students. Students at UWS will also be involved in an online virtual cultural exchange with students at San Jose State University in the US – a programme which is currently in the final stages of planning.

So kudos to Andy, Pete and Ed for their Heineken ethos (i.e. refreshing the projects other funding bodies cannot reach).

So, what next for Virtual World Watch? Well, it’s carrying on through 2010 and 2011, at least. VWW is a part-time service run by one person, so it doesn’t cost megabucks to run. There’s sufficient momentum in the use of virtual worlds within UK academia, and enough interesting things happening (not just technically and academically, but socio-economically) to make it worthwhile. And it fits in with my business plan for the next few years.

Anyway, having previously worked on one too many digital info projects which are gathering dust online, it’s nice to see how long such a project or service can be kept active, useful and relevant for.

Funding and advisory group

To maintain perspective (as opposed to one person going off on his own tangent) and replace the support and steerage Eduserv have given over the years, an advisory group of academics is being formed. These people will, well, advise VWW on what it does and what directions it takes, as well as advise on the political situations that regularly face VWW. Academia. Politics. *sigh*

Funding. The initial temptation was to change the name to the “Bank of Virtual World Watch” and approach HM government for a multi-billion pound bailout. This seems to work for others. Instead, VWW is keen to try different models of funding for this service, so the rest of 2010 and 2011 gives plenty of opportunities for this.

Current snapshot (number #8) and other reports

VWW is currently working on three reports/snapshots in parallel. This is not good

• Report: “What is virtual world research? What is it not? Hmmm?” The troublesome hangover from the end of last year, which has turned into a reflective piece about the nature of virtual world research. This is (finally) coming out very soon. Thanks especially to contributers who wondered what the heck happened to their submissions.
• Report: “Swimming to Jerusalem: four years of virtual world trend-spotting.” Partially a “final report” for Eduserv, and partially a reflective piece on the last few years of watching trends and developments. Out at the end of March/start of April.
• Snapshot #8 of virtual world use in UK higher and further education. Also out at the end of March/start of April, the final snapshot under Eduserv funding.

On that last report. As ever, many people have submitted for snapshot #8, and it’s nice that there are a few new people who have submitted for the first time. Though you’ll have missed the draw for people who got theirs in by the end of February, VWW can still take submissions for this snapshot. The final deadline is the end of Sunday March 14th.

Seoul

Future snapshots: 2010 and 2011

After snapshot #8, VWW is settling into a bi-annual approach to snapshots; one at the end of the academic year (June-ish), and one at the end of the calendar year (December-ish). This has the advantage of putting about 6 months between each; one of the main problems with the current compressed cycle is contributers passing as they haven’t had enough time to do significant ’stuff’ since the last snapshot. And they’re probably quietly fed up of being asked every few months.

So, the snapshot schedule for the rest of 2010 and 2011 is:

• Snapshot #9: June/July 2010
• Snapshot #10: December 2010
• Snapshot #11: June/July 2011
• Snapshot #12: December 2011

Presentations

VWW is out and about doing presentations in the near future:

• Birmingham, UK 18th March: Virtual Worlds in Education Forum
• University of Sheffield, UK 18th April: Department of Information Studies
• Coventry University, UK Spring (date tbd)
• University of Michigan, USA Summer (date tbd)

Want VWW to come and speak to your posse? Here’s some details.

Book

Steady progress is being made on a book about the use of virtual worlds in teaching and learning, based on the last few years experiences in the UK and other research, teaching and use elsewhere. The proofreader and a few reviewers are lined up, and we seem to be pencilled in for a December 2010 release to the masses, just in time for the Christmas book market. Now you know what to get for that aunt who sends you a hand-knitted Rupert Bear jumper every single ******* year, even though you are 41.

Other stuff

There’s some other stuff that may be produced by VWW, that the advisory group are and will be chewing over; it will be good to reflect on the past few years work first though. Everything, including the book, will go up on, or via, this website.

That’s enough for now. A big thank you to the many UK academics, and other people, who have contributed to the snapshots, Flickr group, and other materials over the last four year. To infinity, and beyond…

Ian can be followed on Twitter.

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The pressures of running a large undergraduate provision have left little time for virtual worlds lately. However, having ultimate responsibility for the learning of 330 students does tend to focus the mind on the practicalities of scaling up the use of virtual worlds in a real world educational context. Motivated by its potential scalability and configurability, I have redoubled my efforts, and have finally got my OpenSim grid up and running. It’s currently only running behind the University firewall, but it’s working exactly as I had hoped. I can pre-register all of my students, which cuts out the nightmare prospect of a Second Life registration session multiplied by 330. I can get student’s real names floating above their new avatar’s heads, which helps them to make the connection between avatars and their real life puppet masters, and avoids premature fantasy identity overload. I can avoid the complications of noob-learners making fools of themselves in front of rude strangers and, most importantly for design students, I can get them building things straight away.

I see OpenSim as a means to an end, rather than the end itself. It will provide me with a safe training space – a studio space – for my students to mess about in and learn the ropes. I’ll then encourage any intrigued students to venture out into a truly massive multiuser virtual world like Second Life. I don’t think I’ll need to hold their hands in the same way that I did when we all jumped straight into Second Life in the early days. Once acclimatised through fun-time in the OpenSim playground, students should be able to confidently explore Second Life and beyond without a tutor cramping their style. They can always ask for help if they need it, and we will provide guidance and coaching as we do for all our students, but they will be in control. They can go where they like and do what they like, just like in real life. We will encourage them to report back on their discoveries, if they are relevant to their learning. They can show us snapshots of their exploits, and they can quote freely from their chat-logs as they reflect on their learning. They can even log-into our OpenSim studio and discuss their pseudonym’s exploits with their real life virtual friends and tutors.

I am of the opinion that students should have access to a private, institutionally managed virtual world, which is linked to their authentic, accountable, assessable and accredit-able enrolled identity, but should also be free to roam a public virtual space in whichever manner and attire they choose.

In the last week we have begun to open our OpenSim platform for student access here at Bromley College. We thought it would be a good idea to have a record of their progress in the virtual world, and so we have launched a new blog: http://bcopensim.blogspot.com.

Please feel free to visit and comment.

if you have any particular questions or requests then again please feel free to contact either Clive Gould (Clive Pro) cliveg (@) gmail.com or Barry Spencer (Vega Starlight) barrys (@) bromley.ac.uk

The PhD thesis, under a Creative Commons licence, of Dr Aleks Krotoski is available through her website; there’s some interesting wordles on there as well. Go here:

http://alekskrotoski.com/post/academic-dissertation—social-influence-in-second-life-social-n

(Shortened URL) http://is.gd/75yo9

(It was thanks to Aleks showing me around Second Life several years ago that I had the ‘Aha!’ moment, so without her there may not have been a Virtual World Watch and accompanying snapshots.)

Aleks is a media and Internet journalist for The Guardian, and a presenter on what many regard as the best TV programme on video games to date (BITS). She twitters, and is also the presenter of The Virtual Revolution, the forthcoming BBC series about the Web:

Nottingham has been in Second Life for just over a year and now has 2 islands:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/University%20of%20Nottingham/100/122/22

Both teaching and research activities have taken place and this year a research project organised by one of our medical students – focused on placebo in a doctor-patient style consultation – is being supported as well.

We are keeping an eye of other virtual worlds and have participated in some conversations between Kings, Brunel and the Open University around next steps.

We have a dedicated area on our island to support information skills training called the ‘Library Garden’. The Library Garden is an interactive learning experience for students to explore on their own, with a librarian or as part of a lecture. There are a number of pathways within the garden leading students to different activities. One pathway advises students about the research process from finding research partners and working collaboratively to finding information and publishing research in a variety of ways. Another path covers basics such as reference styles.

We also have areas supporting pharmaceutical lab simulations, virtual maternity wards, virtual wind farms and interactive performance spaces for active learning environments. Interest in language teaching is also popular, with an Arabic course run in Second Life.

We demonstrate Second Life through our e-learning community group meetings, one-to-one support, groups presentations plus releasing podcasts. To support the developments, a Second Life steering group was established, with members drawn from Schools, International Office, Marketing, IS, Learning and Teaching committee and the Student Union, the group provides guidance and advice on future development activities.

To help staff and students get used to Second Life, we have prepared support materials on our e-learning support web pages, el@n, (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/elan/yourquestions/), as well as offering training courses in Second Life. There is also an orientation platform and a public Sand Box on the island, with examples and tutorials to help new users get to grips with the building tools available.

We don’t see Second Life as necessarily a recruitment or marketing tool, due largely to numbers visiting. A closer analogy for us is the ‘holodeck’ in Star Trek, a user defined space which you visit for an immersive experience. This has guided projects supported and our developments.

We have also opened an Open Educational Resources area on our island to start sharing much of what we develop openly. We already share quite a bit and see it pop up in other HEI’s spaces from time to time.