Tuesday, March 25, 2008

WebMon 2.5

The WebMon 2.5 has been added to the 1st (middle) floor of the ECMM building.














Webmon 2.5 in the ECMM building (photo taken March 24/08).

The WebMon 2.5 tool is used in SL to launch web addresses. You simply load it with specific web addresses and it will launch those websites for the user. This is a very useful tool when you want users to view specific web pages from SL.

To see how the WebMon 2.5 tool works go to the ECMM building.
To learn more about the WebMon 2.5 go to the Buckley Barkley web page.

Slider 3.0

I recently added the Slider 3.0 created by Bucky Barkley to the 1st floor (middle floor) of the ECMM building.














Slider 3.0 tool in ECMM building (photo taken March 24/08).

This tool is useful for viewing images and giving out items. To use it you simply click on the screen and forward and backward arrows with a green box between the arrows will appear. The arrows let you move forward and backward through the slides and the green box gives out items related to that specific slide. For example I can be viewing a slide of a location in SL and click the green box to receive the landmark.

Slider 3.0 gives out a number of items including:
  • Landmarks
  • Objects
  • Pictures or textures
  • Web pages
To see how the Slider 3.0 tool works go to the ECMM building.
To learn more about the Slider 3.0 go to the Buckley Barkley web page.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Build It and They Will Come

As quoted from the movie Field of Dreams, "Build it and they will come" and wow...did they show up! Approximately 20 University of Regina students from Dr. Alec Couros' ECI 831 course participated in a tour of Second Life.














ECI 831 tour group from U of R. (Photo provided by Dr. Richard Schwier, March, 2008)

This was my first opportunity to organize and lead an official educational tour for a group in SL. Thanks to Dr. Alec Couros and the entire group for providing me this opportunity in which I learned a great deal. I certainly appreciated everyone's patience. I am also grateful to Kev Juno (Kevin Lowey-RL) and Slugger Sosa (Dr. Richard Schwier-RL) from the U of S for their assistance during the tour.

To start the tour participants gathered in the theater area of the ECMM building (shown above) to receive instructions and objects including a tour HUD, notecard and participant list. During the tour we visited five educational locations including:
  • Information Communications Technology (ICT) Library
  • Georgia State University
  • Discovery Educator Network (DEN)
  • Teacher Network Center
  • International Spaceflight Museum
The tour was organized on a Tour HUD (Heads Up Display) which is worn by each participant to provide details and a landmark for each tour location. When wearing the HUD, it is displayed in the SL viewer interface of each participant (shown below).














Tour HUD shown in upper-right of viewer interface (photo taken Mar. 12/08).

As in real life...Second Life includes strategies and methodologies for delivering instruction and managing groups. The problem is coming up with strategies, methodologies and proper group etiquette in a 3D digital world where much of this is still being discovered.

The first issue that we had to deal with was helping newbies understand movement and camera controls. Many people in a group like this are new to SL and therefore a plan should be put in place to support these individuals. We did not really have a plan in place but Kev Juno ended up being our support person, helping many of the newbies struggling with their avatars.

The second issue was communication. As a presenter, voice is very nice and easy to use. The problem I ran into was not everyone could hear voice. I therefore used voice but also had to text with those not able to hear voice. To solve this problem I would use voice but have a helper along to communicate through text with those unable to hear voice. If a helper is unavailable then I would use only text chat with the entire group so no one feels left out.

The third issue was handing out objects (HUD and notecards). I had the objects in my inventory and decided to hand the objects to each avatar. Bad idea!! This took a long time and created absolute mayhem. To solve this issue I would construct an object containing the items that needed to be handed out. This object could be scripted to hand out the items to avatars when touched. Using this method would allow for the object to be placed in a location where members of the group could touch it and receive necessary items.

The final issue I will mention is computer systems. For some reason people using certain types of Macs had problems with the tour HUD. luckily I had a backup plan for this and created notecards with the landmarks that could be handed out to these individuals.

Time and experience will provide us with best practices required to effectively use digital platforms like SL. Much like RL careful planning is necessary for creating successful events.


Friday, March 7, 2008

Collaboration May Be The Answer

A meeting was held at the ECMM building in SL on Thursday, March 6/08 with members from the University of Regina and University of Saskatchewan.













In-world meeting between U of R and U of S members discussing the potential of SL (photo taken Mar. 6/08).

This meeting was to discuss the educational value of SL. The U of R is currently looking at SL to research the educational potential and possibility of developing a presence in-world. The meeting allowed members from the U of S to share their SL experiences, to date, with the U of R group.

The Educational Communications and Technology group from the U of S expressed an interest in collaborating with the U of R members. The ECMM building in SL, developed by Ed Comm & Tech from the U of S, could be used by both groups for research, education and capacity building purposes.

A collaborative effort would provide the small groups from both universities with the ability to:
  • develop an effective community of practice in SL
  • produce an environment full of activity and rich learning experiences
  • participate in a more cost effective approach to researching SL
  • increase interaction between institutional staff and students
Maybe I am dreaming or maybe even out of line...but oh well I will say it anyways. Just imagine a collaborative space where you can walk around a SIM and participate in classes from the U of S, U of R or even other Saskatchewan post-secondary institutions represented on the SIM.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Introduction to SL Resource Being Developed in Moodle

A resource titled, Developing a Presence in the 3D Digital World - Second Life (log in as a guest user) has been where I have dedicating most of my recent time. This resource has been developed in Moodle as a tool to assist new users to understand and get into Second Life.















SL Moodle resource (image retrieved March 2/08 from: http://www.cumberlandcollege.sk.ca/abe/course/view.php?id=30)


I believe many of us are comfortable with the current web. For example we understand how to launch a web browser and maneuver throughout the web. This is why I believe a tool such as Developing a Presence in the 3D Digital World - Second Life created in the current 2D web, in which users are comfortable, is important. This allows for users to learn about the 3D Digital World in a familiar, comfortable setting and not be overwhelmed in the 3D environment. This resource gradually moves users from the current 2D web format to being fully integrated into the 3D digital platform of Second Life.

This resource currently has six sections, each section is broken down further into specific topics. The current section titles include:
  1. Understanding Second Life
  2. Creating your Avatar in Second Life
  3. Second Life Performance Setup
  4. Second Life User Interface
  5. Communicating in Second Life
  6. Moving and Getting Around in Second Life