Serious SL Meetup in Boulder

On March 19, 2009, I attended a Serious Second Life Meetup in Boulder in-world at the Alaskan Sandbox. This session was organized by Dr. Richard Hackthorn (RL) aka Hack Richards (SL), CEO of Bolder Technology Inc., and led by Eric Hackathorn (RL) aka Hackshaven Harford (SL), an electrical and computer engineer who works as a program manage at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Participants of Serious SL Meetup in Boulder ( photo taken March 19/09)

I found out about the meetup through the SLED listserv and joined the group through Meetup. In this session, Eric Hackathorn presented a curriculum for teaching, potential and new users of SL, some of the skills necessary to successfully participate in the 3D virtual world. The curriculum is organized into four topics including:

1. Training Prerequisties - hardware/network requirements, download client, SL registration
2. Basic Skills - movement, camera, exploration, communication, community, appearance
3. Advanced Skills - Inventory, gadgets, HUD, economics, gestures, land, abuse, OpenSim
4. Content Creation - building, texturing, scripting, particles, animations, vehicles, machinima

Eric Hackathorn developed the curriculum on a Moodle platform that is connected to SL through SLoodle and can be accesses at http://classroom.scilands.org/. SLoodle is a plugin that is added to Moodle in order to connect Moodle to the in-world activities of SL. I will provide some examples of how Eric Hackathorn makes this possible with the SciLands Classroom curriculum he has developed.

To teach the topic of movement in SL the student logs into the Moodle course to view the content. In the Moodle course the student will see the "Movement" topic with resources (text and video) including: Overview, Sitting, Mouse steering and Getting Fancy. To practice movement skills, the student will log into SL and go through a maze activity in-world.

In-word (SL) maze activity (photo retrieved from http://classroom.scilands.org/mod/assignment/view.php?id=113, March 19/09).

To practice camera controls, Eric Hackathorn included a topic in the Moodle course called "Camera Control." Again the student goes through resources, in the form of text and video, to learn about camera controls in SL. To practice camera skills the students complete an activity titled, "Schrodedinger's Box." In this activity students use their camera skills to look into a rezzed box. Once they are viewing what is inside the box, they are to take a picture and upload the image to the assignment location in Moodle.

Box to look into to see what is inside for the camera control activity (photo taken March 19/09)

From my perspective, this seems to be an effective way to teach new users skills in SL. It allows them to use the Moodle or LMS platform, which many are comfortable, to view the content and instructions and then go in-world to SL to practice what they have learned.

Designing Your Future Workshop

On the evening of Thursday, March 12 at 9:00 P.M. I attended a workshop titled, Designing Your Future. This workshop was put on by TLE and instructed by Cathy Anderson-RL, who self declared herself as new to teaching in SL. The workshop was designed to help become familiar with tools necessary to better adjust to the future, make decisions and better understand how to become a futurist.

At this workshop I saw two new tools of interest to me. The first was a blue box sitting at the front of the room. As we came into the room, Cathy asked us to click on it to register our attendance.

Attendance Registration box (photo taken March 12/09)

The second tool Cathy used was called a "Bright Web Browser Screen." This tool allowed the group to view web pages in SL.

Bright Web Browser (photo taken March 12/09)

SLoodle Workshop

On Monday, March 2, 2009, I attended a Social Presence in Virtual Worlds (SLrl) workshop on SLoodle. This workshop was hosted in-world by Josmas Flores at Insula Docta TCD (slurl http://tinyurl.com/ddnypn). The workshop took place in a wonderful auditorium as shown below.

Auditorium on Insula Docta TCD (photo taken March 2/09)

Sloodle (Simulation Linked Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) is a 3D online education system for SL that integrates with Moodle, an open-source CMS. The workshop presented some of the features of SLoodle including a Registration booth, Choice tool, Web-intercom and SLoodle HUD.

Since I am a Moodle user, I was very excited to see how the CMS interacted with SL. It must first be understood that we were in-world accessing the tools to interact with Moodle. To begin we had to register into the Moodle course by clicking on the SLoodle registration booth (left-booth shown in image below). This opened a new browser window to the registration page of the Moodle site it was connected to.

SLoodle Registration (left) and Enrolment (right) booths (photo taken March 2/09)

After completing the registration, through a confirmation email, I was able to enol into the course by clicking the enrolment booth (right-booth shown in image above). Viewable through my web-browser, this took me to the course located in Moodle. The purpose of registering and enroling from the in-world location was so that the connection could be made between SL and Moodle for the two to begin communicating.

Once registered and enroled into the Moodle course we were able to try some of the tools integrating the CMS with SL. The first one we looked at was the Choice tool which allows students to vote and see the results in either SL or Moodle. For example, we were asked to vote on what type of pizza we like with some participants voting in-world and others voting in the Moodle course. Participants were able to view the choice results from either the SL or Moodle environment.

The second tool we tried was the Web-intercom. A chat-room that brings a Moodle chat-room and SL chats together. When participants in SL text through local chat and Moodle participants text through the connected Moodle chat room, both groups can see the text chat.

The third tool we saw was the SLoodle HUD (Multi-function SLoodle Toolbar). This tool is described as enhancing the SL user-interface. When wearing the SLoodle HUD we were able to use a selection of classroom gestures, see a list of the Moodle user names from participating avatars or write entries directly into our Moodle blogs from SL.

One question individuals may have is...why do we want a virtual world, such as SL, to communicate with a CMS like Moodle? When we begin to look at some the items limiting access to SL we quickly see factors like high-end computer requirements and complicated interface emerge. By connecting SL with Moodle we allow lower-end computers and individuals who find the SL interface confusing to communicate with in-world participants through the Moodle environment.

Further Analysis of Parcel Data Collection

The ECMM parcel will require tools to collect data that will be analyzed for both development and research purposes. Two of the tools I am considering to use in collecting statistics for the parcel are offered by Maya Realities and RabbitStats. The following information will describe each of the tools and provide details as to which proximity sensor was chosen for the ECMM parcel.

Maya Realities is a service company in SL, who began business in April 2007, focusing on analytics. For an Introduction to their services view the following slidecast.

Maya Realities Overview

View more presentations from Maya Realities. (tags: hackshaven hackathorn)

Maya Realities offers a basic proximity sensor, among other more advanced solutions, for $L1 that collects basic land parcel information including number of unique avatars visiting, total time spent on a land parcel, and average time spent per avatar. To purchase a proximity sensor or find out more about their services visit their in-world office at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jingbo/67/35/30/

RabbitStats provides statistics on the following details of an SL property:

• Identify and record names of visiting residents
• Record length of time visitors spend on property
• Record multiple visits
• Stats provided through graphs and charts
• Provides daily email listing property visitors
• Premium account provides information to be downloaded as CSV file.

RabbitStats can be accessed from their in-world store located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tehama/104/203/24?title=Rabbit%20Glen. Pricing is separated into three account types:

1. Basic - free
2. Premium - L$5 per collector per day
3. Non-Profit/Educational - free

After reviewing the information on each of the proximity sensors provided by both Maya Realities and RabbitStats, I was unsure as to which one to use. I therefore decided to try them both and come to a conclusion based on experience with both products. I will use the free options from both products to determine if one outperforms the other. Stay tuned for results...

Update... (March 8, 2009)
When looking for the proximity sensors from both Maya Realities and RabbitStats, I was only able to find the one from RabbitStats in-world. After looking around the Maya Realities in-world office, I was unable to locate any of the free versions of the sensor. I probably could have found out more information if I would have left a message at the Maya Realities' in-world office. The proximity sensor from RabbitStats was much easier to get in-world. I went to the SLURL for RabbitStats, mentioned above, and there was a free copy of the proximity sensor to take.

Free copy of RabbitStats proximity sensor (photo taken March 1, 2009)

The instructions, provided with the free version of the RabbitStats proximity sensor, made the setup process quite easy. Setup instructions direct you to the RabbitStats.com website to setup a new account. After the account is setup you enter in the code of your specific proximity sensor and it begins collecting data. The script of your specific sensor is placed into the contents folder of an object in the area in which you want to collect data. You can set the distance in which the proximity sensor collects data. You can then go to the domain name of your RabbitStats account to edit sensor setting, add more sensors, view data, and add more users to access the account. When the sensor is up and running it can be set to email reports to identified members.

Final Session - Evaluating a Presence in SL

The final session of the in-world, non-credit course, "Setting up an Educational Presence in SL" focused on evaluating your presence in SL. We looked at ways to assess the success of efforts in creating an educational presence in SL. This session was led by Maxito Ricardo (SL) Tom Peters (RL) who we quickly realized is an expert in evaluation and proximity sensor data collection.

The session began at the open air auditorium on Info Island (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/116/126/33) with a discussion on how to evaluate an institution's presence-building efforts in-world. Maxito started the discussion by explaining that many educational institutions, "are testing the waters to see if SL is another good way to pursue their overall mission...teaching, research service, etc.". Currently Maxito perceives institutions to be constructing spaces in SL. These virtual spaces are being used to hold events such as classes, lectures, symposia, social events and handle resources (create, collect, organize and distribute). He believes institutions hope their students (avatars) feel like they are part of the campus environment by trying to "recreate that campus feel." One of the benefits of the SL build space, Maxito explained, "it's much easier and cheaper in SL to build and reconfigure the built space to meet changing needs."

It was expressed that there is something about 3D virtual spaces that are very attractive to humans, however it takes collective efforts and time to understand new technologies. An interesting example of this was the development of the U of S interstate highway system. It was originally sold to officials as an instrument of national security. Troops needed to be able to move quickly in the event of a Soviet invasion. The interstate was not foreseen to assist in changing the entire urban landscape, creating a southwest population drift and changing the way people eat. With these types of unknown outcomes, Maxito believes, "one of the august responsibilities of any institution becoming active in SL is that they almost need to think about everything, from soup to nuts." Therefore when beginning to assess institutional presence-building in SL it is important to understand the focus of the effort. Is it to explore new ways of teaching and learning? Alternative ways to deliver distributed and distance education? Can it be used to attract prospective students or connect with alumni?

When it comes to assessment there are many things, in SL, that could be evaluated including buildings, grounds, teaching and learning tools, services, events, etc.. Maxito expressed, "I think that assessment here could be more important and useful than assessment in the real world." This is partly due to the fact that it is easier to make changes in SL but also, he believes, "the power to improve is much deeper in SL than in the real world." The ability to have decision-making power and implement change is a strong motivator for many individuals in SL. In RL there may be many factors (laws, bureaucracy, cost, etc.) that prevent an individual from being able to quickly implement desired change to their enviroment. Maxito believes this to be an advantage in SL, "Lots of people can move buildings on this island, for instance. Not many people have the decision-making power, technology, etc. in the real world to do that."

Three distinctions, Maxito mentioned, from real world assessment that may be useful in SL are provided by the 3-U's:

1. Usability
2. Use
3. Usefulness

When we begin to look at the architecture in SL there are some wonderfully constructed objects. We see beautiful high-rise buidings, sky classrooms and underwater creations among other works of art. However, Maxito has used data, from proximity sensors, to research the use of space in SL and has generally found open air spaces and ground level floors of buildings receive the most traffic. Many of the unique spaces that are out of the way do not see much traffic. This may be something to consider when planning an SL build...if you want high traffic, build an open air space however, if you want private space where your group will not be interrupted, build it in an out of the way location.

Maxito identified further distinctions to be valid in SL between behaviour, attitudes and opinions. When evaluating behaviour we may look at where avatars go, what they do, what they touch and use. In evaluating attitudes and opinions we can begin to look into avatar's beliefs, what they are saying and how they may be feeling.

The group was presented with some evaluation methodologies currently being used in SL. Many of the methodologies used in RL to analyze and collect research data are currently being used in SL including surveys, focus groups and interviews.

Surveys in SL are a useful, convenient method to collect research data. However, as in RL, it is difficult to get individuals to complete surveys and in some instances the responses may be heavily weighted towards specific sub-groups . One of the benefits in creating surveys in SL is the creativity that can be designed into the survey. In a virtual world surveys can look much different than in RL. For example on Health InfoIsland, a survey was designed as a series of avatar-sized panels.

Focus groups and individual interviews can also be conducted in SL. Maxito believes these data collection methods work well because, "People tend to be very open and thoughtful here in SL."

A tool, in SL, that may be used to collect behvioural data on a parcel of land is a "proximity sensor." These tools allow 24/7 monitoring and analysis of raw traffic counts, avatar names, time spent in specific locations, objects touched, etc.. A couple of companies offering these products can be located at rabbitstats.com and www.mayarealities.com.

We teleported to Karuna, a grant funded island dedicated to AIDS awareness, to see some examples of proximity sensors. The sensors we saw were distributed around the island to assist in collecting data to evaluate their presence building efforts. Although the sensors are deployed around the island, the controls are placed in one location so the data can easily be harvested.

Proximity Sensor control cones (photo taken February 22/09)

The sensors used on Karuna Island are from Thomas Conover Products. Basic sensors are free of charge but ones more advanced can be purchased. Maxito explained that he finds these sensors easy to deploy, manage and harvest. Another aspect he found beneficial about these sensors is they can be set up so they don't cross parcel lines. If a sensor is placed near a location in a corner of a land parcel, it can be setup not to report on activity on the adjoining parcels. The reports produced for these specific sensors provided stats on number of avatars and how long they stayed on average.

Session 2 - Setting Up Educational Presence

On February 8/09 I attended the second session of the workshop, Setting Up Educational Presence. The second session was led by Abbey Zenith.

The session began with a discussion in which one of the topics touched on prims. Abbey mentioned that prims may be what she described a "soft limit", where prim resources can be shared across parcels owned by the same group. This may be useful on the U of S property where parcels such as ECMM and Snellgrove Gallery can share the prim resources from the open area parcel.

We were then told how to check the prims on a parcel of land. This is done by right clicking an object > edit menu > general tab.

We learn't that prims on avatars do not count against the prims for a parcel of land...only the objects that are stationary count. Abbey mentioned that parcels do have avatar limits which are set for a sim...not a parcel. If you are on a parcel that shares space with other parcels on a sim, it is a good idea to let others know when you are planning a big event...anything over 15 people.

We then set out on a tour of ICT Library and the College of DuPage to see some examples of educational locations in SL.

The ICT Library, located on Info Island (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/50/199/33/?title=Info%20Island), is a great place to get free educational tools, scripts and examples of class projects. During my visit, to ICT Library, I saw a couple items that may be integrated into the ECMM design. The first was a message board, which allows avatars to leave messages on a board. This could be very useful in a socializing area for communication and advertising purposes.

Message Board - ICT Library (photo taken February 8/09)

The second tool was a Holodeck Rooms created by Biscuit Carroll and Loki Clifton. The notecard information below clearly explains the details of the Holodeck Rooms. The benefit of this tool is the flexibility it provides to a parcel with limited space. We could use it on the ECMM parcel to have one region serve as a multi-purpose area that can be transformed into the desired scene as required.

TO USE THIS ROOM:
Go in, and then click on the vertical panel in the center of the room (white with green frame). This will give you a menu of possible rooms. Choose one!

From the brochure...
"The Holodeck allows you to store Second Life scenes and rez them from a menu whenever you want. The old scene is cleared and the new one appears. Scenes can include any prim objects including furniture, pose balls and particle generators. "

There are 3 types of holodecks by Carroll & Clifton:

• L$0.00: A demo only [free] that has 5 scenes.
• L$500: "Simple Holodeck." Allows you to add scenes created by others (good for 512 parcels).
• L$9,000: "Production Holodeck." Allows you to make your own scenes and possiby earn commissions (allows scenes up to 134m x 134m to be built/rezzed). There is a reseller program available (IM Biscuit Carroll or Loki Clifton, or join the Holodeck support group).

Holodeck Rooms - ICT Library (photo taken February 8/09)

The second stop on our tour, of educational locations, was the College of DuPage (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%203/194/69/23). Pipsqueak Fiddlesticks, a Librarian and Professor at the large community college in Illinois, was our host. One of the areas we visited is based on a literal interpretation of the poem "Tintern Abbey" by Wordsworth.

An overview of the immersive poem space is provided by teleporting up to a transparent platform. Avatars can walk around, as if they were walking on air, to view the area below.

Transparent platform - College of DuPage (photo taken February 8/09)

Information about the poem is provided through self-directed, discovery learning. As you walk around you come across interactive objects, when clicked provide activities and sound clips.

Interactive activity delivering object - College of DuPage (photo taken February 8/09)

One of the most interesting areas, from my perspective, was the "Read and Listen" station. When you sit down on one of the cushions your avatar receives a book to make you feel like you are relaxing and reading (it actually does provide a relaxing environment). When you click on the green apple you are provided with a download of an audio file and notecard of Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey." When the audio file plays you listen to it and follow along on the note card.

Read and Listen station - College of DuPage (photo taken February 8/09)

Pipsqueak Fiddlesticks then took us to her sky classroom where she gathers with students. The sky classroom includes seating for avatars and separate screens that play slide presentations and videos.

Sky Classroom - College of DuPage (photo taken February 8/09)

During our visit to the College of DuPage we were introduced to an "Edu Rezzer." It operates much like a Holo Deck but appears to have some better functions. The Edu Rezzer is connected to an image database that allows you to create a variety of scenes. It requires very low prims...we were told it uses approximately 100 prims. When you walk away from the Edu Rezzer it de-rezzes and when you come back it remembers your last setting and re-rezzes. This would be very useful on a parcel with few prims available.

Edu Rezzer (open area scene) - College of DuPage (photo taken February 8/09)

Edu Rezzer (sitting area scene) - College of DuPage (photo taken February 8/09)

Pipsqueak Fiddlesticks designed and created the College of DuPage sim with one other person. Developing the space took two people approximately 80 hours. When asked about designing and planning...Pipsqueak believes that they planned too much, "we found that not planning much is better."

Participating in "Setting Up an Educational Presence in SL" Course

Open air auditorium - Info Island (photo taken February 1/09)

I have enrolled and attended my first session of an in-world course titled, "Setting Up an Educational Presence in Second Life." This course is presented by the Illinois Alliance Library System and Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS).

The non-credit course consists of four sessions offered on Sundays, February 1, 8, 15 and 22 from 6:00 - 8:00 P.M. (4:00 - 6:00 P.M. SL time). The course is to cover objectives such as planning, needs assessment, goals, expectations, buying and renting land, where to find help, prefab vs. building, challenges, positives, teaching tools in SL such as Power point, class management, groups permissions, communication, and evaluating your presence once you have it set up. I haven't evaluated my presence in real life, let alone a second life. :-)

Instructors for this course are Lori Bell (Lorelei Junot-SL), Rhonda Trueman (Abbey Zenith-SL) and Tom Peters (Maxito Ricardo-SL). Each week is organized to cover the following:

• Week One - Planning a presence in Second Life
• Week Two - Setting up a presence in Second Life
• Week Three - Managing a presence in Second Life
• Week Four - Evaluating a presence in Second Life

When I first saw this course being offered, I was amused at the title, "Setting Up an Educational Presence in Second Life." Mainly because of the resemblance to the title of this blog, "Path to Developing a Presence in Second Life." Maybe there are some royalties here? :-)

For the first week session we gathered at the open air auditorium on Info Island http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/116/126/33. Lori Bell ((Lorelei Junot-SL), who is the Director of Innovation for the Alliance Library System, led the first class session on planning a presence in Second Life.

The first session went very smoothly, voice (along with some text) was used for communication and worked quite flawless. Lori began the session with a short discussion on virtual worlds, identifying alternatives to SL. Resources including the Second Life Education Wiki (http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki) and Second Life Educators (SLED) listserv (https://lists.secondlife.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/educators) were identified as useful locations for information on SL.

We toured three locations in SL including Bradley University, Land of Lincoln and Bradburyville to view and learn about the design and setup of their space. At Bradley University we met Puglet Dancer, who teaches Second Life 101 and 201 and is the Director of the Library. The SIM is ran by a team of 1 IT/computer person, 4 Librarians and 1 student. Bradley University was created in 2006 through a grant to explore the possibilities of virtual worlds. Skyboxes, including viewers, are available to students that consist of 150 prims for them to develop building skills. The SIM is designed based on the campus colleges. Each college is represented by a kiosk including information on each college at the university. An interesting build on the campus is a Shinto Shrine. This shrine is used for religious studies and allows individuals to experience the shrine without seeing it in real life. The student centre includes games such as pool, air hockey and monopoly. Live concerts are held at the student centre with a dance floor on the rooftop. Puglet Dancer describes the learning curve of SL to be a huge obstacle in getting participation from faculty and staff. She also expressed that administration is concerned about people sitting in on classes without paying fees.

Land of Lincoln, the second location of our tour, is designed based on the topic of Abraham Lincoln. At this SIM we met Daisyblue Hefferman who is a Reference Librarian. The SIM or land was donated but the rest of the work was completed by volunteers. Some of the exhibits on the SIM include a plantation, slave quarters, army quarters, slavery interactive web tours, web-based resources and welcome centre including free outfits, events information and abiltiy to join the events group. Daisyblue Hefferman identified that preplanning a build is important and should include goals and objectives of the space.

The third location we visited was Bradburyville, a SIM designed and built based on books. This is a project funded by an arts grant and constructed by a team of four, working on individual builds. The build we looked at was a virtual reality book based on Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. This was an interactive book that you walked into to experience the events of the story.

Virtual Reality Book - Bradburyville (photo taken February 1/09)

Next week we will be looking at setting up a presence in SL.

University of KY Island - Public Policy

The University of Kentucky created an inland in SL called University of KY Island. They have developed an Island Policy, I believe to be thorough and well written. The policy covers areas that address:

• purpose in which island is used (education and research of SL)
• contact information
• tracking of avatars for research purposes
• island rating
• rules and regulations

I believe this to be a nice introduction to their space. Providing visitors with necessary information to better understanding the purpose, rules and regulations of the island.

898.3 Special Topics Course

For this term, in my graduate studies at the U of S, I have been approved for a 898.3 Special Topics course titled, Exploring Pedagogicial Strategies for Multi-User Virutal Environments.

This course is designed to examine potential strategies for optimizing instruction within a Multi-User Virtual Environment (MUVE), specifically Second Life (SL). Areas of interest and investigation for this course include:

• Strategies for designing virtual learning environments (VLEs) in the MUVE, Second Life.
• General methods of pedagogy used within the MUVE, Second Life.
• Specific instructional strategies and tools used in the MUVE, Second Life.

The course will be divided into three phases. The first phase will explore the three main areas of interest outlined above and will document instructional strategies currently being used in SL. The second phase will attempt to understand and interpret these findings (methods, strategies) through the lens of instructional theory and design methodology. The third phase will include applying what has been learned in the development of training sessions for the U of S faculty, staff and students in the use of SL.