graduate students in second life
DESCRIPTION
Presentation by Drs. Meyer & O'Connor on graduate students work in Second Life.TRANSCRIPT
Students in Second Life: The Roller Coaster Ride of a Shifting Paradigm
-- adventures in online courses conducted in part in a virtual synchronous environment . . . the rules themselves are changing
[email protected] / [email protected] State College (SUNY) – May 2009
Background on students and courses; some examples
Reports on selected students works; some quotes
Interpretation by instructor Is there a conceptual framework? What
about a possible metaphor? Additional, if time permits: tips on
integrating SL use into your courses
The Many Roller Coasters When Incorporating SL
Your own learning: tech & ambiguity
Tech: SL availability / student support
Students: how can their uses, complaints & ideas inform an instructor?
Course: objectives, design & assessment
Demographics TOTAL Course 1 Course 2 Course 3
Female 15 5 5 5
Male 19 2 10 7
Age: 23 - 29 4 2 2 0
Age: 30 - 39 14 1 6 7
Age: 40 - 49 13 3 6 4
Age: 50 + 3 1 1 1
Courses: time frames, focus, and student experience
MAT Science Center (under revamping)
Students across the state give virtual presentations
Meeting the Dean
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
Class meeting using ISTE space
National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
NOAA – virtual, real-time weather Map (Northeast)
SL Expectations in Course 1
More on this course in the paper that will be submitted
SL Expectations in Course 2
SL Expectations in Course 3
-What follows are the resultsfrom committee reports and projects
Course 2: committees make SL suggestions
• At semester’s end, students chose committees: – they collaborated on improving SL use– committees: SL logistics ; layout-physical; SL uses
• Documented with Snapshots and PowerPoint's that were then posted in the course: – Allows for a quasi-visual way to explain learning –
for assessment purposes – More creative – less resistance to doing the work
The layout committee considered physical and social spaces
Area addressed What wanted:
Type of spaces: Lounging spaces – open areas
Open booths
Schedule posting areas for meeting
Signage: Simple but informative – not cluttered
Mapping: Teleports to get around ; pathways & boardwalks; “You are here”
Notice how students gain rich, intuitive understanding of the environment after the initial adjustment - no need to “teach” about ways to use SL
The layout committee is clear about their expectations (images are from the report)
The logistics committee addressed working within SL, in general
Committee recommended uses: Amplification
Small group discussions 5 participants maxAttending lecture & events At other islands too In addition to face-to-faceFor presentations & for orientation
Value to administration too; beyond the courses themselves
Give options for attending . . . such as, attend 3 out of 5 For office hours
Scheduling becomes an issue though
Logistics committee noted problems
Large group activities are difficult to organizeVertigo . . . for some (need better navigation & camera skills) Losing the flexibility of online Some had trouble signing on at homeToo much too soon -- spend more time orienting
NOTE: really tech support issues here; there is an Orientation Island
SL makes an asynchronous class more time restrictive for faculty too
Still committees concluded . . .
Many had said they were skeptical at first but could see the value towards the end – they like the more “real life” interactions
Greater flexibility with timing two days for
class meetings Staging the introduction into SL
scaffolded assignments and discussion topics in SL
Useful areas cited by third course students– spontaneous in blue / prompted (required within the assignment) in pink
Most significant & reasonable student complaints
• Learning curves & ways to reduce it– Technology problems for some
• Scheduling of meetings times – In online classes, they were used to more
autonomy
• Issues with teams / collaborations – Similar to other times when teams are used
some poor participators; some timing issues
Student comments – T&L
• “I really like the idea of the instructor commenting during discussions but in SL it was also nice to hear our instructor talk directly to us, it made her and the course more genuine.”
• “I liked seeing other avatars change, although I didn't change my own”
• “Exploring the virtual environment together helped to develop a feeling of comaraderie”
Evidence of immersion in & acceptance of virtual reality
• Rich suggestions from students– NOTE: the course did not “teach” SL uses beyond
experiencing & visiting
• Suggestions map to the real world:– boardwalks & pathways (when not needed); want
comfortable, familiar structures
• Students stop positing this is make-believe: – casting a rich range of real world topics and
activities into this space; non-threatening to teens
Evidence of immersion in & acceptance of virtual reality
• Student reflect on new types of communications and interaction– would be hard to get this level of dialog and
reflection from discussions alone (online / f2f / in papers)
– the immersion generates new levels of thinking about innovative uses of technology that might otherwise be outside the realm of this group of “older” students
Students in an immersive environment
• Significant increase in student interaction, collaboration and empathy (yes, they whine together too) in these 100% online classes
• Natural SL leaders emerge – often w/ more technical yet still with good interpersonal skills
• Through their immersion, students gain an intuitive understanding of the environment as evident by their rich recommendations for grad school & for their K12 students
Benefits perceived by instructor
• Better knowledge of students but more importantly students have better knowledge of each other; bonding – learning together in a new way
• Instructor learns from analysis of each class reports & debriefings course improvements
• Richer understanding of all tech – through the immersion / spontaneity / modeling in SL
• More ways to teach, learn, create, and explore no longer the same classroom limitations
Cautions noted by instructor
• Students want choice – but some may opt out if possible; you need to bring them in if you are committed to this type of learning
• Structured meetings were still used to avoid frustration– but I’m looking for better ways to have
spontaneous interactions – but be careful about how much new tech you put in one course
Best expressed through an instructional metaphor: like designing an intelligent experience (field trip /
discussions / role playing / construction) . . . with an assessment
More advanced uses
Then what can SL bring to a course?
• Johnson 2008 – claims SL isn’t really new; use your field in the world: – Move beyond text for case studies; – Adapt or modify from current “real world”
practice, ie. role playing – Find how learning is addressed and assessed in
the field & bring this to your course
• VERY good advice – but are faculty ready for the openness?
You can feel like . . .
• An event planner at a conference • Where you are responsible for the getting
everyone there and making them happy• AND being sure that the conference itself is
successful
. . . gleaned from the school of hard knocks
Designing an SL portion to a courseCourse objectives Is there a requirement for collaboration, sharing, discussion?
Meeting arrangements Some required time, at least initially
Give multiple times for participation if online course
Tasks & conversations Discussions / role playing / guest speakers
Overheard – real discussions
Collaboration spaces You don’t have to be there all the time
Require documenting & reporting; snapshots in
Shared experiences Field trips / presentations / scavenger hunts
Put PowerPoint into SL for presentations (it’s easy)
Methods of gaining SL expertise
Tutorial / handouts / peer tutoring / tech support
Posit, expect and support awkwardness & learning curve
Ways of communicating Voice chatting (w/ headsets) is useful with smaller group
In larger groups, determine who speaks and have others use text
Considering students & their learning curve
Issue Ways instructor can help
- Technology requirements - In the school lab if possible; alternatives if necessary
- Finding time to learn SL - Embed learning into an early assignment
- Time to overcome awkwardness
- Instructor can model learning and awkwardness (generally easy to do); have a field trip
- Problems with scheduling - Have multiple sessions and/or times & ways to participate
- Problems with voice chatting
- Work with them on their audio / headset settings; get tech help if possible; use text chatting as a backup
- Problems with collaborating - Provide structured / required interactions until groups can work on their own
- Problems with valuing SL - Don’t expect all will “like” SL at the start; over time more come to value the experience
Overall recommendations
• Stage SL introduction / test along the way • Attend to scheduling • Integrate into course objectives / require
reflection & application / assess• Value and require collaboration / facilitate• Gather suggestions from students for future • Find ways to work across courses & program
Additional info & links• www.slideshare.com/eoconnor - current & past presentations,
including those by students on uses of SL (not all are “perfect”) & instructor on use & curriculum issues
• Johnson & Levine (2008); Virtual Worlds: Inherently Immersive, Highly Social Learning Spaces. Teaching into Learning, Vol 47, Issue 2, p. 161 – 170
• O’Connor, E. A. Becoming a Virtual Instructor: How Can Higher Education Faculty Prepare for Second Life? (published with E-Learn conference proceedings in November 2008 in Las Vegas)
• O’Connor, E. A. and Sakshaug, L. Preparing for Second Life: Two Teacher Educators Reflect on Their Initial Foray into Virtual Teaching and Learning (Journal of Educational Technology Systems, Volume 37, No. 3, 2008-2009)