Course: Demo course : Designing shared virtual environments for learning

Topic outline

General
General

Designing shared virtual environments for learning

This module provides an introduction to current leading-edge work on shared virtual environments for learning (SVEL) through a variety of reflective experiences in such environments. The module will delineate and interrelate various theories underlying the pedagogy and content of SVEL, discuss the implication and impact of web 2.0 technology on the design of virtual environments for learning, and provide opportunities for students to develop the design and implementation of their own SVEL based on sound pedagogic principles and to describe and illustrate appropriate strategies for their evaluation of the virtual environments for learning

Key Reference

Cheney, A., Robert L., & Sanders (2011). Teaching and learning in 3D immersive worlds: pedagogical models and constructivist approaches. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference. (Hard copy & e-book are available in HKU Library)
Getting Started in Second Life
Getting Started in Second Life
- What is Second Life? URL
  Watch this short video to get acquainted with the virtual world of Second Life!
  
  Then, click on the orange "Join Now" button at the bottom.
  
  Pick your starting avatar look from People, or select from the Classic avatars if you have a slow computer.
  
  Select your username, set up your account with email address, and Select "Free Account"
  
  Download & Install the Second Life viewer software to your PC, laptop, or Mac.
  
  Run the SL viewer, enter your username & password, and voila! you are in the virtual world!
- Please indicate your prior level of experience with virtual worlds Choice
- The Basics of Second Life Wiki
- HKU Education Island - The Caddy Shack URL
  Click here to load the SL map and then "Visit this location" to teleport your avatar to this location.
- Second Life for Education - in Singapore (2010) URL
  In 2009, a team of officers in Education Technology Division Ministry of Education (ETD MOE) started exploring the use of Second Life, a 3D virtual environment for education purposes. The project sought to explore the educational possibilities of participatory immersive environments and their accompanying pedagogical strategies. Five secondary schools were involved in this proof of concept project where teachers explored the use of Second Life in the teaching of Chinese Language, Geography and Science.
- National University of Singapore - virtual campus in SL URL
  Click here to open the SL map, then "Visit this location" to teleport your avatar there!
- Homework - Discussion
- Exploration
- SLURL to HKU Medicine Island - the ILC replica
- SLURL to avatar training maze
  ...do you want to train up your avatar skills? Check out the SWIFT maze!
Immersive Interfaces for engagement and learning
Immersive Interfaces for engagement and learning
- Resources
- Help Island URL
  New to Second Life? Help Island is an easy-to-learn island where you can learn more about the basics of Second Life. There's even a freebie mall to get you started with new clothing and more.
- SL Grid Survey - Region Database URL
- PBL in Shared Virtual Environments for Learning
- Land's End - the gazebo - HKU EDU Island URL
  Need a quiet place for a small group conversation?
- The Tesseract - HKU EDU Island URL
  Can you solve the problem to find your way inside to the treasure room?
- The 5-patient ward - HKU Medicine Island URL
  ...patient histories, bots, and Telemedicine recorded patient interviews.
- The Lab Safety Scenarios - HKU Medicine Island URL
  ....highly structured lab safety training experience using a HUD
- The Abyss - underwater observatory URL
  ...in collaboration with the vLab project at HKU!
- Ready to Build?
- Guides to Building in SL Wiki
- HKU - EDU Sandbox build area URL
  ....be sure to World -> Show -> Property Lines. Auto-cleanup in 3 hours...
- Ready to Shop?
- Info about Shopping in SL URL
  ....including "Learn More" and an FAQ file.
- Links to Freebies URL
- Second Life Marketplace URL
  ....bring your $L for virtual shopping!
- Homework - Reading and Discussion
- Dede (2009) Immersive Interfaces for Engagement and Learning URL
- Questions and Input
- Exploration
- The vLab Biochemistry lab training project - HKU Medicine Island URL
  ....simulated lab training to help Biochemistry students avoid pitfalls in their protein separation lab procedures.
- Ohio State Univ - the Giant Testes tour URL
  ....a sim which brings the tiny biological process up large, so you can visually relate to the processes
- Genome Island URL
  ....great educational exhibits about all things genetic!
- Natural History Museum URL
  ....dinosaurs, steampunk, and archeology.
- STEM Island URL
  ....sims related to science, technology, engineering, and math education.
Learning Affordances of 3-D worlds
Learning Affordances of 3-D worlds

A framework of Presence - Riva (2003)
- Front-loaded activities
- Looking around with Camera Controls in SL URL
- Resources
- TEACHING WITH VIRTUAL WORLDS: FACTORS TO CONSIDER FOR INSTRUCTIONAL USE OF SECOND LIFE (Mayrath et al, 2010) File
  
  RQ1. What affordances in SL promote learning of content for graduate and undergraduate students?
  
  RQ2. What challenges and limitations are inherent to using SL for learning in a large university setting?
  
  RQ3. What pedagogical, contextual, and logistical factors affect outcomes of SL instructional activities?
- Riva 2003 - Being there: the experience of presence in mediated environments URL
  ....presence, co-presence, and social presence....the creation of a social context within a collaborative virtual environment.
- Runtastic - working out with Oculus Rift VR URL
  ....do your yoga workout in a virtual world, with a virtual instructor!
- Simulation Showcase : virtual experiences
- HKU Medicine Island - the ILC replica URL
- The vLab Biochemistry lab training project - HKU Medicine Island URL
  ....simulated lab training with a HUD interface to help Biochemistry students avoid pitfalls in their protein separation lab procedures.
- Ohio State Univ - the Giant Testes tour URL
  ....a sim which brings the tiny biological process up large, so you can visually relate to the processes
- Winter Wonderland URL
  Grab your snow gear and head on in to Linden Lab’s Winter Wonderlan! For the past few months we’ve developed a four-region winter experience many different attractions. Wander through a cozy little snow village, a mesh race track for both snowmobiles and snowboards, rides, ice skating and even a killer snowball war zone. Get in there, choose your arsenal and conquer the castle with a furious fusillade of frigid, frozen fun!
- Building Workshop
  
  textures
  
  scripts
  
  unpacking objects
  
  rezzing a building
  
  shared media on a prim
  
  the Novatel Holodeck
- HKU - EDU Sandbox build area URL
  ....be sure to World -> Show -> Property Lines. Auto-cleanup in 3 hours...
- Chatbots in Second Life URL
  ....from simple conversation to Artificial Intelligence!
- Ultra HAL - is he artificially intelligent? URL
  ....Hal is a sophisticated chatbot, searching for friends in Second Life!
- Homework - Reading and Discussion
- What are the learning affordances of 3-D virtual environments? Dalgarno & Lee (2010) URL
  ....five key affordances of learning in a virtual world, and a proposed model of learning.
  
  Note: "affordance" is defined by Gibson (1979), who used it to refer to "the functional properties that determine the possible utility of an object or environment"
- Questions and Input
- How do I? Forum
- Student-recommended Reading Forum
- Exploration
- Winter Safety Game - gamification of learning URL
  Learn to handle winter safety problems to collect points! (must get and wear the HUD)
- Building in SL
- What are your design / building plans in SL? Forum
Topic 4
Topic 4
Physical Vs Virtual Learning Environments

Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to
1. Understand the difference between physical learning environments with virtual learning environments.
2. Understand the specific requirements of virtual learning environments
3. Understand the affordances of virtual learning environments
4. Understand how to install Active Worlds into their home computers.
5. Familiar with the basics of the Active Worlds
6. Solve any technical problems in using Active Worlds
- Lecture notes
- Physical Vs Virtual Learning Environments File
- Reflection Forum
- Workshop
  
  Tour of a virtual world "Non-smoking World"
  
  Please provide feedback on your experince of this visit.
- Active Worlds installation Guide Folder
- Non-Smoking World Visit Folder
Topic 5
Topic 5
Getting start with Active Worlds

Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to

1. Understand the basic functions in the Active Worlds.

2. Create objects from different building materials in the Alpha Worlds

3. Apply commands to change color, animate objects

4. Attach descriptions in the objects when the mouse is over the objects

5. Solve any technical problems in using Active Worlds

6. Decide on the group projects
- Do you have problems Installing ActiveWorlds? Forum
- aworld.ini file to replace the old one
- Lecture notes
- Getting started with ActiveWorlds File
- Workshops
  
  Create objects in the Virtual learning envirnoments of Active Worlds
  
  The user guide of active worlds is at the following URL http://wiki.activeworlds.com/
- Animation objects File
- Useful resources for Activeworlds
  
  Free sound effects website
  
  http://www.grsites.com/archive/sounds/
  
  Alpha world building objects website
  
  http://www.awportals.com/opsearch/aw.php
  
  Alpha world object scripting
  
  http://wiki.activeworlds.com/index.php?title=object_scripting
Topic 6
Topic 6
Pedagogies and e-learning
Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to

Understand the various types of learning strategies involved in e-learning.

Identify the tools in various e-learning context

Apply examples of activities that can be used to enhance teaching and learning in e-learning environments

Understand the basics of Web 2.0

Create websites in wiki to facilite virtual learning

Apply the skills in Active Worlds to activate websites to give instructions or provide resources
- Lecture notes
- pedagogies and elearning File
- Reading
- Readings Folder
- Workshop 1
  
  Hand-on experience in creating of Wiki page or blog to provide instruction and interaction within the virtual worlds
  
  Weebly: http://www.weebly.com/
  
  WordPress: http://wordpress.com
  
  Google site: http://sites.google.com/
  
  pbworks: http://www.pbworks.com/
  
  Samples of WebQuest page for Virtual world projects
  
  Non-smoking Worlds
  
  Museum of the Palace of Versailles
  
  Training Centre for IT Help Desk Staff
  
  Workshop 2
  
  How to use objects from 3rd parties? http://awbuilder.blogspot.com/
  
  http://www.swcity.net/academy/index.php?n=Main.DownloadDirectory
  
  http://www.swcity.net/academy/index.php?n=Main.FarmKit
- What is WebQuest? Page
- Samples of student work in WebQuest Page
- Weebly for beginner Video Page
- introduction tutorial to Weebly Page
- WordPress for beginner Video Page
Topic 7
Topic 7
Affordance of ICT and its implication in VLE

Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to
1. Understand the affordances of ICT
2. Understand the taxonomy of ICT affordances
3. apply teachnology and pedagogy set out in affordances.
4. master more competent skills in building and constructing the Virtual World.
- Lecture notes
- Affordance of ICT File
- Readings
- Affordance of ICT File
- Affordance of modern web design Page
- Boot Camp installation & setup guide for running Window in Mac File
- Workshop:
  
  Mastering necessary skills in Active Worlds
  
  How to use objects from 3rd parties? http://awbuilder.blogspot.com/
  
  http://www.swcity.net/academy/index.php?n=Main.DownloadDirectory
  
  http://www.swcity.net/academy/index.php?n=Main.FarmKit
Topic 8
Topic 8
Pedagogical Evaluation methodology for SVEL

Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to

1. Describe and illustrate two of the appropriate pedagogical evaluation strategies for SVEL

2. Understand what needs to be evaluated.

3. Identify the characteristics of Conversational Framework and Viable Systems Model

4. Understand the importance of pedagogical criteria

5. Apply the two models to evaluate virtual learning environments.
- Lecture notes
- Pedagogical Evaluation methodology for SVEL File
- Readings
- Reading in Evaluation of SVEL Folder
- Activities
  
  Based on the evaluation rubric of conversational model and viable system model, evaluate one of the virtual learning centre in the Active Worlds.
- Evaluation Rubric File
- Evaluation and Reflection of one of the project in Active Worlds Forum
- Workshop
  
  Use the following attached Triggers list, object list, and 3rd party FarmKit objects to practice the creating and animating objects in your Virtual World
- Triggers, objects and 3rd party FarmKit awg Folder
Topic 9
Topic 9
Pedagogical interactions and implication
Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to

Understand the relationship between pedagogical context of use and instructional design.

Understand the contemporary learning theory

Identify the characteristics of a learning environment

Understand the seven pedagogical goals

Understand the five underpinning principles of needs for learning environments

Identify the elements of a learning design

Apply the four forms of learning design to create virtual learning environments.

Understand the structure and function of WebQuest in enhancing task-based learning.

Apply the WebQuest skills in creating Web pages in Google sites.
RASE Model in elearning design by Daniel Churchill
- Lecture note
- Pedagogical interactions and implications Folder
- Reading
- Reading Folder
- Activities
  
  Construction of Virtual World and preparation for next week presentation.
Topic 10
This topic
Topic 10
1. Motivational Perspectives on Students’ Responses to Learning in Virtual Learning Environments.
2. Research in Virtual Learning Environment
Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this session, students should be able to:

Understand the Motivational Perspectives on Students’ Responses to Learning in Virtual Learning Environments
- Motivation, learning, and achievement
- Student reactivity to electronic learning environments
- Situational factors influencing reactivity to virtual learning environments
- Virtual and traditional learning environments compared
- Components of virtual environments supporting learning
- Features of electronic learning environments that optimize motivation
- Individual factors influencing reactivity to virtual learning environments
Understand the research studies on the use of 3-D immersive virtual worlds in education settings such as K-12 and higher education.
- Motivational Perspectives on Students’Responses to Learning in Virtual Learning Environments File
- Research in Virtual Learning Environment File
- Readings:Use of 3-D immersive virtual worlds in education settings Folder
- Readings related to various research in VLE Folder
- Activities
  
  Please upload a copy of your project presentation in Session 10 forum.
  
  Each one need to present the project in Session 10.
  
  The content of the presentation includes the following:
  
  Member's Name.
  
  Topic / focus for the learning design
  
  Introduction
  
  Specific learning goals / objectives and anticipated difficulties
  
  Effective teaching / learning strategy and learning interactions
  
  Key technological affordances for this learning design
  
  Choice of technology platform and design overview
- Powerpoint presentation Forum

Topic outline

General

Designing shared virtual environments for learning

Key Reference

Getting Started in Second Life

Immersive Interfaces for engagement and learning

Learning Affordances of 3-D worlds

Topic 4

Topic 5

Getting start with Active Worlds

Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to

Topic 6

Pedagogies and e-learning

Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to

Topic 7

Topic 8

Pedagogical Evaluation methodology for SVEL

Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to

Topic 9

Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this module, students should be able to

Topic 10