Student Scavenger Hunts, 2009

Location: Student Blogs

(photo credit: Virtual Harlem, from Ryan's Koinup site)

As I slog through grading, one bright spot comes from reading the blogs done by my class. This informal writing, warm-ups for analytical projects, include a set of lively posts about the Scavenger Hunt assignment they have just completed.

Some stand-out posts:

• Mike's look at the claims implied by a space in his blog, "Meow Mix."
• Ryan's post "Dragons and Monsters and Aliens, Oh My!" captures his disappointment at not finding some of the less conventional avatars that abound in SL. I told him to go to Burning Life 2009 :)
  
• Sarah's trip to Luskwood. Well, there you have your non-humans, Ryan.
• Jenna's wide-ranging explorations. This was one of the strongest reports that had a large scope. Jenna also managed to travel for part of the day with a classmate, something that made SL a bit less lonely. Most of the other students went solo.

Most writers noted how empty the education sims looked. I reminded them that edu sites have "flash mobs" when events occur but not usually at other times (rather like our quads on campus--full between classes, empty in 10 minutes).

I'll feature more information soon on the hunts . For educators, I'll add that my project introduces writers to SL while letting them master skills beyond the basics. So the assignment is not merely "busy work" in a virtual world, I ask them to consider how what they find in the hunt might lead to later projects that employ sources.