Annual Report Time

Location: Microsoft Word

How do you capture the coolness of working with virtual worlds while using the most boring piece of software imaginable?

For the past four years, that has been my challenge, just in time for my 1 July deadline.

This year, the Usher Project in Jokaydia Grid has some of the same committee members excited about the grant and the potentials for literary study.

I'd be curious to see how other faculty with annual evaluations, rather than tenure, report their work in virtual worlds.  I hope that all of my evaluators will take time to look at a simple wiki with Viv Trafalgar's video of the Usher project that existed in Second Life, to give some sense of what will happen in a different virtual world where I'll have more creative freedom.

Without incentives and rewards, this work will never move forward in academia. It has long been that way for other technologies that are easier to master.

One day, we'll have smart paper with working videos embedded, or my committee will read e-texts on tablets. That's one day, not today.

Case Studies, Project Links, and More at VWER

Location: Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable

Some time ago, Hamlet Au pondered if there were any case studies, with empirical evidence, demonstrating learning in Second Life as compared to other methods of instruction.

I took him up on his challenge, offering the success of the U Texas system's venture. He was not impressed, though we both agreed that Ken Hudson's Canadian Border-Crossing Project did demonstrate the validity of immersive learning.

With this in mind I did a short literature review, a useful "twofer" since I was also doing research for a forthcoming article written with Viv Trafalgar. We have not found any case studies of the use of SL or OpenSim in a literary-studies setting, the focus of our article.

Two studies surfaced. One showed some benefits, but with a small sample size and no control group, and another showed no benefit in an engineering program where, the authors note, they had not provided a good orientation for their students.

With these articles under my virtual arm, I put a question to the Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable in a session called "Making the Case for Avatars": What are the Advantages over Teleconferencing?

I was impressed by the responses, and you can read a transcript of our talk here. Note that for those not wanting to wade through a HUGE text transcript, I aggregated all links at the start.

Risking the Red Pill: What Questions to Ask Educators in Second Life

Location: Jokaydia Grid, Looking Backward

Shortly after Linden Lab announced the price-hike for educational sims, I polled my readers and also educators who do not normally follow this blog.

The results of what was admittedly an imperfectly worded survey appear here. I was gratified to get even 35 replies but I hope that a better designed survey will get more.

Now I'm wondering how to structure a new survey to give after January 1, the first month when those contracts for server-space (let's get over the illusion of calling it "owning land") end in SL. Educational sim-renters will then face the choice of renewing at higher rates, cutting back their holdings, moving to a mainland parcel, or not renewing at all. My Matrix reference is hardly a forced one: if we get representative answers to well designed questions, we may, like Neo, see a reality far different from the often-comforting one of our daily lives and work in virtual worlds.

As an Open-Source sort of person, whose creations in OpenSim will be given to those who are interested, I think designing a survey using the wisdom of crowds might be wise.

Here are responses I'm considering. Statistical mavens, have at it. I want to avoid bias (and I am biased about, if no longer enraged by, Linden Lab's decision) as much as possible. NOTE: this is not the survey. You'll get to reply to that later. I just want feedback on my questions at this point.

When your contract with Linden Lab comes up for renewal (or if it already has for the next year or years), your institution will:

• Acquire more land for classes and programs in SL
  
• Acquire more land for classes and programs in SL and set up programs on another grid
• Continue classes and programs at current level in SL
• Continue classes and programs at current level in SL and set up programs on another grid
  
• Reduce land holdings (explain in comments) and continue classes & programs in SL
• Reduce land holding (explain in comments) and set up programs on another grid
• Cease renting land from Linden Lab & continue courses / programs in SL
• Cease renting land from Linden Lab & move to another grid
• Cease institutional work in any virtual world
• Have not decided.

Readers, share critiques and revisions in comments. I'll then prepare the final survey to administer in 2011.

Talking to Colleagues and Administrators About Virtual Worlds

Location: Lunch Table with Physics Department

kudos to Kali for the image of Lovecraftian Iggy

Rule One: Never show colleagues that you dress like a monster for Halloween, even if it's in a virtual world. Rule One B: Spell "virtual" correctly in your post's title (fixed 11/2/10!).

I often get the variation of the same question from my colleagues in Physics, as well as from a few mathematicians, with whom I have lunch. "So, what is happening with your avatar?"

The line is usually delivered with a crooked smile, as if a humanist can at least be funny with his research topic, if not serious.

My science and math colleagues do realize that lots of good simulation can be done in 3D, including inside virtual worlds. They would be an "easy sell" but what about Deans, Department Chairs, and I.T. administrators? That will be the topic this week at the Virtual Worlds Roundtable's meeting on the Montclair State University virtual campus. We begin Thursday at 2:30 pm SL Time and will chat for an hour. Teleport link:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Montclair%20State%20CHSSSouth/129/158/22
I have a few other "ground rules" I employ. I'm going to toss them onto the roundtable Thursday, but here they are:

• Avoid triumphalist discourse. Present VWs as a promising new technology, not the greatest innovation since fire. Explain that virtual worlds are not games, but that they use a game engine to let educators build simulations.
• Note that there are some activities, such as exploring a simulation and interacting with it, that cannot be done without an avatar. Show them, for instance, pictures of the Virtual Theorists Project at Montclair State.
  
• Point to the Canadian Border Crossing Project and in-world work by health professionals as examples of good in-world pedagogy, and note the Journal of Virtual World Research as a peer-reviewed publication.
• If appropriate, point to your grid as not containing adult content. If on a grid where hanky-panky exists, get the students to sign a waiver and present this to dubious colleagues.
  
• For face-to-face courses, do not emphasize in-world office hours when talking about a virtual world. I let my students know that they can IM me or visit during SL office hours, but that I'll also be at my physical office.

Selling my evaluators on The Virtual House of Usher was not simple but it worked. I had to convince them that the students would indeed read Poe's text and then write about it. The topic, as I patiently explained, would enable students to write at two levels: as art and architecture critics of the build itself, and as literary-studies students exploring what happens when a tale by a famous writer enters another medium. First, I asked the students to consider the compromises (and opportunities) for actors and creators, as well as the ability to make a tale that is deterministic in its original form into something where participants could alter the outcome.

My audience liked that, and so will yours. Come by Thursday to share stories of what worked for you, or come by to hear others' stories.

Balance Sheet: Sims in SL and Jokaydia Grid

Location: Cipherin'

As Jed Clampett used to say, "If brains was lard, Jethro couldn't grease a pan." Let's see if I can do any better: Richmond Island vs. Nevermore Sim; it's a smack-down!

Prims allowed: 15K vs. 20K (megas are okay in both places)

Setup Fee: $1000US vs. $0

Tier: $150 (soon to be $295) vs. $20US

Lag: negligible vs. negligible

Off-Grid Data backups: By item with Imprudence client vs. by item + OAR region backups

Number of Avatars: up to 100 vs. 10 or so (soon to rise). I will confirm this fact with Jokay.

Group Rights: Yes vs. Soon (with next server upgrade). I will also confirm this fact with Jokay for readers.

Content: homemade + purchased vs. homemade

Other than losing some fine content from SL's vendors, we come out so far ahead in OpenSim that I'll just pay for our region personally. If we need to expand beyond Nevermore, then I'll see if the university wishes to buy an Island at Jokaydia Grid.

Our project does not need media-on-a prim or large concurrency. The former will come with upgrades, and our biggest groups for classes using Usher have been 8 avatars. For tours, we might get up to a dozen.

Groups will soon be possible in Jokaydia Grid. They are vital for giving those beyond the Estate Managers the right to rezz items that persist. While the grid is educational, mistakes happen, especially with megaprims.

Overall, this grid is a great fit for our project and I hope to see other educators coming over, as well as building other edu-grids hyperlinked to each other.

Speaking Of....The League of Worlds Meets Today!

Thanks to Owen Kelly for this e-mail to the EDUCAUSE VW list.

I'm teaching today during this event, but if you are one of those inter-grid pioneers, log in to SL and join the group. The League of Worlds, founded in 2004, is hosting a "Bring Your Own Grid" meeting today! From Owen:

We are planning to hold Bring Your Own Grid 1, a League of Worlds one-hour in-world gathering on Wednesday, October 27 at 10.30 SL time, when we will explain what we mean in more detail, and invite others who share our vision to join us. If you wish to join, or to find out more, you are invited to attend.

Confirmed attendees, so far, include:
* Scott Diener (Auckland University, New Zealand) of the New Zealand Virtual Worlds Grid
* John "Pathfinder" Lester (as himself), owns an OpenSim region on jokaydiaGrid
* Steve Bronack (Clemson University, South Carolina) of the Carolinas Virtual Worlds Consortium
* Owen Kelly (Arcada University, Helsinki) (new OpenSim grid under construction)
* Lindy McKeown (University of Southern Queensland) aka Decka Mah in Second Life (new OpenSim grid under construction)

Location
The gathering will be held on the island Terra Incognita in Second Life at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Terra%20incognita/157/107/33/

Look for the signs at the landing point to the meeting in Spotter Square.

Don't forget, its at Wednesday, October 27 at 10.30 SL time. Check your time at http://tinyurl.com/23zb8fw

Does Concurrency Matter to Educators?

Location: Reaction Grid Core Region

No. In fact, I'd argue that it only matters when we need students or colleagues present for an event.

I've been thinking about a popular criticism by non-educators that campus spaces in SL, and all spaces in OpenSim, tend to be "ghost towns." Well, compared to some popular social spaces in SL, I suppose they are. But then so is my real life campus when classes are in session. Except for a few students sipping coffee on the library patio, we look deserted. You'd think our student body came to about 100 souls.

Educators tend to come in-world for a purpose, often during our regular working hours. We don't tend to "chill" as much with our friends or students. In fact, when we do, it's rare enough to merit a blog post.

That's why the concurrency of THREE seen in the image above from Reactiongrid does not bother me all that much. My House of Usher build in Second Life is also empty 99% of the time. During the other 1% we are giving tours or, in character as Poe's characters, running a simulation for students.

So educators need to take a lesson away from this for assessment. The Writing Center I direct does not use number of visits as an indicator of success, but looks to repeat visits by writers, performance on rubrics related to written communication, and feedback from visitors.

Likewise, educators using virtual worlds will need to provide comparative scores to those not using simulations but completing similar work, gather narratives from users, and more. We might measure peak concurrency and report that, when we hold meetings, classes, and other events.

We should not, however, be counting heads when we count beans for assessment. And to non-educator SLers who don't understand, I say "Sorry no one was around. We didn't build these spaces for you guys, even though you are more than welcome to visit. We built them for learning, and that does not need constantly high concurrency to happen."