2020 #VWEDU: OSCC: The MALET program and virtual (digital) residency

OSCC19 A GRADUATE SCHOOL RESIDENCY 

IN VIRTUAL REALITY

The SUNY Empire State College Master’s in Learning with Emerging Technology (MALET) program holds one-day immersive residencies in VR to introduce new students to the faculty and to give them look at programs and projects past and present. Here we report on conclusions derived from post event debriefings, and present evidence for continuing exploration and development.

• Watch on YouTube
• OSCC videos are up
• VidReader

• Update 1307/2020 OpenSim Fest 2020 Falling OpenSim numbers. OSCC videos are up. SceneGate improvements.

2020 #DTA: #VWEDU: Learning the vocabulary with gamification and AI. Intelligent environment for routine instruction.

Learning the vocabulary with  gamification and AI.  
Intelligent environment for routine instruction.  
Gamification 

The intelligent scene (DTA) can manage an instructional game.  Here such a game is described as teaching vocabulary for learning a second language.  This article is explicitly licensed Public Domain (CC0).

Magnolia gardens

• Magnolia gardens of knowledge . A demonstration of introductory training on the parts (of anything)

Vocabulary learning cases

• Case 1 learning a second or subsequent language.
• Case 2 learning a specialized vocabulary.

A starting model for an AI vocabulary-learning environment

• Scene design:
• Gamification: (after the break)
• Solo task design and gamification (TBD)
• Social task design and gamification (TBD)
• Plans for evaluation of performance (TBD)
• This model is written about learning nouns (objects) but can be extended to other parts of speech.

• Update 1/23/2020 OSCC videos are up. SceneGate improvements. Brand New Grid: Rêves Fantastiques

2020 #VWEDU: Rezmela(TM): Set App 4 Creating text posters, producing a whole scene

Rezmela: Set App 4 
Creating text posters, 
producing a whole scene.

A demonstration of how the Rezmela system can be used to provide many alternative scenes in the same area.  

• Watch on YouTube
• Rezmela videos

• An instructor could create a classroom or other teaching space.
• Could clear the space for another scene.  
• And recreate the classroom when needed.  
• Thus one area could serve multiple classes.
• More articles about Rezmela after the break

• Update 1/23/2020 OSCC videos are up. SceneGate improvements. Brand New Grid: Rêves Fantastiques

2020 #DTA: #VWEDU: The Digital Teaching Assistant can encourage practice in metacognition. Thinking about thinking for learning about learning

The Digital Teaching Assistant can 
encourage practice in metacognition.  
Thinking about thinking for 
learning about learning

Metacognition is a big word for a simple concept: Thinking about the way you think (or learn) and how you can improve on that.  A Digital Teaching Assistant can present tasks that stimulate that kind of thinking as it works with students.  Those tasks can be presented as part of normal homework to get the student used the treating those tasks as a normal part of homework.

• Watch on YouTube

• Metacognition: Thinking about thinking
• What is metacognition? (Exploring the Metacognition Cycle)
• Metacognition (Wikipedia) 
• Think about the thinking you do when trying to learn something
• Learning how to learn
• Learning how to learn (search)
• Can people learn how to learn?
• Evidently some think not:
• Fixed vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives
• The growth model and the concept of Yet
• Growth mindset (search)
• Mindset (Wikipedia)

Fixed mindset

• "I can't do XXX!"
• Growth mindset: "I can't do XXX, yet"
• Educators are familiar with the fixed mindset. 
• We don't believe it, of course.  But how can we undo it?
• We tell them they can do it.  They are too polite to challenge us on that.
• "If you think I can do it, tell me how!"
• "I tried to think, but nothing happened," Curly Howard.
• We give them a booklet telling them how to study.  
• We tell them to study that! 

How the DTA can nudge toward metacognition

• After the break

• Update 1/23/2020 OSCC videos are up. SceneGate improvements. Brand New Grid: Rêves Fantastiques

2020 BIZ: #DTA: #VWEDU: Agenda training for a project meeting by a self-managed group. Learning to plan in a group

Agenda training for a project meeting 
by a self-managed group.   
Learning to plan in a group

Project-based learning can go beyond content to give practice in how to work in a group--and to show students what they can do. 

Where is the agenda?

Agenda for project-based learning in groups

• Any good meeting starts with an agenda.
• If a meeting has a skilled leader, the leader will prepare an agenda.
• A skilled leader will keep the group focused on the agenda.
• The meeting will accomplish many of the things it set out to do.  
• Things not accomplished will be assigned as action items.   
• The participants can feel a sense of accomplishment. 
• But how does this work out in project-based learning?

Project-based learning and self-managed teams

• In project-based learning the students have to run the groups by themselves.
• Project-based learning can give experience in a self-managed team.
• Project-based learning with work-groups: Not just the content: project skills, team skills, self-confidence
• Training self-managed teams
• They learn how to work with a team on a project.

• Update 1/23/2020 OSCC videos are up. SceneGate improvements. Brand New Grid: Rêves Fantastiques

2020 #VWEDU: OSCC19 EUREKA WORLD AN ECOSYSTEM FOR LEARNING. School campuses in virtual worlds: teachers, students, mentors, developers.

OSCC19 EUREKA WORLD AN ECOSYSTEM FOR LEARNING. 
School campuses in virtual worlds: teachers, students, mentors, developers. 
Updated 1/28/2020

Eureka World’s platform is an interconnecting system in which educational resources such as teachers, students, mentors and developers are seamlessly work together. Eureka World unique platform integrates into classrooms’ ecosystem to give every person the opportunity to maximize their potential and create real lives full of satisfaction, value and happiness.

• Watch on YouTube
• OSCC videos are up
• VidReader

Eureka World's ecosystem

• Eureka World--3D Worlds for Education
• EUREKAWORLD a world of learning
• Eurika World (Facebook)
• 14,500 registered students
• 150 schools
• 330 trained teachers
• 3 colleges

• Update 1/23/2020 OSCC videos are up. SceneGate improvements. Brand New Grid: Rêves Fantastiques

2020 ART: Sendalonde Community Library: Installation art. Art in video.

Sendalonde Community Library: 
Installation art. Art in video.   

Art collected by members of the Elf Clan.  

• Watch on YouTube

Folklore exhibit art, books, and opening dance on September 19, 2015.Machinima by Marie Vans

• Wellspring, an Elf Clan affiliate region, a 16-region world of contrasts. Steampunk, Victorian, Fantasy, Caves, etc.

Hypergrid address

• grid.kitely.com:8002:Wellspring
• Travel tips for the Hypergrid. A DTA content page
• Wellspring on the web
• Kitely hop:
• hop://grid.kitely.com:8002/Wellspring/687/801/23
• Ingrid (within a grid) Travel tips for OpenSimulator . A DTA content page
• You can read more about Elf Clan and the charter at http://elfclan.spruz.com

• SceneGate improvements. Brand New Grid: Rêves Fantastiques GridList becomes social! Great Canadian Grid seeks funds to reopen

2020 #VWEDU: Volunteer Virtual Classroom Speaker. A potential use for virtual worlds? Let's think about it.

Volunteer Virtual Classroom Speaker.  
A potential use for virtual worlds?   
Let's think about it.

One company is offering to match the experience of virtual visitors with the needs of classes.  

The Empty Classroom

If they must be in a classroom

• Virtual visits to classrooms? 
• Already on offer from Nepris
• Not via virtual worlds, but online by camera.
• With all the advantages of online.  
• "Without leaving your home or office, you can connect with students..."
• For professionals
• For educators

2020 LandM: #VWEDU: Belle Terre, a place of many destinations and many teleport gates. Home of Freda Frostbite

Belle Terre, a place of many destinations 
and many teleport gates.
Home of Freda Frostbite

Belle Terre is home to The Belles Dancers and Freda Frostbite in opensim. Here, we feature distinct programs:  art, music, dance and literature. We hope you will come for our shows and stay to explore (or vice versa). Ballroom, forest, maze, treehouse, beach, naughty fairy cottage,surfing, spa, tarot, sailing....

Arrival point overview

Click image to enlarge

• Those little signs to the right are teleports: right click and choose teleport.
• You can get teleports on Kitely Market by searching for teleports.

Go there

• Kitely web page
• Freda's Place 
• Hypergrid address:
• grid.reves.kitely.org:8002:Belle Terre
• Travel tips for the Hypergrid. A DTA content page
• Ingrid (within a grid) Travel tips for OpenSimulator . A DTA content page

2020 #VWEDU: #BIZ: Can virtual worlds meet network security requirements? Some can and some still have problems.

Can virtual worlds meet network security requirements?   
Some can and some still have problems.

A simplified look at the issues of secure communication in educational use of virtual worlds.

• Even education has security requirements: FERPA
• Business and government units have even stronger needs.
• How well do virtual worlds fit these needs?
• OpenSimulator: not at all
• CybaLOUNGE:  Completely and certainly.
• 3DWebWorldz: It probably does and certainly can.

Learning the vocabulary with AI. Two major cases. The DTA can provide an intelligent environment

Learning the vocabulary with AI. 
Two major cases.  
The DTA can provide an intelligent environment  

The intelligent scene: the things talk to you.  They tell their names. Even tell you aloud.  You have quests.  Just as in a game.  And you learn skills while playing.  The difference here is that the skills you learn in this game have long-lasting value. This article is explicitly licensed Public Domain (CC0).

Magnolia gardens

• Magnolia gardens of knowledge . A demonstration of introductory training on the parts (of anything)

Two cases? 

Case 1

• There are many instances of learning a second or subsequent language.
• The objective is always the same: 
• Get able to use the language in effective communication with native speakers.
• Instructional procedures are well understood.  The only problem: it takes practice.
• Practice takes time.  

Case 2

• A less obvious case occurs when students prepare to study a specialized subject.
• Here they do not  learn a whole new language but only a specialized vocabulary.
• Some of the words are familiar to them, but the meaning is specialized.
• And some of the things mentioned may be dangerous or inaccessible.
• Example: anatomy, surgical tools.

2020 #DTA: #VWEDU: WRITE: Would you use a virtual world to teach creative writing? Imaginary worlds are another kind of virtual worlds.

Would you use a virtual world to teach creative writing? 
Imaginary worlds are another kind of virtual worlds.

Suggestions about how to use virtual world resources to teach creative writing: Writing in the scene, working together apart, scenes as prompts. role-play, cold reads.

• Indeed, all virtual worlds were initially imagined.
• One reason we like virtual worlds is that we can create the worlds we imagine.
• And we can share that imagined world with others.
• Articles in this blog about writing

How would a DTA use virtual worlds to teach creative writing?

• DTA=Digital Teaching Assistant
• Manage brainstorming sessions:
• DTA can guide ideation sessions. Group ideation: "Brainstorming"
• Maintain an organized collection of prompts and scenes.
• Present scenes and writing prompts as directed by the teacher
• Provide entry fields with writing prompts for "write on site" exercises.
• Collect exercise products and deliver them to the teacher with grammar checked.
• File exercise products in word processor form.
• Manage cold reads by the writing group.
• Manage group role-play
• Provide promotion prompts at the teacher's direction.
• DTA can guide ideation sessions. Group ideation: "Brainstorming"

• update 1/9/2020 Brand New Grid: Rêves Fantastiques GridList becomes social! Great Canadian Grid seeks funds to reopen Kitely Market Passes $100,000 in Sales.

2020 #VWEDU: A campus grid for a graduate school. An independent grid using the Kitely organization system

A campus grid for a graduate school.  
An independent grid using the Kitely organization system.

A separate grid.  Managed by an organization.  Separate login page, with information about the organization, not about a grid.  But all the tech work is handled by Kitely.  And it has some places open to the Hypergrid. 

Online people attend a presentation

• VR-on Marian Island
• Hosting projects of the MALET program:
• Suny Empire State College MALET program
• Help to get started in virtual reality
• Change your avatar
• Start to build
• FAQ

2019 #VWEDU: Scenegate improvements: onboarding, accessibility, performance, usability

Scenegate improvements: 
onboarding, accessibility, 
performance, usability
Updated 1/25/2020

Scenegate is a new viewer for OpenSimulator grids, directed at the needs of newcomers and particularly newcomers entering to take classes or to attend meetings. It offers a simplified screen with few options--just those needed for classes and meetings. This article is explicitly licensed Public Domain (CC0).

Meeting at IMA Alpha

Contents

• Onboarding
• Accessibility
• Performance
• Usability

2020 HG: People: Hypergridders: We may be able to use Discord for event notices much as we have been using inworld groups.

We may be able to use Discord for event notices 
much as we have been using inworld groups.

Communities on the Hypergrid need a grid-independent way to announce and promote events.  They especially need a way to send Just-In-Time(JIT) alerts near the start time of an event.  Discord has features that can support JIT notices.  Friendica may have such features in the future.

Event in a virtual world

• Inworld groups can send notices to everyone in the group.
• We use that feature to notify group members of an upcoming event.
• Often all group members get the notice.
• They don't mind the notices because that's why they are in the group.
• But these notices at best only work for those who are inworld on the hypergrid.
• Many of us also use a web-world or a closed grid.
• And inworld notices reach no one not already in OpenSim.

Can we extend our reach to the outworld?

• We  do use social media for announcements that travel the web/
• But we would like to send notices shortly before the event.
• Discord may be able to do that .

• update 1/9/2020 Brand New Grid: Rêves Fantastiques GridList becomes social! Great Canadian Grid seeks funds to reopen Kitely Market Passes $100,000 in Sales.

2020 #VWEDU: You don't have to build to create scenes in OpenSimulator. RezMela can do most of the building for you

You don't have to build to create scenes in OpenSimulator.  
RezMela can do most of the building for you

An overview of the RezMela system:  components and how they are used

• Watch on YouTube
• RezMela YouTube channel 

Using a virtual world

• A big benefit of using a virtual world is that you can create scenes.
• In OpenSimulator the virtual land costs little and you can build things at little cost.
• That is, little cost unless you value your time.
• Experienced residents of the virtual worlds speak of a steep learning curve.
• But it is only steep if you expect to do everything for yourself. 
• There are lots of virtual things available on Kitely Market. 
• Many of these are scripted to provide various services.
• And RezMela will soon release an organized collection of things for building scenes.
• The collection is organized into components described in the video above and in the text after the break. 
• You may find it useful to read the text before watching the video.
• Gathering educational support in OpenSimulator. Scenegate, RezMela™, Kitely Organizations, DTA
• .Rezmela™ supports easy creation of instructional scenes. A demonstration in VWMOOC19

• update 1/9/2020 Brand New Grid: Rêves Fantastiques GridList becomes social! Great Canadian Grid seeks funds to reopen Kitely Market Passes $100,000 in Sales.

2020 #VWEDU: Affordances of virtual worlds can make a more effective presentation. From OpenSim Community Conference (OSCC)

How to use the affordances of virtual worlds 
to make a more effective presentation.  
From OpenSim Community Conference (OSCC)

Lessons learned while developing a new virtual world product. And a demonstration of how presentations can be improved by using the capabilities of virtual worlds.

• Watch on YouTube

• This was a presentation a the Opensim Community Conference 2019 
• The presenter made the video in advance and played it instead of talking live.
• The presenter answered questions (in chat) during the presentation. 
• Presenting in a video made effective use of the presenter's presence.
• The presenter could interact with the audience while the presentation continued.
• Live interactions instead of live talking.
• Mainstreaming Virtual World Learning Colloquium: Video summary and suggestions
• Can virtual worlds support large lecture classes? The past is not the future

2020 #DTA: #VWEDU: Who is building a digital teaching assistant? Can just anybody make one?

Who is building a digital teaching assistant?  
Can just anybody make a DTA?

Many people are building DTA components.  Under the name Learning Management System (LMS) the technology is widespread.  In a virtual world, the DTA could be represented as an avatar or animated object, possibly fostering a more personal relationship with the students.  

DTA1 (left)

Who is building a DTA?

• The Digital Teaching Assistant (DTA) for MUVES (virtual worlds): Summary
• People have already made some: Learning management system (Wikipedia)
• Some parts are available in virtual worlds:
• A Digital Teaching Assistant (DTA) in a MUVE (virtual world): What would it do?
• New educational term: Batch Registration: for schools and organizations in virtual worlds
• A professor built an AI teaching assistant for his courses — and it could shape the future of education
• Some parts involve integrating existing resources (Moodle) with DTA records.
• Some educational organization might assemble parts to cover a group of DTAs
• Possible DTA groups: K12, college, language learning, STEM.  
• Parts of the DTA would have to be designed for particular grade levels and content.

• Update 1/2/20: GridList become social! Great Canadian Grid seeks funds to reopen. Kitely Market Passes $100,000 in Sales. AVsitter is now open-source!

2020 ART: #VWEDU: Nuna art gallery in OpenSim, 3rd rock grid. A great addition to art and education in virtual worlds (Part 1)

Nuna art gallery in OpenSim, 3rd rock grid.  
A great addition to art and education in virtual worlds
(Part 1)

An extensive and well-curated art museum in OpenSim, organized to fit art education and with informative content nearby.  This article introduces the gallery and tells about art reproductions and copyright.  Subsequent articles will deal with exhibits and themes.

The Nuna Gallery

• Nuna Virtual Art Gallery
• Facebook connection
• How the Nuna Gallery came to be

Go there

• Hypergrid address:
• grid.3rdrockgrid.com:8002:The Nuna Gallery
• Firestorm hop 
• hop://grid.kitely.com:8002/The Nuna Gallery/375/459/141
• Travel tips for the Hypergrid. A DTA content page
• Ingrid (within a grid) Travel tips for OpenSimulator . A DTA content page

• Update 1/2/20: GridList become social! Great Canadian Grid seeks funds to reopen. Kitely Market Passes $100,000 in Sales. AVsitter is now open-source!

2019 #DTA #VWEDU: WRITE: Write on site. The scene as a story prompt. Mystery Manor as a story source

Write on site.  
The scene as a story prompt.  
Mystery Manor as a  story source

How a Digital Teaching Assistant (DTA) can manage assignments for a class in creative writing where the writing is prompted by a 3D scene. 

Does this desk suggest a story? 

• DTA: Do you see a story here?
• Me: Not one.  Several.  An old quill pen tells the era.  An ancient scroll--what secrets does it hold? Maps--maps tell many stories about travels.
• DTA: Think of a character who fits one of the stories you thought of.
• So begins one scenario of the DTA as writing coach.

The DTA as a writing coach on site

• In a virtual world you write in a place. The place is a prompt.  
• Here are illustrations of how the DTA can use the place to trigger writing practice. 
• This model would work best in groups.
• Writing is only a solitary task if you don't want readers.

• Update 1/2/20: GridList become social! Great Canadian Grid seeks funds to reopen. Kitely Market Passes $100,000 in Sales. AVsitter is now open-source!