Virtual spaces can be confusing! You may not have the necessary system requirements: Mac, PC, graphics card, operating system and so on. But here’s one that is super easy and can be accessed on nearly any device! Cybalounge Metaverse School
Simply click on this url and you are there! Note the small icon on the bottom left of the screen (with the little lock on it). Cybalounge lets you log in as a guest or register as a user.
ACRL Virtual World Interest Group Tour May 17th
The ACRL (Association for College and Research Libraries) Virtual World Interest Group meets in Second Life monthly. This month, we will tour Cybalounge and anyone can easily join us! We will start at the Nonprofit Virtual World and we plan to visit the Community Virtual Library space as well as an art gallery. Selby Evans holds office hours in Cybalounge on weekdays at 10am Pacific Time. If you miss this tour, check it out then.
Not all online learning spaces are equal! In fact, many are applications built by designers without any educational background at all. So how can educators explore and build the best sustainable interactive online learning environments for students? Well- one way is to explore innovative virtual learning spaces together to evaluate them.
With that goal in mind, the Community Virtual Library is sponsoring CVL Educator Workshops in numerous virtual environments, such as Second Life, Kitely, and web-based worlds like Cybalounge and 3Dwebworldz. For those interested in virtual reality headsets, CVL has a VR Explorers team and a Discord Channel. Check out the CVL Educators Workshop schedule here! Workshops are just starting, so check the spreadsheet as dates will be added.
Community Virtual Library in Cybalounge
Community Virtual Library Main Branch
The main branch of the Community Virtual Library is in Second Life and librarians, educators and volunteers hold office hours to help teachers, learners, and anyone interested in virtual environments to better understand and use them. Explore the website and see the Virtual Reference tab to find a mentor.
Is education ready for #virtualreality headsets?
Librarians and colleagues are exploring VR headsets while understanding that virtual immersive environments like Second Life are a form of virtual reality that has been proven to be advantageous for years. A recent workshop in the virtual world of Virbela presented a session on where VR is headed in education.
My book is about to be published during a time when the world is enduring a “stay at home” mandate due to the Corona Virus pandemic and many people scramble to utilize technology for communication, business and learning in new ways.
The focus of this book is on the need for #metaliteracy in #Metamodernism because literacy has changed. Our philosophical moment intersects with enormous changes in the way we communicate, requiring a change in nomenclature. Everyone from infants through the elderly has been impacted by technology tools and new ways to become literate. We are all challenged to become good digital citizens.
Are YOU metaliterate? What does it mean? Metaliteracy is a model developed by Mackey and Jacobson (2011) that empowers learners to be reflective and informed producers of information both individually and in collaboration with others.
Metaliteracy (Mackey & Jacobson)
Our Metamodern Moment
Metamodernism is one of the proposed names for our current philosophical era which follows postmodernism. In discussions around kitchen tables, in pubs, or in online platforms, we constantly hear about how much the world has changed since the turn of the century. Everywhere we look, we see people on digital devices staring into virtual spaces of global connectivity. It really doesn’t matter what you call it- times have changed and we all know it. While we struggle to sort through information chaos (information overload, millions of apps, “fake news” and more), the future holds hopeful possibilities. One positive example is the ability to learn about concepts like metamodernism by connecting with great thinkers around the globe. It’s a fast pace so choose wisely!
Hill, V. J. (2020). Metamodernism and Changing Literacy: Emerging Research and Opportunities (pp. 1-225). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. doi:10.4018/978-1-7998-3534-9
Mackey, T., & Jacobson, T. (2011). Reframing information literacy as a metaliteracy. C&RL, 72, 62-78.
Van den Akker, R. (2015). What comes after metamodernism? Notes on Metamodernism.
Last week, I led a tour of Fiona Fei’s Shui Mo Ink Brush Art for the Nonprofit Commons Group in Second Life. Shui Mo means “ink” in Chinese. The group walked across paintings on scrolls where the ink was brushed under our feet. Zooming in on the pictures along the wall, we observed that they were not flat- but were 3D sculptures with little moving birds and butterflies. We walked through lovely koi fish ponds and floated amidst petals and umbrellas, wandering through a black and white ink world, then entered a black door to see One Million Rising for social justice. The tour culminated in a beautiful scene with a bridge where the group found a photo opp!
This lovely art, built by young artist Fiona Fei, exemplifies the use of virtual worlds for artist creativity in 3D spaces. Fiona says,
As a Chinese American, the Shui Mo series is my way of not only connecting with my ancestry, but it’s also a way for me to celebrate centuries of art and old masters who painted in this beautiful art style. I wanted to take full advantage of Second Life’s virtual environment to provide a new perspective on this traditional art style by adding depth, making what has traditionally always been portrayed as 2D pieces into 3D art. When the viewer looks into the art, they are looking into a 3D space, and depending on the angle they are viewing it from, the art changes.
Nonprofit Commons Tour at Shui Mo Ink Brush Gallery
Due to the Corona Virus, I find myself getting numerous questions about how to learn in virtual spaces! As Director of the Community Virtual Library, I have years of experience in immersive learning in virtual worlds. However, it is important to say that it is not a quick and easy tool to learn! In fact, my dissertation topic was factors contributing to the adoption of virtual worlds and findings showed the biggest obstacle was complexity. People have used the term “steep learning curve” to describe virtual worlds for years. The advantages and benefits, I firmly believe, are well-worth the effort. A few weeks of exploration and navigation of the interface provides most of us with a comfort zone and a “sense of presence” that is much more suitable to learning than a web-based platform, quick apps, or webinars.
Librarians discussing virtual world learning environments
Help! Where do we start?
Learning how to utilize virtual worlds for education requires locating a virtual space (a simulated classroom or “sim”) and importing the curriculum used for specific learning outcomes, just as an educator does in the physical world. Building a professional learning network with other educators is the best starting point. Those educators are ready to help you! The International Society for Education (ISTE Virtual Environments Network) has several communities and individuals who meet regularly. Just FYI, I won the ISTE VEN Pioneer of the Year Award last year in 2019. Scroll down to the bottom!
Anyone can visit the Community Virtual Library in Second Life or in other virtual worlds and tours can be scheduled. Joining educational groups helps educators find others who have paved the way for bringing deep learning and critical thinking into virtual spaces. Currently, VR headsets are NOT ready for mainstream. There is little research on how these headsets impact the human brain. Virtual worlds have been around for years and research documents high quality simulations for all subject areas.
Library tour at CVL
What age level should use virtual worlds?
Currently, virtual worlds are ready for higher education and some educators bring younger students into specific virtual spaces. Educators should explore first and find the best spot for learning. With all the questions coming my way, plans are underway for workshops to help newcomers explore virtual worlds!
There is no escaping the concept of personal branding! Anyone who participates in networked culture (and only the rare hermit doesn’t) develops digital footprints. The tricky part is understanding how to separate your “public self” from your “private self”. A product, service, knowledge or expertise in a subject holds value when people need or want it. Yet, without a clear focus on the value of what one contributes to others, a personal brand is nothing but self-promotion, if not full-blown narcissism.
Way back in 2009 (before influencers completely overtook marketing), Twenge and Campbell warned us about The Narcissism Epidemic as everyone started using social media to share their “beautiful life experiences” and parents raised children with praise about how “unique and special” they are as individuals.
The authors suggested, “With cultural-level narcissism accelerating, many people with merely average levels of narcissism are getting sucked into the maelstrom of vanity, materialism, and entitlement'” (2009, p. 282).
Twenge, J. and Campbell, W. (2009). The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement. First Free Press: New York.
Forbes writer Caroline Castrillon says, ” The term ‘branding’ used to be reserved for businesses, but with the advent of social sites and the gig economy, personal branding has become fundamental”. Without understanding of digital citizenship in relationship to online identity, an individual may leave a very messy trail behind them.
The importance of a personal responsibility for an authentic online identity which balances ethical behavior with participation in networked culture is critical to our future. How to instill this responsibility in digital citizens at an early age is a concern for us all. A digital identity develops in numerous online platforms including social media profiles, icons, apps, content curation and avatars within virtual communities.
Two college educators (Library/Information Science and MultiMedia/Graphic Art fields) explored the creation of avatars as personal brands in a research study using hermeneutical phenomenology to tell their own professional development stories. Through the use of an avatar, the educators facilitate learning across distance in sustainable immersive learning environments such as virtual libraries, museums or historical simulations. A recognizable persona helped to create trust across virtual communities.
Four essential elements for the creation of professional avatars emerged from the stories examined: 1) authenticity, 2) purpose, 3) persistent embodied presence, and 4) personal responsibility for digital citizenship (Hill and Brock-Richmond, 2015, p. 21).
Hill, V. and Brock-Richmond, R., (2015). Exemplifying Professional Avatar Creation through Hermeneutic Phenomenology. Journal of Virtual Studies, (6) 3, 7-23.
Valibrarian and Zinnia (educators as avatars)
Avoiding the pitfalls of personal branding
Each of us has a personal journey through life that creates a dynamic story and digital storytelling provides new ways to share stories that provide insight, encourage empathy, uplift us or give us a new perspective. Yet, problems arise when narcissism overtakes the contribution an individual can make to the community.
Today’s culture admires power, wealth, fame, and above all “lots of followers”! We are often impressed by videos that “go viral”. Social media tends to encourage viewing the moments of our lives as opportunities to create an edited performance in which each of us plays the starring role. Perhaps we need to revisit some old-fashioned concepts like humility and duty. Maybe we should think about a few points that would combat the pitfalls of personal branding:
I am not the most important person in the world
I am not not all that special
I have a duty to help others
I have a responsibility to contribute
I need to have empathy for others
The thousands of platforms where “I have a voice” do not guarantee that I have something to say
How lucky I have been to serve as a librarian and “literacy specialist” during the time when literacy was turned upside down. (Well, there were a few bumpy moments when I didn’t really feel lucky!) I got to witness it personally and globally. I remember a day in the school library, when I had the strangest sensation (somewhere in the early days after the turn of the century) that the floor of the library was shaking. I realized I was experiencing the shift from primarily print materials to digital ones at the close of the Gutenberg Parentheses.
My search for ways to adapt and teach literacy in our postmodern and metamodern times led me to metaliteracy, a term coined by Mackey and Jacobson that provides a structure for the acquisition, production, and sharing of knowledge in collaborative online communities. I have used several other literacy terms (such as transliteracy) over the past few years, but metaliteracy seems to perfectly match our digital-based literacy environment.
I took a break from blogging to write a book on the topic of metaliteracy that should be published this year. My research has led me to the intersection of literacy and our philosophical moment in time– metamodernism. Of course, this proposed name has not yet become widely accepted since it is impossible to understand an era or a place in history at the time it is being lived. Yet, the sense of feeling that times have changed and that postmodernism is over surrounds us all.
Thomas P. Mackey and Trudi E. Jacobson. Metaliteracy: Reinventing Information Literacy to Empower Learners. Chicago: Neal-Schuman/ALA Editions and London; Facet, 2014.
My dream is a continual question for meaning. What it means to be alive….the awe of it. That has always been my dream and why I chose to be a librarian. (We are on a dream collecting quest.) My dream is a constant journey, a spiral, just like life. Seasons come around again and again and every year they’re the same yet different. Old- yet new. My dream of meaning is a collection of oxymorons that illustrate the tensions of opposites. We live in a world of them. I dream in poetry but balance my mind by writing research.
What does life mean? Human culture has attempted to answer that philosophical question through different lenses of perception over the centuries. The Post Modern Era is over and we have yet to agree on the term for the cultural moment in which we live. Post Postmodernism sounds redundant. Some, myself included, prefer metamodernism.
Digital life is spent in the “about”: sharing life on social media, creating memes and living in digital spaces. Literacy has become metaliteracy. The metaverse exists but can’t be defined by any location on any particular server.
I am sitting in a virtual book orchard listening to relaxing music as I write this.
CVL Write-In August 2018
Finding the right setting and time for writing is not easy in a world of constant distraction. A virtual world “Write-In” provided focus with the encouragement of others around me. Yet another example of the potential for virtual worlds. The Community Virtual Library offers programs such as write-ins, poetry events, research exhibits and everything a physical world library might provide.
Advantages of using an avatar
No cost No travel Sense of presence with community Creative tools Access to helpful resources Unique experiences
With rising costs of travel to conferences, virtual worlds provide a cost effective way to network and present information in any field. The Virtual World MOOC 2018 brought learners and educators from around the world into Second Life and a networking forum at the Community Virtual Library sparked conversation on the future of education, libraries and learning in digital culture.
Community Virtual Library Networking Forum August 2018
Yet, after years of gathering evidence about the potential for learning in virtual worlds, all I hear about day after day is AR and VR (augmented reality and virtual reality). In fact, Hypergrid Business announced “winding down” coverage of virtual world grids as virtual reality hype continues to rise. Will the Metaverse ever become an interconnected landscape that can actually be navigated? Or are we heading to an uncharted sea of information chaos in mixed reality forms?
Oculus Go Headset- example of VR tools While VR developers race to create experiences (which may be dangerous to young minds- who knows?), virtual worlds continue to provide a range of uses for all age groups.
Accepting the fact that entertainment is the big money focus- not education- it is not surprising the current TOP DOG video game is Fortnight. Yet, it is more than a video game, Fortnight is a virtual world. Virtual worlds are certainly a part of virtual reality and immersive environments.
So- in a nutshell- virtual worlds are here and they will survive. But they are mainly used for battles and zombie-slaying! I certainly do not blame teachers for a lack of interest in virtual worlds. Having spent 25 plus years in education, I understand curriculum mandates, testing procedures, parent conferences, and never-ending paperwork. Learning and embracing virtual worlds has to be done outside the classroom on your own time. Yes- your “own time”! But you are not alone! Educators and learners around the globe face the same issues of understanding and utilizing new media and new technology tools. We will learn the best practices and we will survive. Virtual worlds will survive.
