Author: valibrarian

Immersive Art Community Experience: Shui Mo

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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

Virtual Learning: the world scrambles to find remote learning spaces

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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!

Now’s your chance at VWBPE 2020

If you are interested in learning about virtual worlds, the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference 2020 takes place this month: March 26th-28th. I have several presentation during the conference which are available on the schedule.

Visit the Community Virtual Library

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!

Contact info: https://twitter.com/valibrarian

https://about.me/valibrarian

Personal Branding: a Part of Digital Citizenship

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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

Living in a Meta World

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Metaliteracy for the metamodern world

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. 

Meta Dreams

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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.

Virtual Worlds Will Survive

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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

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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.

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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.

Who is Your Sidekick?

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Everyone needs a Robin. Batman simply cannot do it all alone.

Think about who you can count on day in and day out to encourage you. Who do you turn to at a time of struggle? Who do you know you can depend upon? I have an inspiring sidekick at the Community Virtual Library without whom I am certain the library would not have thrived in a virtual world. Virtual worlds hit a stage sometimes referred to as “the trough of disillusionment” in the Gartner Hype Cycle which analyzes adoption of new technology innovations.

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Yet, CVL survived the mass exit of educators after an economic downturn largely because of our head reference librarian, Carla (Suemoon). Carla, a law librarian in a physical world library, tirelessly persevered through thick and thin to update resources in the Community Virtual Library and train other librarians and volunteers.

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Carla was Hamlet’s Horatio- a good friend through it all. There are other literary sidekicks we all know and love as well as famous movie companions or real world right arms.

Sidekicks often do not receive the awards or recognition they deserve! But without the involvement, encouragement, and steadfast commitment of a good sidekick, projects can wither, falter and fail.

Think about your sidekick for a minute. Teamwork is crucial to processes of growth in any field. Members of a team work together. Yet a sidekick is an individual. In digital culture, we can connect to thousands of people and communities across the world. Perhaps we need a reminder about the importance of one individual in our lives.

My Thinkerer Award for Virtual World Contributions to Education & Librarianship

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Virtual worlds provide unique educational opportunities for learning in digital culture. How honored I am to receive the 2018 Thinkerer Award for contributions to education in immersive learning environments. The silver statue holds a glass ball in my favorite shade of blue!

Virtual worlds are often misunderstood and people think of videogames when they hear the word avatar. But an avatar is simply a representation of one’s self. Jaron Lanier (often credited as being the Father of Virtual Reality) says, “The visceral realness of human presence within an avatar is the most dramatic sensation I have felt in VR. Interactivity is not just a feature or a quality of VR, but the natural empirical process at the core of experience. It is how we know life. It is life (2017, 173)”. Having spent a number of years teaching, learning and developing a professional network across the world through my work in virtual worlds, I have come to understand the best practices (both advantages and disadvantages) of using an avatar as a librarian.

You may ask What does a virtual world librarian do? My virtual world library work is basically the same as the work I have done in libraries for over 25 years! As Director of the Community Virtual Library, I have witnessed and helped implement library programs similar to those found in physical world libraries, such as book discussions, writing workshops, exhibits, speakers, reference services and more. Imagine not just reading a book….but entering the book!

Library visitors have the opportunity to enter historical eras (like the life of Anne Frank or Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol). Moving pictures brought stories and books to life over a hundred years ago. Now, we can enter stories (both fiction and nonfiction) and experience them together. This interactivity with others is imperative to learning because we do not learn in isolation.

All media formats are valuable for various purposes: movies, images, sounds, as well as immersive virtual experiences (and certainly print). I think the real reason I continue to work in a virtual world is because the children growing up today will never know a world without constant incoming information on mobile devices. Exploring ways to use technology for deep learning (not disposable quick apps) and to promote digital citizenship is the purpose of the Community Virtual Library. A team of great librarians, educators and volunteers share my passion.

Thank you mentors, friends, family and colleagues who inspire me to persevere in an ever-changing information landscape. So many of you are the reason for this lovely Thinkerer Award!

Examples of CVL Programs and Projects

Exhibits and displays (Genealogy, Art, History, etc) Monthly book discussions & literary study, Digital Citizenship Museum in Kitely, Poetry garden and writing workshops, Art study group, Trivia nights, Reference services, Virtual World Database, Virtual World Bibliography, Book Orchard & immersive learning spaces, Virtual world networking of educational communities, Historical role play for immersive learning, Charles Dickens Resource Center (for historical simulation), Gutenberg Press (for historical simulation) Presentations & speakers Virtual archives.

Lanier, Jaron. (2017) Dawn of the New Everything: Encounters with Reality and Virtual Reality. Henry Holt & Company. Valibrarian on digital culture: “Whether or not one has an avatar, we all live in virtual worlds”.

Virtual Worlds vs Virtual Reality: a Comparison of Immersive Experiences

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After a decade in virtual worlds and a few years of exploring virtual reality (VR), I believe I understand the difference and predict that both have purpose and potential for learning. In my view, a virtual world is a persistent “land” space and virtual reality is a disposable “bubble” experience.

Virtual Worlds are persistent spaces of land

Virtual worlds can be visited again and again. One can explore spaces, build them and watch communities grow. An example is the Community Virtual Library which has recently undergone a huge move to a new space near educational writing/publishing communities. The Community Virtual Library (CVL) houses a main library building, a networking hub, a pier on the beach for events, a library pub, four exhibit/gallery/display areas, an art study group space, book discussion space, virtual poetry garden, book orchard, and other immersive experience locations. Library Land (on Cookie Island in Second Life) can be visited over and over just like a physical place. CVL is a real library.

Virtual Reality is an experience bubble

An example of a VR experience is my recent “walking out on a beam over the city”! It felt so real. Looking down below, my knees were shaking and then a helicopter came by right at eye level.

Other “bubble’ experiences (meaning one time experiences- then ‘pop’! it is gone) include: climbing an ancient rock structure, stabbing zombies, shooting arrows at medieval warriors, and working inside a rocket ship to troubleshoot the engine. While most developers focus on entertainment, there is obviously potential for education in virtual reality.

Teachers should use with caution as studies have not fully examined the impact on the human brain. VR can sometimes feel as real as the physical world, making it nearly impossible for young children to distinguish between virtual and physical world experiences. Reality is changing and anyone working in virtual worlds understands that they are “real” places.

One of my favorite VR experiences so far is Google Tilt Brush. It is like stepping inside an empty canvas of space to create digital art! Similar to programs like Paint, Photoshop or other applications, you choose colors, brushes, textures and tools to create and sculpt in 3D. What is amazing is that you can save your 3D work and share it with others allowing them to step inside. The ability to share work with others is unique to this VR experience and similar to the collaborative work I have experienced in virtual worlds. Most VR experiences are limited to a short period of time with little opportunities for user-generated content as developers create the space in programs like Unity or Unreal Engine.