This year’s #iLRN 2020 Conference is about to begin! On Sunday June 21, I will lead tours at the Community Virtual Library Digital Citizenship Museum in Kitely. The museum houses room after room of content on elements of digital citizenship in global participatory culture. Included are topics such as artificial intelligence, digital archival, cybersecurity, and even a room about metamodernism and metaliteracy (featuring my new book)!
A project showcase will include an immersive learning project showcase featuring virtual reality spaces. I created a FrameVR room for the Community Virtual Library which can be accessed on the web-page or on a VR headset. These virtual learning spaces are rapidly expanding and the #iLRN Conference 2020 will be a great opportunity to network with educators who are exploring and using them with high quality content.
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.
After reading Beyond theBlogosphere: information and its Children by Aaron Barlow and Robert Leston, which I filled with post-it notes commenting on the digital revolution and how it has changed libraries, educations, and our lives, I thought it would be cool to ask the authors to discuss the book —virtually. Both authors quickly replied to my email agreeing to attend a virtual world discussion in Second Life, which would be sponsored by the Association of College and Research Libraries Virtual World Interest Group (which I am leading for 2012-2013).
The “sense of presence”, made possible within virtual worlds, provided a personal epiphany during the conversation among the dozen or so participants in the audience. As we discussed the importance of “taking a break from our digital gadgets” and “turning off our technology”- how crucial it is to balance the physical and the virtual -I suddenly found it ironic. During that portion of the discussion, something occurred to me. Here we were, talking “anti-technology”, inside a 3D immersive environment while sitting at our computers! I realized, however, that I actually was interacting with others discussing something meaningful, in fact something I am passionate about, even though I was in a virtual mode rather than a physical one. In other words, I was not escaping something by pausing real life to use a technology device; instead, I was “in the moment”. This illuminates an advantage of virtual worlds over the flat online digital mediums: texting, email, FB, Twitter, and other social media and distance learning platforms.
The stimulating conversation covered digital citizenship, the “singularity”, the problems created by ever-increasing personalization on the Internet, the fact that students google everything first, and other difficulties we now face due to the exponential growth of technological change.
Aaron Barlow and Robert Leston were terrific guests at the Community Virtual Library and I feel as if I actually met them. (Didn’t I?) They predicted the convergence of the physical and the virtual (through augmented reality such as Google glasses) by stating “First, media converged so that it all could be delivered through the computer. Soon the physical world will also be delivered by the virtual one” (page 19). This convergence (beyond the blogosphere) brings chaos as we (insert librarians, humans, or whatever here) can no longer catalog the vast amount of information we create. Although this discussion illuminated enormous problems we face today as librarians and educators, the experience was extremely positive due to the camaraderie experienced and the feeling that “we are all in this together”.
Immersive Learning Environments. I am beginning to understand the power of immersing a learner in a situation that requires learning new concepts and skills. This “situational” learning gives the brain motivation to analyze, synthesize, and comprehend at a high level more effectively than memorization by rote (for a course grade). As leader of the historical tour guides for the virtual Alamo this summer, I witnessed this motivation firsthand. I was highly motivated to understand the historical context of the Alamo and the people involved in a way I had not been through reading books or through movies. Learning the skills in 3D games and virtual worlds can seem daunting to the newcomer. Other individuals (players or residents) seem highly skilled and the newcomer can be intimidated. The pay off for continuing to learn must be readily foreseen and worth a great effort. Rewards might include: creativity, sense of accomplishment, social interaction, confidence, and knowledge at a new level.
Virtual Worlds: Libraries, Education and Museums Conference was just like presenting at a real world conference! My presentation was at the end of the day (1opm my time zone) and I was rather nervous- this being my first virtual presentation. The best part was that my machinima about the grand opening of the Land of Lincoln sim actually played!
Image by Yesha https://images.app.goo.gl/5Zg3F5Mix1hbTXc2A
(Note: In 2020, I revisited this blog. Sadly, BlipTV lost many of my machinima videos which is another example of the importance of digital archival).
Librarians of Second Life are an outstanding group of librarians who are working together to build information delivery systems with the virtual environment of Second Life. This network is an example of how Web 2.0 allows professionals to collaborate in new ways across great distances. Volunteering time, expertise, and creativity, this group has built numerous in-world exhibits and provides helpful information to newcomers, educators, and individuals from around the globe. Second Life has been criticized for having a “difficult learning curve.”
Finding a network of knowledgeable people to turn to is crucial to learning the skills needed to explore virtual reality. Without the help of HVX Silverstar, I would not have been able to begin learning machinima (filming within a virtual environment). Numerous other helpful individuals have kindly offered help. As I continue to learn building skills and explore immersive learning environments, such as Renaissance Island, I realize that virtual reality will impact education perhaps sooner than most people think.
Children growing up in the digital age are already comfortable with avatars, computer graphics, chat sessions, and Web 2.0. Educators have no option but to consider new technology tools to deliver information to the next generation. Older people are often intimidated and are the ones likely to describe the “high learning curve.” I found the skills needed to learn in Whyville were difficult but children 9 – 13 years of age are apparently quite adept at maneuvering Whyville without difficulty.
What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy by James Paul Gee. The author believes that video games encourage high level thinking and learning by immersing the learner (just as I am immersed in my experience in Second Life). Literacy is more than reading and writing, but also viewing images, graphics, listening to sounds, etc. How will this change learning for children? Check this article:
Virtual Playgrounds
Will children find Immersive Learning Environments a way to learn in the near future?]]>
