- The document discusses the growing use of virtual worlds like Second Life for education and outlines some of their educational applications and benefits. - Key features of virtual worlds like Second Life that support education include 3D graphical environments, avatar embodiment, interactive simulations, roleplaying, collaboration, and content creation tools. - The document provides examples of how subjects like science, literature, and design are being taught through immersive activities, projects, and field trips within virtual worlds.

1. Teaching in an Avatar World Dr. Cynthia Calongne Institute for Advanced Studies Colorado Technical University GameTech March 9-11, 2009 Licensed under a Creative Commons Share Alike with Attribution License

2. The Future Looms Near 80% of the world’s active Internet users will be in a virtual world by the end of 2011 (Gartner, 2007) Are you ready? Cover slide: Lyr Lobo and Larry Johnson with a ghost, a guest and a Tardis Not all avatars look alike

5. Visually stimulating - how many avatars do you see?

6. Avatars creating genie chairs in a Second Life class

7. Space Shuttle simulation at Spaceport Bravo

8. An avatar floats by during our pre-flight check The International Space Museum

9. March 2007 More than 400 schools More than 4500 educators Educators come in all shapes, sizes, and walks of life (on the right) Pathfinder Linden and Lyr Lobo

11. Educational Conferences in Second Life Examining Technology at the NMC Symposium Nov 2008

12. Entering the Tardis A navigation map of SL regions in the Tardis The Tardis at the New Media Consortium Avatars navigating between Second Life’s regions, noted by squares on the map

14. Simulation Immersive particle light show before and during the show

16. Svarga Primitive life simulation with automated tour vehicles

19. How Will Your Avatar Look? Teen and main grid avatars Who are these people?

21. Colorado Tech Island Virtual learning space, alumni center and live music festivals

22. AF Global Learning Forum - Serious Game Simulation

24. Experimental Design Classrooms Open spaces where CTU students experiment, explore ideas, create content and learn from their mistakes. Imaginative setting using a class sandbox

25. CTU Class Island by Night

26. Does this look like your office? Meetings in an underwater office. Come on in! The water’s fine!

28. Teaching Activity-based learning and class discussion. How to design a tour heads up display device (HUD).

29. Mahjong in Second Life Cooperative 3D Each layout rezzes To rez: to render an object and it appears in the virtual world.

30. The floating book holds handouts as Lyr prepares for class

31. Student and instructor robots on a public class space A 3-week course activity with real world, virtual, and 2D robot designs Amusement park of student projects on a private space Students choose the preferred class location

32. Not Your Typical 8th Grade Class Roleplay and conflict, an immersive literature experience for teens on the Teen Grid Suffern Middle School students at Ramapo portrayed the roles from the book, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Imagine living the scenes from literature and history rather than memorizing them. A juror hollers “Boo!” when Curley takes the stand

33. Teen Creates Content 8th Grade student on the Teen grid scripts a keyboard override he created with futuristic display textures. It appears when he types and disappears when he is silent. Ryl (Lyr) mentors at Ramapo. At Ramapo on the Teen Grid

35. Teaching Students New to Second Life Presence Concepts Roleplay Interaction Content Creation Authentic Assessment MGT 845 Strategic Thinking - a doctoral class

36. Modeling in Second Life A self-guided tutorial for building a 20-minute project

37. The Value of Interactivity Human barometer activity Futuring and Innovation students take a stand CTU students shop for academic regalia at the NMC Orientation island

38. Game Design Class A student created a monorail and sent it up 300 meters to the visit the game maze. Not unlike running down the hall to visit a different class

39. Game Traps and Arsenal Hand swats at players Freeze trap delays players - easy targets Armory offers a choice of weapons Game Scoreboard

40. CS 672 First day in class Student Projects Monorail and rollercoaster Ferris wheel rotation problem & duck shoot Duck shoot

41. CS 820 Winter 2008 Class Newsstand for low vision users, Electronic Voting Machine Refrigerator for wheelchair use From early ideas to testable projects Students collaborate and work independently

42. Early Skill Development Students new to SL learn to build and texture for class activities

43. Students new to a virtual world create low fidelity interface designs and conduct usability tests in a virtual world

44. Project Prototypes Newsstand for the low vision users; selecting option 4 to hear Refrigerator for wheelchair users; shelves move out and down

45. Community Collaboration Guests from other schools perform usability tests on student projects

46. Lyr explores the Nanotechnology Lab. Interactive objects demonstrate the procedure and give info on notecards Field Trips to Science Sites

47. Science Comes to Life The National Physics Laboratory presents the advances in Nanotechnology UK and Sweden presenting

48. Science at The Port - DNA strand Lyr designing a robot and drone Science and Robotics

49. Eric McLuhan as Pharaoh “ The alphabet is dead.” SLCN machinima October 27, 2007 http://slcn.tv/media-ecology-eric-mcluhan

50. Blended Reality Conferences A MacArthur Foundation panel on games in education answers an avatar’s question. Alternatively, a chat bridge can integrate participation from web browser & Second Life participants

51. Library Presentation - Wikipedia and YouTube in research

52. Stepping inside the content during the conference presentation

53. CTU exhibit booth at the NMC Rock the Academy Symposium 2008

54. Engagement via immersive experiences - Zombies!

55. Zombies Attack at the NMC Simulation visible when avatars wear special sunglasses

56. Modeling the Problem

57. Crooked House You never run out of house as it rolls over while you walk

58. Are You Ready for the Future? We are at the crossroads, gazing at the future. How do we leverage this capability to our best advantage? Photo: Preparing for An Air Force Global Learning Forum Event at the MyBase region in Second Life, a Huffman Prairie design

67. Teaching in an Avatar World Dr. Cynthia Calongne Lyr Lobo in Second Life http://ctusoftware.blogspot.com www.slideshare.net/lyrlobo Twitter Lyrlobo For more information Lyr Lobo http://www.slideshare.net/lyrlobo For a copy of these slides, visit: