SL's #1 problem for .edu is...

by Jeremy Kemp

...not sin (porn, gambling etc.)

...not accessibility (tech reqs, tools for the disabled, complex interface)

...not disruptive strangers (griefers, unaffiliated interlopers, etc.)

...not commercialism and corporatization

...not legal issues with Intellectual Property and the legally questionable Terms of Service

But the MOST troubling feature of this setting for education is the lack of affordances for reflective learning and asynchronous tools in support of learning communities.

Many class sessions in SL seem to wander into the realm of decorative chat.

But the vast majority of online learning at the post secondary level is NOT synchronous. Here at our university, only a small percentage of faculty add a chatroom tool to their LMS designs.

Students who flock to distance learning for flexibility and time-shifting are loathe to set aside a specific time for meetings - especially nano-band activities like instant messaging. I just can't imagine spending ALL my students' time in SL parking their avatars an nyawning through excruciatingly slow chat interactions.

Blending RL synchronous meetings and online asynchronous reflective activities such as threaded messaging and project work seems to be the most successful model. I've used the "book ends" approach in my elearning classes from 2002 on. Students meet for a longish in-person session on campus, arrange teams. This also allows for in-person pre and post assessments and also public speaking training at the final session. Students get the face-to-face benefits but are able to spend less time on campus tied down to a schedule. Each mode has its strengths and their work is tightly integrated RL/online.

So virtual environments for learning represent a two-legged stool when used by themselves. We benefit from an engaging feeling of presence and also from the visualization and modeling. But the missing third leg of the stool is reflectivity. The platform is woefully lacking ways to integrate in-world learning with existing distance learning tools for reflection such as threaded messaging, blogs, portfolios, assignment structures and assessments.

In my own class work, I'm struggling to create a multi-modal experience where my students may choose how they devote time to the class. Grading is a pain: How do you assign grades for a team when 1/2 of the members want to meet in-world to give chat presentations while the others cannot commit to meeting times and prefer building on their own and leaving items for the others to work with?

Does anyone have advice for instructional design in a multi-modal setting like this? For connecting your previous LMS instructional designs with this new synchronous-centric tool?

Ideas?

Jeremy Kemp, M.Ed., M.S.J.
Assistant Director, SL Campus
School of Library & Information Science
San Jose State University
SL: Jeremy Kabumpo

Strong Group of Instructional Videos

by Ed Lamoreux

Just in case you've not noted the YouTube location of Torley Linden's instructional videos. Very helpful collection : http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Torley

Miscelleneous notes from Jeremy Kemp

Check out this 2005 groundbreaking study on ways to maximize learning "transfer" in simulations: http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/rgoldsto/pdfs/CASfade.pdf

The key phrase is "concreteness fading" or the assertion that REALISM in a simulation is not in itself a key goal. Most helpful is a coordinated movement of the sim from realistic to abstract representations.

Time spent heightening realism in Second Life is often WASTED time. And we should focus more on the juxtaposition of easy verisimilitude (low load) with meaningful abstraction (making principles salient).

Example:

I have a script that illustrates the "Flocking" algorithm:
http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=SL_Swarming_Script

You can make cool groupings of fish, water molecules, etc. Show this to a high school student and they might enjoy the spectacle (concreteness).

But by studying and dissecting the underlying script (abstraction), they might better master the concepts of mass, friction and force.

This paper asserts that students show less errors on future exams if they are presented the concrete representation FIRST followed up by the abstraction.

Second Life is uniquely effective at helping us instructional designers experiment with this technique because of its flexibility.

Take that to your administrators. :-)

--J

SLED Listserv, Jeremy Kemp, 14MAY07

Learning Inquiry Issue 1, Volume 1

The first issue of the Journal Learning Inquiry is now online.

The first issue is centered on the theme "The Futures of Learning"
and has contributions from many leading scholars from an extensive
range of fields.

The Futures of Learning
http://www.springerlink.com/content/t73064v85621/

• Editorial: Introducing Learning Inquiry
  Jason Nolan and Jeremy Hunsinger
• Imagining, seeking, inventing: the future of learning and the
  emerging discovery networks
  Gary Natriello
• Learning from instruction: the case of mathematics
  Erik De Corte
• Metaphysics and learning
  Helen Verran
• The paradoxical future of digital learning
  Mark Warschauer
• Learning, change, and the utopia of play
  Stuart Moulthrop
• Critical media literacy is not an option
  Douglas Kellner and Jeff Share
• Implementation of knowledge management in organizations
  Katrin Winkler and Heinz Mandl

SLED List, Jeremy Hunsinger, 14MAY07