|
Dittmer, Jason. "Immersive virtual worlds in university-level human geography courses." International Research in Geographical & Environmental Education 19.2 (2010): 139-154. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 17 Aug. 2010.
“This paper addresses the potential for increased deployment of immersive virtual worlds in higher geographic education. . . . Within the genre, the educative potential of immersive virtual worlds such as Second Life is noted, particularly in regard to their radical openness, ease of social interaction and built-in student interest. Immersive virtual worlds are offered as particularly useful for promoting change within students' conceptualizations of representation, narrativity and affect. A sample teaching strategy is offered for incorporation in the university classroom that can be adapted to many different geography courses.”
Fouts, Joshua. "Al-Andalus 2.0." Saudi Aramco World 61.4 (2010): 10-15. Web. 17 Aug. 2010. http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/201004/al-andalus.2.0.htm.
“In 2008, my collaborator, Rita J. King, and I embarked on a study titled “Digital Diplomacy: Understanding Islam Through Virtual Worlds” to explore the potential value of on-line, digital environments in cultural dialogue. We spent a year researching communities across four continents in the physical world and throughout a number of on-line virtual worlds. We chose to focus on Second Life not only because it is by far the largest of the on-line virtual worlds but, most importantly, because it is created entirely by its users.”
Garcia, Margarita P., and Jaime Á. Serrano, eds. Educational Tools for Second Life: A Handbook for Educators in Virtual Worlds. Brussels: MENON Network EEIG, 2010. Web. Aug. 2010. http://muvenation.org/collection-of-educational-tools-for-second-life/.
“The 150 tools described in the book were organised in the following sections: communication, delivery of learning material, content creation, organisation of meetings and events, collaboration, assessment, feedback and tracking, gaming, and multi-purpose tools.”
Huerta-Wong, Juan Enrique, and Richard Schoech. "Experiential learning and learning environments: the case of active listening skills." Journal of Social Work Education 46.1 (2010): 85+. Academic OneFile. Web. 17 Aug. 2010.
“Social work education research frequently has suggested an interaction between teaching techniques and learning environments. However, this interaction has never been tested. This study compared virtual and face-to-face learning environments and included active listening concepts to test whether the effectiveness of learning environments depends on teaching techniques. This study evaluated the effectiveness of two learning environments (virtual, face-to-face) and two teaching techniques (experiential, lecture plus discussion) on satisfaction, perception of learning gains, and learning of listening skills. Findings support that both virtual and face-to-face experiential learning are teaching techniques that can develop listening skills, but the interaction was the opposite of that originally predicted. Face-to-face learning environments provided better results than virtual learning environments only when experiential learning techniques were used.”
"Immersive Education Initiative 2010 Boston Summit Outcomes." Media Grid: Summit. Immersive Education Innitiative, 7 May 2010. Web. 20 Aug. 2010. http://mediagrid.org/summit/2010_Boston_Summit_Outcomes.html.
“Organized specifically for educators, researchers, and administrators, the three-day conference consisted of presentations, panel discussions, break-out sessions and workshops to provide attendees with an in-depth overview of immersive learning platforms and technologies.”
Jamison, John. Interview by Cher Harrington. "Why use Second Life for education?" Pennsylvania Midwestern Intermediate Unit #4's Professional Development Workshop Series. Dublin Virtually Live. 12 July 2010. Web. Aug. 2010.
http://www.siterma.com/presentations/dr_john_jamison_why_use_second_life_for_education.html.
“Virtual Bacon, CEO and Creative Director of ImagiLearning.com, will answer the question, "Is the virtual environment really worth all of the trouble involved to use it for education? And how do we really know it improves learning?" The presentation will provide a brief overview of a unique approach to creating learning that is more appropriate for the emerging digital culture.”
Journal of Virtual Studies. 1.1 (2010). OJS: Open Journal Systems, 2010. PKP (Public Knowledge Project). Web. 20 Aug. 2010. http://ejournal.urockcliffe.com/index.php/JOVS.
“The mission of the Journal of Virtual Studies is to publish theoretical and practical concepts for the application of knowledge within virtual spaces. All methods including, but not limited to, qualitative, quantitative, field testing, laboratory, meta-analytics, grounded theory, and combinations thereof are welcome. JoVS is not tied to any particular discipline, level of analysis, or national context. Preference is given to submissions that test, extend, or build either theoretical or practical frameworks with high importance towards understanding issues surrounding knowledge emergence and virtual sciences.”
Lerner, Maura. "Mayo Clinic Lands Its Own Fantasy Island." Star Tribune 10 Aug. 2010 [Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota]. Web. 19 Aug. 2010. http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/100401679.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU.
“ . . . To most people, virtual reality and avatars are the stuff of games. But the Mayo Clinic is one of a growing number of real medical centers that have established outposts in this fictional universe to explore new ways to teach and practice medicine.”
McGregor, Lucy, and Mike Reeser. "Removing Boundaries and Increasing Student Engagement through Virtual World Platforms." Diverse: Issues in Higher Education 26.20 (2009): 19. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 17 Aug. 2010.
“The article discusses the use of Second Life virtual world technology for educational purposes at Texas State Technical Colleges (TSTC). The technology allows participants to create avatars to represent them online and interact with the avatars of other students and instructors. TSTC emphasizes the increased personal connectivity afforded by the platform. An example is a survey conducted on Second Life by a student in which she interviewed an avatar from Germany despite a language barrier.”
"Real Life Construction Completed on Innovative Homes Prototyped in Second Life." The ArchVirtual: Architecture and Design in Virtual Worlds 24 June 2010. Web. 17 Aug. 2010. http://archvirtual.com/?p=2628.
“Construction has completed on designs first prototyped in Second Life by students at the University of Austin School of Architecture. The prototypes were the result of a collaboration between Professor Sergio Palleroni’s students and the students of Dr. Leslie Jarmon’s “Communicating Across the Disciplines” graduate course.”
Rheingold, Howard. Interview by Pooky Amsterdam. Howard Rheingold Interviewed by Pooky Amsterdam. PookyMedia Films, 30 July 2010. Web. 20 Aug. 2010. http://www.pookymediafilms.com/2010/07/howard-rheingold-interviewed-by-pooky.html.
“Prevailing current trends and the pulse of modern Internet communications are investigated in this interview with Howard Rheingold by Pooky Amsterdam. Contemporary comment of interest full of insight on today's state of the social landscape.”
Stewart, Barbara, et al. "Mitigating challenges of using virtual reality in online courses: a case study." Innovations in Education & Teaching International 47.1 (2010): 103-113. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 17 Aug. 2010.
“Case study methodology was used to describe the challenges experienced in the development of a virtual component for a freshman-level undergraduate course. The purpose of the project was to use a virtual environment component to provide an interactive and engaging learning environment. While some student and faculty feedback was positive, this pilot was riddled with challenges. Five categories of challenges were identified and included: (1) shared meaning, (2) software and support, (3) programming, (4) implementation, and (5) student support.”
Swan, Aubrie E., and Angela M. O'Donnell. "The contribution of a virtual biology laboratory to college students' learning." Innovations in Education & Teaching International 46.4 (2009): 405-419. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 17 Aug. 2010.
“The virtual laboratories developed by a life sciences department at a public university in the US were designed for use by college students enrolled in an introductory biology course. The results analyses conducted to examine their effectiveness indicated that self-selected users of the virtual laboratories outperformed non-users on laboratory practical exams and on items relevant to the laboratories included on the final practical exam but not on the final exam or other tests. A second comparison of two groups of users and non-users, matched by their results on the first hourly exam confirmed the findings. The finding that the users were more successful than the non-users could not be supported by a conclusion that the students had initial differences in quality. The results were replicated in a second semester, virtual laboratories-relevant final exam items, but not on the final exam or other tests. Users expressed positive attitudes toward the virtual laboratories.”
Velesianos, George, ed. Emerging Technologies in Distance Education. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Athabasca University Press, 2010. Web. 20 Aug. 2010. http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120177.
“A one-stop knowledge resource, Emerging Technologies in Distance Education showcases the international work of research scholars and innovative distance education practitioners, who use emerging interactive technologies for teaching and learning at a distance.”
Wang, Charles Xiaoxue, et al. "Integrating Second Life into an EFL Program in China: Research Collaboration across the Continents." TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning 53.6 (2009): 14-19. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 17 Aug. 2010.
“The article focuses on the collaborative research to find ways to integrate Second Life (SL), a multiuser virtual environment (MUVE) to English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning. The research is a collaboration between the Georgia State University in the U.S. and the Yantai University in China. It also sought to explore the different facets of the EFL learning within the Second Life. The research is undertaken through the social constructivist principles applied to EFL learning and employs design-based method to investigate related issues and problems to determine practical solutions relate to the enforcement of EFL in Chinese educational system. It highlights the 2008 and 2009 pilot EFL programs, program evaluation, and provided recommendations to improve EFL programs within SL.”
Young, Jeffrey R. "After Frustrations in Second Life, Colleges Look to New Virtual Worlds." The Chronicle of Higher Education 17 Aug. 2010. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Web. 17 Aug. 2010. http://chronicle.com.ezproxy.falcon.edu/article/After-Frustrations-in-Secon/64137/.
“The virtual world has not lived up to the hype that peaked in 2007, when just about every day brought a new announcement from a college entering Second Life. Today, disenchanted with commercial virtual worlds but still convinced of their educational value, a few colleges have started to build their own, where they have more control.”
|
ActiveWorlds and Education. http://www.activeworlds.com/edu/index.asp.
“Activeworlds offers a comprehensive platform for efficiently delivering real-time interactive 3D content over the web. Activeworlds' 3D content is dynamic, visually compelling and most importantly provides users a richer, more exciting online experience.”
Avalon http://www.avalonlearning.eu.
“The AVALON project (Access to Virtual and Action Learning live ONline) is a two-year project funded by the European Commission as a part of the Education and Culture DG Lifelong Learning Programme.
- create and test out exemplar tasks and activities designed to promote communication amongst the learning community. . . .
- create and pilot a training course for teachers who would like to extend their e-learning skills to include virtual teaching worlds. . . .”
Center for Learning in Virtual Environments (CLIVE). http://clive.merlot.org.
“CLIVE is a collaboration between The Center for Advanced Technology in Education (CATE) at The University of Oregon, Sun Microsystems, and MERLOT to create two complimentary spaces - here on the World Wide Web and also within 3D space - for comparing, contrasting, and informing educators about the potentials and challenges for learning and teaching in Multi-User Virtual Environments. CLIVE is partnered with The Media Grid's Immersive Education project - an initiative to develop a universally accessible open source interface and repository for educational learning materials developed in 3D Virtual Worlds.”
The Education Grid. http://theeducationgrid.org.
“The Education Grid (TEG) provides private and secure learning environments for teachers and students of all ages. Every avatar on TEG has a real name — the same name as the individual associated with the avatar — and every avatar name also includes the name of the school or organization that the individual is associated with.”
Immersive Education Innitiative. http://immersiveeducation.org.
“The Immersive Education Initiative is a non-profit international collaboration of universities, colleges, research institutes, consortia and companies that are working together to define and develop open standards, best practices, platforms, and communities of support for virtual reality and game-based learning and training systems. Thousands of faculty, researchers, staff, administrators and students are members of the Immersive Education Initiative, which is growing at the rate of approximately 2 new members every day.”
ISTE: International Society for Technology in Education. http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Membership/Member_Networking/ISTE_Second_Life.htm.
“The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE®) is the premier membership association for educators and education leaders engaged in improving teaching and learning by advancing the effective use of technology in PK-12 and teacher education. Home of NETS and ISTE's annual conference and exposition (formerly NECC), ISTE represents more than 100,000 professionals worldwide.”
The Media Grid. http://mediagrid.org.
“As an open and extensible software development and delivery platform the Media Grid is designed to enable a wide range of applications not possible with the traditional Internet and World Wide Web. Applications enabled by the Media Grid include: Immersive Education; on-demand digital cinema and interactive movies; distributed film and movie rendering; truly immersive multiplayer games and virtual reality; real-time visualization of complex data (weather, medical, engineering, and so forth); telepresence and telemedicine (remote surgery, medical imaging, drug design, etc.); vehicle and aircraft design and simulation; and similar high-performance media applications.”
The New Media Consortium. http://www.nmc.org.
“NMC is an international not-for-profit consortium of learning-focused organizations dedicated to the exploration and use of new media and new technologies. Its hundreds of member institutions constitute an elite list of the most highly regarded colleges and universities in the world, as well as leading museums, key research centers, and some of the world's most forward-thinking companies. For more than 15 years, the consortium and its members have dedicated themselves to exploring and developing potential applications of emerging technologies for learning, research, and creative inquiry. The consortium's Horizon Reports are regarded worldwide as the most timely and authoritative sources of information on new and emerging technologies available to education anywhere.”
OpenCobalt. http://www.opencobalt.org.
“The Open Cobalt project is a community-based effort to build, deploy, and demonstrate a new way of supporting deeply collaborative co-presence, and simulation-based discovery across a large scale network. The vision is to enable researchers, educators, students, and others to interact within a widely distributed set of interlinked, public or private 3D virtual workspaces that can be richly provisioned with resources on demand.”
OSGrid (Open Simulator). http://www.osgrid.org/elgg/index.php.
“OSgrid is the largest running OpenSimulator grid, we are officially non-profit, and it is completely free to connect your own regions to the grid. You can get started by registering an account and downloading a viewer.” A competitor to Second Life.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program (resources).
https://sl-science-places.dabbledb.com/page/sl-science-places/vbxOGovy#.
An open source database of places of interest to visit in Second Life, specifically for individuals interested in the sciences and mathematics.
Second Life Destination Guide: Education and Non-Profits. http://secondlife.com/destinations/learning.
Highlights areas of interest and places to visit in Second Life.
Second Life Education. http://education.secondlife.com/?lang=en-US.
Sponsored by Second Life and Linden Labs, this website highlights destination areas recommended for individuals interested in education and learning.
Second Life Wiki. http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Main_Page.
A wiki for anyone interested in using and improving their Second Life skills.
SimTeach Wiki - Created by Jeremy Kemp at San José State University. http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki.
A wiki specifically for educators using Second Life. Includes lesson plans and teaching resources.
SLED – Second Life Educators ListServ. https://lists.secondlife.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/educators.
“This list is for educators interested in or currently using Second Life, and we will be using it to send out information we feel is of interest to educators and academics. This list is also an opportunity for all of you to communicate with each other, to find new colleagues and to share your experiences using Second Life for education. Please feel free to send email to the list if you'd like to connect with other people.”
ThreadMap. http://www.threadmap.com.
Although no description is provided, ThreadMap allows you to search for places to visit in Second Life, without actually being signed in to Second Life. Clicking on the image will show information about the site, as well as additional images, if available. Direct “teleport” connection is also provided.
Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable. http://www.vwer.org.
“On March 4th 2008 a very small group of people, led by AJ Kelton (SL: AJ Brooks) met to talk about ‘What do we say to, and how do we deal with, skeptics’. . . In November of 2009 the group announced that it was re-branding itself as the Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable, effective January 2010, and things have grown explosively ever since. It is not uncommon for us to get 40 people or more to a meeting and we have a few each year where we hit the sim cap of 90.”
Virtual Worlds: Best Practices in Education. http://business.treet.tv/shows/bpeducation/episodes.
“Treet TV is an entertainment network that serves virtual worlds viewers and producers. Established in March 2007, Treet TV uses a collaborative production model which has resulted in more than 3000 hours of broadcast quality content, all targeting the emerging phenomenon of virtual living.” At present, 44 episodes have been archived with a particular focus on education and virtual worlds. |
presented by Diana Hiles in conjunction with the Professional Development Office of Mott Community College