voyeurism

MMORPGs and Virtual Worlds: the Learner as Gamemaster

the one hundred and seventy-fourth episode of ventriloquy was inspired by the question-statement "You are the GM".

not referring to 'genetically modified', nor to 'General Motors', nor even to 'General Manager', it's a phrase that i'm beginning to hear with increasingly regularity at the SS Galaxy Community Gateway, which i volunteer at.

please do join me in this 2.0 MB download, as i consider with some excitement the new cohort of avatars in Second Life coming over with prior experience in, and expectations from, Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games (MMORPGs) such as World of Warcraft. i also try to tease out some preliminary links between Gamemasters and teachers, and - most importantly, in my opinion - the unique and powerful affordance of MMORPGs and Virtual Worlds to facilitate the adoption of the performative identity of Gamemaster, by the learners themselves.

Additional reading:
- Gamemaster (wikipedia entry)
- the Field Studies Centre at Praxis (under construction)
- Dark Isle - mythical Celtic roleplay (comprising Phoenix Prime and Phoenix Secondus; closed on 17 April 2009)
- Dark Isle (as featured in Hamlet Au's New World Tableau, 30 December 2008)
- Dark Isle (as featured in Orange Island's Metaverse Explorers, 14 January 2009)
- Koinup photo gallery of Praxis (formerly Phoenix Prime)
- Koinup photo gallery of Praxis Prime (formerly Phoenix Secondus)

Technorati Tags: education, expert, games, geography, learning, podcast, the Field Studies Centre at Praxis, Second Life, Singapore, Six Learnings

the Bartle test of Gamer Psychology

ooo.

the Bartle test of Gamer Psychology has been around since 1996, and i've only just learned about it.

well, better late than never :-)

here are my results:

given this psychological profile, is it any wonder that i find Second Life so compelling :-)

Technorati Tags: avatar, cognition, education, games, learning, Second Life, Six Learnings

Journal of Virtual Worlds Research - Pedagogy, Education and Innovation in 3-D Virtual Worlds

the one-hundred-and-seventieth episode of ventriloquy introduces a special issue of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, which has as its theme 'Pedagogy, Education and Innovation in 3-D Virtual Worlds'.

this issue has been co-edited with my friends and fellow educators - Leslie Jarmon and B Stephen Carpenter II. it features a think-piece contributed by Professor James P Gee, entitled 'Games, Learning and 21st Century Survival Skills'.

please do join me in this 1.7 MB download, as i invite you to peruse the issue for yourself. for your convenience, the issue is available as a 10 MB PDF, and as a Calameo document below.

if you'd like to just download the papers individually, you can do so from the listing of the issues contents:

- Introduction
- Gee, Games, Learning and 21st Century Survival Skills
- Taylor, Can We Move Beyond Visual Metaphors? Virtual World Provocations and Second Life
- O'Connell, Grantham, Workman, Wong, Leveraging Game-playing Skills, Expectations and Behaviours of Digital Natives to Improve Visual Analytic Tools
- Jarmon, An Ecology of Embodied Interaction: Pedagogy and homo virtualis
- Stephen Carpenter, Virtual Worlds as Educational Experience: Living and Learning in Interesting Times
- Lim, The Six Learnings of Second Life: A Framework for Designing Curricular Interventions In-world
- Campbell, Learning in a Different Life: Pre-service Education Students Using an Online Virtual World
- Chodos, Naeimi, Stroulia, An Integrated Framework for Simulation-based Training on Video in a Virtual World
- Esteves, Fonseca, Morgado, Martins, Using Second Life for Problem Based Learning in Computer Science Programming
- Gerstein, Beyond the Game: Quest Atlantis as an Online Learning Experience for Gifted Elementary Students
- Herold, Virtual Education: Teaching Media Studies in Second Life
- Hudson, Degast-Kennedy, Canadian Border Simulation at Loyalist College
- Lee, Using Second Life to Teach Operations Management
- Mon, Questions and Answers in a Virtual World: Educators and Librarians as Information Providers in Second Life
- Pereira, Martins, Morgado, Fonseca, A Virtual Environment Study in Entrepreneurship Education of Young Children
- dos Santos, Second Life Physics: Virtual, Real or Surreal?
- Schwartz, Second Life and Classical Music Education: Developing Iconography that Encourages Human Interaction
- Walker, 3D Virtual Learning in Counselor Education: Using Second Life in Counselor Skill Development
- Zielke, Roome, Krueger, A Composite Adult Learning Model for Virtual World Residents with Disabilities: A Case Study of the Virtual Ability Second Life Island
- Lang, Kobilnyk, Visualising Atomic Orbitals Using Second Life
- Roush, Nie, Wheeler, Between Snapshots and Avatars: Using Visual Methodologies for Fieldwork in Second Life
- Lopes, Pires, Cardoso, Santos, Peixinho, Sequeira, Morgado, Paredes, Camerino, Use of a Virtual World System in Sports Coach Education for Reproducing Team Handball Movements

Technorati Tags: assessment, avatar, cognition, constructivism, education, games, JVWR, learning, media, multiliteracies, podcast, Second Life, semiotics, Singapore, Six Learnings, TLLM, VWBPE2009, Web 2.0

visit the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research at the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference

the one-hundred-and-sixty-ninth episode of ventriloquy previews the Virtual Worlds - Best Practices in Education conference 2009 (VWBPE 2009), to be held in Second Life from the 27th to the 29th of March.

specifically, through this 1.8 MB download, i would like to extend a warm welcome to you to visit the booth of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, which has been set up to celebrate the imminent publication in a few days' time of Volume 2 Number 1 of the Journal, which is a special edition commissioned on the theme of 'Pedagogy, Education and Innovation in 3D Virtual Worlds'.

this special edition has been put together by my co-editors Dr Leslie H Jarmon (SL: Bluewave Ogee) of the University of Texas at Austin, and Dr B Stephen Carpenter II (SL: Metaphor Voom) of the Texas A&M University. a highlight of this edition is a think-piece contributed by Professor James Gee.

Additional reading:
- VWBPE 2009 registration
- VWBPE 2009 conference programme

Technorati Tags: podcast, Second Life, Singapore, Six Learnings, VWBPE2009

book review: Learning and Teaching in the Virtual World of Second Life

the one hundred and sixty-seventh episode of ventriloquy introduces what is likely to be the first education-focussed book on Second Life.

edited by Judith Molka-Danielsen (SL: Aklom Haifisch) and Mats Deutschmann, Learning and Teaching in the Virtual World of Second Life is a collection of academic papers primarily describing the work done in the first Scandinavian project in Second Life to focus on designing platforms for lifelong learning, at Kamimo Island.

please do join me in this 1.8 MB download, as i also share my thoughts on the ways in which elements fundamental to the in-world experience of Second Life are inherently rich in pedagogical potential in and of themselves, even before rezzing your first learning object.

Additional reading:
- 4 February 2009 entry (Musical Avatars: Bandbots) Shiny Life
- terrain files by Chenin Anabuki of the Terrain Factory

Technorati Tags: avatar, education, geography, landmarks, learning, maps, place, podcast, Pathways, Second Life, Singapore, Six Learnings, TLLM

the Six Learnings at the Second Life Education Community Conference (SLEDCC) 2008 (recording)

the one-hundred-and-sixtieth episode of ventriloquy is a recording of my talk on the Six Learnings framework during the recent Second Life Education Community Conference (SLEDCC) 2008.

this is a follow-up to episode 158, from which you can access my presentation slides and the complete paper.

please do join me as i share my ideas with the very supportive audience in-world, in this 8.9 MB download.

Technorati Tags: education, learning, podcast, Second Life, Singapore, Six Learnings, sledcc08, TLLM

the Six Learnings at the Second Life Education Community Conference (SLEDCC) 2008 #3

just a quick note to give you the details about my presentation on the Six Learnings framework at this year's Second Life Education Community Conference (SLEDCC).

you can actually get more details about the framework from last month's post.

if you'd like to attend in-world, the presentation is today - 7 September Sunday - at 8:30 am SLT (11:30 pm Singapore), at the Corrimal Lecture Hall.

i've just visited the venue to test my presentation equipment - initially i had a problem getting things working, till i realised that the presentation slide-textures needed to be set as full-permissions before they could be projected from the 'laptop' to the big screen.

i'll also be using Dagmar Kojishi's Question Box as a way of helping me get a better handle on the question-and-answer session that i hope to set sufficient time aside for, after the talk itself. if you do find yourself at my presentation later and wish to ask a question, type your question in chat channel 11 (that is, type (without the quotation marks) "/11 your question here...")

[update: 8 September - the recording of my talk is available here]

Technorati Tags: education, learning, Second Life, Six Learnings, sledcc08, TLLM

the Six Learnings at the Second Life Education Community Conference (SLEDCC) 2008 #2

the one hundred and fifty-eighth episode of ventriloquy updates you on my evolving theoretical framework for learning in virtual worlds, which i have termed the Six Learnings.

this is a follow-up from my post last month, which - in turn - referenced episodes 154 and 155, when i first introduced the Six Learnings to you.

in this 3.5 MB download, i share how a recent paper published by my colleagues Professor David Hung and Associate Professor Victor Chen, has caused me to re-cast the framework. you can read the abstract of Learning within the worlds of reifications, selves, and phenomena: expanding on the thinking of Vygotsky and Popper, which was published in this month's issue of Learning Inquiry Vol 2 No 2, here.

my own paper - The Six Learnings of Second Life: a framework for designing curricular interventions in-world can be read as a PDF, and as an in-world e-book Heads-Up Display (HUD).

i've also put the presentation slides online, for your convenience :-)

[update: 7 September - i'm giving my presentation in-world at the Corrimal Lecture Hall at Rockcliffe X, at 0830 SLT (2330 SGT)

8 September - the recording of my presentation is available here]

the Six Learnings of Second Life(TM)


View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: design curriculum)

Technorati Tags: education, learning, podcast, Second Life, Singapore, Six Learnings, sledcc08, TLLM

the Six Learnings at the Second Life Education Community Conference (SLEDCC) 2008

thanks be to God, i received the very encouraging news today that my proposal for a paper on the Six Learnings has been accepted for inclusion during the coming Second Life Education Community Conference (SLEDCC) 2008 :-)

i've tentatively entitled the paper (which has yet to be written, arghh) The Six Learnings of Second Life: A framework for designing curricular interventions in-world.

for those of you who are new to my framework of the Six Learnings, and would like a little more background, might i kindly invite you to listen to episode 154 and episode 155 :-)

SLEDCC 2008 will be held concurrently in Tampa, Florida, and in-world, from September 5th to 7th. if you're only planning to attend in-world (and registration is open to all), it's a free event :-)

as part of the pre-conference preparations, each presenter is required to start a discussion thread on their respective papers at the RezEd site (RezEd bills itself as 'the Hub for Learning and Virtual Worlds'). here's mine :-P

i hope to see you at SLEDCC in a few months', then :-)

[update: 8 September - the recording of my talk is available here]

Technorati Tags: education, learning, Second Life, Six Learnings, sledcc08, TLLM

the Six Learnings - the place of a typology of desired outcomes in Design Thinking

the one-hundred-and-fifty-fifth episode of ventriloquy elaborates on the framework of the Six Learnings.

i consider the compatibility and context of the framework with respect to other attempts at making sense of how Second Life can be used for education; specifically, Rafi Santo's Program Models for Education in Second Life, and a taxonomy presented in this month's issue of Daden Limited's newsletter Datum.

finally, i bring to your attention this article - simply entitled Design Thinking - by Tim Brown, in the June issue of the Harvard Business Review (subscription required beyond the first page), and suggest that inherent in so much of the day-to-day operation of residents in-world is an implicit outworking of this very Design Thinking that Brown espouses.

please do join me in this 3.8 MB download :-)

Technorati Tags: cognition, education, learning, podcast, sledcc08, Second Life, Singapore, Six Learnings, TLLM