Group items tagged

This is a fun, interactive site which teaches students about the play Oedipus Rex and about conventions of ancient Greek theater, culture and politics. It uses a game show format and contemporary tone to get students engaged. The drawback is that it is text dense. Students simply click on what they think is the right answer. The right answer takes them to the next part of the narrative. The wrong answer takes them to a long paragraph of explanation. There are hot links within the text, though, which open other cool sites with pictures, maps, etc. This is a very specific site intended to enhance a person's study of Oedipus Rex.

Edtech in 3D group notes: Site Description: Visitors experience the exhibit through the mind of a schizophrenic. Overall impressions: This was a fairly intense exhibit in some ways. But, the virtual world made it possible to learn and experience the subject matter in a very interesting way. We had a more emotional reaction to the experience than could have otherwise occurred, due to the immersion level involved. How learning is taking place: The schizophrenia exhibit immerses the visitor in an experience that would be difficult to reproduce in the real world. Visitors hear audio clips playing throughout the exhibit that show what it is like to suffer from schizophrenia, and shares examples of people who have suffered from this disease. It is an intense exhibit, and it is very effective at teaching about schizophrenia. Likes: The warnings are a good idea, and the badge system (while cumbersome) keeps people from accidentally entering the exhibit. The audio that accompanies the experience is very effective. In this case, expectations were not clearly defined up front, which made it more effective. The impact of the exhibit could have been diminished by telling visitors too much about what they were about to experience. Dislikes: The exhibit required a badging system to enter, and the process of gaining access was a little confusing. It was difficult to take a picture, because the visuals aren't very sophisticated. However, the experience may have been too intense if the visuals had been more in-depth. Applications to learning in virtual worlds: The immersion that occurred in this exhibit was very effective, and we feel that this type of learning could be used in other learning applications.

SL murder mystery game running February 2010. Example of environment context, role playing, collaboration, problem solving?, fun. How could this strategy be used with educational content?

Very comprehensive SL community of Ancient Rome. Very colorful, avatar guide your through for information on Roman history, role-play and archaeology. Listed as one of top 30 SLURL locations from "Second Life: Places to Visit blog" http://slurls.blogspot.com/2007/09/top-30-places-to-visit-in-second-life.html

This one is pretty cool. I like how you can choose a bunch of different roles to play - senator, charioter, etc. This landmark is much like a webquest - lots of adventures and options for all learners to enjoy.

Games: Six engagement elements, examples and applications. Community, Competition, Completion, Creativity, Puzzle-solving, Narrative EDTEC700: What elements make sense for YOUR 3-D learning design? Any of them? Something other?

Edtech in 3D group notes: Site Description: Imperial College's virtual hospital where professionals can train and rehearse and patients can learn about healthcare facilities and procedures that they might need to use. Overall impressions: We were immediately impressed with the Medical School. The grounds were beautiful, and the buildings were designed with learning in mind. We liked the patient rooms, and the introductory podcast was a useful start to the experience. Unlike Vassar Island, we felt that we wanted to spend more time in this location - and we were left with a desire to return and learn more. How learning is taking place: Tour guides give visitors a wide range of ways to discover the island. Visitors can visit patients and learn about various medical conditions. From what we could see, lectures and demonstrations are also a large part of learning at the medical school. Likes: We liked the podcast that started playing as soon as we arrived. There were numerous tours and visitor aids, making it easy to get started. We also liked the immediate access to information. This set expectations up front, helping us to enjoy the experience. Dislikes: Because the island is full of information and is very immersive, the user has to go through several layers (tours, walking around, searching) to get to things. Applications to learning in virtual worlds: The patient rooms take advantage of the virtual world to create an experience that can't easily be created in the real world. They are a great example of how Second Life allows deeper learning than can be found by simply reading a book or listening to a lecture - without endangering an actual patient. Other learning experiences could apply this same tactic to become more immersive.

Apparently it can be done. Here is a PowerPoint describing the possibilities fellow mathematicians ahve found for using second life to teach mathematics.

The more I explore SL, the more possibilities I see for education, even at the elementary level. Nearly all my 4th & 5th grade students play some sort of video games and love them, so why not use that as a medium for teaching? I think the hardest part will be convincing districts and parents that it can be valuable.

Kids can chat and play in an environment that is moderated by adults. Aimed towards children ages 6 to 14. Educational as well as entertaining. Designed to be a child's introduction to the internet and virtual worlds.

This award-winning website allows children to: * Interact with dozens of famous historical and fictional characters from the arts, literature and sciences. * Submit creative writings for others to read and comment upon. * Explore famous works of art and play art related games. * Undertake challenging quests that take kids into the world of classic literature, the arts and humanities. * Practice typing with typing-tutor games. * Learn best practices for staying safe on the Internet. The website is not free, and they have a Teachers Console for class management. They recently partnered with the San Francisco Opera to bring classical music to young adults.

"The Education Arcade explores games that promote learning through authentic and engaging play. TEA's research and development projects focus both on the learning that naturally occurs in popular commercial games, and on the design of games that more vigorously address the educational needs of players." I joined this community and hope to learn a lot!

Port Charles is one island among many in the region of Jabberwock in SecondLife. The islands are set in the 1700's in British colonial Jamaica, where the Royal Navy is battling with pirates. This island is British territory, but others are trading outposts controlled by pirates or smugglers dens that reminded me of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. This is a role playing environment with fairly strict rules for battle, speech, and dress. After spending some time here I learned about the politics between the British and pirates, and how people dressed.

A great video with awesome flow and experiential rationale in its explanations. Emphasizes the engagement factor related to students' technical skills. Discusses enhancement and role playing. Check out "smoodle" segment... around 4:10. It showcases the value of SL through locations, tools, and more.

The above link is to a paper written about the ways in which high schools can use virtual worlds to educate students or as part of supplementing high school students' education. The article addresses the value of role playing and social learning in the classroom. The author also asks teachers what has worked for them and their professional opinion about virtual worlds in the classroom. The author also addresses how video games can be educational.