I think machinima not only provide a place for creatively making an expression, but also a way for performing identity. It can be "projective identities" (Gee, 2003), which allows the experience that education is supposed to create (Knobe & Lankshear, 2008).
I use machinima in 322 class and ask students to create a machinima for their WebQuest project as a way for enriching content and motivating their target students. But I think it can be pushed more in education to allow critical reflection of identity and performance.
University of Leicester research on Modelling of Second Life Environments. MOOSE investigates the scaffolding and processes needed to enable groups of students from HE environments to establish their socialisation and engagement for more productive information and knowledge exchange and learning through the medium of online 3-D Multi User Virtual Environments using Second Life.
This is a pretty interesting research project on using SL as an educational space.
Jennifer Motter's machinima. I refer to Maria Martinez Gonzalez's 2008 article, "Feminst Praxis Challenges the Identity Question: Toward New Collective Identity Metaphors" and connect it with my thoughts on Post Secret.
This video takes a long time to buffer. It doesn't play well until it gets replayed. Also, you have to manually scroll down to get the video to center on the screen.
My machinima for Feb. 2 class. This video takes a long time to buffer. It doesn't play well until it gets replayed. Also, you have to manually scroll down to get the video to center on the screen.
this group does performances that bridge back and forth between real life and second life. Some interesting things happen when the virtual affects the real, and back again.
This is an example of Web 2.0 (user-generated content, participation) happening in Second Life. This is happening in partnership with commercial news. An example of the new "hybrid" economy that Lawrence Lessig and Yochai Benkler write about.