Lessons from the Virtual Campus

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn E. Stevens ◽  
Scott P. Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Museum Studies ◽  
James Madison ◽  
Virtual Campus ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Student Projects

Second Life is a virtual world where many universities have established an educational presence. Hoping to serve as a useful example for others that are considering the creation of a virtual campus, this article follows how the Second Life campus of James Madison University was created in 2008. It details the nontraditional ways that it was used by faculty and students for museum studies, student projects, and in-world conferencing. It also reviews the major reasons why the project failed in April 2012 after four years of successful use, concluding with thoughts on best practices for Second Life university campuses.

Enhanced Interaction in Mixed Social Environments

2009 ◽  
pp. 146-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Oliverio ◽  
Dennis Beck
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Strategic Learning ◽  
American University ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Virtual World Environments ◽  
Enhanced Learning

We introduce the term ‘mixed social environments’ as a strategic learning construct to augment student interaction when utilizing virtual world environments such as Second Life in the classroom. While an increasing number of institutions are investigating the use of virtual world environments for enhanced learning, at present there are at least three major areas that are underdeveloped: interdisciplinary research, documentation of best practices, and exploration of the use of mixed social environments. In the spring of 2007, a new interdisciplinary research seminar addressing these aspects was offered at a large American university. We present an overview of the resultant learning artifacts, outcomes, and research questions in hopes of helping to inform best practices, expand interdisciplinary research, and assist in the design of future mixed social environments for enhanced learning.

Visual Analyses of the Creation of Avatars

2011 ◽  
pp. 284-300
Author(s):  
Erik W. Black ◽  
Richard E. Ferdig ◽  
Joseph C. DiPietro ◽  
Feng Liu ◽  
Baird Whalen
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Ideal Self ◽  
Quantitative Review ◽  
The Real ◽  
Data Analyses ◽  
Temporal Aspects ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Real Person

Video games are becoming more popular; there has been a particular rise in interest and use of massively multiplayer online roleplaying games (MMORPGs). These games utilize avatar creation; avatars can be seen as the technological instantiation of the real person in the virtual world. Little research has been conducted on avatar creation. Although it is has been anecdotally postulated that you can be anything you want online, there is a dearth of research on what happens when participants are told to create avatars, particularly avatars within given contexts. In this study, we used the Second Life avatar creation tool to examine what would happen when participants were told to create avatars as heroes, villains, their ideal self, and their actual self. Data analyses reveal that characters often refuse to change permanent aspects of their features, instead modifying only temporal aspects. This research has provided support for the quantitative review of avatar characteristics as predictors of vignette groupings.

Enhanced Interaction in Mixed Social Environments

2010 ◽  
pp. 1362-1377
Author(s):  
James Oliverio ◽  
Dennis Beck
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Strategic Learning ◽  
American University ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Virtual World Environments ◽  
Enhanced Learning

We introduce the term ‘mixed social environments’ as a strategic learning construct to augment student interaction when utilizing virtual world environments such as Second Life in the classroom. While an increasing number of institutions are investigating the use of virtual world environments for enhanced learning, at present there are at least three major areas that are underdeveloped: interdisciplinary research, documentation of best practices, and exploration of the use of mixed social environments. In the spring of 2007, a new interdisciplinary research seminar addressing these aspects was offered at a large American university. We present an overview of the resultant learning artifacts, outcomes, and research questions in hopes of helping to inform best practices, expand interdisciplinary research, and assist in the design of future mixed social environments for enhanced learning.

scholarly journals Artistic Expression in Second Life: What can we learn from creative pioneers of new mediums?

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Lester / Pathfinder Linden
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Visual Art ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Artistic Expression ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Performing Artists ◽  
Shared Experiences

Second Life is a virtual world that allows its Residents to create completely original content using atomistic building tools in a shared and globally accessible space. In this respect it is a very unique new medium for artistic expression, as it give artists not only a new collection of creative tools but also the ability to create an environment where individuals can experience this art as a group while engaging with each other. How are artists exploring this new medium of virtual worlds, and what can we all learn from them? In some ways, they are leveraging very ancient human desires for shared experiences around classic creative work such as music and visual art. In other ways, they may be creating completely new models of artistic expression, such as dynamic art that changes based on the interactions of both live performing artists and patrons in a global setting that sometimes blurs the boundaries between the virtual world and the physical world. Studying these new artistic explorations may yield insights into yet unforeseen best practices for engaging human beings around creative content and collaborative expression in virtual worlds.

scholarly journals The effects of gamification on self-efficacy and persistence in virtual world familiarization

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Peter J. "Asikaa" Cosgrove
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Virtual Classroom ◽  
Barriers To Entry ◽  
Learning Programs ◽  
Training Courses

Students who are inexperienced with multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) such as Second Life can experience significant difficulties when first entering the virtual classroom. The unfamiliar paradigm of moving an avatar around a simulated Euclidean space can lead to disorientation, confusion, frustration and ultimately, a defeatist affect that leads to abandonment of the format. Overcoming these barriers-to-entry necessitates a foundational training course in which students can become efficacious in the basic use of virtual worlds. However, researchers have not fully established evidence-based best practices for the design of these training courses. Gamification, the process in which non-game activities are endowed with the typical attributes of a game, is a technique that has been empirically shown to improve motivation and satisfaction in such fields as education and the workplace. This study experimentally tested the effects of gamifying a virtual world familiarization course on self-efficacy, persistence, task skill and satisfaction. The results inform a theoretical model and substantive recommendations for the design of familiarization courses for virtual world learning programs.

Second Life as a Tool for Engaging Students Across the Curriculum

2010 ◽  
pp. 378-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn E. Stevens ◽  
S.E. Kruck ◽  
Jeremy Hawkins ◽  
Suzanne C. Baker
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Museum Studies ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Teaching Tool ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Innovative Teaching ◽  
The University

Second Life (SL) is a virtual world that possesses great potential as an innovative teaching tool. SL not only allows users to meet, interact, and collaborate in a virtual space, but also to create their own learning environments. This chapter explores how virtual worlds such as Second Life can be used to enhance the overall educational experience of both traditional and distance education students. We describe applications of SL to teaching diverse classes in art history and museum studies, business, and psychology, and to community building across the university. In general, our experiences with using SL have been positive, and our students report enjoying the creativity and flexibility of SL as well as the opportunity for social interaction in the virtual world. We provide recommendations to those considering the use of SL.

Professional Development in a Virtual World

2012 ◽  
pp. 122-148
Author(s):  
Richard B. Speaker ◽  
Greg Levitt ◽  
Steven Grubaugh
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Curve ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Discussion Groups ◽  
Asynchronous Learning ◽  
Immersive Learning ◽  
Virtual Campus ◽  
Face To Face

The virtual world Second Life (SL) can be part of professional development deployment and mentoring using online learning. This chapter provides a portrait of professional development and teaching in SL. While SL requires a more extensive learning curve than might be expected, the virtual campus becomes a functioning instructional site for all disciplines, supplementing personal and text-based asynchronous learning in various other platforms with synchronous voice and text, enhancing the interactions in virtual professional development settings. In addition to regular face-to-face professional development meetings, the virtual campus allows faculty and staff to meet for professional development, mentoring, discussion groups, committees, and virtual academic conferences. Key ideas for operating educational sites in SL include training prospective faculty, staff, and instructors, mentoring, dealing with appropriate presentations of self as avatar, tracking activities and behaviors in SL, choosing modes of communication, and moving from lecture to discussion to immersive learning in media rich constructed spaces.

Professional Development in a Virtual World

2014 ◽  
pp. 419-445
Author(s):  
Richard B. Speaker Jr. ◽  
Greg Levitt ◽  
Steven Grubaugh
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Curve ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Discussion Groups ◽  
Asynchronous Learning ◽  
Immersive Learning ◽  
Virtual Campus ◽  
Face To Face

The virtual world Second Life (SL) can be part of professional development deployment and mentoring using online learning. This chapter provides a portrait of professional development and teaching in SL. While SL requires a more extensive learning curve than might be expected, the virtual campus becomes a functioning instructional site for all disciplines, supplementing personal and text-based asynchronous learning in various other platforms with synchronous voice and text, enhancing the interactions in virtual professional development settings. In addition to regular face-to-face professional development meetings, the virtual campus allows faculty and staff to meet for professional development, mentoring, discussion groups, committees, and virtual academic conferences. Key ideas for operating educational sites in SL include training prospective faculty, staff, and instructors, mentoring, dealing with appropriate presentations of self as avatar, tracking activities and behaviors in SL, choosing modes of communication, and moving from lecture to discussion to immersive learning in media rich constructed spaces.

Presence, Environment, and Sound and the Role of Imagination

2019 ◽  
pp. 667-681
Author(s):  
Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard
Keyword(s):  
Computer Games ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Actual World ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
The World ◽  
Visual Dimension ◽  
The Creation ◽  
First Person Shooter ◽  
Selection Of

Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard addresses the role of sound in the creation of presence in virtual and actual worlds. He argues that imagination is a central part of the generation and selection of perceptual hypotheses—models of the world in which we can act—that emerge from what Grimshaw-Aagaard calls the “exo-environment” (the sensory input) and the “endo-environment” (the cognitive input). Grimshaw-Aagaard further divides the exo-environment into a primarily auditory and a primarily visual dimension and he deals with the actual world of his own apartment and the virtual world of first-person-shooter computer games in order to exemplify how we perceptually construct an environment that allows for the creation of presence.

Data and visual displays in the Journal of Ecology 1996–2016

2020 ◽  
pp. 147387162098012
Author(s):  
Alon Friedman
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Data Type ◽  
Reliability Test ◽  
Visual Displays ◽  
Domain Type ◽  
Academic Publications ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Impact

Scholars in scientific disciplines face unique challenges in the creation of visualizations, especially in publications that require insights derived from analyses to be visually displayed. The literature on visualizations describes different techniques and best practices for the creation of graphs. However, these techniques have not been used to evaluate the impact of visualizations in academic publications. In the field of ecology, as in other scientific fields, graphs are an essential part of journal articles. Little is known about the connections between the kind of data presented and domain in which the researchers conducted their study that together produces the visual graphics. This study focused on articles published in the Journal of Ecology between 1996 and 2016 to explore possible connections between data type, domain, and visualization type. Specifically, this study asked three questions: How many of the graphics published between 1996 and 2016 follow a particular set of recommendations for best practices? What can Pearson correlations reveal about the relationships between type of data, domain of study, and visual displays? Can the findings be examined through an inter-reliability test lens? Out of the 20,080 visualizations assessed, 54% included unnecessary graphical elements in the early part of the study (1996–2010). The most common type of data was univariate (35%) and it was often displayed using line graphs. Twenty-one percent of the articles in the period studied could be categorized under the domain type “single species.” Pearson correlation analysis showed that data type and domain type was positively correlated ( r = 0.08; p ≤ 0.05). Cohen’s kappa for the reliability test was 0.86, suggesting good agreement between the two categories. This study provides evidence that data type and domain types are equally important in determining the type of visualizations found in scientific journals.

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