Choosing a Virtual World that Supports Student Learning Objectives

10 February  - 16 February 2020 

Led by Jennifer Hamilton

The main learning center in the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Kitely Sim - a pilot project exploring models for library instruction in a virtual world

Live sessions:

Live Session 5.1:  Tuesday, 11 February 2020 at 8 pm GMT/ 12 pm PST

Live Session 5.2:  Thursday, 13 February 2020 at 8 pm GMT/ 12 pm PST

FINALE  Sunday, February 16 February 2020 at 8 pm GMT/ 12 pm PST 

To Prepare

• Complete questionnaire (which will be linked here) asking for your top 5 choices of the virtual worlds you would most like to use in your teaching by Sunday, 9 Feb.
• Make any final changes, edits, and additions and share a link to the rubric you will have been using throughout the course to note what you see in your role as an educator as the advantages, disadvantages, and differences between each world you have visited. 
• Prepare a brief presentation (3.5 minutes) describing which one virtual world you would be most likely to use first in your teaching.  Why did you choose that world? If money and time were no objects, what activity would you design for your students in that world?  Given the real world in which you teach, what modifications might you make to meet some of the same educational goals in the virtual world of your choice?  If you were try teaching in a virtual world within the next year, what form might your pilot take?
• If you are not available to present during the designated class times this week, post a screencast, machima, or other form of you presentation by Monday, 10 Feb.  This will meet the presentation requirement and allow everyone to share lessons learned, best practices, and creative ideas. 

Summary

In our final week we will synthesize and apply what we have learned in the course, brainstorming with each other how the virtual spaces we have visited could be used to best serve each of our specific student populations and instruction needs.

Each participant will be asked to submit their their top 5 favorite worlds/virtual environments covered in the course via an online poll before Week 5.  We will begin by reviewing the compiled results of this poll and discuss the variety of different learning tools and interfaces available in virtual worlds in general and specifically in the worlds and games discussed in the first four weeks of this course. 

Then, in a brief presentation, each participant will share a brief presentation about which virtual world they would choose to use first with their students, how and why.  Not available for our synchronous sessions?  Asynchronous posting of a screencast or other form of you presentation by Monday, 10 Feb., will meet the requirement and allow everyone to share lessons learned, best practices, and creative ideas.  These virtual presentations will be reviewed and discussed as time allows during the synchronous sessions in Week 5.

Which world you choose to highlight in your presentation may depend on

• learning objectives 
• interests
• available technology 
• student age
• classroom mode (synchronous/asynchronous, in person/online/mixed) 
• available class time 

and other factors that influence choice of the best virtual world for different educational circumstances and goals.  Here the rubric you were provided at the the beginning of the course and will have been updating as we explore different virtual learning environments will be very useful, and provide an additional source of discussion. 

Our primary goal in Week 5 is to share ideas on how educators can use virtual worlds for language teaching and learning and while we further develop personal goals and the first step of an action plan to pilot or explore virtual world use in the classroom.

Avatar as seen through a window in an underwater classroom in the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Library OpenSim pilot in Kitely.  Lots of room for building and for student or teacher presentations, with seats for student avatars on a large semi.circle couch around a display that can be used to share presentations, still pictures, or streaming video. This underwater lab comes standard as just one of the teaching spaces available in a freely available standard campus that can be used in any Open Sim.