The Interactive Classroom

Where the Studio Wikitecture 4.0 (SW4) challenge produced an architectural space, the interactive features are the wiring and plumbing of that space. How can scripts ease the delivery of synchronous instruction in a virtual world? So, what are the fixtures and utilities of a classroom?

The Interactive Classroom was submitted to test these waters, and three features from that design were included in the final idesign installed for the University of Alabama. They are described here.

Automatic Notecard Delivery

Provide a notecard to all students by dragging it onto the classroom podium (after selecting that option in menu). When a user takes a seat in the classroom, the notecard is delivered automatically.

Hand Raising

Seated avatars can raise their hand by clicking on a “Raise Hand” icon in the front of the classroom. Click the icon again and the hand is lowered. When clicked by the instructor, the icon/object offers the options of resetting the object or reporting the number of raised hands in chat. Resetting the object results in the report of the tally, clearing of the tally, and causes all avatars hands to lower.

Parcel Media Display

Assign Internet URLs to the parcel media stream by dragging a notecard onto the display. Once assigned, touch the display and a menu prompts the teacher to select any of the URLs. Once selected from the menu, the URL is streamed onto any prim assigned with the parcel media texture. The object also detects the parcel media texture automatically, in case that changes between sessions.

Discussion

The design challenge assumed that instruction would occur as a synchronous event. So, what are the activities that can be expected? What actions are an instructor likely to take? Answering these questions in tedious detail provided interactions that might be simplified or even automated. Chronologically, a traditional lesson might involve the following:

1. Teacher arrives at location, prepares for lesson
2. Students appear at location and sit down
3. Teacher notes which students are in attendance
4. Materials are distributed, such as a lecture notes*
5. Lesson content is introduced
6. Students are prompted for feedback*
7. More content is presented, with any variety of multimedia sources*
8. Students are prompted again (possibly a quiz), and invited to ask questions
9. Discussion is mediated
10. Assignment is made for further study
11. Students depart
12. Teacher goes for a beer.

This list simplifies a very complex process. But, for providing a starting point, any of these steps might present an opportunity to develop some type of interactivity. I took the approach that scripting could help with every step in this process, and tried to imagine an associated behavior for an object in each step. A script was then developed—in every case—to assist with or automate each event. (Everything except the “quiz”…I know a can of worms when I see one.) Several of these interactions would be field-tested along with the other aspects of the space that were being explored.

Some features were discarded; they were either developed too slowly (Wikitecture runs with deadlines, too) or implemented too poorly. Some were included in the first submission, but did not seem to offer much advantage…the three that made it worked, for me.

First, the notecard distributor…Most every SL user who gives a presentation or leads a class is likely to have a notecard giver. Some may even choose to drag notecards onto every avatar. This script is simply a time-saving device. On taking a seat, any avatar will receive a notecard if one was made available. No need to mention a notecard giver, no wondering if anyone has missed the offer. The teacher makes a notecard available by dragging the notecard onto the podium, and the notecard is deleted when the classroom is reset (touch podium, select “Reset All”).

Avatar with hand raised

Second, a “Raise Hand” image was assigned to a prim and linked to the podium and all of the seats. The same script that tells the podium that you have taken a seat (and so, to deliver a notecard) also communicates with the Hand Raise prim, which now serves as a button. Touching that button results in the broadcast of a signal that “Avatar X” has just touched it. The script in your seat evaluates the signal and checks to see if it was you that just touched that prim, if you are “Avatar X”. If so, your avatar’s hand goes up.

Yes, most avatars already have a hand raising gesture or animation. But, do they always have it ready when they need it? By the time I drill into my Inventory and activate the animation, I’ve often missed the next question in a presentation. And what about student gesture HUDs? Well, this new feature does not claim a spot in the client viewer, and also tracks the number of hands raised, reporting that tally into public chat if the teacher chooses to do so. Also, with many hands raised, the teacher can—with a touch and a menu-click—report the tally, reset the counter, and lower the hand of every avatar. (This is the scripted equivalent of a teacher saying “OK, twelve out of nineteen hands raised; you can put your hands down now.”)

The hand raising feature was surprising in its complexity. And, suspecting that linking prims does not provide an advantage over many objects listening to remote channels, I might develop this feature differently. As with any feature, the users will have to learn how to use it (a simple thing, here). Still, until installed and tested we cannot know the value of such interactive features.

Parcel Media Display

Third, the Parcel Media Display accepts a formatted notecard containing URLs and titles to manage the display of audio files, images, web pages or video content available on the Internet. On touch, the object presents the teacher with a menu of buttons from which to choose a URL.

The globe (see other images) converts into the display, whose script then assigns each selected URL to the land parcel’s media stream. This alleviates use of the About Land panel by a teacher during a lesson, since the Second Life client does not have media presets.

Last bits

Interactive Classroom Pods

I would like to see an organization such as NMC or ISTE sponsor a project that is similar to SW4. There was plenty of opportunity for educators to participate, yet few were around. Maybe if the project was hosted within the SL educational community…

Interactive Classroom Pods

There was some discussion, early in the project, about a standalone, self-serve media kiosk; a learning lab with many stations. I plan to continue developing this idea.

One comment made during an early presentation to the UofA pointed out how these interactive features represent “more to learn”. That is fair. Yet, I wonder if that individual has made a presentation in Second Life, making use of the full range of bells and whistles already embedded in the platform. Yes, to employ new, interactive features does require an additional step or two up an already-steep learning curve. However, if new approaches are not tested, we leave every repetitive, manual task in the hands of the teacher.

Rather than compare button selection in a dialog menu with the use of the About Land panel I will step back, and hope that some in the Alabama cadre will give these these tools a try, and offer their feedback.

Thanks to New World Notes, where I learned of the first crossing of avatars from SL into another grid.

At about 11:00 AM, Linden, Ruth arrived on an OpenSim server
- Zha Ewry

This seems significant.

What it could mean: Soon, parents and school administrators down the street will not have to worry about Mature Content, because they can run their own grid and minors can TP in from the Teen Grid for lessons…

To this Second Life resident, virtual reality represents an exciting opportunity to develop rich, engaging instructional content. Many educators seem to agree and there are plenty of educational sites to explore. Still, it is difficult to predict what will be effective, which design elements are essential. It is likely that we are far from seeing any standards emerge for instructional design.

“The Source is Within” – a SL art installation

There is, however, something to be learned about engaging a Second Life user. Rezzable’s community of artists, designers and developers seem to consistently deliver an experience. Have you visited “The Source is Within” (SLURL), their recent installation showcasing the SL imagery of Melodious Source? This is a must-see build, in my notecard.

As evidence of their ability to capture attention, have a look at this video. The interactive object seen in that video was developed simply to promote a current event in the grid (titled “Garden of NPIRL Delights“; loosely, a festival of building in SL). If you happen to have a parcel—and room for 24 prims—a description of the interactive invitation can be seen here, they are distributing the object freely.

And finally…thank you, Bettina Tizzy, for the information shared at Not Possible IRL. The care you take in writing every post is apparent to this reader.

George K encouraged a recent brainstorm leading to a new project idea for development in Second Life. The ChatBot widget that is currently being designed, as well as the QuestBot (on the drawing board), both seem as precursors to a prototype for the new widget.  So much to learn.
A quick bit of surfing turned up this gold nugget of a link list: Data Visualization Software, Resources, Tutorials and Source Code. “We Feel Fine” (linked on that page) demonstrates a data display that would be spectacular in virtual reality.  Representing data was the end result of the Pollster widget.

George makes a strong case for obtaining land, securing some space for development.

A multi-user dungeon (domain), object oriented (MOO) interface stares back from my browser with READMEs and Intro button eyes. A few weeks into my Second Life, and real life (”RL”, to an avatar) is moving at the speed of light. I received my demonstration Moodle account (with accompanying class to create) only last night; yet, the need to test drive that interface has been nudged right off the list, maybe tomorrow I’ll Moodle.

Connected.

I am connected to people with an efficiency and productivity that is astounding. Case in point: That last sentence was punctuated by the appearance of w0nk0, the educator in Australia who invited mooved me into this MOO environment as a SysAdmin. Ten minutes later, and I have already traveled through three or four rooms in the sim, learned a bit about interacting, and now “see” a haggard cabinboy as water lasps lazily and an Albatross calls from above. w0nk0 logged in, saw that was idle in his virtual reality, and offered instruction.

Nice.

w0nk0 explains that “a MOO requires you to use imagination a little more” [than a 3D sim], and offers this excerpt:

It is substantially easier for players to give themselves vivid, detailed, and interesting descriptions… in a text-based system than in a graphics based one. In McLuhan’s terminology, this is because MUDs are a ‘cold’ medium, while more graphically-based media are ‘hot’; that is, the sensorial parsimony of plain text tends to entice users into engaging their imaginations to fill in missing details while, comparatively speaking, the richness of stimuli in fancy virtual realities has an opposite tendency, pushing users’ imaginations into a more passive role. I also find it difficult to believe that a graphics-based system will be able to compete with text for average users on the metric of believable detail per unit of effort expended; this is certainly the case now and I see little reason to believe it will change in the near future.

Pavel Curtis, Mudding: Social Phenomena in Text-Based Virtual Realities
(Submission to the 1992 conference on Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing, 1992)

“Believable detail per unit of effort expended”. Interesting, indeed.

But I digress (at light speed, these days)…One educator has formed a group of educators and educational gaming professionals withing the SL community, called Gaming and Learning. He also had the foresight to create a companion Google Group, “Gaming and Learning in Second Life” (GaLiSL), as a hub for communicating within the group “out of world” (in RL). Seeing the potential for edge-seekers in education [Azwaldo Villota avoids temptation to juggle a cute play on words], I test the water with a few comments, edit a Page, and even open a free wiki.
The number, even the variety of experiences (and, more importantly to me, the number of ideas now percolating in me wee brain), have me wondering…

What have I brought to the dance?

Sitting in a desk chair, the notion surfaces once more that I need a more comfortable chair. Not just a chair, but a working platform, a helm; yes, I am thinking something more like a dentist’s chair. Padded, tooled-up, with a motorized reclining feature. Of course, my (new) dual monitors will have to be mounted – or better, suspended – from above so that I can continue to do what I am doing this very moment, which is interacting.

Because I am going to be here for a while.

If young learners are to be guided, perhaps escorted, within a learn-on-demand campus such as Second Life, then there will need to be training camps for the mentors. Maybe even networked teams of roving avatars (think social media). How is this different? What are the features of this place that serve the big picture? What in Kimi’s tutelage is unique when compared to Education 1.0? One difference, it feels like friendship.

Look at what we have now. In just under four days, I was been able to learn to build, script, explore, and even dress myself. Granted I had spent many hours with Second Life: The Official Guide, but still, a motivated learner has all of the information available to get going, moving forward. Look at what I am doing now, no word processor or application suite. I am writing a note that can be posted to anyone in the world, drawn from as content for another application, even e-mailed out to the outer grid (snapshot the note, select e-mail to friend).

I have created and designed.

Regardless of the debate (see Scoble’s threaded discussion) over whether this is an OS or not, what matters is this: Will we find what we need to communicate right here, at our fingertips.
I write this entry after having spent two RL (real life) hours in a dance club. The visual stimulation inspired me to come up with my own acronymious teen speak (You know, the short abrev/fonix type words that young people are text messaging and IMing while some of us (those who remember rotary dial telephones) wonder if they may be doing it just to be obscure.)

IO

IO = information overload. There was so much going on; music, dancing, costumes, chat text, IMing, that i could hardly take pictures of my new friends (all my SL friends were there !). At times I had my browser open with a blog or wiki to learn about SL, or about how to SL, or whatever else i might do on the WWW. But in this case, my virtual self was doing some salsa dancing with my mentor, Kimi. Later, I would actually jump up onto one of the floating pedastals myself, and earn a bit of kipper while the music thumped. Dancing actually freed me up to do more of this that I am doing right now – generating content.

WAW.

(What A World.)

It is encouraging that a web development icon like Jon Udell frequently shares—through his online presence—his genuine interest in educational technology. In “Re-imagining education” he posts the challenge:

“Access to knowledge, access to publishing. Motivation and context. If an educational system embraced these principles, what would it look like?”

And, for Mr. Udell, it is not just rhetoric. He explores a topic with a mindful bent toward problem solving. In a recent entry, he speaks about his podcast interview with Graham Glass, (founder of edu2.0) about the future of education. This sort of conversation is like ear candy for the edTech-minded. Udell brings unique insight to the conversation; the links alone, given the extent of his journey across technology and the Internet, present a wealth of material that can keep an educator’s eye on the leading edge. Prime example: this link to a project based learning video produced by high school students (app. thirty minutes; worth a look).

I often find it necessary to edit my pessimistic view, if only to keep myself on the constructive side of the dialog. I have, for example, cut entire rants about the inertia in public education (where technology is concerned). Railing on about adoption lag time is not going to bring about change. The teacher’s lounge that is the Internet streams a cacophony of complaint.

It helps to hear such a clear message from folks like Jon Udell.

Classrooms have changed plenty since the early nineties. This is not only due to the gadgets that have come into vogue; I was as geeked out as anyone back then. I recall staying late on campus one Friday, hooking up the first laserdisc player on campus; then, going home to spend most of that weekend scripting buttons into a Hypercard stack to remotely navigate a disc’s program while simultaneously throwing instructional text up to the monitor.

That felt like Education2.0. What we didn’t know back then was that it was still World1.0, and that things were about to change. Oh sure, some few would have seen clear to the tech horizon; but their voices were drowned out by the steady thrumm of copy machines spewing handouts; their vision blurred by chalk dust. And the failure—yes, I think we failed—to keep up with the pace of development has left a great rift between what we now have and what could have been.

In “K-12, Higher Ed, Apples, Oranges…”, Christopher Dawson offers—almost in passing—a notion that has driven my own webquest:

In many ways, higher ed and K-12 are two different worlds.

Could someone please shout that from a rooftop? If we had any hint of the change to come back then, would we have worked any harder to promote development of K-12 educational technology? Tried to keep pace with the development in academia? Well, better late than never. The extent of technological progress over the last decade leaves me grinning at the thought of trying to imagine what the standard will be in ten years. And it will be prudent to temper the charge with advice like that from Kirk Kirksey

“Just because we can create a technology doesn’t mean we will do something worthwhile with it.“

I am reminded here of something that Carl once wrote:

“Even if I could have a to-do list holographically projected in 3-D, floating in front of my face with really cool spaceships battling all around it which was activated via voice command, I still wouldn’t be anymore productive.”

Comparatively, just because a student has posted in a weblog about the way a jazzy podcast has helped him to contribute to a wiki does not mean that he is gaining knowledge. Or, does it? (Carl?)

Best, perhaps, to just keep plugging along, keep looking for what works now.

Technorati Profile

I have been surfing around eLearning technology, scoping out the state of the industry as it pertains to K-12 education. Mostly what I found are sites targetting higher education.

Still waters.

I have done this too many times: begin surfing around SCOs and eLearning, only to become mired in a network of BigCo industry presentations and academic discussions. Joe and Jill Public Teacher do not have the funding to pursue these technologies. Nor do they have the time.

I started this post with a title that read “…and the K-12 Market”. Soon came around to the idea that public education is more “audience” than market. In my experience, most motivated educators are resourceful survivors, not as many are active as technology consumers. An application should start making things easier straight out of the box. There is an obvious need for educational tech-tools to be blatantly, absurdly user-friendly. In his recent article discussing “XERTE” (a Free Visual Editor for SCORM compliant Flash Learning Objects) Scott Leslie writes

…I truly do not think this is what I call an instructor-focused tool.
Seriously, what kind of time should we expect faculty to invest in these types of tools?

Sharable Content Objects, and Learning Management Systems (LMS) might smooth the process of developing and distributing high quality, interactive instructional materials. But the learning curve for any new application can be daunting. In this article, James Burke defines a SCO as “…the smallest piece of content that is both reusable and independent.” The item appears in a table of contents, can contain its own bookmark, score, and completion status, and may be tracked separately from other items.
In “SCORM for dummies”, Rustici Software explains that a LMS, or Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is

…responsible for directing the learner to relevant training, tracking the learner’s progress (things like score and current location) and maintaining the learner’s transcript. The essence of SCORM is that any content that conforms to the SCORM specifications will work with any SCORM conformant LMS. SCORM is the ’secret sauce’ that operates behind the scenes to make things compatible.

For a more thorough treatment, Burke directs his readers to a white paper titled “Got SCORM? A Brief Technical Overview That Answers the Question ‘What is SCORM?’” From the Introduction:

When I started researching SCORM in preparation for developing content and implementing an LMS, what I remember most was my frustration at the lack of any concise, hands-on information that was available about SCORM.

The bar of technological literacy has certainly been going up, and up. Still, the new web-based applications of Web 2.0 are promising. Mr. Leslie even seems hopeful by pointing out that “[web 2.0 tools] make it INCREDIBLY EASY to create new, polished looking content.”

So, I am dropping a breadcrumb at Rustici Software. Their offering of SCORM Test Track and Simple Content API represent a curious openness. Both are freely available, and a test of these tools is now on my list of things to do.

Paddling away now; surfing back, once again, to the uncharted water of open source education…finally, the wave breaks:

Sakai is an online Collaboration and Learning Environment. Many users of Sakai deploy it to support teaching and learning, ad hoc group collaboration, support for portfolios and research collaboration.

Sakai is a free and open source product that is built and maintained by the Sakai community. Sakai’s development model is called Community Source because many of the developers creating Sakai are drawn from the ‘community’ of organizations that have adopted and are using Sakai.

Surfs up, I’m going in.

Cheers.

The recent surge in Internet development is flooding educational blogs. By targeting open source technology in these posts, maybe some focus can be maintained. So much is happening in educational technology.

Two projects that have kept me occupied for days: Sakai and Curriki. More about Sakai, perhaps, in another post. At Curriki, the mission is…

“… [to educate] by building a world class learning environment that is community developed and supported, and publishing it for free on the Web, Curriki works to ensure that anyone, from anywhere can participate.”

Robert Stephenson explains that

“Curriki is now looking for curriculum. A number of projects are underway to create a nucleus of learning materials, such as one with the Africa-based Shuttleworth Foundation (home of the Ubuntu Linux distro) to create and distribute open source textbooks for math, physics and chemistry.”

User generated educational content. Course building tools, forums and a wiki. There is potential there for creating a network of inspired educators and a respectable resource for educators looking to tap what is available. I will soon be submitting my Sessions, once the site’s tools go live.

But here is the best ed tech change: I have a new computer. New to me, at least. Not quite whiz-bang, but the fastest box I’ve ever worked with. My favorite feature: a 19″ wide screen LCD monitor. If you happen to live in the Valley of the Sun, the only thing better than the deal on this computer has been the service they’ve bundled. Thank you, Michael.