Monday 26 January 2009

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SL Building a Cottage

Building a Cottage SL Workshop Module 2 Activity 1



Using Taxonomy of Second Life practices in learning and teaching activities: Analysis grid for “hands-on workshops” -V2
Margarita Pérez-García, MENON Network, BE & Dr Steven Warburton, King’s College London, UK

The second workshop I attended was Building a Cottage on Tuesday 5 February 10-11 SL, NCI - Boomer Island, Tutor - Sally Savard.
Activity Basic Building Range Beginners
1. Workshop design: planning and preparation
1.1 Spatial design and layout
How is the virtual physical space for delivering the workshop designed and utilised ?
Addressing pragmatics of SL environment Each participant was allocated a building area.
1.2 Instructional design
To what extent are the learning objectives, outcomes and goals organised ?
Structured
1.3 Organisation of instructions and discourse To what extent are the instructions and discourse organised in advance ?
Pre-prepared
1.4 Physical organisation of learning material In what form are the learning materials
made available to the participants ?
Structured folder(s) and givers devices
1.5 Business model What is the economic model for learner participation ?
Free with tip box
1.6 Maturity level | Development version What is the maturity level of the workshop and its life cycle?
Fully tested
1.7 Comments about planning and preparation:
The majority of participants had problems with the construction and did not complete the activity in the time given, therefore some fine-tuning required.

2. Workshop implementation: delivery of instruction
2.1 Assessment of prior/required knowledge Is prior knowledge assessed? If so, how is it assessed?
Informal assessment
2.2 Pre-prepared activities to meet the knowledge requirements What type of pre-workshop activities have been planned to meet the knowledge requirements?
None
2.3 Prior knowledge How is prior knowledge recalled and connected to the workshop activities?
On demand
2.4 Preparation of user interface and viewing controls To what extent are the instructions organising the client user interface and camera controls given ?
No instructions
2.5 Technical preparation of participants What technical advice and background information are provided?
Instructions cover different technical issues
2.6 Conversational flow How is the conversational flow structured between tutor and learners ?
Ordered and controlled progressively, instructions and Q/As
2.7 Communication dynamics What are the dominant communication dynamics during the workshop?
Tutor <-> Learner , Learner<> Learner
2.8 Movement of learners and teachers How are the the movements of participating
avatars in the learning space?
Constrained sit/position for learners and free movement for teachers
2.8 Presentation of outputs and results How are the expected outputs and results presented ?
Illustrated at varying stages of development
2.9 Delivery of learning material How are the learning materials given to learners ?
At the beginning using automated tools and scripts
2.10 Use of tools to deliver both content instruction What tools are used to deliver to content instruction to learners ?
Presentation tools
2.11 Use of media to enhance teaching What type of media are used to enhance/enrich the teaching/learning experience ?
Basic use of SL text chat and sense of virtual embodiment
2.12 Concurrent learner activity What type of concurrent learner activity is promoted ?
Activity exclusively centred within the 3D world
2.13 Personalisation of learning What type of activities are implemented to
individualise the learning experience?
Adaptive pathways Q/As
2.14 Pedagogical approach What are the relevant aspects of the learning and teaching approach ?
Directive/Procedures/Results oriented
2.15 Comments about planning and preparation:
It was clear that the pace was too fast for partcipants apart from 2 or 3 who were totallt at ease with the process.

3. Implementation of the workshop : follow up and evaluation

3.1 Provision of guidance, support and feedback How does the tutor provide support and feedback to the learners ?
On demand via main communication channel or back channels
3.2 Monitoring of student progress In what from does the tutor monitor student progress?
Gathering of informal feedback and observation of creative process
3.3 Quality of feedback What is the nature of the feedback ?
Informative
3.4 Assessment model What is the assessment model ?
Informal assessment
3.5 Comments about follow up and evaluation:


4. Implementation of the workshop : recall and transfer of learning

4.1 Recapiltulation In what form is the revision of key concepts and procedures addressed?
Semi systematic
4.2 After session resources What kind of resources are madeavailable at the end of the session ?
Individual artifacts
4.3 After session activities What type of post workshop activity has been planned?
None
4.4 Comments about recall and transfer of learning:

The majority of participants experienced difficulties at some stages. The tutor stayed on after the class to help further. This tutorial was fast in pace, demanding at times more than the basic building skills. More step-by-step instructions and visuals are needed to guide the learners through the stages, especially for the door and roof building steps.


SL Basic Building

Module 2 Activity 1

The first workshop I attended was SL Basic Building on Tuesday 3 February 10-11 SL, NCI - Boomer Island, Tutor - Sally Savard.
Activity Basic Building Range Beginners


Using Taxonomy of Second Life practices in learning and teaching activities: Analysis grid for “hands-on workshops” -V2
Margarita Pérez-García, MENON Network, BE & Dr Steven Warburton, King’s College London, UK

1. Workshop design: planning and preparation
1.1 Spatial design and layout
How is the virtual physical space for delivering the workshop designed and utilised ?
Addressing pragmatics of SL environment
1.2 Instructional design
To what extent are the learning objectives, outcomes and goals organised ?
Structured
1.3 Organisation of instructions and discourse To what extent are the instructions and discourse organised in advance ?
Pre-prepared
1.4 Physical organisation of learning material In what form are the learning materials
made available to the participants ?
Structured folder(s) and givers devices
1.5 Business model What is the economic model for learner participation ?
Free with tip box
1.6 Maturity level | Development version What is the maturity level of the workshop and its life cycle?
Fully tested
1.7 Comments about planning and preparation:
The participants were seated in a semi-circle, facing the instructor, who was standing in front of a large slide presenter, all within range, therefore not too demanding on camera control skills. The workshop was very structured, with plenty of visuals to help participants.

2. Workshop implementation: delivery of instruction
2.1 Assessment of prior/required knowledge Is prior knowledge assessed? If so, how is it assessed?
Informal assessment
2.2 Pre-prepared activities to meet the knowledge requirements What type of pre-workshop activities have been planned to meet the knowledge requirements?
None
2.3 Prior knowledge How is prior knowledge recalled and connected to the workshop activities?
On demand
2.4 Preparation of user interface and viewing controls To what extent are the instructions organising the client user interface and camera controls given ?
No instructions
2.5 Technical preparation of participants What technical advice and background information are provided?
Instructions cover different technical issues definition and identification of prim
2.6 Conversational flow How is the conversational flow structured between tutor and learners ?
Ordered and controlled progressively by behavioural rules, interaction policies, textual codes, scripted objects and communication tools plus Q/As
2.7 Communication dynamics What are the dominant communication dynamics during the workshop?
Tutor <-> Learner
2.8 Movement of learners and teachers How are the the movements of participating
avatars in the learning space?
Constrained sit/position for learners and free movement for teachers
2.8 Presentation of outputs and results How are the expected outputs and results presented ?
Illustrated at varying stages of development
2.9 Delivery of learning material How are the learning materials given to learners ?
At the beginning using automated tools and scripts
2.10 Use of tools to deliver both content instruction What tools are used to deliver to content instruction to learners ?
Presentation tools
2.11 Use of media to enhance teaching What type of media are used to enhance/enrich the teaching/learning experience ?
Basic use of SL text chat and sense of virtual embodiment
2.12 Concurrent learner activity
What type of concurrent learner activity is promoted ?
Activity exclusively centred within the 3D world
2.13 Personalisation of learning
What type of activities are implemented to
individualise the learning experience?
Adaptive pathways Q/As
2.14 Pedagogical approach What are the relevant aspects of the learning and teaching approach ?
Directive/Procedures/Results oriented
2.15 Comments about planning and preparation:
Very organised and structures, leaving nobody behind.

3. Implementation of the workshop : follow up and evaluation

3.1 Provision of guidance, support and feedback How does the tutor provide support and feedback to the learners ?
On demand via main communication channel or back channels
3.2 Monitoring of student progress In what from does the tutor monitor student progress?
Gathering of informal feedback, observing learner creations
3.3 Quality of feedback What is the nature of the feedback ?
Informative
3.4 Assessment model What is the assessment model ?
Informal assessment
3.5 Comments about follow up and evaluation:


4. Implementation of the workshop : recall and transfer of learning

4.1 Recapiltulation In what form is the revision of key concepts and procedures addressed?
Semi systematic
4.2 After session resources What kind of resources are madeavailable at the end of the session ?
Individual artifacts
4.3 After session activities What type of post workshop activity has been planned?
None
4.4 Comments about recall and transfer of learning:

A good revision activity for me, I got some tips.

Sunday 25 January 2009

SL Tree - The Thinking Tree



For this activity, we had to build a tree in SL. But not just a normal common or garden tree but one as per an activity "inspired from the Second Life Manual for creative thinkers and designers created by Ian Truelove, Graham Hibbert and Steven Warburton. The Manual has been elaborated, in its RL edition, by a team from the Art and Design School of the University of Leeds Metropolitan." The choice of tree ranged from a geometree, poetree to a surrealistic tree, naughty tree .... to name but a few. I like this approach - after all, this is a major feature of a virtual world: enabling creativity. But how?



This was a first build for me and once I got into it, I thoroughly enjoyed it but actually starting it was another thing. Where to start? Well, I started with a cylinder for the trunk. I couldn't
imagine building further with the standard plywood texture, so I searched for a texture in my Inventory and found one I liked. However, despite the texture which I chose for both its visual colours and 'virtual' tactile quality, it seemed a little dull. I had a colourful trunk but how was I going to proceed to the natural continuation of a branch? I didn't find any information through my web searches on how to build a tree from scratch. Of all the sites I searched, I fell upon and really liked Dr Curtis's site. It is clear, attactive, visually pleasing and short and simple. I'd recommend it as a resource for the co-writing activity in this module. I applied lighting and the result is the above picture.

I created a double trunk and twisted it.

I started playing with other prims, features, textures and sculpting. Once I'd played a lot and discarded many, I concentrated on the positioning of the 'leaves' which requires good camera controls.

Then came the linking of the leave prims to the trunks. I quickly found that once I'd linked many individual prims, I didn't know how to edit an individual prim within the linked object. Also, once linked as an object, if I moved it slightly, one prim was not positioned correctly vis-à-vis the trunk. Arrgh!

So, I then took the approach of making 'mini' linked objects: positioning them, attaching them, changing the angle, and then linking them all together as an object.

I often sat at the top, thinking about my tree .... and it eventually became the "Thinking Tree".

Due to the way I built the leaves, it has two sections, making use of the double trunk. One section is what I call the 'Peacock Look' and the other is called the 'Flower Look'.



I definitely need a master builder to help me to build in flexibility here. With the lack of knowledge, I felt that I had to know exactly what and how I wanted to create before building. Surely this is not the case as the virtual world invites creativity? Let's see what the master builders have to say.

I then created two notecards, one using the autoscript recommended in the above mentioned resource.

As I approached the end, I realised that the plane of one trunk was still the plywood texture and no matter what I tried, I could not change its individual texture. At this point, I was coming to the end of my build and did not want to disrupt it. Ideally, I would have liked to have integrated a seat in a natural continuity using a blending texture. Another point which I hope the master builders will help me with.

Then it was time to plant. Frustration - after all that work, I could not plant it at the designated site. I was member of Group 3, and the Mentors Group but I could not plant with either of them activated! The problem was solved through the moodle forum and once I was member of a general group, I could plant!

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of my first build and should continue to build otherwise I'll forget the little building skills I have acquired.

Come by and sit on the "Thinking Tree" and enjoy the scenery!