Students and Electronic Media: Teaching in the Technological Age Conference

in Education Ramapo Islands: Three Case Studies Kevin Jarrett Technology Facilitator Northfield Community School Northfield, New Jersey 02-May-2008

What is a multi-user virtual environment (M.U.V.E.)?

“ 3D isometric/third-person graphics, accessed over the Internet […] dozens of simultaneous users […] a persistent virtual world .” (Wikipedia)

Uses

eCommerce, prototyping, recreation, education

Forecast: rapid growth

“ By the end of 2011, 80 percent of active Internet users (and Fortune 500 enterprises) will have a ’second life,’ but not necessarily in Second Life” (Gartner Group)

Background

Identity

“ For some players, the avatar becomes a purposeful projection or idealization of their own identity , while for others, the avatar is an experiment with new identities .” (Nick Yee)

Power of Learning Affordances

“ One study found benefits of video gaming for visual attention, including greater attentional capacity , quicker attention deployment , and faster processing .” (Schmidt, Vandewater)

Research

New Tools for Education?

“ We believe that game technologies and game-like learning offer new and inviting tools for young people to try out and eventually become new kinds of learners and citizens fit for the 21st century’s global world full of great perils and possibilities.” (James Paul Gee)

Uncharted Territory

“… despite the increasing use of video games in education, analysts know little about what exactly children learn from gaming , primarily because of a lack of rigorous research on learning outcomes.” (Schmidt, Vandewater)

More Research

Ramapo Islands Peggy Sheehy, Library/Media Specialist The Home of Ramapo Islands

Ramapo Islands Students, Then Students, Now

Ramapo Islands

Ramapo Islands “ Of Mice and Men” “ Body Image Unit” “ The Cay”

Role Playing, Today Image credit: http://flickr.com/photos/64605911@N00/37434108/

Role Playing, The Future

“ Of Mice and Men”

“ Body Image Unit”

“ Body Image Unit” Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/6ndsmk Video credit: http://youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/

“ Body Image Unit”

“ The Cay”

References Gee, J. (n.d.). Spotlight on DML | Jim Gee: The Repertoire of Human Identities and the Digital World. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://tinyurl.com/5npzbu . MUVE - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUVE . Reuters/Second Life >> Gartner sees 80 % virtual world penetration by 2011 . (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2008, from http://tinyurl.com/32a4be . Schmidt, M., & Vandewater, E. (2008). Media and Attention, Cognition and School Achievement. The Future of Children , 18 ( 1 ), 73. Yee, N. (n.d.). Avatar and Identity in MMORPGs . Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/gateway_identity.html .