This document discusses the use of virtual worlds and digital games in European libraries based on surveys conducted in the UK. It finds that nearly all UK universities have explored or implemented the use of Second Life for research, teaching, or learning activities. Examples include simulations of dangerous environments, campus tours, filmmaking projects, and medical equipment simulations. While Second Life remains popular, some institutions are experimenting with alternative virtual worlds like OpenSim, which is seen as more flexible and open-source. Overall virtual worlds are seen as a way to enhance lifelong, distance, and flexible learning.
A presentation at the "Where next for virtual worlds in UK higher and further education?", facilitated by the Eduserv Foundation and hosted at the London Knowledge Lab, London.
A slide deck from 1997, illustrating an academic digital library consortium "project" and all of the things that went wrong with "it". More detail on my work website:
http://www.silversprite.com/?page_id=2242
Introduction to the International Image Interoperability FrameworkIIIF_io
A presentation given at the International Image Interoperability Framework event held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City on May 10, 2016.
Tom Cramer
Stanford University Libraries
The world as playground: Mobile Serious Games with Augmented RealityRoland Klemke
Keynote presentation at the Research & Innovation week at University of South Africa (UNISA) in Pretoria, given on 05.03.2015. Find more about the Research & Innovation week here: http://www.unisa.ac.za/default.asp?Cmd=ViewContent&ContentID=97482
The talk motivates mobile serious games and shows past, present, and expected developments. It does so by motivating expected and required changes in our educational systems.
My presentation to the Scottish Learning Festival on Virtual Worlds. I looked at uses of virtual worlds in different subject areas and focused on Science in particular. We saw how Second Life was used in a Global Science at the High School for Global Citizenship in New York. Lastly we looked at the barriers, costs and safety aspects of using virtual worlds.
MA conf cardiff 9 Oct 2014 museum websites online experience martin bazley ...Martin Bazley
Martin Bazley's slides used in session on museum websites at Museums Association conference in Cardiff on 9 October 2014, along with Zak Mensah and the session chair Mike Ellis
Evaluating 'Thetford tomb raiders' Sharing research findings via an App AltC2013Nicola Louise Beddall-Hill
Presentation at AltC2013: The Representing Re-Formation project is an interdisciplinary Science and Heritage project exploring the multifaceted lives of the prominent noble family, the Howard Dukes of Norfolk, during the era of Reformation. This three-year project has been studying the Howard Tombs and possibly associated fragments using 3D laser scanning techniques and expertise from multiple research disciplines. Partners include the University of Leicester, University of Oxford, The Yale Center for British Art, Yale University and English Heritage. This project ends in September 2013 and we are hopeful that the findings of this big research can be successfully shared with the public. Strategies include a project website, public exhibition and free educational iPad application and educational resources which contextualise the research findings in situ. These activities are seen as integral to increasing the project’s impact by attempting to make academic research more accessible. The presentation will cover the app design, development and evaluation. The aim is to communicate the projects findings and the work academic researchers cover. The app encourages the investigation and discovery of artifacts found at the Thetford Priory site using AR. The focus is upon the evaluation framework used and data collected, concluding with discussions around using such media for communicating research findings to the public as an educational resource.
A presentation at the "Where next for virtual worlds in UK higher and further education?", facilitated by the Eduserv Foundation and hosted at the London Knowledge Lab, London.
A slide deck from 1997, illustrating an academic digital library consortium "project" and all of the things that went wrong with "it". More detail on my work website:
http://www.silversprite.com/?page_id=2242
Introduction to the International Image Interoperability FrameworkIIIF_io
A presentation given at the International Image Interoperability Framework event held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City on May 10, 2016.
Tom Cramer
Stanford University Libraries
The world as playground: Mobile Serious Games with Augmented RealityRoland Klemke
Keynote presentation at the Research & Innovation week at University of South Africa (UNISA) in Pretoria, given on 05.03.2015. Find more about the Research & Innovation week here: http://www.unisa.ac.za/default.asp?Cmd=ViewContent&ContentID=97482
The talk motivates mobile serious games and shows past, present, and expected developments. It does so by motivating expected and required changes in our educational systems.
My presentation to the Scottish Learning Festival on Virtual Worlds. I looked at uses of virtual worlds in different subject areas and focused on Science in particular. We saw how Second Life was used in a Global Science at the High School for Global Citizenship in New York. Lastly we looked at the barriers, costs and safety aspects of using virtual worlds.
MA conf cardiff 9 Oct 2014 museum websites online experience martin bazley ...Martin Bazley
Martin Bazley's slides used in session on museum websites at Museums Association conference in Cardiff on 9 October 2014, along with Zak Mensah and the session chair Mike Ellis
Evaluating 'Thetford tomb raiders' Sharing research findings via an App AltC2013Nicola Louise Beddall-Hill
Presentation at AltC2013: The Representing Re-Formation project is an interdisciplinary Science and Heritage project exploring the multifaceted lives of the prominent noble family, the Howard Dukes of Norfolk, during the era of Reformation. This three-year project has been studying the Howard Tombs and possibly associated fragments using 3D laser scanning techniques and expertise from multiple research disciplines. Partners include the University of Leicester, University of Oxford, The Yale Center for British Art, Yale University and English Heritage. This project ends in September 2013 and we are hopeful that the findings of this big research can be successfully shared with the public. Strategies include a project website, public exhibition and free educational iPad application and educational resources which contextualise the research findings in situ. These activities are seen as integral to increasing the project’s impact by attempting to make academic research more accessible. The presentation will cover the app design, development and evaluation. The aim is to communicate the projects findings and the work academic researchers cover. The app encourages the investigation and discovery of artifacts found at the Thetford Priory site using AR. The focus is upon the evaluation framework used and data collected, concluding with discussions around using such media for communicating research findings to the public as an educational resource.
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Objective:
Prepare a presentation or a paper using research, basic comparative analysis, data organization and application of economic information. You will make an informed assessment of an economic climate outside of the United States to accomplish an entertainment industry objective.
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This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
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Acetabularia Information For Class 9 .docxvaibhavrinwa19
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For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
4. Personal position
• Three things getting better; the perfect storm:
– PC and Mac technology is getting better e.g.
processor power, graphics.
– Broadband nearly ubiquitous.
– Virtual worlds are constantly improving.
• Lifelong learning: fit learning around your life.
• Distance learning: more choice of courses.
• Always-on learning: whenever you want.
Saturday, 13 September 2014
5. Unofficial aims (mine) of Virtual World Watch
* To provide “ammunition” for academics to use to
make their case inside their institution.
* To try and bring together like-minded academic
practitioners.
* To see where this goes.
* To - professionally - challenge the (closed
minded) sceptics.
Saturday, 13 September 2014
6. Where VWW is at (Mid March 2009)
• Now on snapshot survey number 6 - release date of mid
to late April 2009.
• Also to be released then is first report looking at
alternative virtual world uses in academia.
• Weekly podcasts with academic developers proving
unexpected success. Want to be interviewed? Get in
touch…
• Building up the resource directory to provide some
evidence and useful “stuff”.
Saturday, 13 September 2014
7. Typical respondent to a snapshot survey
• Isn’t afraid to give
an opinion
• Usually either
concise or
extremely verbose
• Open minded
• Practises what
they preach re:
virtual worlds
• Can go nose to
nose with sceptics
• Core of contacts in
~30 universities
who respond to
most surveys
Just “does it”
Saturday, 13 September 2014
8. Activity in UK universities (generally HE)
Saturday, 13 September 2014
9. Activity in UK colleges (generally FE)
Saturday, 13 September 2014
10. Much activity outside responses
“Staffordshire University is carrying out a project to see how
useful a virtual world like Second Life might be when it
comes to undergraduate teaching.”
“We are active but not yet public.” - many responses.
“A one year JISC funded research project at the University of
Bristol.
We are creating a collection of paintings that will be
displayed within a virtual Pompeiian house in a similar
way to the actual Sydenham Crystal Palace that was build
in London in 1854.”
Saturday, 13 September 2014
12. Summary of Snapshot 5+
• All bar one UK university has some evidence of Second
Life “activity” i.e. research, design, study, teaching or
learning.
• Building a replica of your campus in SL just for the sake
of it is rare now (hurrah!).
• Activities diverse, but newer universities tend to be more
into it than older ones.
• Huge amount of duplicated work going on across
universities in investigating use of Second Life in
teaching and learning
Saturday, 13 September 2014
15. Virtual worlds as simulations of dangerous environments
Saturday, 13 September 2014
16. More safety …
“The witnesses go
down to the simulation
set and the
investigators stay at
the gathering point.
The tutor runs the
simulation through –
in this case a fork lift
truck accident in a
small warehouse
which the witness
students can view
through their avatars.”
Saturday, 13 September 2014
19. Machinima
“A section of the island is designated for film making
(machinima), with an adaptable diorama and
terraformable landscape for creating sets.” - JISC
RSC (Northern)
“A group of media students are undertaking a
project on creating machinima and guidance on
the use of the event simulator described above as
part of their interactive media course.” - West of
England
Saturday, 13 September 2014
23. Studying SL as a learning environment
“A pilot study looking at Interprofessional education in Second
Life.” - Coventry
“Determining whether SL is a suitable environment within
which to develop students' business enterprise skills.” -
Leeds
“Through the Open Habitat project, we are piloting various
approaches to teaching and learning in Second Life and
OpenSim.” - Leeds Metropolitan
“This project investigated pedagogical issues related to
teaching within 3D virtual worlds using Second Life as the
delivery platform.” - Ulster
Saturday, 13 September 2014
24. Medical equipment created by Glasgow Caledonian
“A simulation of a full
working model of an
X-ray machine.
This allows for safe
practice; is flexible
either to be used in a
class or for self study.
It is scaleable - only
one exists on campus
but we can copy the
simulation as many
times as we wish.”
Saturday, 13 September 2014
26. Just to complicate things: Other worlds …
Playstation Home
Saturday, 13 September 2014
27. Metaplace
University of
the West of
Scotland
- Web-based
- Flash
- extensible
- avatars
- scripting
Isometric view
Easy to work in
(Sims meets
Second Life?)
Saturday, 13 September 2014
28. OpenSim
“We expect to see more interest in OpenSim, and
possibly Wonderland - emphasising the need to
keep the ‘intelligence’ of any solution out of any
one particular virtual world. We also still see no
‘Second Life killer’ out there.” - Daden Limited
“The latest OpenSim server builds offer outstanding
performance, and are rapidly maturing and
becoming reliable for everyday use. Porting
objects and scripts (but not all of them) from
Second Life to OpenSim is now possible.” -
Plymouth
Saturday, 13 September 2014
29. OpenSim (more)
“We plan to set up our own OpenSim server for our
600 art & design students to enjoy, free from
some of the obstacles that we have encountered
whilst trying to use Second Life.” - Leeds
Metropolitan
“We have an OpenSim grid running with a few
regions set up. We are applying for funding to
support an OpenSim grid for the UK academic
community.” – St. Andrews
Saturday, 13 September 2014
31. Dealing with sceptics
“Academics? Getting funding to play silly games
like Second Life and World of Warcraft and
pretend it is learning?
Disgusting.
In my day we didn’t have email, made do with
slate and chalk and it did us no harm … yadda
yadda yadda …”
Saturday, 13 September 2014
41. Virtual World Watch: future
CDC (Continuous Data Collection) starts this week.
Future reports:
• Quarterly (3) throughout 2009.
• SL and alternative virtual worlds (2).
• Ongoing virtual world research (1).
Other interests:
• Search in virtual worlds.
• Funding for virtual world development in UK HE/FE.
Saturday, 13 September 2014
42. Okay, that’s all
Virtual World Watch is funded by Eduserv.
Web: www.virtualworldwatch.net
Email: john@virtualworldwatch.net
Twitter: @V_World_Watch
I’m here for the rest of the day…
Saturday, 13 September 2014
Editor's Notes
Night balloon over the University of Nottingham Marina.
The Eduserv Foundations interest in Virtual Worlds.
Virtual World Watch is the holding place for the snapshots. Various bits of relevant data and information will appear on the website as it develops over the next year.
Why I am interested in this whole Virtual World thing.
These are my personal reasons for doing Virtual World Watch. The project runs for a year, from mid-October 2008.
Some characteristics of many of the respondents to the five snapshots to date. Typically, these are battle-hardened academics.
Lots of responses, as ever, from UK universities.
Activity in UK colleges, and other Further Education institutions, has been negligible. Having said that, there seems to be some more activity very recently, but it is still only a tiny fraction of that found in UK universities.
It should be stressed that the survey is not comprehensive. There is much Second Life, and increasingly other Virtual World activity, in places and by people who did not respond. Here are a few examples; in addition, a number of respondents always indicate other activities that they cannot yet go public on.
Here is some of the data (removing personal and other information) from most of the previous snapshot survey. It shouldn’t be taken as cast in stone, as the situation with most institutions is constantly changing. Things to notice:
Most respondents thought they would be doing virtual world activities next year as well.
Teaching and learning activities were mentioned in most responses.
Second Life is still the predominant virtual world (albeit this was the partial focus of the survey), though OpenSim is gaining significant interest).
The quarry simulator at the University of Derby.
And this year may very well see the main discussion be whether to stick with Second Life, or to use OpenSim. Several universities and academics are looking at it at the moment.
There are an increasing number of funding sources, unlike a few years ago, for research, teaching and learning projects in Second Life in UK academia. Coventry University has also got hold of some big money from the Leverhulme Trust for a group of researchers and PhD students.
… and some more long term things.
Doing something in Second Life or another Virtual World? Get in touch; maybe I can find similar academics in UK to link you up with?