The document details an open house event at the Virtual Centre for Digital Media, led by virtual research assistants discussing various areas of the facility. Key features include traditional and collaborative classrooms, an arcade under construction, and office spaces for faculty and students. The presentation concludes with a vision for evolving the centre to foster student contributions to their virtual learning environment.

1. Virtual Centre for Digital Media Open House – Nov 25 th , 2006 .

3. Virtual Research Assistants Welcome to the Virtual Centre for Digital Media and thank you for coming to our open house. My name is JoannaTrail Blazer – I am a Virtual Research Assistant for the Masters of Digital Media Program I’m a graduate student in Popular culture and gender & online games virtual environments researcher at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. My name is TracyTrail Blazer, I’m also a Virtual Research Assistant for the Masters of Digital Media Program. In Real Life I’m a PhD Candidate in Sociology at the University of Toronto, where I research the domestication of the internet. I also research gaming and virtual realities on things like communities & social networks.

6. Welcome! We’d like to thank you for joining us today for our open house. We have a Goodie Bag from GNWC on the table over here for our Second Life visitors – feel free to Right Click and Touch. There’s also a nice gift bag from Telus as well – Right Click and Touch. Let’s start the tour through the doors here

8. Foyer & Reception Area This is the Foyer and over here is our reception desk. We also have a Noticeboard, the SLEdPicayune newsletter on education will be available and a Teleport to ICT Library in SL. Here students and can post notices of upcoming events or landmarks to interesting places they want to share. Others can post useful academic or industry links. It’s a nice spot for sharing resources and information. Ok, let’s have a look at the classrooms – follow me...

11. Traditional Style Lecture Hall This area is a more traditional style lecture hall classroom. You’ll notice the large screen we have here – right now we are playing the Machinima, which is about the building of the Virtual Centre for Digital Media. This is an area where we can have keynote speakers, stream guest lecturers and where students can give presentations about their team projects. It’s also a space for possible conferences or large group discussions. We have another classroom right over here – this way...

14. Collaborative Learning & Teamwork Room This is the collaborative learning & teamwork classroom where students can work and interact together at the table or at the couches for more casual setting. Students in the MDM program spend time working on team projects for course credit in real life. In this multi-media space, they can choose how they collaborate; they can share their project ideas on the whiteboard, use the laptops, post power points and so forth. Part of the curriculum for the MDM is a course called ‘Building Virtual Worlds’, so not only can students team up in these virtual classrooms, it’s also where students can get together to work as a team outside of classroom time – they can do this from any location such as their homes. Let’s have a look at the Arcade and Play area…

17. Arcade – Gaming & Play – Under Construction This is the Arcade Area for students – a neat spot where they can game & play together. They can also display their own virtual creations for their peers to try or test out their team projects. This area is still under construction with some flexibility – depending on the student’s needs, but our future plans include a skybox with immersive gaming such as space invaders and Tringo. We’re going to move upstairs now to have a look at the offices – this way...

20. Office Spaces We have three offices designated for faculty and research assistants. These offices allow students and faculty to meet one on one in a more private space. Faculty and research assistants can hold office hours here and be available to address program or course related questions that students might have. On the other side of the stairs over here we have a larger office – let’s have a look.

22. Office Spaces This large office is an additional space for people to collaborate in smaller teams, but also a social space for just sitting, chatting and having a coffee. This area also has a nice balcony with a view – let’s go through these doors and have a look.

25. Balcony with a View This is the last stop on our tour – the balcony with a view and a sitting area. What you’ve seen here today is a starting point - we envision the CDM evolving as we go, as students will contribute to creating and building their own virtual learning environments, with potential for expansion and remodelling. We have other ideas of what we’d like to do in the future, for example, we’d like to have a ‘sandbox’ where students can work on building their virtual projects – it’s an area where students can work freely with their inventory to create and build objects and write scripts.

27. With thanks… We hope that you’ve enjoyed the tour of the Virtual Centre for Digital Media. Thank you all for coming and sharing this with us.