Where next for virtual worlds? A look at some current technology developments which will impact on the use of virtual worlds in higher education - or present challenges as we try to integrate a wider range of technologies with current web and 3D learning environments.
Daniel Livingstone's presentation from the Eduserv workshop "Where next for virtual worlds"
(See notes for text to accompany the presentation)
1. Students are instructed to create a video advertisement for a product of their choice, using classical music as background.
2. The document provides links to pieces from Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn that can be used for the background music.
3. Students will submit their video advertisements through the class Facebook page or messenger, and they will be graded based on their choice of appropriate classical music, original concept for the product, and creative use of props or costumes.
The document discusses common conventions of horror films, including isolated settings like forests and underground tunnels. It notes that colors like red and black are often used to convey fear and danger, as are props like masks and weapons. Finally, it lists common horror themes such as good vs evil, revenge, and the supernatural, and provides example trailers illustrating each convention and theme.
This document provides instructions for a group assignment analyzing camerawork in a TV drama clip. Students are split into groups and must:
1) Analyze multiple aspects of camerawork and mise-en-scene in a clip from Stranger Things through screenshots and annotations in a PowerPoint.
2) Each student must present on 2 aspects of camerawork and 2 of mise-en-scene, identifying the technique and explaining its connotation.
3) The group must also discuss and present on one historical context aspect connected to either camerawork or mise-en-scene.
Students will be assessed on correctly identifying techniques, explaining meanings, choosing evidence, and understanding influences of context. An
50+ Web 2.0 Ways To Tell a Story (May 2011)Alan Levine
ย
A version of this presentation for preservice K-12 educators in Dean Shareski's ECMP 355 class- remotely presented to Saskatchewan from California.
See http://50ways.wikispaces.com/ for the scoop
The document discusses creating the world's largest digital library by making content openly accessible and shareable through new digital technologies and platforms that can handle various media types like video and audio. It emphasizes the importance of sharing content freely instead of restricting access through barriers and warns against taking inappropriate photos that could be compromised.
The document provides links to YouTube videos and a Twitter account related to advertising and social media networks. Specifically, it lists URLs for 3 YouTube videos and a Twitter handle @BMCpublicidade1, suggesting the content is related to promoting brands or advertising on social networks. The YouTube video titles and dates are not provided, so the overall topic or purpose cannot be determined from the limited information given.
This document is an animation reel for Rennie Cowan, an award-winning filmmaker. It includes links to 8 of Cowan's animated works, including Creepies, Glova!, Dewy's Playhouse, Road Rage, Road Kill, CTN Animation, Tales from the Ancients concept intro, Lava Rain, and The Death of Earth. Cowan's contact information is also provided.
This document traces the evolution of narratives in video games from early basic simulators like Pong that lacked stories to later games that featured more complex interactive fiction elements and classical narratives. It discusses early games in the 1970s-1980s, the rise of interactive fiction in the 1980s, the proliferation of technology and classical narratives in games like Wing Commander in the 1990s, and more recent narrative-driven games like Heavy Rain, Alan Wake, and L.A. Noire. The document was created by Josh Samson for a university course on digital media and contains photo credits.
1. Students are instructed to create a video advertisement for a product of their choice, using classical music as background.
2. The document provides links to pieces from Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn that can be used for the background music.
3. Students will submit their video advertisements through the class Facebook page or messenger, and they will be graded based on their choice of appropriate classical music, original concept for the product, and creative use of props or costumes.
The document discusses common conventions of horror films, including isolated settings like forests and underground tunnels. It notes that colors like red and black are often used to convey fear and danger, as are props like masks and weapons. Finally, it lists common horror themes such as good vs evil, revenge, and the supernatural, and provides example trailers illustrating each convention and theme.
This document provides instructions for a group assignment analyzing camerawork in a TV drama clip. Students are split into groups and must:
1) Analyze multiple aspects of camerawork and mise-en-scene in a clip from Stranger Things through screenshots and annotations in a PowerPoint.
2) Each student must present on 2 aspects of camerawork and 2 of mise-en-scene, identifying the technique and explaining its connotation.
3) The group must also discuss and present on one historical context aspect connected to either camerawork or mise-en-scene.
Students will be assessed on correctly identifying techniques, explaining meanings, choosing evidence, and understanding influences of context. An
50+ Web 2.0 Ways To Tell a Story (May 2011)Alan Levine
ย
A version of this presentation for preservice K-12 educators in Dean Shareski's ECMP 355 class- remotely presented to Saskatchewan from California.
See http://50ways.wikispaces.com/ for the scoop
The document discusses creating the world's largest digital library by making content openly accessible and shareable through new digital technologies and platforms that can handle various media types like video and audio. It emphasizes the importance of sharing content freely instead of restricting access through barriers and warns against taking inappropriate photos that could be compromised.
The document provides links to YouTube videos and a Twitter account related to advertising and social media networks. Specifically, it lists URLs for 3 YouTube videos and a Twitter handle @BMCpublicidade1, suggesting the content is related to promoting brands or advertising on social networks. The YouTube video titles and dates are not provided, so the overall topic or purpose cannot be determined from the limited information given.
This document is an animation reel for Rennie Cowan, an award-winning filmmaker. It includes links to 8 of Cowan's animated works, including Creepies, Glova!, Dewy's Playhouse, Road Rage, Road Kill, CTN Animation, Tales from the Ancients concept intro, Lava Rain, and The Death of Earth. Cowan's contact information is also provided.
This document traces the evolution of narratives in video games from early basic simulators like Pong that lacked stories to later games that featured more complex interactive fiction elements and classical narratives. It discusses early games in the 1970s-1980s, the rise of interactive fiction in the 1980s, the proliferation of technology and classical narratives in games like Wing Commander in the 1990s, and more recent narrative-driven games like Heavy Rain, Alan Wake, and L.A. Noire. The document was created by Josh Samson for a university course on digital media and contains photo credits.
Opening Up Access In Games, Simulations and Virtual WorldsDaniel Livingstone
ย
This document discusses opening up education through the use of games, simulations, and virtual worlds. It covers topics such as open education resources (OER), examples of educational games and simulations, virtual worlds like Second Life, economics of developing educational games and virtual worlds, and issues around whether resources in these environments can truly be considered open. It raises questions about standards and tools that are still needed to help virtual world resources be treated as open educational resources.
Can we afford games, simulations and virtual worlds in education?Daniel Livingstone
ย
Developing new educational games can be surprisingly expensive. The costs of development are discussed and strategies for reducing costs to make educational use of games, simulations and virtual worlds more sustainable for the long term.
The document provides an overview of an approach to developing a clear and inspiring vision for an organization. It discusses the importance of having a unified vision that all stakeholders can understand and get behind. An effective vision tells a story that inspires and explains the organization's direction in a way that resonates with people. It should be future-oriented and help guide strategic decision-making. Developing a vision is portrayed as an iterative process that involves imagining future scenarios and grounding ideas in reality. Communicating the vision widely and continually is emphasized so it can act as a guiding light and catalyst for change across the organization.
Web of Data as a Solution for Interoperability. Case StudiesSabin Buraga
ย
This document discusses using semantic web technologies like RDF to increase interoperability in distributed systems. It presents 5 case studies:
1) Defining an RDF vocabulary to describe entities in a distributed file system.
2) Expressing temporal relations between resources using an RDF vocabulary for temporal logic.
3) Developing a semantic web-based grid system using RDF extensions and an ontology grid.
4) Specifying ontological descriptions for grid services applied to e-learning.
5) Creating links between social web data and semantic web data using linked data repositories.
The document provides background on semantic web technologies like RDF, URIs, SPARQL, and ontologies and how they
Introduction to research ethics for VR, from undergraduate lectures at the School of Simulation & Visualisation at The Glasgow School of Art.
Includes a basic introduction to research ethics.
A brief introduction to some of the issues around ethics in Virtual and Augmented Reality. For developers and users, what are the ethical issues around the business, commercial and entertainment uses of VR/AR?
Do decisions made in games have any ethical implications? After all, its just a game!
But are some things too terrible, too taboo, to represent in computer games?
1. The document discusses the idea of using gamification to improve learning outcomes in schools. It presents three options for responding to a school head who wants to invest in gamification: that it's a great idea, that it needs more thought, or that it's a terrible idea.
2. It then expands on each option, noting that gamification can promote engagement and deeper learning but may not be suitable for all types of learning. It also discusses definitions of gamification, intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation, and challenges like lack of research and difficulty in designing good games.
3. Overall, the document presents both benefits and risks of gamification, concluding that rewards systems can work and games/simulations provide
Games courses are often criticized for not adequately preparing students for industry. The document discusses several issues:
1) Graduates have less knowledge of low-level programming concepts compared to 10 years ago and struggle with technical questions.
2) There is a misalignment between what parents, students, academics, and industry want from games courses. Industry wants graduates to be adaptable learners.
3) Graduates feel they learned more in their first year of work than in their degree and want courses to cover more practical skills and tools used in industry.
4) However, it is not possible to teach "everything" in a 4-year degree given time constraints, so courses should focus on developing lifelong
An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform to tell a story through multiple media. I Love Bees was a seminal ARG from 2004 that involved over 100,000 players solving puzzles related to the video game Halo through websites, phone calls, and online discussions. Players had to work together to understand the narrative and help an artificial intelligence trapped on the internet. Developers responded to player actions, adapting the story based on their ideas and progress, in a demonstration of collective intelligence.
The document discusses integrating Moodle with virtual worlds like Second Life to enable e-learning in those environments. It outlines different approaches to integration like using Moodle only through a web window or fully integrating tools. It also mentions specific tools developed for the SLOODLE integration plugin and roadmaps for future versions adding more features and compatibility with Moodle 2.0. The goal is to make it easier for educators to incorporate virtual worlds into their courses using a familiar learning management system interface.
The document summarizes how SLOODLE tools were used to support teaching and learning with Second Life across two different classes at the University of the West of Scotland. In one class, Second Life was a core part of the course, while in the other class it was only briefly used. SLOODLE tools allowed students in both classes to collaborate online, present work in Second Life without extensive technical skills, and engage in virtual activities like field trips. The summary provides an overview of how SLOODLE supported different aspects of the two courses like group work, lectures, and student presentations.
Sloodle is a virtual learning environment that integrates the 3D virtual world of Second Life with the learning management system Moodle. It allows for teaching and learning activities like disseminating course materials, submitting assignments, online assessments, and collaborative activities to take place across these two platforms. While early experiences with teaching in Second Life found it too open-ended and distracting, Sloodle aims to provide more structure and goals for learning. It includes tools like a virtual drop box, quiz chair, and presentation area to support educational activities within Second Life linked to a Moodle course. Sloodle has been used in a variety of subject areas by hundreds of teachers internationally and continues to develop its features and community.
This document summarizes the growth and commercial uses of virtual worlds. It notes that virtual worlds like Second Life allow users to create content and sell virtual goods, with some users earning real-world income. Many large companies have used virtual worlds for marketing, though some have left. The document also discusses regulatory issues around virtual world economies and property rights.
This document discusses virtual worlds and their potential uses in education. It begins with descriptions of two virtual worlds, the Elizabethan tearoom and River City Project, that provide immersive learning environments. Several other virtual world platforms are mentioned that could support educational activities, including OpenSimulator, Project Wonderland, and OLIVE. The document concludes by listing additional resources on virtual worlds, multiplayer games, and ways different platforms have been combined with online learning systems like Moodle.
This document discusses various topics related to virtual worlds and their impact on society. It references several academic papers and news articles about politics, religion, relationships, and businesses being conducted in virtual worlds like Second Life. The document suggests that virtual worlds are becoming more integrated into real-world activities as politicians give press conferences in them, religious groups use them for worship, and businesses promote real locations through virtual representations of them.
A lecture discussing the use of some popular Web 2.0 tools for online collaboration.
Originally posted as a Google Presentation, hyperlinks lost in conversion:
http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dgsbm7jn_35dcmp8rcj
Virtual worlds and virtual learning environments like Second Life offer opportunities for synchronous collaboration and learning activities. Second Life allows users to create content and interact with other residents in a user-created virtual world. While open-ended nature can be challenging, Second Life has been used for simulations, collaboration, role-playing and constructionist projects. Integration with learning management systems may help provide more support for guided learning activities in these environments.
Opening Up Access In Games, Simulations and Virtual WorldsDaniel Livingstone
ย
This document discusses opening up education through the use of games, simulations, and virtual worlds. It covers topics such as open education resources (OER), examples of educational games and simulations, virtual worlds like Second Life, economics of developing educational games and virtual worlds, and issues around whether resources in these environments can truly be considered open. It raises questions about standards and tools that are still needed to help virtual world resources be treated as open educational resources.
Can we afford games, simulations and virtual worlds in education?Daniel Livingstone
ย
Developing new educational games can be surprisingly expensive. The costs of development are discussed and strategies for reducing costs to make educational use of games, simulations and virtual worlds more sustainable for the long term.
The document provides an overview of an approach to developing a clear and inspiring vision for an organization. It discusses the importance of having a unified vision that all stakeholders can understand and get behind. An effective vision tells a story that inspires and explains the organization's direction in a way that resonates with people. It should be future-oriented and help guide strategic decision-making. Developing a vision is portrayed as an iterative process that involves imagining future scenarios and grounding ideas in reality. Communicating the vision widely and continually is emphasized so it can act as a guiding light and catalyst for change across the organization.
Web of Data as a Solution for Interoperability. Case StudiesSabin Buraga
ย
This document discusses using semantic web technologies like RDF to increase interoperability in distributed systems. It presents 5 case studies:
1) Defining an RDF vocabulary to describe entities in a distributed file system.
2) Expressing temporal relations between resources using an RDF vocabulary for temporal logic.
3) Developing a semantic web-based grid system using RDF extensions and an ontology grid.
4) Specifying ontological descriptions for grid services applied to e-learning.
5) Creating links between social web data and semantic web data using linked data repositories.
The document provides background on semantic web technologies like RDF, URIs, SPARQL, and ontologies and how they
Introduction to research ethics for VR, from undergraduate lectures at the School of Simulation & Visualisation at The Glasgow School of Art.
Includes a basic introduction to research ethics.
A brief introduction to some of the issues around ethics in Virtual and Augmented Reality. For developers and users, what are the ethical issues around the business, commercial and entertainment uses of VR/AR?
Do decisions made in games have any ethical implications? After all, its just a game!
But are some things too terrible, too taboo, to represent in computer games?
1. The document discusses the idea of using gamification to improve learning outcomes in schools. It presents three options for responding to a school head who wants to invest in gamification: that it's a great idea, that it needs more thought, or that it's a terrible idea.
2. It then expands on each option, noting that gamification can promote engagement and deeper learning but may not be suitable for all types of learning. It also discusses definitions of gamification, intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation, and challenges like lack of research and difficulty in designing good games.
3. Overall, the document presents both benefits and risks of gamification, concluding that rewards systems can work and games/simulations provide
Games courses are often criticized for not adequately preparing students for industry. The document discusses several issues:
1) Graduates have less knowledge of low-level programming concepts compared to 10 years ago and struggle with technical questions.
2) There is a misalignment between what parents, students, academics, and industry want from games courses. Industry wants graduates to be adaptable learners.
3) Graduates feel they learned more in their first year of work than in their degree and want courses to cover more practical skills and tools used in industry.
4) However, it is not possible to teach "everything" in a 4-year degree given time constraints, so courses should focus on developing lifelong
An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform to tell a story through multiple media. I Love Bees was a seminal ARG from 2004 that involved over 100,000 players solving puzzles related to the video game Halo through websites, phone calls, and online discussions. Players had to work together to understand the narrative and help an artificial intelligence trapped on the internet. Developers responded to player actions, adapting the story based on their ideas and progress, in a demonstration of collective intelligence.
The document discusses integrating Moodle with virtual worlds like Second Life to enable e-learning in those environments. It outlines different approaches to integration like using Moodle only through a web window or fully integrating tools. It also mentions specific tools developed for the SLOODLE integration plugin and roadmaps for future versions adding more features and compatibility with Moodle 2.0. The goal is to make it easier for educators to incorporate virtual worlds into their courses using a familiar learning management system interface.
The document summarizes how SLOODLE tools were used to support teaching and learning with Second Life across two different classes at the University of the West of Scotland. In one class, Second Life was a core part of the course, while in the other class it was only briefly used. SLOODLE tools allowed students in both classes to collaborate online, present work in Second Life without extensive technical skills, and engage in virtual activities like field trips. The summary provides an overview of how SLOODLE supported different aspects of the two courses like group work, lectures, and student presentations.
Sloodle is a virtual learning environment that integrates the 3D virtual world of Second Life with the learning management system Moodle. It allows for teaching and learning activities like disseminating course materials, submitting assignments, online assessments, and collaborative activities to take place across these two platforms. While early experiences with teaching in Second Life found it too open-ended and distracting, Sloodle aims to provide more structure and goals for learning. It includes tools like a virtual drop box, quiz chair, and presentation area to support educational activities within Second Life linked to a Moodle course. Sloodle has been used in a variety of subject areas by hundreds of teachers internationally and continues to develop its features and community.
This document summarizes the growth and commercial uses of virtual worlds. It notes that virtual worlds like Second Life allow users to create content and sell virtual goods, with some users earning real-world income. Many large companies have used virtual worlds for marketing, though some have left. The document also discusses regulatory issues around virtual world economies and property rights.
This document discusses virtual worlds and their potential uses in education. It begins with descriptions of two virtual worlds, the Elizabethan tearoom and River City Project, that provide immersive learning environments. Several other virtual world platforms are mentioned that could support educational activities, including OpenSimulator, Project Wonderland, and OLIVE. The document concludes by listing additional resources on virtual worlds, multiplayer games, and ways different platforms have been combined with online learning systems like Moodle.
This document discusses various topics related to virtual worlds and their impact on society. It references several academic papers and news articles about politics, religion, relationships, and businesses being conducted in virtual worlds like Second Life. The document suggests that virtual worlds are becoming more integrated into real-world activities as politicians give press conferences in them, religious groups use them for worship, and businesses promote real locations through virtual representations of them.
A lecture discussing the use of some popular Web 2.0 tools for online collaboration.
Originally posted as a Google Presentation, hyperlinks lost in conversion:
http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dgsbm7jn_35dcmp8rcj
Virtual worlds and virtual learning environments like Second Life offer opportunities for synchronous collaboration and learning activities. Second Life allows users to create content and interact with other residents in a user-created virtual world. While open-ended nature can be challenging, Second Life has been used for simulations, collaboration, role-playing and constructionist projects. Integration with learning management systems may help provide more support for guided learning activities in these environments.
The document discusses the history and evolution of virtual worlds from text-based MUDs and MOOs to modern 3D virtual worlds like Second Life. It describes how MOOs allowed users to modify content and were used for some educational purposes. It then outlines the rise of massively multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft before focusing on Second Life as a general purpose virtual world that allows users to build content, engage in commerce, and is used by some educational institutions and businesses. It concludes by discussing challenges of using virtual worlds in education and proposing the creation of a learning community focused on virtual worlds at the University of Western Scotland.
Sloodle aims to integrate the virtual world Second Life with the learning management system Moodle. This is done by providing access to Moodle tools and content from within Second Life. Sloodle also develops new tools like a digital dropbox to better support sharing and submitting 3D projects between the two environments. The goals are to combine the social aspects of Second Life with the learning support of Moodle. Sloodle is still a work in progress but has made progress on user authentication and tools to allow chat, submissions, and permissions between the two platforms.
Sloodle presentation for the Eduserv/ Jisc Cetis workshop held at the London Knowledge Lab on Sept. 20th 2007. These slides were not actually used - a live Second Life demo was given instead.
A Richer Blend - Integrating Web and 3D learning environmentsDaniel Livingstone
ย
The document discusses integrating virtual learning environments like Second Life with web-based tools to provide more effective support for learning. It describes a case study where a university course used blended learning with Second Life and encountered technical issues and a lack of clear learning goals until more specific project ideas were provided. To address these challenges, the Sloodle project aims to integrate 3D virtual worlds with web tools like Moodle to support reflection, communication, assessment and user management for richer blended learning experiences.
Chapter wise All Notes of First year Basic Civil Engineering.pptxDenish Jangid
ย
Chapter wise All Notes of First year Basic Civil Engineering
Syllabus
Chapter-1
Introduction to objective, scope and outcome the subject
Chapter 2
Introduction: Scope and Specialization of Civil Engineering, Role of civil Engineer in Society, Impact of infrastructural development on economy of country.
Chapter 3
Surveying: Object Principles & Types of Surveying; Site Plans, Plans & Maps; Scales & Unit of different Measurements.
Linear Measurements: Instruments used. Linear Measurement by Tape, Ranging out Survey Lines and overcoming Obstructions; Measurements on sloping ground; Tape corrections, conventional symbols. Angular Measurements: Instruments used; Introduction to Compass Surveying, Bearings and Longitude & Latitude of a Line, Introduction to total station.
Levelling: Instrument used Object of levelling, Methods of levelling in brief, and Contour maps.
Chapter 4
Buildings: Selection of site for Buildings, Layout of Building Plan, Types of buildings, Plinth area, carpet area, floor space index, Introduction to building byelaws, concept of sun light & ventilation. Components of Buildings & their functions, Basic concept of R.C.C., Introduction to types of foundation
Chapter 5
Transportation: Introduction to Transportation Engineering; Traffic and Road Safety: Types and Characteristics of Various Modes of Transportation; Various Road Traffic Signs, Causes of Accidents and Road Safety Measures.
Chapter 6
Environmental Engineering: Environmental Pollution, Environmental Acts and Regulations, Functional Concepts of Ecology, Basics of Species, Biodiversity, Ecosystem, Hydrological Cycle; Chemical Cycles: Carbon, Nitrogen & Phosphorus; Energy Flow in Ecosystems.
Water Pollution: Water Quality standards, Introduction to Treatment & Disposal of Waste Water. Reuse and Saving of Water, Rain Water Harvesting. Solid Waste Management: Classification of Solid Waste, Collection, Transportation and Disposal of Solid. Recycling of Solid Waste: Energy Recovery, Sanitary Landfill, On-Site Sanitation. Air & Noise Pollution: Primary and Secondary air pollutants, Harmful effects of Air Pollution, Control of Air Pollution. . Noise Pollution Harmful Effects of noise pollution, control of noise pollution, Global warming & Climate Change, Ozone depletion, Greenhouse effect
Text Books:
1. Palancharmy, Basic Civil Engineering, McGraw Hill publishers.
2. Satheesh Gopi, Basic Civil Engineering, Pearson Publishers.
3. Ketki Rangwala Dalal, Essentials of Civil Engineering, Charotar Publishing House.
4. BCP, Surveying volume 1
This document provides an overview of wound healing, its functions, stages, mechanisms, factors affecting it, and complications.
A wound is a break in the integrity of the skin or tissues, which may be associated with disruption of the structure and function.
Healing is the bodyโs response to injury in an attempt to restore normal structure and functions.
Healing can occur in two ways: Regeneration and Repair
There are 4 phases of wound healing: hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. This document also describes the mechanism of wound healing. Factors that affect healing include infection, uncontrolled diabetes, poor nutrition, age, anemia, the presence of foreign bodies, etc.
Complications of wound healing like infection, hyperpigmentation of scar, contractures, and keloid formation.
Beyond Degrees - Empowering the Workforce in the Context of Skills-First.pptxEduSkills OECD
ย
Ivรกn Bornacelly, Policy Analyst at the OECD Centre for Skills, OECD, presents at the webinar 'Tackling job market gaps with a skills-first approach' on 12 June 2024
Temple of Asclepius in Thrace. Excavation resultsKrassimira Luka
ย
The temple and the sanctuary around were dedicated to Asklepios Zmidrenus. This name has been known since 1875 when an inscription dedicated to him was discovered in Rome. The inscription is dated in 227 AD and was left by soldiers originating from the city of Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv).
Leveraging Generative AI to Drive Nonprofit InnovationTechSoup
ย
In this webinar, participants learned how to utilize Generative AI to streamline operations and elevate member engagement. Amazon Web Service experts provided a customer specific use cases and dived into low/no-code tools that are quick and easy to deploy through Amazon Web Service (AWS.)
Gender and Mental Health - Counselling and Family Therapy Applications and In...PsychoTech Services
ย
A proprietary approach developed by bringing together the best of learning theories from Psychology, design principles from the world of visualization, and pedagogical methods from over a decade of training experience, that enables you to: Learn better, faster!
THE SACRIFICE HOW PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTS STUDENTS ARE SACRIFICING TO CHANGE T...indexPub
ย
The recent surge in pro-Palestine student activism has prompted significant responses from universities, ranging from negotiations and divestment commitments to increased transparency about investments in companies supporting the war on Gaza. This activism has led to the cessation of student encampments but also highlighted the substantial sacrifices made by students, including academic disruptions and personal risks. The primary drivers of these protests are poor university administration, lack of transparency, and inadequate communication between officials and students. This study examines the profound emotional, psychological, and professional impacts on students engaged in pro-Palestine protests, focusing on Generation Z's (Gen-Z) activism dynamics. This paper explores the significant sacrifices made by these students and even the professors supporting the pro-Palestine movement, with a focus on recent global movements. Through an in-depth analysis of printed and electronic media, the study examines the impacts of these sacrifices on the academic and personal lives of those involved. The paper highlights examples from various universities, demonstrating student activism's long-term and short-term effects, including disciplinary actions, social backlash, and career implications. The researchers also explore the broader implications of student sacrifices. The findings reveal that these sacrifices are driven by a profound commitment to justice and human rights, and are influenced by the increasing availability of information, peer interactions, and personal convictions. The study also discusses the broader implications of this activism, comparing it to historical precedents and assessing its potential to influence policy and public opinion. The emotional and psychological toll on student activists is significant, but their sense of purpose and community support mitigates some of these challenges. However, the researchers call for acknowledging the broader Impact of these sacrifices on the future global movement of FreePalestine.
Elevate Your Nonprofit's Online Presence_ A Guide to Effective SEO Strategies...TechSoup
ย
Whether you're new to SEO or looking to refine your existing strategies, this webinar will provide you with actionable insights and practical tips to elevate your nonprofit's online presence.
20. Invariants These notes I copied 10 years ago will do Movable type will never replace illuminated manuscript
Editor's Notes
No, this is not the SLOODLE final report โ but that is now available from www.sloodle.org !
By way of brief background, I've been working for the past few years on a project to integrate learning activities and data across web-based and 3D learning environments. And it is in light of this work that I will try and consider future developments โ so in what follows Im largely thinking about how virtual worlds might merge with other systems, other technologies across varying time scales.
A wide range of tools have been created for this, a few shown here. So we can run archive virtual world chat in the web-based VLE and quizzes in a virtual world using web-based authoring and gradebooks, We can link a student's avatar to their user account on the institutional IS And we can pass various bits of information back and forward; use the VLE to provide alternative access to 3D activities, or as a development environment for activities that will take place in the 3D virtual world. But there are some current trends in education technology leading away from VLE's altogether...
The notion of the Personal Learning Environment has been gaining a lot of traction in recent years โ and while there are some disagreements about what a PLE is precisely, a basic definition is that someone's PLE encompasses all the technologies that they use in their learning. This example diagram here is quite a good one โ note the very conspicuous presence of a lot of web 2.0 technologies. So we can see that this is probably the PLE of a technologist or educational researcher. There is also a range of non-digital items in the environment โ notes, and books, as well as alternative digital devices โ mobile phone is there. And in a small corner at the top is all the stuff that comes from University โ the VLE would be somewhere in that box. But this doesn't mark the end for the VLE yet โ I attended the โThe VLE is dead' panel at last years ALT-C, and I felt that what came through was a challenge for VLE's to adapt to this cloud based web 2.0 world, where student work and student learning can happen anywhere out there on the web.
And VLE's are responding โ Moodle 2.0 for example is introducing a new repository API โ this is an explicit recognition that a great deal of useful material โ including student work โ lives on the open web, outside of the VLE, and helps reposition the VLE as a useful component of a student's PLE, one that helps the student (and helps staff) collate and organise resources and work from a wide variety of places online. And this is one way in which VLEs are responding now to changes in technology over the past few years. But there are more changes coming. How will VLE's respond to changes in technology that are happening now?
Lets consider some of the changes currently in the pipeline for HTML 5 โ the common language of the WWW. These are currently being written, but even so it is possible to download browsers which implement parts of this today โ such as the current 3.6 version of firefox
Some of the most widely noted features of HTML5 relate to the canvas โ this will enable the native playing of video content without plugins, and with the WebGL API, 3D hardware-accelerated graphics in the browser โ without a need for flash or other plugin. Alternative approaches to speeding up 3D in the browser include Google's O3D, which is more powerful that bare WebGL, but is in effect another plug-in. Unity is another lightweight cross-platform plug-in technology that is proving popular for bringing accelerated 3D graphics to browsers โ with several virtual world projects using Unity, including at least one attempt to build a browser based OpenSim client (from ReactionGrid)
The HTML5 sockets API has received less attention. Currently, browser apps use a mixture of methods to give the appearance and effect of having a persistent web-connection โ although AJAX apps rely on a bag of tricks for this, tricks that may be less than suitable for creating shared 3D virtual worlds that run natively in the browser. Sockets bring the capability to create fixed internet connections to javascript running in a web-browser, with significant potential for improving client server connections. Together, these incremental improvements to HTML will mean that users could connect to virtual worlds โ even second life itself โ without having to install any software at all โ not even a browser plugin. One problem facing some educators โ that of the locked down PC environment might become a distant memory. And we might finally be able to access virtual worlds from any machine, anywhere. Assuming that the firewall doesnt block the sockets connection of course... :-) But away from the browser, what else is happening...
Well, there are a number of mobile phone based virtual world projects. VW's built specifically for mobile phones include bobba (from the makers of Habbo Hotel) and TibiaME, plus a few projects which provide limited access to SL via phone apps. Bobba (as seen here) has clients for a range of phones โ iPhones, iPod Touch and a large number of phones using the Symbian Series 60 OS. So virtual worlds might soon fit (natively) in the browser, but already they can fit in the pocket. Though I have to say, this is not neccessarily a comfortable fit โ a social virtual world which relies on text chat is not so easy when you have a standard phone keyboard, and the small screen gives (in my experience) a much less immersive experience. I found bobba less immersive than a text based virtual world โ its hard to get drawn in when you have to concentrate hard on data entry. TibiaME is a phone based hack'n'slash MMORPG โ running since 2006 its more successful than Bobba โ but still feels very casual compared to desktop and browser based VW. But what if we can break away from the tiny mobile screen?
Some of you will have seen the amazing TED talks video with Patti Maes and Pranav Mistry where they demonstrate the SixthSense project โ using mobile phones, cameras and projectors to explore how mobile computing might develop in coming years. I think it interesting to imagine how we might travel inside a virtual world as we travel through physical space, and project that virtual world over the physical world. Its amazing what sixthsense has achieved already, and wonderful to think where it might lead... but how far out is this? LightTouch was demonstrated earlier this month at CES, and this is a product for system builders to develop consumer products โ for e.g. portable computers that project their screen onto any surface, and where that projected screen is itself the input device for interacting with the computer.
And the time finally seems right for augmented reality โ which after many years of obscurity in the computer lab has become the hyped technology of the moment. In part because technology has finally reached a point where AR apps can be run on easily accessible hardware, and middleware is there to make it easier to develop those applications. So as you stand in abbey road looking towards the zebra crossing, your phone might show you where the Beatles once walked, with virtual images overlaid ontop of the view from the phones camera. And the Layar app makes it easy to develop your own mobile AR application (And the much rumoured Mac tablet may turn out to be a killer device for this kind of app)
This actually put me in mind of a different application, a different form of data layering. We can overlay digital data on top of the already digital. So we can take a web-page
And with Diigo, we can annotate it and overlay additional content. And this ability to create 'hidden' data overlying web-pages has been used in the creation of PMOG's โ persistent MOGs, such as The Nethernet, turn the web into a multiplayer game. With character classes and powers that include the ability to build paths for other players to follow, this starts to hint at how a virtual reality can be layered on what is already a virtual substrate Building your own missions for other players is a core part of the Nethernet game, and hints at the educational uses of PMOGs, a distinct class of virtual world. As ever this can be taken further...
as this image from opensource obscure, an Italian Sler demonstrates โ we can layer virtual realities inside virtual worlds. This is perhaps taking things toooo far... But as many museum projects and a small number of education projects have shown, there is a lot of potential in AR as an educational technology โ but how best to blend this with VW is perhaps a little more open.
As a different example, this is a physical virtual patient โ a rubber patient in an authentic pretend hospital ward. The equipment is real, the procedures are real, the patients are fake and the professionals are students. Clinical simulation widely used in medical education, virtual worlds increasingly used; These are generally not well integrated with each other inor with VLE's, but could be. Could benefit from more integration. What could AR bring here? More realism, more action, more depth to the simulation. What would the world be like where persistent virtual worlds played out not only when we sat at a desktop to immerse ourselves, but whenever we browsed the web or (thanks to AR) walked down the street viewing our surrounds via some mobile device?
Perhaps a bit like the world envisaged in the Science fiction thriller 'Halting State' by Charles Stross. A world where the available technology & information and navigation feeds provided by AR have made augmented viewing of the world the norm, with layers of digital information and entertainment available โ allowing people to select a reality first thing in the morning.
now this again is stretching things, isnt it? Getting quite far fetched. But lets consider an analogy for a moment 150 years ago, if you wanted to listen to music you had one option โ you had to be somewhere where music was being played.
then about 150 years ago, the first device able to record sounds to a physical medium was invented โ the phonautograph. Twenty years later a device was invented which was able to play back sounds that had been recorded. In the past 40 years, audio technology became personal thanks to transistors, with radios and tape players small enough to carry. Today music players are so small, they sometimes disappear altogether. Music can be an ever present layer ontop of the physical reality that we can carry around with us whereever we go. AR is offering the possibility of making access to layers of information and entertainment as ever present as music is today.
More modestly โ tapped in reimagines the VLE as a (text based) virtual world. How would the VLE look as a fully integrated 3D + text (+AR?) virtual world
But there are some things that take longer to change - This is a picture of lecture from around 1350. Almost 700 years ago. We can see the students at the back chatting and sleeping, some at the front pretending to pay attention and the lecturer droning on at the front. What is the lecturer thinking? This is what I think he's thinking. As much as we complain about IT support or institutional leadership blocking and slowing down the adoption of virtual worlds, the truth is its the faculty who are responsible. If enough lecturers and academics really wanted to use virtual worlds (or other technology) then it would happen.