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ascilite 2013 - Building bridges for non-engineers: virtual world support for project based delivery
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Transcript of ascilite 2013 - Building bridges for non-engineers: virtual world support for project based delivery
Building bridges for non-engineers: virtual world support
for project based delivery
Merle Hearns
School of Foundation Studies
Manukau Institute of Technology
• The use of virtual worlds for education• What virtual worlds can offer foundation or
bridging education• How virtual worlds can be used to support
project-based delivery in a foundation studies or bridging programme
• The activities and influence of the Virtual World Club
• A brief look into the future of virtual world education at MIT
Virtual worlds for education• Virtual worlds:
• 3D environments • persistent• immersive• scalable• participants represent themselves as
avatars in a social space
• Linden Labs, launched 2003• educational use peaked 2007-2009• still widely used• today an increase in range of worlds• alternative educational platforms
• Second Life:
Foundation/bridging education
• Aimed at students who have a strong desire to pathway into tertiary education but lack the prerequisite skills or knowledge
• Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT), South Auckland - one of the largest foundation departments in New Zealand (over 500 students) – over 60 ethnicities represented
• Since 2009 MIT foundation students have been active in virtual worlds
• Recent change to project based/theme based curriculum delivery - focus on learning how to learn
Virtual World Club
• Started in Semester 2, 2012• Aims: to develop digital literacy & to assist in
project work• Voluntary & after normal class time• 1st semester: activities for Level 2 (common
projects for all students) & for Level 3 (projects varied for cohorts: Health, Social Sciences, Business, & Engineering
• 2nd & 3rd iterations: only Level 3, mainly Health cohort
Level 2 Projects SL Activities
Level 3 Health Projects
SL Activities
Our Journey- focusing on the
students as individuals & their study pathways
Personalising my avatar
-how can I show who I really am?
A future in healthcare
-biological me plus health care providers
Health Information Island
-worksheet & meet the professionals
Cult Couture-designing a garment
from recyclable or natural material
Fashion design in SL
-creating an outfit from full perm clothing for a competition
Infection-understanding
infection & its control
Genome Island-investigating cells,
including viral cells & bacteria
MITe Chef-creating a healthy
snack
Ohio University Nutrition Game
Nutrition & Mobility-what we need &
what happens when things go wrong?
Virtual Ability Island & wheelchair house, Danish Visions sim
Water-why do we need
water?
Centre for Water Studies
-guest lecturer Jack Buxbaum, followed by a trip to the CWS
sim
Holistic Wellbeing-an ideal treatment environment for a health condition
Te Wāhi Whānau -an ideal birthing unit
The present & …
• Student feedback survey on BlackBoard – a positive learning experience & knowledge gained helped with projects
• Interesting, colourful, fun, and “better than the textbook” (S3)
• “I highly recommend using SL for whatever subject a student may be studying towards. Awesome idea and love the concept of it” (S14)
• “We should have the club in class, not in our own time. It’s fun in SL. I like working and having fun at the same time” (S5)
• Minor negative technical issues reported
…the future• An increased enthusiasm for the use of virtual
worlds from both students & staff• An increase in the use of virtual worlds for
project support in normal class time: holistic wellbeing project role-play assessments (MIT & Glendale Community College); the pre-degree engineering cohort visits to the Areva Nuclear Power Plant, the Ellinogermaniki agogi virtual portal & the Etopia EcoCommunity; Level 4 BioScience students working on Genome Island
• New initiative: literacy game in Kitely – funded by MIT & Ako Aotearoa
Thank you for listening!