Universities in Second Life, 2010

Universities in Second Life®

Immersive Education from the Content Development Perspective

www.pulsepointmarketing.com

Our University Clients

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• Concept to Completion: Sharing the Vision– Creative versus Technical Capabilities

• Functions of Immersive Education Projects– Research– Behavioral Studies– Classroom Instruction– Administrative or Student Meetings– Events and Graduation

• Scope of Work– Identifying Content Development Team Members– Integrating the Client’s Resources

• Securing Funding– Cost Estimates– Abstracts– Grant Writing


Our Process

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• Project Inception– Ensuring Consensus– Communication Mechanisms– Benchmarks– Timelines

• Development– Modification Allowances– Client Availability– Creative License– Forgiveness Over Permission

• Project Completion– Finishing Touches– Client Walk-Through– Final Approval

• Team De-Brief


Our Process

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Loyola Marymount University/LA morphs into “LMVU”


Designed and created by Pulse Point Marketing, LLC

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Loyola Marymount University/LA Psychology Department

LMU Psychology Island, the university’s first sim in Second Life®, was unveiled to interested faculty and administrators on November 18, 2008. The sim houses four main structures: the Edward D. Holly Amphitheater, the Institute of Virtual Studies, a Conference and Training Center, and Dreamworld. Aesthetically, the island is distinguished by a sophisticated, futuristic, architectural style, an exterior sculpture garden, and an interior gallery of artwork contributed by top artists and photographers in Second Life.

Some of the island’s notable features include:

•Two major classrooms, several conference rooms, faculty administrative offices and a museum for student created displays.

•Dozens of virtual computers that instantaneously link to Qualtrics on-line survey web-site, enabling avatars located worldwide to participate as research subjects.

•Real-time, text translations of lectures and presentations into 27 languages.

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• Teaching several computer science classes, including Introduction to Computer Science, utilizing Second Life as a sample network application and as a context for working with artificial intelligence, and Interaction Design, examining Second Life as a case study for 3D interface.

• Teaching an experimental, interdisciplinary course entitled An Introduction to Virtual Worlds: Psychological, Computer Science, and Aesthetic Perspectives primarily for psychology and computer science students. Half of the classes met on LMU’s physical campus in Los Angeles and half met in the virtual Holly Amphitheater classroom in the virtual campus.

• Students collaborated on construction of virtual exhibits for The Dream Museum in Dreamworld, which charts the history of humanity’s efforts to understand and interpret dreams.

• Psychological Research on Synthetic Environments (P.R.O.S.E.) Project provides LMU/LA with a mechanism to conduct systematic empirical research on the psychology of virtual worlds. In February 2009, four studies were conducted within one week and data was collected on over 860 subjects from around the world. www.pulsepointmarketing.com

Kicking Off LMU’s Psychology Department in Second Life®, Spring 2009

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Loyola Marymount University/LA French Language and Literature Department

Featuring a blend of architectural styles, French Language Island is a highly eclectic sim. Utilizing heavy scripting, students are able to be self-contained as they immerse themselves in a foreign language environment, much like traveling to another country.

The course instructor designs assignments that are more closely tied to real life experiences than traditional classroom or homework assignments. Students are not permitted to speak or text in any other language but French. Signage and objects are in French.

This project was created to provide comparisons between two approaches to teaching a language course – one being taught in a traditional manner and the other being conducted within Second Life®. LMU/LA is collecting data to support their hypothesis that students are capable of learning a foreign language quicker in a virtual environment.



• Some of the island’s notable features include:– Complete traditional southern French village featuring a café, post office,

medical clinic, jail, bakery, grocery store, fish market, flower shop clothing store, ballet studio and even a church. Sailboats and speed boats, available to tour all of the LMU sims, are moored here.

– Lush park area with large, “life size” interactive books, French classics, that play a brief audio clip of the books being read in French.

– Futuristic Cultural Center with photo displays and a large, open-air classroom that has full media capabilities.

– Contemporary stylized representation of the Eifel Tower that also serves as a French discothèque.

– Twenty student dorms to accommodate up to 40 students per semester.


Loyola Marymount University/LA Electrical Engineering Department

Funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), LMU/LA’s Electrical Engineering Island, features numerous educational venues. The focal point is the Engineering & Science building, a multi-story structure that houses the Virtual Engineering and Science Learning Lab (VESLL), several classrooms, administrative offices and areas for displaying student building and scripting projects.

Other structures on the sim are:•S/HE Café - contains a large social area, displays on inventions created by famous inventors, interactive displays created to teach students about science and physics.•Outdoor amphitheater style classroom, student study areas and a faculty advisor and administration building.•Sky-based build platform for students to create class projects.

This creation of this sim involved extensive building, custom scripting and use of media screens and PowerPoint presenters to meet highly specific grant requirements.


Loyola Marymount University/LA Computer Science Department

The latest of the projects developed for LMU/LA, Computer Science Island is a very contemporary “island” that has no land mass underneath the structures. The buildings all float on the water’s surface.

Buildings and structures found on the sim are:•Two large buildings that contain classrooms, faculty offices and a meeting room. One of these buildings will house the Engineering Department, where research and experimentation on the creation of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) will occur.•An amphitheater classroom styled after a Touring machine.•Elevated display platforms to showcase student projects.•Large build platform located at a sky elevation.•A very large laptop that will show various presentations, mostly for fun, that can be viewed from many perspectives from this and surrounding sims.


Fielding Graduate University’s Sim

Offering doctoral, master’s and graduate-level certificate programs, Fielding Graduate University (FGU) has been a pioneer of distance online instruction well before the inception of virtual worlds. Called “distributed learning programs”, courses are designed for self-directed professional to pursue their advanced education remotely, from their homes, work or community environments.

FGU exclusively features three specific disciplines, both via Internet-based courses and through virtual classes conducted within Second Life®, as follows:

•School of Educational Leadership & Change

•School of Human & Organizational Development

•School of Psychology

FGU’s main building currently houses these three departments, which actively conduct classes and special events on the sim, as well as some of the university’s administrative functions.


• Client specified that their flagship structure in Second Life® emulate the university’s administrative building.

• Blueprints of the university’s building and grounds were provided, as well as numerous photos of the outside of the structure and surrounding gardens, for which the university is known.

• FGU and PPM exchanged several preliminary drawings, created in Visio, to convey the final sim layout and design for client approval.

• PPM utilized “Google Earth” images to supplement client photos.



Photo of Fielding Graduate University’s administrative building in “real life”, which is

located in Santa Barbara, CA.

To re-create FGU’s administrative building in Second Life®, while accommodating more useable space for departments not based in the building in Santa Barbara, PPM and FGU reached consensus on “creative license” for the building in the virtual world.

While the virtual campus building is elongated (extra sections to each side), the building in Second Life® does provide the architectural features, and “feel” of the building in California, according to many staff and faculty who have visited the sim.





Fielding Graduate UniversityAdministrationSchool of Educational Leadership & Change School of Human & Organizational Development School of Psychology

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Fielding Graduate University




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George Mason University Neuroeconomics Department Project (restricted access)

Integrating a staggering 7,000 lines of code, the quarter sim project for George Mason University’s Neuroeconomics department is a project that studies and analyzes human behavior during “natural” disasters.

While the build itself features simply designed buildings that are then decimated during virtual “storms” (tornados, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.), the programming involved creates a simulated Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) that is able to respond to specific human reactions and choices.

According to reports conveyed by the client, the sim’s functions perform beautifully and the Neuroeconomics department has been conducting experiments and gathering resulting data for use in published research materials.

Note: This sim is restricted and participation in the study, typically by GMU students, is by invitation only.


George Mason University Neuroeconomics Department (restricted)



George Mason University Neuroeconomics Department (restricted)Behavioral Study

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George Mason University Neuroeconomics Department (restricted)




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You are cordially invited to visit the Pulse Point Marketing office anytime. We are located at 118/38/23 on the

Andromeda sim, which we share with Pixel Labs.

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Pulse Point Marketing, LLC


• Solange Benoir Owner and Project Manager

• Dante HoniOwner and Technical Manager

• Iria TuqiriManaging Partner and Lead Builder

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Sherry L. Hall – Owner and Project ManagerSherry [Second Life Name: Solange Benoir] is a seasoned professional with highly successful marketing, business development, contract sales, public relations, advertising, and promotions experience. She has worked for several large health care providers within the long-term care sector for nearly 18 years, including Fortune 500 companies such as Sun HealthCare Group, Genesis Healthcare and Kindred Healthcare, Inc. Within this industry she has held both national and regional area management positions, primarily reporting to the chief executive officer and/or a senior vice president. For a number of years, Sherry has worked on a freelance-consulting basis for a wide range of clients from various industries. She possesses two degrees from the University of Louisville, a B.A.S. in Public Relations and Advertising and an A.A.S. in Interior Design, which included coursework in architectural design at J.B. Speed School of Engineering. Sherry is adept at techniques ranging from grassroots to forward thinking, technology-based marketing and business development approaches. She is able to anticipate trends and continually strives to learn about new mediums. Organized and project management oriented, she often seeks out personnel and external resources to compliment her diverse skill set. Sherry is based in Louisville, KY. Contact Information:Cell: (502) [email protected]



mailto:[email protected]

Dana E. Hall – Owner and Technical ManagerDana Hall [Second Life Name: Dante Honi] has worked on many projects within Second Life. Enthusiastic and detail-oriented, Dana is a telecommunications network engineer with a solid technical knowledge of VoIP, MPLS, hosted platforms and managed security through thirteen (13) years industry experience. He has worked for large communications corporations including Covad Communications, Time-Warner Communications and Qwest in roles such as network engineering, provisioning, security, repair and design, and customer support. Dana is proficient with a variety of software, experienced in all facets of telecom design and engineering; and has received extensive training in managed security. Currently Dana is pursuing the opportunity to become a Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) through coursework at a local Louisville university. Dana served in the U.S. Navy as both an Emergency Medical Technician and a Pharmacy Technician. Applying his knowledge gained both within the telecom industry and as a logistics officer within the United States Navy, Dana is a valuable asset to PPM’s efforts within Second Life. Dana is based in Louisville, KY. Contact Information:Cell: (502) [email protected]




Iria Tuqiri – Managing Partner and Lead BuilderIria Tuqiri [SL Name] offers a plethora of skills to Pulse Point Marketing’s clients in Second Life® including designing, terraforming, texturing and building. She was responsible for designing and building major components for the Fielding Graduate University sim, and designed and built the better part of three out of the four sims owned by Loyola Marymount University/LA. Iria has also performed work on major projects for private clients, including a cruise ship that spans nearly the length of a full sim (see next slide for more information). Prior to joining PPM as a major contributor, her projects include much of the building for the notable Second Life® “Star Wars” Sim at Yavin IV. Highlights of her work there include the Death Star, space station, temple, cantina, dojo, canal and two innovative structures. A 2D/3D motion graphic artist, modeler, and animator, Iria has over twenty (20) years experience bringing her visionary imagination to life. She has easily transferred her professional skills to Second Life®, excelling much more quickly than most and she continues to advance her abilities on a daily basis. Iria is based in the eastern United States, near Washington, DC.

Contact Information:[email protected]




Cruise Ship: Extends to nearly full length of a sim. Features a dance club, shopping mall, fashion runway, private state rooms and more. Please contact Iria Tuqiri for more information.



Universities in Second Life, 2010

Technology

Transcript of Universities in Second Life, 2010