Unit 12 - Final Project

The Holodeck:

For my final project in CED 552, I created an ancient Greek virtual amphitheater.  I surrounded my amphitheater with ocean views and created my seating from scratch.  I added banners, columns, statuary, and burning torches.  I linked it all together to create a holodeck so I can use this space not only for my demonstration but also as a class/meeting room or a play to produce virtual Greek plays.

The Project:

I added different elements to the amphitheater to formulate a classroom activity.  I created a Pikkubot named Themistocles73 to introduce the project.  The Oracle of Delphi gives the visitors their task to complete where they will have to interact with three separate Pandorabot NPCs to find answers to problems.  They also have the opportunity to receive a free toga and wreath of laurels.

The Purpose:

I created this space as an immersive environment for middle school world history students.  The students can gain important and interesting facts about Athens and gain a better understanding about what life was like over 2000 years ago. 

Reflection:

I had a great time with this project.  It presented a great many challenges but I was able to complete the assignment with time to spare.  I look forward to CED553 this summer!

Unit 11: Indroducing Themistocles73, My Pikkubot

My Pikkubot: 

Themistocles (Tha-mist-o-clees) was an general of ancient Athens that lived from 524-459 B.C.  Themistocles fought in the Battle of Marathon and it was his strategy and leadership that won the Battle of Salamis in 479 BC.  Considered to be one of the greatest battles in human history, the Peloponnesian League defeated the Persian Empire in a naval battle that ended Persia's grip on the Mediterranean. I created my Pikkubot to introduce my students to this important historical figure.  I plan to make him the centerpiece to my final project.  I have prepared an introductory speech for him but I will also create a Pandora brain so that students may ask questions.


SLED News:

I read an article about John "Pathfinder" Lester's world in Jibe.  I looked forward to viewing it for this piece but I could not get Jibe to work on my browser.  So I had to scratch that.

I instead read an article about Archaeology Island from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  The article discusses that IUP moved their content out of Second Life and on to ScienceSim, an OpenSim grid.  I have included a picture of me at a Mayan temple. I say, what's the point of creating a Mayan settlement on ScienceSim, according to the Mayans, we won't be around to enjoy it.  He, he, he!

Final Project:

I am planning to create an immersive ancient Greek environment.   My hope is to create a learning environment that students can use to learn, to act out ancient Greek tragedies, and/or serve as virtual meeting place for teachers and educators.  Some of the items I have used in my backdrop this week are pieces to my final project.  I am starting to assemble the look and feel.  I will also be creating costumes for participants, and other accessories.

Unit 10 - Machinima

Not much went according to plan with this one.  This assignment highlighted, for me, my need for a new computer.  I have every intention of using Camtasia and probably machinima in my classroom.  If I am going to do that, I am going to have to upgrade. 

I had trouble with the viewer.  I initially used the Second Life viewer.  I am still having trouble with my video card and the basic shaders.  I thought I would try it out in Imprudence.  I was able to turn on my basic shaders and have Ultra graphic settings without a problem.  So most of my machinima was produced using Camtasia and Imprudence.

Final Project:

Currently I am thinking about creating a Greek Amphitheater for the performance of Greek tragedies and orations.

Unit 8 - Porgan Particle Generator

This week was all about the Porgan Particle Generator.  It is a wonder device that allows you to create particle scripts with ease.  They are easily customized to fit your needs.  I created three separate particles all which started as one of the built in presets.

Particle 1:  Snow

I wanted to create a winter scene to put my Linden built cabin kit in so I decided snow particles would be a necessity.  The preset had very little going on, so I increased the rate of generation, took off the wind effect, and increased their age.  That gave me my desired pattern.

Particle 2:  Fire

I used the fire preset to start with again.  I wanted more natural flame colors so I faded red into amber.

Particle 3:  Smoke

The smoke preset looked pretty good the way it was.  I did tinker around with it a little while and felt the original preset looked the best for my needs.  Now armed with my three scripts I began to construct my holodeck.

I created a big one this time with plenty of room to do other things if I ever wish too.  There is plenty of room to hold class or give demonstrations.  This shot has two of the particle scripts in it. There is smoke coming off the campfire.  I also have three invisible balls in the air with the snow scripts in them.  That allowed me to have snow where I wanted it and the volume I wanted.

In the cabin I created a fireplace as the place for my flames.  Notice the whole family made into this build!  I added fire sounds and a bed of embers to add realism.

Completes the scene.  I learned a lot with this build.  First, there is a limited number of items you can have using a single scene script.  That number is 356 I believe.  I also discovered that holodecks do not like some sleeping scripts too.  I used a prefab bed that I customized for the cabin.  It shot my first rez across to Lucy's area up in the air.  I took that script out and if worked fine.  I also think door scripts might be difficult in holodecks.  I bet they would have to have their own scene script in the root prim.

SLEDing Around:

I tried to find the article that we were supposed to write on but I think I have deleted it.  I do vaguely remember reading it. Unfortunately I don't remember enough to write a blog about it.  So I will discuss the new Virtual Education Journal Magazine that was link to on the SLED List this week.

Open publication - Free publishing - More iste

There are some great articles about ISTE Island, virtual food, and who some educators found their way to SL.  The one I will discuss highlights the Virtual Worlds - Best Practices in Education Conference.

This years conference theme is "Be Epic."  A fitting title for the capabilities of education in virtual environments.  The conference is 48 hours of learning, networking, and sharing with educators from around the world.  Only in VR can such a conference happen.  The articles discussing the "Epic" conference show pictures of prior conferences as well as a few teasers of conference sites for this year.

For my third topic, view my OpenSim Session Reflection in the prior post.

VWBP Conference 2012

Wade Halvorson and Leslie Bonjour

I attended my first Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference in Second Life on Friday & Saturday. I cannot even begin to explain all that I learned in just three short hours of being there. It shows me what I know and how much I still have to learn.  I attended three sessions.  The first reviewed their case study on cross-cultural online student collaboration.  The second was a review on Education and OpenSim Hypergrids.  The final was on the MachinEVO trial course on teaching machinima.

Maria Korolov

I will focus this blog on the session that I got the most out of, which is on OpenSim led be Maria Korolov.  Obviously OpenSim and Sim On A Stick is something I have discussed and where I am currently working.  This session convinced me that in my current teaching position and what I would be about to use MUVEs for, OpenSim is the way to go.  Similar to our holodecks in SL, OAR files in OpenSim allow the user to create different worlds.  I could have the medieval village I am creating on one and then create another OAR file for ancient Egypt, Greece, Etc  The possibilities are endless.  Whit help from the IT Department, I could set these grids up on the network and allow for collaborative work.  All this within the safety of our firewall.

The Session gave lots of tips as well as locations to find prefab OAR files and clothing.  There was also links to people willing to help.  One of the most famous OpenSim educators is Fleet Tuque of FleepGrid was actually in attendance to the session.  It was pretty cool to be sitting and learning from some of the biggest names in SL.

Slides from the Presentation:  https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=ddtq7sff_11jzdxr4pp 

Me at the MachinEVO Session

Unit 7: Pandorabots

Introducing MirrorMirror, my Pandorabot:

Again, I tried to stay in my medieval theme so I can use this in my SOAS world.  Since it is script driven, I should be able to do that quite easily.  I just have to make copies of the scripts and recreate my mirror in that world.

MirrorMirror was designed to answer general questions about the Middle Ages.  I envision him as somewhat of a door greeter/concierge for my world.  He will have nonspecific knowledge and may be found in several places throughout the sim.  He may also serve as a little comic relief.  The real benefit of this is that I will have an "expert" that I can continue to add information to and can be used throughout the sim.  I have probably programmed over thirty questions so far.  Some in keeping with the theme and some not.  There are some jewels for Monty Python & Hitchhikers Guide fans.

Second Life Issues and Happenings:

I read and article at Virtual World Education Roundtable that discussed how virtual education has changed on year after the SL tier increase.  Some had kept their plot on SL.  Others had scaled back.  Many had left completely and had been experimenting with OpenSim grids like FleepGrid.  They also highlighted resources like OpenSim Creations.

I can help but think that virtual education is at some kind of precipice.  It will either soar to new heights through forced collaboration with other educators create an educational shared grid or it will fade away in to the mist.  These educators, participating in the discussion, have continued moving forward and trying new worlds.  Using private grids are ok but the real benefits gained from virtual worlds is through collaboration.    I think the key will be when someone or a group of educators come together and form a education grid that students and educators can visit, collaborate on, and build. 

The Class Thus Far:

What has been my favorite part thus far, you ask?  The holodeck building I think has been the most fun.  I did like the Pandorabots a lot but, it takes a long time to build a brain correctly.  It also takes some careful planning.  I think it will be much harder when students attempt to talk with it because they may have to be guided a bit on how to ask questions and what to ask.  I think a few beta test will be necessary to work out kinks, have them log questions that the mirror couldn't answer that where important.  As far as the holodeck goes, I like having the ability to set up different scenes and storing them. That could be very helpful as a world history teacher that covers different eras.  I enjoyed flexing my creativity and can do it again and again.

Under Construction

Unit 6: Clothing & Tranceformational Learning

Clothing:

Sometime I am my own worst enemy.  I wanted to create an outfit that could be utilize in my SOAS medieval world.  So I thought I would make a medieval tunic.  I patterned it after the tunic worn by Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.   I found a photo of the tunic and began to construct my likeness with a black velvet texture.  I also found a chainmail texture that I used for the arms.  Once complete, I used the Second Life Clothes Previewer (SLCP) to check out the design and look for gaps and misalignment.  This was a great tool and help to solve problems before uploading.  I quickly realized on the wire model that the shirt would not really make it look much like a tunic.  I would have to make a skirt to attach to it to fill it out.  The skirt was by far the easiest to make.  Once that was complete, it still needed something else. 

The shoulders of my tunic did not fit quite right as the shirt fits skin tight to the avatar.  I decided that adding a couple of shoulder flairs with prims may do the trick.  So, I made a triangular swatch out of my skirt texture and layered it over transparent.

I created a cylinder prim, hollowed it out, path cut it in half, and applied the texture to the inside and outside.  All other edges are clear.  Once complete I made it the relative size it needed to be, named it for the right shoulder, and took it into my inventory.  I then attached it to my right shoulder and fit it into it's proper position.  This looked much better.  I took it off and copied it to make the the left shoulder.  I fit it and it was complete.

This is the finished tunic with shoulder flairs.  Once I completed that, I then decided to experiment with making a cape with flexible prims.  It works pretty well.  I will save that for viewing in class.  I accessorized this costume with some maroon colored pants and pirate boots.

My second outfit I created was a t-shirt and jeans.

I wanted to use a shadow layer.  I have not become proficient enough for drawing my own shadows and wrinkles.  The regular clothes-making template has a shadow layer but, the shadow layer has the grid on it as well.  I am not sure why.  So, I applied my own.  I add a color layer that I started with white but ended up using black because I thought it looked better.  I colored the entire sleeve because it is easier to adjust sleeve length once the shirt is made and on your avatar.  I then adjusted the transparency so the shading form could be seen.  I then applied the chicken logo.  I have been using "Henvision" as my moniker for over ten years on my video productions.  In a prior class, I had designed this logo, so I thought it would be appropriate to apply it here.  On the back of the shirt it says, "The Hen Strikes Again!"  

The jeans I created were a little more difficult.  I decided to use a picture from a jeans store.  The model wearing the jeans had and open legs, similar to the pose above.  I had to fit the legs on the template on leg at a time.  I did the right leg first, so I could keep the seams whole on the left to mask the edges.  I had some gaps on the legs and had to use some fill and shading which was not perfect.  I learned a lot making the jeans and learned some tricks to use next time.  I think I would use seams to hide more.  The jeans had pockets so I figured that counts.

TranceFormational Learning:

"A model for designing and redesigning learning and training activities to create experiences that are more engaging and effective for the learner." (John Jamison, 2010)

The model employs Seven Principles in its design:  Objectives, Attention, Together, Immersion, Emotion, Authenticity, and Learning.  Objectives relate to the specific goals you wish the learner to achieve.  Attention is employing a tactic to grab and hold the learner's attention.  Together refers to whether you want the activity to be performed as a group or independently.  Immersion refers to the "buying-in" or engagement of the learner to the task or process.  Emotion deals with the desired feeling you want the learn to have during and after the activity.  Authenticity is the principle that keeps it real, using real life scenarios or tasks.  Finally, learning deals with the you will measure their learning and how will you receive feedback.

 I think these principles are valuable in creating positive and effective lessons using technology.  It is specifically viable in Second Life.  SL provides an immersive environment that lends itself well to lessons that require a great deal of engagement and learner interaction.  I already employ many of these principles when I design activities for assignment at Fontbonne and in my middle school classroom.

Weekly Reading:

I read a lot about on SLED and other blogs about the closing of ISTE Island in SL.  What a shame.  I am not sure why Linden Lab has moved away from education by removing the educational discount but I do not think it will not be a financially sound decision.  I came to SL through its educational usage and I quickly found ISTE Island and learned a lot.  I made sure I visited the island one last time this week.  A lot of good things happened for virtual education on ISTE Island.  Through education often drives innovation, almost as much as necessity.  Cheers to all the educational pioneers at ISTE Island.