identity and culture in virtual worlds
DESCRIPTION
VWBPE 2009 presentation on Teaching in Virtual Worlds: Identity and Culture by Dr. Cynthia Calongne, March 29, 2009. Visit http://vwbpe.org and http://wiki.vwbpe.org/index.php?title=Schedule for more information.TRANSCRIPT
TEACHING IN VIRTUAL WORLDS: IDENTITY AND CULTURE
Paper presentation by
Dr. Cynthia Calongne
Institute for Advanced StudiesColorado Technical University
Licensed under aCreative Commons Share Alike
with Attribution License
Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education
March 29, 2009
2
Lyr Loboin her
nature spiritavatar
Avatar Design by Lyr
Cover slide:
Lyr Lobo as a shadow robot
dancing with herself
3
An Educause SAC Story
• The National Science Foundation (NSF) had recently updated their website
• Someone asked if the NSF needed a Second Life site
• Why?
• Persis Trilling noted that Second Life centers on people interacting with each other and the content
• Immersion, interaction & a sense of presence
• Engaging and personal
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Is this avatar new or experienced? How do we know?
5First day in Second Life for which of these avatars?
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Crossing boundaries: Eric McLuhan as Pharaoh
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Your Avatar: Who Are You?
• Subcultures and roles– Teacher– Parent– Scholar– Lover of life– Curious child– Researcher– Comedian– Entertainer– Sage, a wise person
What we know about you
The inner you
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Who are thesepeople?
Who is the avatar on the far right?
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Paper Highlights
• People make a virtual world come alive– It is that shared experience and the awareness of others
that makes the content come to life.
• Situated learning, culture and behavior– Anonymity can enhance learning and communication
across cultural boundaries.
• Representation: identity in the classroom– Students and instructors need to recognize one another.
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This is notyour Mama’s classroom!
Who is the avatar in the center?
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Slide from TCC 2007 by D. Antonacci and N. ModaresFocus on diversity and situated learning
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Idealized selfor real self?
October 2006
Heading to Ramapo on the
Teen grid!
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CS 855 Futuring and Innovation Summer 2008
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By January 2007,Second Life
had over 2.5 million unique residents
Who is this man?
His avatar looks likea cartoon.
Why do we takehim seriously?
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Chart Copyright © 2007 by theVirtual Environments Info Grouphttp://www.virtualenvironments.info
In April 2008 - over 100youth-oriented virtual worlds active or in development
In Aug 2008 - it grewto over 150 virtual worlds
In Jan 2009 - over 200virtual worlds
59 have microtransactions57 require subscriptions46 use advertisingFrom Virtual Worlds Management by Show Initiativehttp://www.virtualworldsmanagement.com/2009/youth-01-26-2009.html
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Choices for your avatar
• Avatar type– Gender– Species– Race– Ideal vs real– Context sensitive
• Nonverbal– Animations & gestures– Sounds
• Appearance– Skin, shape, hair, eyes– Image and style
• Welcoming• Impressive• Intimidating• Thought-provoking• Expressive• Powerful• Super geek• Hip
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Above:
Who is this avatar?
Wireframe of an avatar
18Lyr Lobo looks better with skin
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TCC 2007Pre-conference in
Second Life organizers
Who is the dog in the center?
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Rise of the machines: How do we tell who is real from other objects?
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Life 2.0 - who is the avatar on the left that helps users with 25 groups stay in touch?
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Virtual World Culture
• Second Life cultures– Educators– Professionals– Worldwide cultures– Furry– Fantasy (Elves, dragons)– Geeks (tech, sci fi, robots)– Arts, music, literary– Adult– Teen grid
• Ideal self– Imaginative– Creative– Enabled
• Real self– Recognition– Honest– Disabled
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Kiwi educators and teen grid mentors - dressed as what subculture?
24Which avatar is not real?
25Real avatars, real people - who is on the left?
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Ready to teach!
Playful and imaginativelearning environments
In the photo above:
What 5 letter word describes this group?
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What 7 letter worddescribes what these students
are doing whilesitting in the wheelchairs?
A CS 820 Usability andInteraction Class tests
their accessibility projects
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Who is this avatar?
Bonus question:
Where does Hackwork and integrate
content into Second Life?
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Who is this little girl?
At the NMC NML2009Thursday Xu
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Above:
Who is the avatar featured on the right?
Corwin and Lyr in her normal shape
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Wright State MBA students their 1st day in Second Life
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A Strategic Thinking class meets with the instructor and Lyr.How many students do you see?
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We develop Second Worldskills and our identitiesin a virtual world class
Students sharing ideasin social networks
CS 820 Class Fall 2008
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TEACHING IN VIRTUAL WORLDS: IDENTITY AND CULTURE
Dr. Cynthia CalongneLyr Lobo in Second Life
Twitter Lyrlobo
For more information, visit:
http://ctusoftware.blogspot.comhttp://www.slideshare.net/lyrlobo
Lyr Lobo
CS 820 Usability and Interaction class 2009