The 2009 EduFaire in Second Life

The EduFaire was held late January 2009 in Second Life. The purpose was for educational organisations in Second Life to showcase their projects, tools, activities and sims. There were a range of sessions to attend and displays to explore. The following photos provide examples of some of the EduFaire sessions:

In the above photo, you can see five (5) presenters with posters in the background, a display board which works like a PowerPoint presentation and a Chat Log tool. The Chat Log is the box in the front, just left of centre, with names in red font hovering above it. These are the names of the participants giving permission for their typed chat to be recorded into a transcript for later perusal.

One of the presenters in the above photo, has rezzed (brought in-world) a tool which helps teaching records and processes to be communicated between the First and Second Worlds. This tool will be discussed in greater detail in a later post.

This aerial view (above) allows you to get a feel for the learning space setup and the avatars in attendance. The text hovering above the avatar heads are their names. This function can be turned off to reduce visual clutter. In the left bottom corner is part of the typed chat of this session. The box with the blue circles is a camera tool on the screen and not inworld.

Above,  is a side view of avatars gathering for a session.

Overall, this 2009 EduFaire was an informative and successful event.

Now to the Educational Stuff

How I Learnt about Second Life 

In 2008 I received the bi-monthly newsletter which outlined the featured articles in Innovate: Journal of Online Education, an online publication of the Nova Southeastern University's Fischler School of Education and Human Services. The article which captured my imagination was written by Nancy Evans, Thalia M Mulvihill and Nancy J Brooks, entitled Mediating the Tensions of Online Learning with Second Life. There was also a link to a webcast about this article.

If you wish to explore these resources yourself, please click the following links:

• Journal Article (Evans, Mulvihill & Brooks)
• Webcast (Evans, Mulvihill & Brooks)
• Back Issues of Innovate Online

Evans, Mulvihill & Brooks (2008) had a similar frame of reference to my own, so I built up the courage to explore this strange "new world" of Second Life. It took quite a bit to overcome my hesitations in taking the first step, as I did not come from a computer nor a gaming background. In fact the last video games I played were Pac Man and Frogger when they first came out! Although I could see that this virtual world was more than a game, I felt lacking in the skills that a gaming background would have given me for this venture..... but that was soon to change!

So, I typed in the Second Life web page, and ventured into registering for membership. I got half way though this process and got cold feet. It was late at night and too eerie for me. I wondered if I was opening my computer up to risk in this activity and the darkness of the night created shadows in my mind. So I cancelled the process and decided to let sleep regather my energy and courage.

The next day I tried again, this time successfully, and thus embarked on such an amazing journey of exploring a range of creative, beautiful, strange and imaginative sims. I met new people where distance was no barrier and even talked to people in different languages using a translator program. I then started building and tapped into a creative side I could not even imagine I had.

As for the educational world, I met fellow educators from around the globe, attended educational faires, conferences, workshops, panel interviews, and participated in a range of creative simulated learning areas. It was amazing to be sitting in a workshop with people who were physically located in their respective countries. l attended every opportunity I could and rediscovered that childlike energy and enthusiasm for learning. I was once again on that steep learning curve and loving it! It was great experiencing the thrill of learning. So too often as educators we see this enthusiasm for learning in our students, but we can begin to fall into the 'same ole, same ole' routine because we are repeating some subjects. And although we can be creative each year in our delivery, the scope is limited in the required content coverage. So not only did I love exploring this virtual world because of its newness to me, I embraced the access it gave me to a huge range of learning opportunities, whether these were virtual world in focus or just using the virtual world for an international delivery platform of educational concepts unrelated to virtual worlds.


Educational Samples to Follow in the Next Few Posts

The following posts will provide a number of samples of how various educational organisations are using virtual worlds. In particular, we will see picture examples of:

• Educational Faires
• Conferences
• Meetings
• Learning Spaces
• Inworld Tools

And then we will explore how these are being used for counselling and community services education.

A Tapestry of Virtual World Experiences

The following are a range of fun activities I have experienced within the virtual World of Second Life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are plenty of areas to explore in Second Life. It is a huge virtual world, which has millions of residents (avatar members). It has its own economy in which you can particpate, however, you can freely participate in this virtual world without any membership fees.

  

There is a strong educational presence in Second Life and it hosts a number of workshops, events and conferences each year, worthy of participation.

Terminology and Acronyms

In the right hand column is a section called, "Terminology and Acronyms". This section will be reviewed regularly and new terms and acronyms added, relevant to online and virtual worlds.

Please type a comment, if there is a term or acronym you would like explained or added to the list.

Some Useful e-Links

There are a number of useful e-links for you to explore under a number of categories in the right hand margin of this Blog. These will be reviewed and updated regularly.

At this stage, there are six (6) main areas of focus:

1. Virtual Worlds to Explore: Although there are many virtual worlds, these are the key ones used by the author of this Blog. But, please feel free to discuss any other virtual worlds you believe to be useful for counselling/community services education;
2. Useful E-Counselling Links: These links will take you to professional counselling/community services organisations which use virtual worlds in a range of different ways;
3. Virtual Education Publications and Resources: These links will take you to a range of e-journals and hard copy resources relevant to education in virtual worlds;
4. Events, Workshops and Conferences: These links will take you to web sites which discuss a range of events, workshops and conferences, either hosted in a virtual world, or about e-learning in the real/first world;
5. Podcasts and Webinars: These links will take you to a range of audio and/or visual presentations relevant to virtual worlds.
6. Relevant Video Links: This will take you to a range of interesting videos relevant to the educational use of virtual worlds in counselling/community services.

Remember to check these links periodically, as they will be updated regularly.



Welcome

Welcome to Michigan Downunder, a Blog dedicated to exploring the use of virtual worlds in teaching counselling and community services.

I am your host, Annemaree Michigan, and you can find me in a number of virtual worlds, especially Second Life, Jokaydia Grid, Reaction Grid and OpenSim.

Come join me in exploring how such virtual worlds can assist students in developing a range of concepts and skills relevant to counselling and community services.