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Enhancing Learning Through Virtual Environments: Role-Playing Strategies

Explore the importance of 3D virtualization environments in promoting flexible and immersive learning experiences through role-playing strategies. Develop environmental leadership skills and empower students through personalized and social learning approaches. Discover the transformative potential of Second Life for education and research validation.

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Enhancing Learning Through Virtual Environments: Role-Playing Strategies

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  1. Rich Knight Depart. of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, University of the Western Cape Email: Knight.rich[at]gmail.com Email: Knight.rich[at]ymail.com The Role of 3D virtualisation Environments for providing flexible learning

  2. Developing Environmental Leadership • Part of Environment and Sustain- ability Studies as a core principle. • Environmental Curriculum Leadership (EL) is usually Post- Graduate and mid-career focused. • Infusion of Environmental Leadership needs to be introduced into under-graduate curriculum. Introduction Explicitly introducing Environmental Leadership contributes to UWC’s Charter of Graduate Attributes.

  3. Flexible Learning • Provides students with increased choice, conveniences and personalities. • Provides for WHERE, WHEN and HOW Learning occurs. • Provides information access, leverages expertise, contributes to peer evaluation and correspondence with mentors. Personalised Learning Internet Technology and Virtual Learning Environments are blended with face-to-face instruction.

  4. Role-Playing as a Teaching Strategy • Encourages co-operative learning. • Increases student interest and involvement with course material. • Increases use of experiential (enquiry-based) learning. • Replaces Passive with Active Learning. Social Learning Promotes empathy, an understanding of different perspectives and social responsibility within a safe environment.

  5. Introducing Role-Play into courses • Uses students back-ground knowledge (schema). • Complements this knowledge with new information. • Requires re-design of assess- ments that require role-play (conferences, plays, and newscasts) • Use Storyboards to act out different roles (e.g. government officials versus protestors) Implementation Encourage creativity and allow mistakes to be made (adds experience)

  6. Four steps to Role-Play • Preparation by the instructor to define the activity. • Preparation by the students to enact gained knowledge (draft or storyboard presentation). • Presentation of Role-Play. • Debriefing including analysis of mistakes and options on future presentations of the role-play. Implementation Role-Play requires an adaptive approach involving more than one iteration.

  7. Role-Playing as a Teaching Strategy

  8. Second Life for Role-Play • A “Cloud” 3D Virtual immersive and interactive environment. • Developed by Linden Labs and launched in 2003. • Users are called residents and interact using Avatars. • Interactions include to socialise, educate, role-play, trade and have “relationships”. • Uses 3D modeling composed of sculpted “prims”, scripts, currency and land transactions. Virtual Environments

  9. Role Play: Commercial Environment • Large Estates and Islands (65 536 m2) cost $1000 to purchase and $195 and $295 per month maintenance (=SIM). • One server is dedicated to 4 SIMS. • A maximum of 15 000 “prims” can be supported. • Land is re-released through Property Agents through smaller land parcel rentals. • Open Source Scripting language and IP rights are owned by author to share/sell (Marketplace). • Own Currency 230 Linden = $1 (need budgets). Virtual Environments

  10. Second Life: Research validation • Stanford Prison Experiment (Zimbardo 1971): Investigated psychological effects of prisoner- guard relationships. • A Mock Prison duplicated effects of enforced authoritarian measures (Students role-playing). • Excessive psychological torture prematurely terminated the “experiment”. • Highly controversial/Unethical (= un-validated) • SL Role-Play could validate these results. Virtual Environments

  11. Second Life eLearning Platform • Chat (online): Synchronous Communication Open channel (people nearby can receive it). • Instant Messaging: Synchronous (Online), Asynchronous (Offline) with stored email communications (Closed channel). • Note Cards: (Offline) Operates similarly to email using text-files and links (to graphical elements). • Groups and Group Notifications (with email notification). Allows Note Cards to be filed under the necessary Group (Assignment Submission). Virtual Environments

  12. Second Life: Avatar details • Fully customisable (appearance, clothes, behaviour controlled by scripts called Animation Over-rides or AOs). • Scripts can be obtained (purchased) for a variety activities (chatting, dating, listen, dancing through to doing medical procedures like midwifery). • Speech needs to be complemented with EMOTES. • Teaches student to analyse emotion. Virtual Environments

  13. Second Life: Assignment Design • Online debates with different roles (including using stereotypes). • Public Poster Displays (Globalisation: ESS132). • Autumn Film Festivals (Google Tours: ESS2121). • Landscape Environmental Storyboards (BCB321). • Environmental Play (ESS312). • Lecture Series: Conservation Biology (BCB312). Virtual Environments

  14. Advocacy Shirt Design

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