FAS in Second Life
The last couple decades have seen vast innovations in the delivery of information over networks and to the interaction between computers and humans. Educational theorists and computer programmers strived to develop various commercial and non-commercial interfaces and techniques to promote interaction.Much of the innovation in educational technology has focused on specific delivery methods. Some used learning management systems to organize electronic text materials. Others used multimedia to create animated and interactive online tutorials. A few tried to develop natural language question answering. And then there were gamers who created highly interactive role-playing games and immersive training simulations.
Each of these techniques is an effective instruction tool when used in the appropriate context. But these developments also called attention to the lack of seamlessness – the inability to blend interfaces. To maximize an individual’s learning experience, a new platform would need to combine communication technologies and collaboration interfaces with 3D authoring tools. This learning environment would embrace instant messaging, email, file transfer, voice chat, discussion boards and shared workspaces, and game engines, multimedia tools, and content authoring tools.
Virtual World technologies in their present state possess promising potential to meet these expectations.
Virtual World technologies have been around for a while in two forms. Massively Multiplayer
Online Games (MMOG) like World of Warcraft,and Massively Multiplayer Online Environments (MMOE) like Active Worldshare considered to be tools for game playing or social networking, respectively. The arrival of Second Life (SL) attracted major media attention and many users. SL provides social networking, a large, connected virtual landscape, a relatively easy to use building editor, and the ability to create and sell virtual objects.
A Virtual World like Second Life (SL) provides features to meet the needs of a generation of digital natives, that is learners who have grown up with computers and consider the Internet to be a primary source of knowledge. SL offers a fast and inexpensive method to create a realistic and engaging simulation experience through traditional real-time virtual reality walk-throughs or pre-rendered movies. Equal importance is given to the users’ ability to interact, become immersed, and receive information. The platform encourages the formation of communities, facilitates meaningful conversations and negotiations with peers, and provides a virtual space for users to learn activities by doing them.
With shrewd management and creative experimentation, SL, and many of its competitors seem poised to offer multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary collaborative learning environments.
FAS in Second Life
To explore the potential of Second Life, FAS is transferring materials used to create Discover Babylon— an educational video game about the diverse cultural contributions of ancient Mesopotamia – to virtually recreate aspects of this civilization so scholars across different disciplines may share expertise and information. This 3D collaborative learning environment will let communities of scholars such as archeologists, architects, scientists, educators, and artists to share knowledge and expertise from a diversity of sources.
Users will be able to interact with “residents” of ancient Mesopotamia, and see how they lived, in a stunning, realistic 3-D world that will provide a perspective no single book or museum collection could match. Animals and automated human avatars (also known as non-player characters) will roam through the simulated Mesopotamian cities and engage in day-to-day activities in real time. Contributors will be able to build out the environment by adding or editing content based on academic findings to create more accurate renderings of ancient sites. These simulated places and cities can eventually be used to reconstruct real-life scenarios that require higher order skills such as strategic thinking, interpretative analysis, and experimentation for problem solving.
The following hypothetical situation will better explain the future use of this collaborative online system. Specialists interested in reconstructing historical sites or events submit proposals to FAS. Upon approval, the archaeologist will work with the administrator to develop content for the new city and author non-playing animals and human avatars for specific behaviors, each loaded with routine dialogues. After construction of the environment is complete, the new area will be open to all registered SL users (the Virtual World residents). Some of these residents may create 3D objects or assets to be placed within the new city or share ideas or host live virtual events in the space. Other visitors to the 3D environment might use it to augment classroom learning.
The initial phase of this project focused on an increased comfort level with the various Virtual World technologies. The second phase, started this year, includes simulating the Discover Babylon environment in SL and of evaluating other Virtual World platforms. The third phase will import the Mesopotamian prototype from Second Life to another Virtual World platform.
FAS will eventually create a full-scale collaborative application that will work across all Virtual Worlds – not just Second Life.
The next few decades will continue to introduce incredible technological innovations that improve the way people receive information and interact online. The research conducted by FAS will provide the building blocks and important feedback for the success of those virtual leaps. However successful the Second Life virtual ancient city proves to be for FAS, this is still a pilot project. The lessons learned will be applied to the much larger, and far more ambitious, virtual worlds initiative as it has been conceived by FAS its partners and contributors.
FAS
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