Virtual learning, real prizes

The NMC have announced $100,000 worth of prizes (yes, that's US dollars, not L$!) intended to create a collection of innovative open-source learning experiences. Very impressive.

I've been wondering about suggesting that Eduserv offer some prizes at Alt-C this year for innovative and effective learning activities in Second Life but not on this kind of scale.

As the announcement says:

Projects funded under the program will be distinguished by the ways in which they make learning fresh or novel, or by the ways they illuminate topics or concepts that are normally very difficult to teach. Immersive learning experiences are especially encouraged, as are tools or devices intended to support the craft of teaching. The most competitive project proposals will not be limited to a single course or discipline, but will rather have broad applicability.

Note that awards, each of which amounts to $5000, are available for projects in either Second Life or Project Wonderland and come in the form of $500 cash and $4500 expert development assistance.

NMC Virtual Reality Room demo

I popped over to NMC yesterday to see their demo of Stephane Zugzwang’s Virtual Reality Room which is now being made available free for educational use. The turnout was very impressive - 70 or so while I was there and another 40 in a second session apparently.

Suffice to say that I got there too late - the place was heaving. Trying to teleport direct to the sim failed miserably but I managed to sneak in by teleporting to a neighboring sim, and then flying over.

Once there, I couldn't work out how to get inside the room :-(, so I just used my camera control to take this one shot. Unfortunately I couldn't hear anything. Not to worry... CBD's write-up and audio is sufficient.

I went back later and had another look when it was less busy. Impressive stuff. Not dissimilar to the urban bubbles that are available on Second Nature but free for people to experiment with themselves.

First buzz of the year

The first NMC buzz session of the year took place last night. It was set on NMC's new(ish) orientation sim but timed for midnight (UK time) which probably put off most UK participants.

After a welcome and introduction from NMC's CDB Barkley (aka Alan Levine) we were left to explore on our todds, re-gathering for a group discussion in the Waterside Cafe area after about 30 minutes (see pic).

There's a decent summary of the meeting on the NMC Campus Observer so I won't repeat it here.

Following the meeting I asked CDB whether the NMC orientation experience is open for use by non-US institutions - e.g. would it be acceptable for UK universities to use it as their default?. His answer:

Yes and yes. The NMC Orientation is not restricted to who can use it, and UK unis are more than welcome. The registration form that uses it is: http://sl.nmc.org/join/.

We've worked with at least 2 other institutions that set up their own regAPI but we provided coordinates so their new avatars land at NMC Orientation, and we can do that for others.

I think this is something that we should strongly consider in the UK. We all know that orientation is a critical point in the life of an avatar. It seems to me that the network effect of collaborating on an educational orientation area outweighs the potential advantages of each UK university building a bespoke solution. And surely none of us really want to inflict the standard orientation experience on our students and staff? NMC's is vastly better IMHO!

Feel the buzz...

NMC are starting off 2008 with an impressive array of in-world events including several Teachers Buzz sessions. One of these (at Jan 7 4:00pm PST) will focus on their new orientation experience which I blogged about before Christmas.

Good stuff...

NMC Orientation

I was reminded recently about NMC's bespoke Second Life orientation experience and decided to try it out for myself. I like it.

Web registration is more streamlined than with the standard Second Life registration pages and once in-world, the orientation area is less confusing, at least initially - though I must confess that at the point that the orientation split into multiple paths I felt somewhat bewildered about which direction to take.

Here's a picture of my newly rezzed avatar, Alrightme Ansome (to be pronounced with a strong west-country accent) reading some of the initial orientation signs.

Overall I'd rate it as a much better way to get started with Second Life, particularly for educators, than the standard orientation.

My only concern was that at the time I did it there weren't any other residents around to share the experience... none... nada . My gut feeling is that for this to be a truly useful orientation there have to be meeters and greeters around.

Now, I was joining on UK time - I can't quite remember when - early evening I think. It may be the case that NMC have people around during US hours? Perhaps what we need to do is firstly, encourage the use of the NMC experience for new UK education residents and secondly, organise a rota of UK meeters and greeters on UK timescales?

PS. If anyone, prefereably of a conish persuasion, would like to take over the controls of Alrightme Ansome, you are welcome to him. I probably won't make much more use of him. He's been carefully used twice and has never left the NMC orientation area. Get in touch if you are interested.

Thinkerer Challenge

NMC have announced the Thinkerer Challenge, a monthly award for in-world projects that benefit people outside SL in some way. Submissions will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Creative synergy. The product or service results from an innovative combination of ideas from the real world and capabilities offered by Second Life.
• Collaboration. The product or service results from the collaboration of two or more people who have made distinct and recognizable contributions.
• Outfacing. The item (or a significant aspect of it) is accessible and of value to some people outside of Second Life.