2008-04-22 Open Forum

SL Education Roundtable – Montclair State CHSS Island
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
Open Forum

AJ Brooks: hello all
Bella Yan: Hello
AJ Brooks: I’m laggy, anyone else?
Transcriptionist Writer: Hello
JeanClaude Vollmar: hello AJ
Lissi Felisimo: hello
Transcriptionist Writer: no lag going on here.
AJ Brooks: those in the Amphithe4ater, please come join us at the table, there is plenty of room over here
David Shea: hello
Miranda Llewellyn: hi folks – just been changing skins – apologies for any unintentional nudity!
Topher Zwiers: Hello again AJ… Not laggy here…
Evert Snook: I always have lag this time of day
AJ Brooks: we’ll give everyone a chance to come over and sit with us, and the few who are just joining
Miranda Llewellyn: pretty laggy here too
Commander Wolfenhaut: hello
Commander Wolfenhaut: what are we doing
AJ Brooks: ok – tried adjusting some setting
AJ Brooks: see if that helps
David Shea: Seems to be good for me …
AJ Brooks: ok, well – welcome everyone
Miranda Llewellyn: yeah – me too
AJ Brooks: we’ll start as we usually do, by introducing ourslevs. NO need to wait for anyone, just go ahead and type your name, where youre from, what you do, and any other info you think it important. We can all read it in history
Transcriptionist Writer: chuck – tucson, az
Bella Yan: Randolph Hollingsworth, Univ of KY
AJ Brooks: I am AJ Brroks, AJ Kelton in RL, I am the Director of Technology Services for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Montclair State University in norther New Jersey, very close to NYC
JeanClaude Vollmar: I’m JC (Jeff Le Blanc in RL). I’m the VP for IT at UNOH in Ohio.
David Shea: David Sze – online prof for math and stats – Canada
Topher Zwiers is from San Jacinto College in Houston. – an instructional technologist.
Commander Wolfenhaut: commander wolfenhaut, rhode island travel agency owner
Evert Snook: Evert, I teach psychology in Louisiana
Elysa Lowenhart: Elysa, Norwegian, PhD student in geography
Miranda Llewellyn: lecturer in Human Resource Management , Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland
Lissi Felisimo: Lissi Felismio. Italy. iam researching second lIfe and in specific virtual relationships and the vitual versus the real.
Bella Yan: I’m Assistant Provost for Integrated Academic Services at Univ of KY
AJ Brooks: great – anyone not replied yet?
Lissi Felisimo: UNiversity of westminster London
Stargazer Blazer: Miami University, ohio
Greowulf Spyker: Greowulf- I’m an adjunct in English at various B& M and online schools
ChrisG Techsan: ChrisG TSTC
AJ Brooks: Wow – great
ChrisG Techsan: I am the AVP for EdTEch
AJ Brooks: I see some old friends, welcome back – and some new faces, welcome to you as well
Greowulf Spyker: thank you
Zotarah Shepherd: Hello am a MA in Edu student in California
AJ Brooks: Another long standing tradition is to tell us how you heard about todays meeting – if a group, what group, and IM or notice, and if a listserve, which one – and if events, which one
Zildjian Szymer: Western Illinois University
AJ Brooks: please – tell us how you heard about todays meeting
Topher Zwiers: I get about four copies of the meeting notice from various groups 😉
AJ Brooks: lol
Lissi Felisimo: events list
JeanClaude Vollmar: I’m in the Academic CIO and VW Educator groups
ChrisG Techsan: ISTE
Elysa Lowenhart: events lists
AJ Brooks: WEll, you and I run in the same circles a lot, Topher
David Shea: I get meeting notices from somewhere – they just pop up
Zildjian Szymer: EDUCAUSE
Transcriptionist Writer: Search – Events – Discussions
Zotarah Shepherd: From you at a Bridging meeting AJ
Topher Zwiers: 😉
Greowulf Spyker: I belong to several distance learning and educator’s groups….
Evert Snook: I get education event notices on my Google Calendar
Bella Yan: I think EDUCAUSE group
AJ Brooks: ok – great
Miranda Llewellyn: SLED email list
AJ Brooks: well – thanks everyone for coming.
Stargazer Blazer: I’ll say EVents just to be a brat.
AJ Brooks: Today is an open {whaps Star} forum
Stargazer Blazer: hehe
AJ Brooks: and I was speaking with Topher ealire today so I’m going to turn the floor to him for the first quiestion/issue
Topher Zwiers: I appreciate the opportunity….
MystiTool HUD 1.0.23: Entering chat range: Baltimora Demina (10m)
AJ Brooks: oh – one sec, before you get started, I have to note one thing
ChrisG Techsan: psych
AJ Brooks: This is an open forum, and an open meeting – the notes from this are put into kiosks in the buildng to our side here
AJ Brooks: just want you all to know that a transcript is kept and made public. ok – go ahead Topher
Topher Zwiers: Question for those of you working with learners in world… If the projects your students work on require them to have Lindens (even uploading images/textures), do you make any arrangements for learners to receive Lindens? or is it entirely up to them?
Stargazer Blazer: Why not have them buy Lindens? It’s not like they are that much.
Bella Yan: We’re offering grants to faculty or student groups that propose projects
AJ Brooks: ack – I could never get away with making my students buy lindens
JeanClaude Vollmar: It might be cumbersome for students to do that I think
AJ Brooks: the U would have a fit!
Evert Snook: I only have a couple uploding and I plan to do them myself
Stargazer Blazer: Why?
ChrisG Techsan: We were fortunate enought to receive customized accounts when they accrued a stipend, so we have been able to help the students from this stipend
JeanClaude Vollmar: Many students are cash only. *smiles
Topher Zwiers: ONe reason I’m asking is that we are trying to make plans for a pilot project – and we expect more than a few of our learners to not have access to a credit card for payment information – let alone additional funds.
Miranda Llewellyn: it would be seen as an extra expense for the student
Stargazer Blazer: They pay hundreds for books.
AJ Brooks: some do with financial aid
AJ Brooks: or with credit cards, or with mommy and daddy’s money
Cudjoebill Thibaud is Online
AJ Brooks: plus, this is not a university wide requirement, AJ Brooks: those are the reasons from my end
Miranda Llewellyn: I don;t think our studets would be keen on that at all
David Shea: I’ve been in classes where professors collect some money – like $10 – to cover their copying etc. costs (when the dept doesn’t provide those services)
Stargazer Blazer: I thought college students had more credit cards than didn’t.
AJ Brooks: That is a breach of protocol on our campus
Zotarah Shepherd: For adults I teach if they needed to buy non-transferable items I would expect them tohandle the cost. Usually I buy everything including a lot for the teen grid.
AJ Brooks: faculty are not allowed to do that – some do, but they are not allowed to and if a studxent reported it the faculty member would have to not require it
Topher Zwiers: same here, AJ.
Zotarah Shepherd: But if there is a cost I would let them know ahead of time.
AJ Brooks: not at MSU
Evert Snook: Giving student accounts with some credits might encourage educational use
David Shea: Where I saw that – the faculty had to pay for copying services etc. themselves – the dept did not provide them – it was out of pocket for the teacher
Miranda Llewellyn: I think that if we encourage students to use SL it wouldn’t be fair to ask them to incur extra expenses
AJ Brooks: I toss them 300L our of my own pocket. all they are doing for me is uploading snaps or textures or photos from their own collection
Topher Zwiers: We’ve talked about including a lab fee to cover the cost – but that’s further down the road than the pilot; plus I don’t think we can take in a lab fee and just give it back to the student; once it hits the College’s coffers; it’s public funds. We can’t distribute those to individuals.
ChrisG Techsan: Does your college require any additional fees for online courses?…like student use fees?
David Shea: How much would each student need? In real dollars?
Miranda Llewellyn: their initial experience has to be a good one
AJ Brooks: ChrisG – per section, not per indicvidula course
Stargazer Blazer: The exchange is about 264L to the USD $1.
AJ Brooks: so all of SOCI 101 can be charged, but not 101.18 and not 101.19
14:45] Topher Zwiers: Evert & one other – idea of providing college owned accounts might be a possibility- but that sure limits the personalzation and ownership by learners; plus nothing prevents them from changing the password 😉
WYNN Criss: Hi sorry I am late to the meeting.
Lissi Felisimo: can someone tell me what kind of educational projects students are involved here?
AJ Brooks: sure – can we hold on that, that can be the next topic. I’d like to exhaust this money conversation first
Topher Zwiers: ChrisG – we do require fee for DL course. But, we can’t turn around and give funds to learners – like we would be by giving L$.
Lissi Felisimo: okay soory.
AJ Brooks: no worries
AJ Brooks: don’t let me forget to give you the floor. 🙂
ChrisG Techsan: we have discussed using a standard account. like a bank accunt in SL that we would distribute from
Stargazer Blazer: Ok, so it sounds like the teacher is stuck paying for the Lindens.
Topher Zwiers: ChrisG – are you in TX? I noticed TSTC earlier…
AJ Brooks: Eloise has a wonderful freebie to distribute money
WYNN Criss: Hey Greowulf-just got home from work-raining here in NC.
Zeros Gigamon: if you are studying the linden economy, giving them a chance to exchange like that might be beneficial in an academic environment
ChrisG Techsan: yes
Zeros Gigamon: a student working on a science project might not need to work with the “economy” portion
Zeros Gigamon: but paying extra for a class is pretty standard at any university
David Shea: What’s Eloise’s way, AJ?
Stargazer Blazer: I agree, Zeros, it’s part of being in SL. It’s part of the culture.
AJ Brooks: i’m looking for the object or script now
Zeros Gigamon: even if it’s 100 bucks for art supplies
AJ Brooks: its a box – and you do some minor programming on a notecard
Evert Snook: Could you just give uploads for student accounts, maybe enught for a PowerPoint
AJ Brooks: and the studnet can take money out – and it debits it from you account
Stargazer Blazer: I paid for plenty of class materials as an undergrad!
Zeros Gigamon: of course
Topher Zwiers: the problem I have – and this may be TX specific, I’m not sure – is that if the funds are institutional, we can’t distribute to individuals – we run into limitations on “making a gift of public funds”
Stargazer Blazer: One would hope they would like SL so much they would Want to buy lindens, to contribute to the community.
AJ Brooks: I can’t find it at the moment, but I have a copy over on the other side of the island, you can’t miss it – it s abox thats on fire. I’m sure I got it from the ICT Library
Transcriptionist Writer: lol, Brooks.
Zeros Gigamon: you want a fair method to distribute the cash? or just an easy way?
Topher Zwiers: Star – the contingency we’re trying to plan for is for learners that do not have the method (a credit card) to enter the Linden economy.
ChrisG Techsan: Topher- hmmm doesn’t that depend on the funding source?
AJ Brooks: studetns don’t give a rats butt about SL – I don’t think. They still thin kof this as a way of getting classweork done
David Shea: I danced my way to 65 lindens now 🙂
Greowulf Spyker: thank you Topher, I was in the middle of typing that question
AJ Brooks: lol david
Topher Zwiers: the other issue is that I’m hoping to engage our graphics design and other programs – student groups – as builders….
Stargazer Blazer: Ah, ok.
AJ Brooks: Bungy, Kibou – please, join us – there is plenty of room at the table, another seat will appear once one is taken
Topher Zwiers: ChrisG – yes it depends on the source… I’m assuming institutional funds… but I’m estimating that most grants would allow us to get around the “gift of public funds” issue – but we’ll still have tracking/accountability issues
Bungy Bingyi: Thanks – multitasking
AJ Brooks: yes – a public institution (read: tax dollars) adds complexity
Stargazer Blazer: We have a grad assistant to build ours, that is a good idea, Topher, but thinking long term, they can take their skills and start making lindens with them, if they are so inclined. Then, who will get Those Lindens?
WYNN Criss: Are any of you here from small private colleges?
ChrisG Techsan: that is where we are…how do we distribute and track
Zeros Gigamon: <–public U
JeanClaude Vollmar: We’re a small private
AJ Brooks: <–public, mid-size MA
WYNN Criss: Thanks
Stargazer Blazer: midsize public
Evert Snook: 8K public U
Greowulf Spyker: Montclair mid-size 🙂 huge campus
AJ Brooks: lol
Miranda Llewellyn: large public-UK
AJ Brooks: well – student wise, we’re mid sized
Greowulf Spyker: 😉 ok
David Shea: adjunct for 3 for-profit onlines
AJ Brooks: you know MSU?
Topher Zwiers 15k FTE, public, 2 year.
Zeros Gigamon: <–26K students, small 3 block campus footprint
Greowulf Spyker: Yes, I applied, but no luck this go round
ChrisG Techsan: one way may be to give a break in the student fees for those taking SL enhanced courses
Greowulf Spyker: English = Creative Writing
Zeros Gigamon: so charge less tuition for using digital resources?
AJ Brooks: wow – I don’t think that would fly
ChrisG Techsan: could be
Greowulf Spyker: that could get very messy logistically
Zeros Gigamon: I think my U does the opposite actually
AJ Brooks: some would argue that technology cost more not less
Zeros Gigamon: people get charged for e-learning courses
WYNN Criss: Our school is just beginning their journey with SL through grant funding. Under graduate research and the Religion department have a collaboration to start up a place in Sl in the fall.
ChrisG Techsan: if it is based off of course sections already
David Shea: I would think that tech courses cost more too
ChrisG Techsan: is a flag in a database
Evert Snook: Ours pay $50 extra for online
Topher Zwiers: to help sort things out… those of you that are working with learners inworld… would you mind saying where funds to support students come from (faculty, institution, learners)?
Topher Zwiers: where do learners get their L$?
AJ Brooks: from my own pocketr
Stargazer Blazer: What about PayPal, can you not use PayPal?
Zeros Gigamon: to buy $L, I believe u can
JeanClaude Vollmar: Yes, I use PP
Kibou Yokosuka is at a large Florida public university, which charges the same for online classes as traditional ones.
ChrisG Techsan: yes
Topher Zwiers: PayPal can use a checking account number… that could resolve the credit card issue…
Stargazer Blazer: Do you require anything in SL, in your classes?
ChrisG Techsan: Ok…here is the answer…we hit up the Bill Gates Foundation for donations…then it is local money and on worries…;)
Greowulf Spyker: Would it be possible to allocate a stipend to each course number that would rollover into the next semester when not used?
AJ Brooks: Zeros, mTea – please join us – plenty of room. so – a question. If you are actually teaching students in world – say YES
ChrisG Techsan: Yes
AJ Brooks: Yes
Evert Snook: no
Greowulf Spyker: no
WYNN Criss: No
ChrisG Techsan: actually working on teaching faculty inworld. Harder
Miranda Llewellyn: not yet
ChrisG Techsan: lol
David Shea: no
Stargazer Blazer: My students are SL residents, not ones in RL college per se.
AJ Brooks: ok – so far – 20 out of about 20
Zotarah Shepherd: Yes
AJ Brooks: ok – so 3
Zeros Gigamon: <–not teaching, tech support
AJ Brooks: 4
Miranda Llewellyn: can I say ‘on the brink’ lol
AJ Brooks: 4 out of 20?
Stargazer Blazer nods to chrisG
AJ Brooks: ok – so there you are Topher, 20%
WYNN Criss: I plan on teaching a First Year Experience Class in SL in the Fall if I can convince the Administration.
Kavon Zenovka: Interesting WYNN
Zotarah Shepherd: Do you WANT to teach at least a part of your classes in SL?
Kavon Zenovka: WYnn is your FYE currently online?
Topher Zwiers: Since it’s a small % – I’ll get in touch with those folks later on – to allow another topic 😉
Bella Yan: sry got to go
AJ Brooks: ok – who had the other topic?
Stargazer Blazer: It doesn’t matter in a sense, it’s an issue we will all face at some point or another.
Topher Zwiers: REALLY appreciate the help and opportunity to discuss.
AJ Brooks: Is she still here?
Lissi Felisimo: what kind of educatioal projects are student s encouraged to get involved here that can not be done in the real world. are there any advantages that you see in virtual education?
JeanClaude Vollmar: I had a status Q for you AJ when you get around to it. Lissi Felisimo: yes it was me. already prepared the topic question
AJ Brooks: oh wow – BIG quetion
WYNN Criss: No Unfortunately we have no purely on-line courses. We use BB and face-to-face.
Zeros Gigamon: that’s the “Why SL” question
Lissi Felisimo: yes precisely
Kavon Zenovka: We’re using SL in teaching about emerging economies – in accounting and paralegal classes
ChrisG Techsan: We are working on Allied Health simulations
Evert Snook: I’m working on a couple of memory experiments with students
Kibou Yokosuka: Distance learning for seminar-type classes that require real-time interaction is an application.
Stargazer Blazer: We have done simulation of business development.
AJ Brooks: anyone want to attack Lissi’s question?
Stargazer Blazer: Simulation has been a popular tool in SL for teaching.
mTea Box: I have taken classes both online and in SL. You get a sense of “community” much quicker and with less effort it SL.
Zeros Gigamon: is that because of a GUI? vs straight chat in say BB or D2L?
AJ Brooks: I find that there is a sense of presence you get in SL that you do not get in course maintenace systems or web apps or even video conferencing
ChrisG Techsan: I know of research ongoing in the field of Psychology that are pretty dicey and you would not be able to do in RL
Stargazer Blazer: Yes, I think it helps your memory.
Miranda Llewellyn: I think the visuals definately make a difference
Zotarah Shepherd: Collaborative projects, building – like LitAlive, touring educational builds, networking with other students all over the world, 3-D immersive builds all make SL excellent
AJ Brooks: the sistine chapel
mTea Box: Absolutely agree with AJ.
AJ Brooks: collaborations – liek this, We coudl NEVER have this kind of meeting in RL
Greowulf Spyker: Visual vs. Auditory Learners
AJ Brooks: peopel are here from all over the world, including yourslef 🙂 Zeros Gigamon: versus a skype/video chat?
Lissi Felisimo: is the virtual more effective would you say?or even the future?
WYNN Criss: I went to the UNC TLT conference recently and one of the presenter had set up a Counseling Center online which had a box of tissues for those emotional exchanges.
AJ Brooks: in some cases and yes, in that order, Lissi
mTea Box: It’s hard to manage large numbers in those environments. This is kinda crazy; but manageable.
ChrisG Techsan: There has also been projects based on molecular biology and chemistry inwhich DNA strands are rezz’d to life size and students get to change them accroding to the project outcome
AJ Brooks: VWs are just a tool, like any other teaching tool, its like asking if chalk is more effective than books
Kavon Zenovka: You can’t exactly do whismy over video unless you dress in costume
AJ Brooks: they are both just tools
David Shea: One thing we mentioned last week, though, was that not all students’ computers are powerful enough to run SL (my 2nd computer isn’t, for example) So I’m limited physically as to where I can come
mTea Box: Not true. I went to a presentation where a woman did quite a performance using SL gestures and animators. It was amazing. K
avon Zenovka: We’ve started to use it on the instructor – SmartBoard to show genome island to stdents in a F2F class
WYNN Criss: I would be interested in that presentation. S
targazer Blazer: Oh, that sounds intriguing, mTea
Miranda Llewellyn: I think it’s imporatant to achieve a balance between SL and face to face teaching
AJ Brooks: while this conversation continues, if you have an issue you want to bring up today, please IM me (private). I agree with Miranda, 100%
Zeros Gigamon: David: we have a similar issue
AJ Brooks: hybrid is my model of choice
ChrisG Techsan: hmmm that is interesting Miranda
Miranda Llewellyn: SL should never replace class contact but supplement it Zeros Gigamon: We have put them into out computer labs, but only our Mac’s can currently run the app
AJ Brooks: I’m with her!
Zeros Gigamon: it’s a huge concern as the application requires more from hardware
David Shea: In my teaching case – I teach 100% online, the classes have no face to face component
Stargazer Blazer: We ran a whole course in SL, we did everything in SL, but then again, all the students were residents.
Zotarah Shepherd: Well in Distance learning there is sometime never any f2f.
WYNN Criss: I agree that it should be a supplement. However, NC STate has been very successful having full scale classes in world.
mTea Box: Yes indeed. Nothing worse than a day when all of the software requires a download.
Greowulf Spyker: from a financial standpoint, pure SL makes sense though…for the university’s sake
JeanClaude Vollmar: Yes, we have several hundred purely online students who never get the classroom experience.
ChrisG Techsan: We also offer an entire course in SL
Evert Snook: I’m thinking that a little SL could spicce up my Moodle online, but I am concerned about the computer power issue
Miranda Llewellyn: what’s intertesting is that SL could provide a new revenue stream as more univs take on distance learning
Stargazer Blazer: Blackboard Chat is down more then SL>.
AJ Brooks: I’d like to take a sceond to introduce
Kadja Halfpint. She the a libraian here at MSU and is responsible for our MSU Library to the west. Please go visit, she’s done an AMAZING job
WYNN Criss: Since you do not get the face to face in distance learning SL allows you to engage students- an issues with distance learning courses.
Greowulf Spyker: yes, thanks Miranda. classroom space, etc.
Kibou Yokosuka: How much of a problem is SL stability and losing a region when class is supposed to meet?
David Shea: That is the main reason I could be interested in this, WYNN
AJ Brooks: personaly, I’ve never had it happen to me with a class, or an event I was running
ChrisG Techsan: I believe virtual worlds is the natural fit bwteen f2f and traditional online education
AJ Brooks: but I have had it happen for an event I was supposed to attend
Stargazer Blazer: Good online instructors can engage students, they just have to bbe good communicators in written form.
mTea Box: I agree with WYNN. It’s easier to meet in groups to work on projects or to have impromptu problem-solving sessions. Won’t even get into building projects together in-world.
David Shea: I’ve had lots of trouble teleporting – can’t get to where I want to get to
WYNN Criss: You must be quite engaging AJ.
Zotarah Shepherd: Or when you crash in the middle of a class. :
Miranda Llewellyn: its a good bridge I think
AJ Brooks: engaging? why?
Kavon Zenovka: We’re going to try putting 2 computers in the computer commons labeled emerging technology
WYNN Criss: Did you say that you never had trouble with keeping distance learners engaged? Maybe I misunderstood?
AJ Brooks: no – I never had the sim crash on me during class, lol
WYNN Criss: Oh so sorry…
AJ Brooks: crossed wires
Miranda Llewellyn: that would worry me lol
mTea Box: Hasn’t it been stated in some research that distant learners by nature must be more motivated or the drop-out rate is higher that F2F?
Zotarah Shepherd: I had a sim crash on me when too many TPed there at the same time.
AJ Brooks: ye s- that has happened to me – but it comes right back up
David Shea: In my online classes, I often fail 25% or more of the students – they just never show up
Stargazer Blazer: And so you ever contact them, David?
Stargazer Blazer: *do
David Shea: yup … lots never reply … I have no idea where they are
ChrisG Techsan: gotta go gang…thanks for the discussion
AJ Brooks: we’re here each tuesday at 2:30pm SLT
WYNN Criss: Yes there is research that says that- and for the most part that is true. But there are still those students who could not find a face-to-face so they were “stuck” with distance ed.
Stargazer Blazer: bye ChrisG
ChrisG Techsan: later
Bungy Bingyi: I wonder how many of you give allowance for ‘technical issues’ when trying to connect to an online class.
Evert Snook: Many students think that online will be easier. They aren’t prepared to work more
David Shea: Yes I do a lot, Bungy
Kibou Yokosuka: Have you had a chance to observe the same students in both SL and face-to-face situations? Are there students that might be shy or have poor verbal skills that would benefit from typed / virtual conversations?
AJ Brooks: I have, I teach a hybrid class and find the quite studetns are more active in SL
Zotarah Shepherd: As long as students get the work handed in I would give them credit for it.
Kibou Yokosuka nods at AJ.
mTea Box: Altho I am a great note-taker, I love having the Chat History to go back and review even in conversations like this.
Transcriptionist Writer: I was wondering if educators find their students to be more engaged in sl.
David Shea: I taught face to face for 4 years and have found that online students engage each other more (don’t have to worry about being “friends” first)
Bungy Bingyi: Or is it basically the same as ‘my computer crashed’ and we still expect students to submit their work.
AJ Brooks: i think that is the same question Kibou is asking, in essence, and yes – I do
Stargazer Blazer: I did my master’s online… I would have loved to have had some classes in SL.
Evert Snook: I have more student issues than tech issues
Miranda Llewellyn: yeah – they can be much less inhibited
Lissi Felisimo: why do think this is Miranda?
JeanClaude Vollmar: Me too Stargazer, and I agree it would have been a whole lot nicer than Bb chat
Greowulf Spyker: the avatar acts as a persona, so the shy person doesn’t feel on the spot
Stargazer Blazer: There is another level of self expression here.
Kavon Zenovka: Our students can’tt believe the difference between meeting in SL compared to BB chat
Greowulf Spyker: like an actor on stage
Miranda Llewellyn: I thinkthat SL allows people to push their boundaries and the consequences are a lot less than real life
AJ Brooks: well – some peopel don’t see their avatars as a role, like an actor
Transcriptionist Writer: are educators more approachable in sl?
David Shea: Does the avatar get in the way though?
AJ Brooks: no more so that the psychologocial roles we all play IRL
Miranda Llewellyn: actor is a terrific analogy
David Shea: Is the avatar too distracting?
Greowulf Spyker: thanks Miranda
Evert Snook: I get little interaction with Moodle forum assignments
15:16] Kibou Yokosuka: I wonder if SL also helps you to be more engaged versus a text-only chat, as there’s more visual stimulus so web-surfing and watching TV at the same time may not be as tempting?
Stargazer Blazer: There are different ways to learn, it doesn’t have to be ALL face to face, ALL online, or hybrid.
Greowulf Spyker: The avatar allows the student to feel involved without feeling vulnerable
WYNN Criss: I agree Kibou- these students are much more multi-mediaized- I made up that term.
mTea Box: Kibou is correct. I often multi-task during phone meetings and webinars. I cannot do that in SL very well or for very long.
Evert Snook: Good point Greowulf
Greowulf Spyker: thanks
Aki Shichiroji is Offline
Miranda Llewellyn: exactly Greo – it’s the safety of distance,
Lissi Felisimo: but what about the fact that valuable ftf componetns miss in sl that could inhibit all round education dont you htink?
WYNN Criss: Have any of you participated in literature or book review in world?
Stargazer Blazer: You have a new name, it’s democratized, everyone is the same in SL.
Stargazer Blazer: What do you mean, Lissi, body language?
Greowulf Spyker: the limitation I see is that the energetic, charismatic instructor is limited to the avatar
Lissi Felisimo: yes as well adn facial expression for example
Greowulf Spyker: I like to jump around the room a bit when I teach on campus – lol
Stargazer Blazer: Well, it is all about the charismatic instructor, lol.
Greowulf Spyker: keeps them awake
JeanClaude Vollmar: But that is missing in pure online anyway
Greowulf Spyker: yes, true
Evert Snook: There is some research on putting experssions on avatars
Kavon Zenovka: you can use gestures, flying, rezzing objects, wardrobe cahnges
WYNN Criss: However, it does help out those professors who have a less than interesting presentation.
Miranda Llewellyn: that would be so cool
Kibou Yokosuka: Well, many graduate seminars, for example, include holding presentations in front of the class as preparation for an important academic skill. That would be missing in SL, to a large extent. A presentation here is quite different from standing in a real room in front of real people.
Miranda Llewellyn: *would love to pout*
Lissi Felisimo: i agree great point
Stargazer Blazer: Hmm, it seems that the stakes would be higher, if you ran an Event and opened it to the whole World.
Zotarah Shepherd: You can buy animations for facial expression, but I think since micro expressions reveal slight judgements in RL, not having expressions can make us seem more accepting and neutral.
David Shea: I have a question on a somewhat different topic, but one that would help me learn more (probably others too)
Stargazer Blazer nods to Zotarah.
Kibou Yokosuka: Also, how many people can your island hold? That limits class size, and a room full of avatars tend to get really laggy for people with slower machines.
David Shea: If I wanted to go to a meeting once per week to talk 1-on-1 with other profs about what is working well in SL, where should I go? I mean in addition to AJ’s here.
Greowulf Spyker: Then the emphasis is put on written communication skills
Lissi Felisimo: thats right zotarah
Evert Snook: A webcam could put real expressions on your avatar
Greowulf Spyker: command of language, ability to engage through word choice
Kavon Zenovka: written communication skills fro a virtual world
Miranda Llewellyn: could use voice chat too?
Greowulf Spyker: yes, voice helps too
Kavon Zenovka: are you more accepting of typos, can you read quickly, do use lol or omg?
Zotarah Shepherd: And we can use emoticons too.
WYNN Criss: What about a class in Linguistic in world. that would prove to be somewhat challenging.
Claire Nostram: voice would be good for slow typists
Greowulf Spyker: I feel that sense of humor is essential to student retention
Greowulf Spyker: sense of humor of the instructor that is
AJ Brooks: Well – we are abvout 5 minute away from our suggested stopping time – and I like to let people have an out if they need, not feel obligated to stay. We meet here each week on Teusday from 2:30pm to 3:30pm SLT. I will not be leaveing, so you are welcome to stay if you ahve the time.
Miranda Llewellyn: yup – very true
Lissi Felisimo: can sense of humor come across on sl?
David Shea: Something like SL would add more dimension to an online class
Zotarah Shepherd grins
Stargazer Blazer: I think it can, Lissi.
Greowulf Spyker: through word choice and voice, yes
Miranda Llewellyn: * I have some lovely outfits* lol
Greowulf Spyker: lol
Miranda Llewellyn: they always raise a laugh
Stargazer Blazer: And I don’t think it too much to ask students to Try to use their keyboarding skills, use the Shift Key or the period key.
Zotarah Shepherd: I would like both Voice and text but not voice alone since I like to revisit what was said.
David Shea: That’s a joke that I’ve heard – how can you tell that it’s your parent that’s IM’ing you? They use punctuation.
Lissi Felisimo: thank you so much for your answers. will help my project a lot
AJ Brooks: lol, glad it was helpful Lissi
Miranda Llewellyn: aNd NoT WrItE lIKe DiS
Kibou Yokosuka: Actually, Zotarah, I could see that this could be really helpful for instructors with heavy accents that some students find very difficult to understand.
AJ Brooks nods
Greowulf Spyker: I have to grade 23 essays this weekend that look just like that!
Stargazer Blazer: I agree, Zotarah, voice is hard because only 1 person can talk at a time.
Zotarah Shepherd: I will need some teachers for my MA project soon – Life-skills for the classroom.
Evert Snook: Some people would be inhibitd with voice but text puts them in without being aggressive.
David Shea: I’d definitely agree with that, Evert … people like me …
Zotarah Shepherd: I like that we can all text chat at the same time.
mTea Box: Me too. Multiple thought strands.
Zotarah Shepherd: It saves time too.
Kibou Yokosuka thanks everyone and excuses herself.
AJ Brooks: please come back again, Kibou
Zotarah Shepherd smiles to Kibou: Bye
Evert Snook: I gotta go, too.
Miranda Llewellyn: bye Kibou
Transcriptionist Writer: My time is up also. Thanks all and Aj Brooks.
AJ Brooks: yw
JeanClaude Vollmar: Question AJ?
Topher Zwiers: Appreciated the time and conversation everyone!
AJ Brooks: sure
David Shea: I’ve got to go too – my 10 year old is waiting to adopt some alien online or something … see you next week!
AJ Brooks: bye david
Greowulf Spyker: Good luck with that David
Stargazer Blazer: anyone who is intersted in teaching in sl, to sl residents, please let me know. Any rl educators interested in trying things out on people accustomed to the interface, please let me know. 🙂
Bungy Bingyi: Thank you all – off to a F2F meeting…
AJ Brooks: you pay peopel to teach, Star?
Greowulf Spyker: what was that Stargazer?
JeanClaude Vollmar: You’ll have to tell me more Stargazer
Stargazer Blazer: We do, AJ. Ok, one sec, JC.
Greowulf Spyker: Interested, Stargazer
Miranda Llewellyn: well – I’m off too – great discussion everyone and see you next week
Zotarah Shepherd: Bye Miranda
Stargazer Blazer: Nice to see you all. HOpe to talk with you soon.
Kavon Zenovka: Bye Stargazer
Zotarah Shepherd: Always such interesting discussions here AJ.
AJ Brooks: yes – they have been quite intersting and productive. I just wish I had more time to work on the transcripts. I’ll get them up soon.
Elysa Lowenhart: Is there an open group where these meetings are announced?
AJ Brooks: Yes – Elysa – there are a couple. one you can join is the EDUCAUSE VIRTUAL WORLDS group/ it is affiliated with EDUCAUSE )http://www.educause.edu) but is open to all. you can also join the SLED list, which is an SL approved listserve for educators. Be warned tho – it generates a TON of volumn, most really good, but a lot nonetheless
Elysa Lowenhart: thanks.
AJ Brooks: sure
Elysa Lowenhart: And goodnight. (Central European Time) See you next week 🙂
AJ Brooks: thanks for coming, and for staying up
Zotarah Shepherd: Bye all
AJ Brooks: 🙂 Bye Z
Zotarah Shepherd: Bye AJ
Claire Nostram: thanks for the interesting discussion – goodnight
AJ Brooks: your welcome
WYNN Criss: Sorry I had to leave. I have to finish up a project. It was great to be here.
AJ Brooks: nice to meet you
Kaizer Sommer: Good afternoon everyone
Greowulf Spyker: good afternoon Kaizer

Originally uploaded by AJ Brooks. Downloaded from http://sler-transcripts.wikispaces.com/080602 by Sheila Yoshikawa, June 2018