Final Entry

It is that point in the semester where my virtual world journey is coming to an end. This will be my last entry about my wonderful travels I have experienced over that last few months. I am so grateful that I was able to explore virtual worlds, something that when I began was very far out of my comfort zone. Now that I have had the opportunity to explore virtual worlds I want to bring my explorations and knowledge into the classroom so that my students can learn from exploring the virtual world, just as I had. My final project is something I hope will help me in starting this endeavor. I built a "time machine" in SL that will allow my students to transport themselves to various SL locations that depict historical locations.

I will never forget what I have learned in this course and the experiences I was fortunate enough to have during this semester.




Below are a couple of pictures from the first final presentations this past weekend.

 The group together listening about a classmate's final project

 The party after the presentations

 The party after the presentations

 Gilzee dancing at the celebration

 Gilzee in her time machine 

 Time Machine 

 Time Machine 

Time Machine

As the semester comes closer to ending I have been spending more time in SL building a "time machine" for my final project. I have been doing most of the building near Esme's house and placing it in my inventory when I am not working on it. I am having issues with the teleportation aspects but hope to have that fixed soon when I find a better script. The interior of the time machine will eventually become a place for brief class sessions before embarking on adventures. Above you can seem some shots of the time machine. I chose to not have a roof so that students can literally drop in to the time machine.

Week 10

This week I spent most of my time working on a presentation for the BPVWE conference. I did however, also have time to stop by a few SL events. The first event I attended was an Old Time Radio show. During this event I sat around listening to radio as it would have been in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. I found this very interesting and I would like to find old radio broadcasts from this time and compare them to what I heard in SL. The second event I attended was a poetry reading. the poetry reading was a little bit more intimidating, especially because it was open mic (I did not share any poetry just listened). I thought this event would be more of a coffee house set up but, it was actually a circle set up. I do not know if I would attend events like this again in the future. I am glad though, that I went and gained the experience of stepping out of my comfort zone in SL.

 Open Mic Poetry at Celestial

 Open Mic Poetry at Celestial

 Klop's Old Time Radio

Klop's Old Time Radio

WoW in education

     World of Warcraft (WoW) is much more then a game. It has great potential to become a staple in education. At the meeting in WoW on Thursday night at 8:00, we brainstormed numerous possibilities for using WoW in the classroom. The ideas that really stood out to me were using it for journal writing. I think WoW would be a great way for students to explore their creativity. I also like the idea of using WoW to build leadership. I feel that it would provide students with teamwork as well.
     Besides WoW enhancing face-to-face courses I think it is a great way to have students become engaged in online courses. WoW provides critical thinking activities that promote strategy making. In online courses I feel that critical thinking is sometimes lacking. The idea of teamwork in WoW is also a great contribution to online courses. In other online courses there is no feeling of connection and true interaction, WoW eliminates that distance. For example I felt a great feel of interaction and connections when I attended the WoW meeting on Thursday night, even though I was unable to get my "hangouts" to work I was able to listen in and contribute to the google docs brainstorm. I also got to have my see my avatar gathered around with my classmates and instructor. I was also able to have help finding the location to meet from Norana. Usually in traditional online classes there is no help from other participants in that way.

     Besides exploring WoW I explored many locations in SL. Here are some of my favorite scenic pictures from this week.

 Gatsby's Mansion

 NYC

Hollywood 

Exploration in SL

     This week I started a new journey in WoW and continued to explore in SL. I found WoW to be a little confusing at first and exploring SL seemed to be a great way to relax. I found it helpful because SL was a little nerve wracking for me at first too, so seeing what I could do now in SL helped me to realize that in time WoW would come easier as well.
     In SL this week I went to the Cliffs of Moher and then to the Blarney Stone. Ireland is one of my favorite places on Earth so getting to get a little visit in, even if it was virtual, was awesome. Here are some of the pics from the two Ireland simulations, I visited.

I also visited a few educational landmarks. I visited the Ivory Tower where you can build with tutorials at your own pace and in a friendly building environment. Then I went to visit the Autism Awareness Center. At the Autism Awareness Center I was able to learn about Autism Spectrum Disorders. I would recommend visiting the Autism Awareness Center to anyone wishing to learn a little more about it. Overall it was a exploration filled week. 

Exploring SL

This week I did a lot of exploring in Second Life. I went to the other side of the world, back in time, and to the fictional future. This morning we all met at Esme's house then we went off to Exploration Central. There everyone paired up and went on our partner adventures. I traveled to China' Bamboo Garden with Cfong. After a bit Esme contacted us and asked for us to send a teleport to Cabana to meet up with us. The Bamboo Garden was disappointing. It did not have anything interesting to explore and was dark, even in midday. After exploring in small groups fro twenty minutes we headed back to Esme's and shared notecards about our adventures. Then we did something I thought was awesome, an interactive 3D survey. Later on this evening I headed back to SL to do some more exploring. My first stop was Paris in the year 1900. I visited Notre Dame and was blown away by the detail and building that was carried out in the virtual world. After visiting the past I went to the future at the Star Trek museum. I was amazed by the museum, but what I loved was exploring the USS Enterprise especially the teleport pad and Captain James T. Kirks quarters. I feel like I am getting over my fears, for the lack of a better word, about exploring SL. Please check out the pictures from my adventures below!

-Gilzee out. 

 Notre Dame-Paris, 1900

 Teleport Pad aboard the USS Enterprise 

 China-Bamboo Garden with Cfong

 China-Bamboo Garden with Cabana

 China-Bamboo Garden with Cabana and Cfong 

Post adventures meetingat Esme's

Interactive survey activity 

Adventures From Week 6

This week I explored both Jokaydia and Second Life.  While in Jokaydia I spent some time taking pictures by the water. While at the water I was able to set the sky to various backdrops (sunrise, sunset, etc.). I really enjoyed getting to see different things Jokaydia had to offer in terms of environment settings. 

 While I was exploring Jokaydia I decided to teleport to the shopping center in order to get a fresh new look. I was able to get a new hairstyle and new clothes at an excellent Jokaydia price of 0$.

 After spending some time in Jokaydia I chose to explore deeper in Second Life. While in SL I put myself through various makeovers. I had a few difficulties but I seem to have finally worked them all out. In SL this week I also got to attend a meeting with my fellow explorers. I am looking forward to what else I will get to see and do in both Jokaydia and Second Life in the upcoming weeks.

This week I continued my travels in Jokaydia and expanded into Second Life (SL). In Jokaydia I met up with some fellow Etap 620 travelers and learned how to construct a tic tac toe board using scripts. I found this to be so informative and interesting. I had been struggling with scripts so this lesson was very beneficial for me. Below is a picture of some fellow travelers and myself learning how to build our own tic tac toe board using scripts and the build tool in Jokaydia.

In Second life this week, I created my avatar and visited Esme's house. I am looking forward to exploring Second Life further in the weeks to come. 

Exploration

Today I explored a few locations. One place that I found really fascinating was Expanding Horizons II. It was a nice virtual break from the snow. The beach scenery with palm trees and all was a nice change. I loved how this location had different levels and had so much to explore. I learned that this location is used as a virtual meeting place for counseling students so that they can build their skills, while separated geographically. I think I may return in the future for the relaxing virtual tropical environment.

Jokaydia: Week Two

            Week two in Jokaydia: This week marks my second week in Jokaydia and I feel that I have made large strides. The land does not seem as foreign as it did my first week. I feel exploring and meeting people from class in Jokaydia has helped me get better acquainted. It was nice being able to discuss ideas while exploring.

            Even with help from my classmates I did struggle at certain times. For instance no matter how hard I looked I could not find the floating hamburger or a flag on top of the mountain. Perhaps I have not made strides large enough to be successful at all tasks in Jokaydia. Today I also attempted to start the building assignments. Even just the thought of building things in Jokaydia at first made me nervous. I truly wanted to be successful at the tasks but I feel that there is room for improvement. The only virtual building I had ever completed prior to this attempt was in the Sims, Sims 2, and the Sims 3, it was not the same in any sense. I will however, try my best to improve my building techniques in Jokaydia.

            All I can do while on my virtual journey, is to try new things and to keep practicing these new things until I proficient in the tools needed to be successful in the various virtual worlds I will be visiting this semester and beyond. Even though it is not always easy to become proficient in these tools I will do whatever it takes to carry out the various tasks and use the tools available to me in the virtual world. I would not get what I would like out of this journey if I already knew everything.

Some photographs from this week:

Jokaydia

     The shuttle has launched and the first landing sight is the virtual land of Jokaydia. This land has been a great to start my virtual adventure. Having never entered the virtual world before I was a bit nervous setting up and beginning my journey. After wandering around aimlessly a few times, I met with Esme for orientation. Orientation was very helpful. I was taught how to have different views of my new surroundings, how to transport, submit assignments and most importantly give myself a much need Jokaydian makeover. 

     After my orientation meeting getting around and exploring Jokaydia became much easier. I really enjoyed wandering around Malboro College's island. One of the most amazing experiences I had during my journey on Jokaydia thus far has been the meet-up with my fellow classmates and our guide Esme. During this meet-up I got to see how a large group chat works add friends and even learn to fly. 

     Although I am still a little afraid for the remainder of the journey I am also excited to see what the virtual world holds. If the rest of the journey is anything like the experiences I have had in Jokaydia so far, I will definitely continue to explore virtual worlds as an educational resource in the future, beyond this course.