The following is in response to an article I received relating to risk assessments using Second Life for educational purposes. The author identifies various areas of concern in relation to "exposing" students to Second Life.
...I agree to the concern/need of being aware of the environment we are introducing our students to. This of course is our responsibility with any learning environment and is the same issues we balance everyday in the business of education.
I think it is also important to understand the division between responsibility and accountability on behalf of the college. It is the same accountability that dictates we prepare our students for the world they are entering. Simply how do we teach in a vacuum and still remain accountable for preparing our students to work in a world that does not operate in a vacuum? Where do we become liable for not providing the appropriate skills to be successful in today's workplace of which the students are paying large amounts of money? So if we are concerned with responsibility and who is going to get sued, maybe we should look at the goods and services provided to our customers. Are we meeting our end of the agreement by teaching in a vacuum? Can we be held liable for not providing the service our students are paying for?
Another Perspective:
It has been my experience in Second Life that I have the ability to better manage the environment with much less overhead than I can in the RL class room. If you really wanted to get to the level of responsibility the author of this article goes to in justifying not using Second Life, we could easily swing the other direction. How responsible are we as an organization to require our students to get in a vehicle or public mode of transportation, travel a public street or highway to a pre-determined location on a regularly scheduled time table to attend class at a campus that houses large numbers of people? And to what level do we assess responsibility in our public/private educational system? Do we hold the public transit system responsible if there is a wreck involving a student? Do we sue the car manufacturer for building the car the student had a wreck in even though the cause was not from mechanical issues of the car?
Of course the answer to all of this is...common sense. We live in a world that is constantly evolving, it only makes sense that education be dynamic to provide the service we are paid to provide to our students, otherwise we are not doing the job we are responsible for? Ultimately the concern we should have in education is not being sued for providing a service, but being sued for not providing a service...the service of realistically preparing our next generation to join the human effort! How big a law suit is that?...
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Professional Development in Second Life
This excerpt was taken from an article submitted by Peggy Sheehy titled "Give Your Professional Development a Second Life" (http://www.techlearning.com/article/15148)
..."My avatar, Maggie Marat, has been a resident of Second Life since August, 2005. Participating via my customized avatar identity within a rich 3-D landscape has provided me opportunities to meet, network, and collaborate with outstanding educators in a global professional learning community. I have developed meaningful, substantive relationships that carry just as much significance to me as their “real world” counterparts.
The evolution of the international educational presence in Second Life has been nothing short of remarkable. What began as a few bold and curious explorers has now scaled to thousands of teachers spanning over one hundred regions used for educational purposes. Nearly 400 universities around the world teach courses or conduct research in SL, and
ISTE, Discovery Star Educators, New Media Consortium, PBS, Google Certified Teachers, ALA, all have a presence in Second Life with more organizations joining us every day.
As our professional development groups in Second Life extend, word is getting out to the mainstream education community that the potential for collaboration is not only more effective and efficient, but it’s free! It’s also playful, engaging, at times unpredictable and always “on.”
Perhaps the best evidence of this evolution is the attendance at the Second Life Community Convention this year. The education strand has evolved from a tiny cluster of hopeful pioneers (NYC, 2006) to a dedicated ensemble struggling to get their voices heard (Chicago, 2007), to a shining and powerful host of creative, collaborative and unstoppable educators: truly a force to be reckoned with (Tampa, 2008).
What is the appeal? What does the virtual landscape offer us absent from other online learning communities? The answer is that sense of presence, the ambiance of place and connection--that feeling of “being there.” Other distance learning vehicles may offer flexible time options but are mostly impersonal. The avatar encounter is highly interactive, and interpersonal, providing the same convenience of not having to travel while extending a richer, more immersive and generally more enjoyable experience..."
"Peggy Sheehy is an instructional technology facilitator and media specialist at the Suffern Middle School in Suffern, NY. After a twenty-five year career as a professional musician, Peggy Sheehy now serves as ITF/ media specialist in New York's Ramapo Central School District. She established the first middle school educational presence in Teen Second Life: Ramapo Islands. Starting their third year of learning in Second Life, Ramapo Islands now hosts over 1500 students and their teachers."
What is your take or experiences with Professional Development opportunities in virtual worlds?
..."My avatar, Maggie Marat, has been a resident of Second Life since August, 2005. Participating via my customized avatar identity within a rich 3-D landscape has provided me opportunities to meet, network, and collaborate with outstanding educators in a global professional learning community. I have developed meaningful, substantive relationships that carry just as much significance to me as their “real world” counterparts.
The evolution of the international educational presence in Second Life has been nothing short of remarkable. What began as a few bold and curious explorers has now scaled to thousands of teachers spanning over one hundred regions used for educational purposes. Nearly 400 universities around the world teach courses or conduct research in SL, and
ISTE, Discovery Star Educators, New Media Consortium, PBS, Google Certified Teachers, ALA, all have a presence in Second Life with more organizations joining us every day.
As our professional development groups in Second Life extend, word is getting out to the mainstream education community that the potential for collaboration is not only more effective and efficient, but it’s free! It’s also playful, engaging, at times unpredictable and always “on.”
Perhaps the best evidence of this evolution is the attendance at the Second Life Community Convention this year. The education strand has evolved from a tiny cluster of hopeful pioneers (NYC, 2006) to a dedicated ensemble struggling to get their voices heard (Chicago, 2007), to a shining and powerful host of creative, collaborative and unstoppable educators: truly a force to be reckoned with (Tampa, 2008).
What is the appeal? What does the virtual landscape offer us absent from other online learning communities? The answer is that sense of presence, the ambiance of place and connection--that feeling of “being there.” Other distance learning vehicles may offer flexible time options but are mostly impersonal. The avatar encounter is highly interactive, and interpersonal, providing the same convenience of not having to travel while extending a richer, more immersive and generally more enjoyable experience..."
"Peggy Sheehy is an instructional technology facilitator and media specialist at the Suffern Middle School in Suffern, NY. After a twenty-five year career as a professional musician, Peggy Sheehy now serves as ITF/ media specialist in New York's Ramapo Central School District. She established the first middle school educational presence in Teen Second Life: Ramapo Islands. Starting their third year of learning in Second Life, Ramapo Islands now hosts over 1500 students and their teachers."
What is your take or experiences with Professional Development opportunities in virtual worlds?
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The potential for Student Services in SL
Interesting requests as of late, in reference to the opportunity and/or potential for student services in virtual worlds (vw). I am wondering if the real question is...What advantages and disadvantages do vw environments provide for student services in comparison to traditional online and do the benefits outweigh the costs?
In my experience I have found SL a natural transition for student services support in the arena of academic counseling and recruiting. Our Education Career Specialists (ECS) or academic and career counselor for vTSTC has used the environment as a communication conduit pointing to our traditional online financial aid and admissions forms. She has also provided registration support as well as academic advising through the SL platform. One challenge we have found is the lack of integration with SL and our college database system. We still rely on a person to do the data entry work on behalf of the student to get them registered with the college and for courses. This is something we are currently working through and will most likely resolve over the next year.
Although we have not had occasion, as of yet, to provide crisis counseling we have had contact with others in SL that serve in this manner. One example was of a diverted suicide attempt by a resident in which a counselor used SL as the communication medium to diffuse the attempt. The counselor not only talked the person in need out of further attempts but provided continued counseling support through SL.
To answer the question...”What advantages and disadvantages do vw environments provide for student support online in comparison to traditional online and do the benefits outweigh the costs?” Overall, I would say the advantage for vw student support services lies in the synchronous real time interaction the platforms provide. The ability for the millennial generation and even younger generation to receive immediate interaction and feedback is crucial. The next generation of learner has grown accustom to not only wanting this type of feedback, but to expecting it!
The biggest possible disadvantage will be how the environments are implemented and used. Of course this is the case with any tool, but is even more evident when we discuss establishing the ground work for a system that is in it's infancy. The sheer ramification of poor implementation could do serious damage in relation to acceptance and adoption timeline of the environments into education.
Basically, what we do today has a dramatic effect on how the platform will be used in the future. This is as true for student services as it is for vw’s as a whole in relation to being used as a valid teaching and learning environment. In other words it is in our hands, as early adopters, to make it what we will. This of course does not mean we do not continue to move forward, but we do so understanding the gravity of responsibility we get the opportunity to carry. Scarry yes, but scarry wrapped in a big warm blanket of excitement.
In my experience I have found SL a natural transition for student services support in the arena of academic counseling and recruiting. Our Education Career Specialists (ECS) or academic and career counselor for vTSTC has used the environment as a communication conduit pointing to our traditional online financial aid and admissions forms. She has also provided registration support as well as academic advising through the SL platform. One challenge we have found is the lack of integration with SL and our college database system. We still rely on a person to do the data entry work on behalf of the student to get them registered with the college and for courses. This is something we are currently working through and will most likely resolve over the next year.
Although we have not had occasion, as of yet, to provide crisis counseling we have had contact with others in SL that serve in this manner. One example was of a diverted suicide attempt by a resident in which a counselor used SL as the communication medium to diffuse the attempt. The counselor not only talked the person in need out of further attempts but provided continued counseling support through SL.
To answer the question...”What advantages and disadvantages do vw environments provide for student support online in comparison to traditional online and do the benefits outweigh the costs?” Overall, I would say the advantage for vw student support services lies in the synchronous real time interaction the platforms provide. The ability for the millennial generation and even younger generation to receive immediate interaction and feedback is crucial. The next generation of learner has grown accustom to not only wanting this type of feedback, but to expecting it!
The biggest possible disadvantage will be how the environments are implemented and used. Of course this is the case with any tool, but is even more evident when we discuss establishing the ground work for a system that is in it's infancy. The sheer ramification of poor implementation could do serious damage in relation to acceptance and adoption timeline of the environments into education.
Basically, what we do today has a dramatic effect on how the platform will be used in the future. This is as true for student services as it is for vw’s as a whole in relation to being used as a valid teaching and learning environment. In other words it is in our hands, as early adopters, to make it what we will. This of course does not mean we do not continue to move forward, but we do so understanding the gravity of responsibility we get the opportunity to carry. Scarry yes, but scarry wrapped in a big warm blanket of excitement.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Risk assessment issues in relation to VW's.
This is an excerpt from an email chain I received a few days ago and thought this would be a great topic to include on this site....
<br />Second Life
Our risk manager attended a risk management and insurance conference in September. One of the presentations focused on key risks and liability concerns about the use of Second Life:
"... we have not treated the virtual environment with any less attention than we would our physical campus. If anything, we have alleviated the division between virtual and real world when it comes to emotional health responsibility on behalf of the college in relation to our students or personnel. I guess I am looking at it being our responsibility as a college to offer support services addressing the needs of our students no matter the delivery platform. Once again, I may be naive to the legality of the world we live in, but I still fail to see how the delivery method makes us any more or less responsible than we are as an organization as a whole. In other words, all of the listed concerns are valid no matter the environment and should be addressed as a college and not as a delivery medium. And yes, we do address these issues through our student handbooks and college operating standards/procedures. The same code of conduct prevails no matter the delivery mechanism.
Our risk manager attended a risk management and insurance conference in September. One of the presentations focused on key risks and liability concerns about the use of Second Life:
- Securing the virtual campus:
- Cyberbullying and cyber-rape can cause victims real emotional distress and trauma.
- Tort liability....
- What if the real-world person behind the aggrieved avatar suffers actual physical or emotional harm from witnessing the attach?
- Off-campus Problems/Policy Issues.
- If your institution teaches a course on 2nd Life and "forces" students into the virtual world, where does your chain of responsibility end? ...
"... we have not treated the virtual environment with any less attention than we would our physical campus. If anything, we have alleviated the division between virtual and real world when it comes to emotional health responsibility on behalf of the college in relation to our students or personnel. I guess I am looking at it being our responsibility as a college to offer support services addressing the needs of our students no matter the delivery platform. Once again, I may be naive to the legality of the world we live in, but I still fail to see how the delivery method makes us any more or less responsible than we are as an organization as a whole. In other words, all of the listed concerns are valid no matter the environment and should be addressed as a college and not as a delivery medium. And yes, we do address these issues through our student handbooks and college operating standards/procedures. The same code of conduct prevails no matter the delivery mechanism.
I do find it particularly interesting that the insurance and legal entities have begun to address possible opportunities in relation to virtual worlds. Really says a lot as to the solidification of these environments. I am wondering if these are the same conversations that arose when the internet became an essential mechanism of delivery for online learning..."
So what is your idea on this? Anyone know of other organizations traversing similar terrains?
So what is your idea on this? Anyone know of other organizations traversing similar terrains?
Monday, October 27, 2008
Welcome to Virtual World Education!
Hello fellow educators or educational enthusiasts. I know it has been a long time coming, but hey better late than never. This site will focus on aspects of virtual world education. The aspects we focus on will primarily be driven in direct relation to issues and/or concerns I come across as my team and I travel the exciting waters of VW education. It is important to understand that the comments made in this blog are my personal beliefs and are in no way official endorsement from TSTC or any other entity. I will use this forum as a personal communication of my experiences and beliefs.
Let's start with an introduction...I am Chris Gibson, and I lead a team of educational artists at Texas State Technical College (TSTC). One of our primary team projects is developing virtual world learning experiences. We currently use Second Life(SL) as the primary delivery platform, but understand the environment is dependent upon need and not any specific virtual world branding issues. My team is dedicated to utilizing whatever tools we feel are the best tools for the job at hand and currently SL meets that criteria.
Most recently we have been recognized for developing and leading TSTC to the head of virtual world education by being the first college (vTSTC) to offer a completely online college program using virtual worlds as the primary delivery method (yes, this means an actual college degree obtained using SL). Now enough with the portfolio, let's get to the meat of this site and that is virtual world education.
What is VW education? First, I will be upfront about the term virtual world education, to me it is synonymous with online education. It is my belief that in the very near future (3-5 years) we will reference the two as one in the same. Yes this means, I believe, we will see a shift in the coming years for educational online delivery methods. This shift will introduce "traditional" online educators to a new paradigm for teaching and learning. This new paradigm will revolve around using 3D environments in an effort to establish a more immersive engaging environment than current 2D delivery methods readily offer.
What are your thoughts or ideas in relation to online education and virtual worlds?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
