Learning In A Virtual World

Learning in a 3D Virtual World When I began working with students in a 3D Virtual World it was very obvious that it was a fantastic tool for creation and design. The interface and operation looked like a computer game and for that reason a 3D Virtual World was extremely easy to engage students who found more traditional classroom setting tedious. Initially the projects I developed were arts based. Creating large scale sculptures designed for public spaces was impossible in a school; this was instantly achievable in a 3D Virtual World. Fashion shows, costume design, architecture all fell into the same art design category. I was impressed with what students produced in classes ranging from Grade 6 to Year 10 but I still felt there a greater depth to what I could use the 3D Virtual World for in the classroom. My idea original for the use of a 3D Virtual World in the classroom was for the creation of interesting films. So many student films suffered from the same problems, uniform designed government building, lack of interesting sets, and a selection of well meaning but often mis-guided staff over acting their way through a student film (with the five spare minutes they staff had between yard duty and their next class.) With the 3D Virtual World the art of Machinima opened up as a truly creative and powerful tool. Students could design everything from the ground up, characters, costumes, sets, lighting and do complex camera moves which were impossible for the average school. We developed a number of interesting projects with students using the 3D Virtual World as the set, screen capture software as the camera, Crazytalk software to lip sync the Avatar’s mouths to the dialogue and a wide variety of editing packages. Students relished the idea of being able to create a short film or a documentary about a creation they had made ‘in world’ which could post on Youtube to show their friends and families. One of the most exciting outcomes was a five minute film we created in an Italian class. A group of students from Debney Park Secondary College studying Year 10 Italian were going to Italy for a two week trip and they wanted to create something to impress their Italian hosts. They also had an amazing teacher who would try anything new. The students created a five minute film set in an Italian Piazza about and old man telling his grandson his experiences on April Fool’s Day many years ago. All the dialogue in the film was spoken by the students in Italian. The students were very proud of their presentation in Italy. It was while I was at Debney Park Secondary College I began to think about more abstract and expansive ideas to develop with a 3D Virtual World. Loosely the ideas were about society, government and the Hunger Games but this was a jumbled collection of thoughts. At this time I was given the opportunity to lead The Doveton Live Project with SoundGarage at Doveton College in Victoria. With the support of the Executive Principal Bretton New and Principal Vicki Miles I created some work involving 3D Virtual Worlds for the Grade 6 and Year 7 students. This new environment offered a variety of new challenges. One of the main issues surrounded students working together in groups. This cohort of students struggled with this concept which made the idea of creating films impossible. As my colleague Peter Wardrobe and I began to explore what we could do with this group of students we had the pleasure and good fortune to meet a staff member Chrisi Tambakakis. Suddenly we shifted gear, from the initial glimmers of ideas around societies and governments Chrisi helped us create a reality; even if it was virtual. We would use the 3D Virtual World in Humanities to expand the student’s social and emotion skills, team building and empathy. From anarchy came law and order. In the beginning we gave the each student an Avatar and huge land mass of 20 regions. We showed the students some basic building skills and said do what you like and with freedom came joy but for only about two weeks. Soon the problems started, students building on each other’s land, trolling and other annoying behaviour. We then set the students the task of taking control of their 3D world. They designed a government with student elected parliamentarians and they created their own set of laws, building codes and community mores which are constantly modified and addressed in weekly government meetings. Students know that there was is correct process to deal with situations, they fill in a form which cannot be anonymous and the issue will be resolved via the government without the need for staff intervention. As we slowly expanded the student’s social and emotional skills their ability to work co-operatively grew and this lead to the ability for group tasks to take place. Fashion show were designed and filmed, computer games developed, famous international landmark buildings were recreated to scale in the virtual world but always with the Government ticking away in the background. We also found the 3D Virtual World was a great tool in our new environment for disengaged students. During this period of time I constantly had students asking whether we could do MineCraft at the school. I had a quick at the software and made a mental note “why would children be interested in some chucky graphics program that looked like something from the eighties.” After much more of student arm twisting I took a further look, flew to Sydney with Peter Wardrobe and did some research at the Powerhouse Museum and MLC. We were both easily convinced. Once again we wanted to use MineCraft as a tool for social development not as a construction or art design tool. Chrisi Tambakakis designed a ten week course, “students as teachers program” which we currently role over every term. Grade 5 students learn to design and teach outcomes to Grade 3 students. The backend of this project is technically supported by Nathan Birffa from Network Neighbourhood. Currently Nathan and I are working to publish a safe online MineCraft and 3D Virtual World with protocols and moderation to manage security issues. As a team we are currently in discussion with a number of schools in our time zone, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, New Zealand and PNG as we create an international learning experience for students. Currently my colleagues Chris Tambakakis and Peter Wardrobe and I are researching and working on the following Abstract for a paper we will look to publish. “A Virtual World is a microcosm of how a community functions with implied and explicit rules. We look to explore how a cohort of student from grade five to year eight to Doveton College work and co-operate in Minecraft and a Opensim branch Virtual World. Do their behaviours mimic their AFK (Away From Keyboard) experiences with their in world experiences and can they articulate and transfer their in world behaviours and social effects to the real world.” Some of our students work in both MineCraft and Virtual World can be seen on our Youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/dovetonlive