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Some performances in Virtual Worlds are simulations of real world events, others are entirely unique and can really only be totally appreciated if attended “inworld”. One of these is the work of Tyrehl Byk in Second Life. Tyrehl presents more than … Continue reading
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Belonging to a book club is like belonging to a gym, once you join there is fun and personal growth but you sometimes need to push yourself. The League of Extraordinary Dorks (LED) Book Club meets each month at the … Continue reading
A virtual world avatar wielding a sword and dropping unconscious is not unusual, more subtle movements sometimes are. Standing at a podium and moving hands during a speech, nibbling on an apple or just sitting in a natural pose bring an avatar to life and make for a more engaging experience for participants. Virtual worlds supply your avatar with standard poses, these can be adjusted or you can make your own using Poser (for purchase) or Qavimator (PC) or (Mac) , a free animation creation software application. I highly recommend Danish Visions on Second Life classes at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Danish%20Visions/126/119/24). Tempest Jarman teaches the QAvimator class in voice in a patient, organized manner. She is clearly an expertise in the use of the QAvimator software.
I conducted a webinar in Adobe Connect recently and a participant gave me feedback saying that I “neglected to use the video capabilities and that would have provided some connection, audio is not enough”. In a virtual environment there is potential for auditory, textual, and visual cues to impart a message. Creating animations and then making them available provides natural movements for students and instructors on a virtual world. Adding the animations to a HUD gives the participant the ability to change an animation for emphasis and realism at a specific time. Subtle animations like raising a hand, applauding, leaning back in boredom or nodding can help to convey a message to others participating in an event. I am considering filming my virtual world avatar for the next webinar I facilitate, I figure it may help get their attention and it could be fun.
You can download the free QAvimator software at
(PC) http://www.qavimator.org/
(Mac) http://referencethis.com/QAvimator-osx-universal-svn-2008-12-06.zip
As I walked down 6th street in Austin Texas recently, I was met with an array of live musical performances, with the exception of the 104 degree weather it was not unlike teleporting around the musical venues in a Virtual World. On multiple grids professional musicians, hobbyists, students, career changers and potentials all perform for an appreciative live audience. Setup in a virtual venue includes plugging equipment into a computer to provide a live stream and logging into a virtual environment. Virtual worlds offer easy to access venues so the novice band playing in a garage or the professional blues singer and guitarist in a practice room are able to logon and perform for a live audience from the comfort of their home or studio. Musicians even perform with colleagues from another geographic location, appearing together inworld.
The Arts are experiencing cuts in education spending and students hoping to pursue a career in music, drama, or art related areas may need to access alternative arenas for exploring, practicing, and performing their talent and related skills. Accomplished musicians perform in virtual venues, across virtual grids all times of the day, every day. Perhaps “virtual performances” will become a mainstream outlet for entertainment, at the very least it is a potential learning ground for aspiring performers.
In addition to performing, song-writing and employing technical tasks, aspiring musicians can practice skills necessary in the music business such as working with an agent and dealing with bookings, public relations, promotion, marketing, and even managing finances. As the mode that we access music is changing, so is the way we provide and access entertainment.
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Rod Humble of Linden Labs recently described the Virtual World as “creative space”. Jeddin’s Underground City sim on Second Life is a creative space melding the ideas of Descending Road author/creator with 3D artistry and SL scripting to make what the artist … Continue reading
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Copyright laws apply in the virtual world just as they do in the real one. In the United States, Educators have had some flexibility with Fair Use and The TEACH Act but those rules are very specific and sometimes a little complicated … Continue reading
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The use of Virtual Worlds to explore and enhance the literary experience is a useful activity for pre-reading, ongoing as a specific piece is read, and/or as reinforcement after the reading is complete. The value of a virtual world in … Continue reading
Many virtual worlds require the downloading of a particular viewer to access the virtual world and to interact with it. Some require nothing but the web, a browser and a current operating system. Jibe is one of those worlds which I was able to visit recently.
Walking amongst giant chickens in JIbe. They clucked and pecked but I survived.
The look is similar to OpenSim or Second Life and the feel is like these worlds in MouseView, kind of takes getting used to. Creating in the environment seems less laborious than the virtual worlds I typically visit. The creation/building tool, available as a free add-on, is reminiscent of what you see in a typical graphics program.
A flat terrain in JIbe is "brushed" with hills.
Changing the terrain is as simple as painting with a digital brush. Adding a field of ferns was a s simple as dipping the brush into the “fern” paint and then brushing the terrain in with ferns.
Ferns "painted" into the terrain do not require individual placement.
I got the feeling that the creation and building within this web-base world was simpler than in the virtual worlds requiring a special browser. The interaction was not as smooth or easy for me. It seemed a little unstable but impressive that any of it could be done on the web on my Macbook Pro in Safari. Perhaps the potential lies in the limitations and lack of complexity.
The Jibe Tools.
The registration was simple (name and password), avatar selections are reasonable and there is an asset store with objects for free and for purchase. The items can be imported into Jibe and placed, moved, and rotated as desired to complete the environment.
A Cart from the asset store is duplicated and added to the environment.
The simplified interaction and limited choices in this web-based world reminded me of the new “basic” browser in Second Life. Both types of virtual worlds are changing, maybe to accommodate an audience maybe to make a profit, maybe because people have a natural inclination to improve and change what they have. For whatever reason, the end user will ultimately benefit.
The students in “Norma Underwood’s” class in an Arizona public school are building and scripting in a 3D environment, sculpting in Rokuro, collaborating on projects, and communicating with their peers and interested visitors. I had the opportunity to visit Norma’s virtual class space on Reaction Grid, never having to leave my home state over 2000 miles away. What a treat to see 12 and 13 year olds assembling, communicating and cooperating in a medium that many are completely unaware of.
The class is an art class, lucky for these students they have a teacher who acknowledges and has taken the time to learn an art medium for the future. The young architects and 3D artisans have used floor-plans to build 3D homes, decorated them and added items like video games and chess sets. Learning objectives focus primarily on standards in the area of art and mathematics. Additionally, Norma is incorporating 21st Century objectives like collaboration, communication and problem solving. These are not as easily tested in the traditional assessments required by the state but obvious in the products the students have created and obvious as well when you watch them engaged in their work.
Transmedia Storytelling is a strategy that uses current and emerging technologies along with traditional strategies to enable the participant to become immersed in a story to increase engagement and understanding. Henry Jenkins, Professor of Communications, Journalism, Cinematic Arts, and Education at the University of Southern California, explains that “In transmedia, elements of a story are dispersed systematically across multiple media platforms, each making their own unique contribution to the whole.” It is a strategy that is used in the world of marketing and entertainment, still lagging in the education sector.
Telling stories across multiple platforms and formats addresses multiple learning modalities, encourages participation and motivates participants. Stories are used to teach a wide variety of concepts at all levels of education. A virtual world with a sim designed to draw students into a “game” could potentially result in a high level of learning of a literary work, historical event, or scientific phenomenon. The compelling attributes of transmedia storytelling are the capacity to engage participants and the capacity to promote creativity among the participants. Engagement is crucial to meaningful learning and creativity is identified as a 21st Century skill necessary to solve problems and be competitive in a global environment. As we look into school reform and teacher preparation for 21st Century schools it may be beneficial to ensure that teachers have some knowledge and skills in the the use of Transmedia storytelling.
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