An exercise in self-diagnosis... possibly

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I arrived late for MUVEnation, and missed the pre-week 1 activities. By the time I'm signed up, the activities are already hidden. The Module 1 summary asks for my self-diagnosis, and reading the work of others I guess this is something I can no longer get at. I hatch a cunning plan, I’ll simply answer the same question as everyone else and no-one will be any the wiser. I snigger at my own subtlety…

"I am your friend. I don’t work in education. You are talking to me about the idea that we all learn from each other, in all kinds of contexts, and that this can often be richer than more formal classroom based learning. I am sceptical. Tell me about an informal learning experience you have had online in which collaboration was involved, show me a concrete example to help me to see what you mean."

I have a great example of this.

A few years ago I got interested in family history. Not only has the web opened up access to resources that would have been impossible to access even a few years ago, it’s opened up access to a whole community of like-mined enthusiasts. I can look up census data, parish records, and the family trees of other researchers, kindly made available to all.

I want to know about the military uniform my great-uncle Henry is wearing in a photograph, the members of the Rootsweb UK Military mailing list will look at the photo and help me. http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/UK-MILITARY

I need to find out about a street in Hackney in 1840, someone from the East of London Family History Society will help me out. http://www.eolfhs.org.uk/

I want to know more about the Elder Dempster fleet in 1920’s – there are enthusiasts out there just itching to tell me. http://www.elderdempster.co.uk/

In return, I’m happy to take a Sunday trip out to St Stephen’s church to photograph the spire that was repaired after it was struck by lightning in 1783 by the ancestor of someone in Omaha… Not only have I found out stuff, I’ve been taught how to find out stuff; not by following a curriculum, but by being pointed at useful resources, by having principles explained, being told where to look, and told how to look. I know an immeasurable amount more about my family history, and about how to find out still more. I take pleasure in sharing what I know with others. So we grow.

Left: Grandad Arthur with my Nan Nel....Middle: Great Uncle Henry with Great Aunt Jo....Right: Great Uncle Terry with Great Aunt Olive

Thanks to friends on the Rootsweb UK Military History list I know that Henry is wearing the pre-1935 uniform of the Norfolk Regiment. He died at Kohima in Burma on 28 May 1944, aged 31.

Addendum (Friday, 28 November 2008)

I check back to other student's responses to this activity and belatedly realise they've answered three question, not one. The sniggering now seems a little premature... Here's my answers to the other self-assessment questions:

"We all explore new technologies, some grab our attention more than others, some seem revolutionary, others simply bore us. Tell us about that new tool, or set of tools, you have just discovered that really excites you, talk about the potential it has to change your work. What do you want to do with it?"

Well Doctor, it's like this... All my life I've had a tendancy towards enthuiasm for new stuff, even when the new stuff does the job less well than the old stuff. Tinkering around at the edge of what's possible, finding out how far it can go. Not that I'm an authentic cutting-edge researcher or anything, but I do like to dabble. New stuff rarely bores me, because newer stuff always comes along.

At the moment I'm keen on Second Life, hence participating in the MUVEnation course. Here's a quote that sums it up, taken from the recently published JISC report Serious Virtual Worlds - A scoping study. “(T)here is a clear need to identify frameworks and models for supporting learning in immersive worlds... In addition, practitioner and learner practice guides to support innovators using these applications would benefit the whole community”. (de Freitas, 2008). While the technology is absorbing and fun what I'm really interested in is the pedogogy that needs to underpin it. At the moment I don't see that they're very different to those of good pedagogy IRL.

de Freitas, S. (2008). Serious Virtual Worlds - A scoping study. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from JISC: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/publications/seriousvirtualworldsreport.aspx

"Do you see yourself as a pioneer? Do you think you are more innovative than others in your organisation? Do you think your organisation is lagging behind? Tell us how you feel about this?"

Yes, yes and yes... and I feel pretty damned smug about being so smart. Which illustrates the danger of immersion. While I'm convinced that virtual worlds will sooner or later (probably sooner) play and important part in education I don't yet know exactly how this will work, and I doubt anyone who thinks they've already got the answers (though I'm very happy to listen, 'cos you never know...). It's good to get excited, but a little humility will be appropriate for a while yet.

A Trip to the Seaside

Teleport 101

I'm still a bit sceptical. A few of us got together with our mentor today to run through the basics of teleporting around SL. Around ten or so students winked into existence at MUVEnation. I still don't understand why the teleport drops me in the stream. (Note to self, set a landmark at a dry destination and see if that works). I say around ten students, because it was hard to be sure... some tags floated above empty space for several minutes... Some bits of the world arrived almost with a sense of urgency, while others skulked around off-stage and missed their cue. Hardware phenomena I assume; yours, or mine, or Linden's... Avatars intersected in disturbing ways... and the overlaid chat got equally surreal... Maybe this is O'Toole's Corollary of Finagle's Law manifesting in the virtual world through 'lag' - "The perversity of the Universe tends towards a maximum"

I'm not big on rules, but it's clear these situations need some; or at least a more developed sense of etiquette. Maybe experience brings with it a shared understanding of good manners that make it possible for multiple avatars to interact more easily. Maybe these early days are inevitably like children working out how to play nicely, talking over each other, running all over the place, bumping into each other, getting frustrated and going off to play in the corner by themselves. Experiential learning is fine, but I worry about the attrition rate... How much more difficult would this be for youngsters? It felt a bit like the first time I was involved in a video conference. Maybe some simple guidelines would help.... "Use chat when addressing the group, IM when addressing an individual" "If you agree, say so... (nodding at your monitor is not an option)". Not quite "Over and out..." formality, but some ground rules.

In the end, we went to the seaside at Boracay, which was very nice... it's somewhere I'm going back to for a good look around. On first visit, it seemed vell thought through... lots of attention to detail, and lots of fun. And this is why I'm sceptical, but hopeful... You can see the potential in a place like Boracay. But the picture is still rezzing... when I've worked out what it is I'll let you know.

Bascule... Over and out...

First Days in Second Life

First Days in Second Life

Well, this is how it went… too many hours playing computer and role play games gave me a distinct edge I think, plus a general degree of confidence with computers. Not expertise you understand, just a sort of dogged faith that if I poke around for long enough I can work it out. If it ain’t broke, take it apart and see how it works… (and if it is broke, take it apart anyway). I’ve noticed that I like to come back to the instructions at some point, but I never start there; not with technology, not with flat-pack furniture, and not with Second Life. Movement came easily, but is surprisingly clunky compared to a lot of computer games. Getting the box off my head took a while. Getting a name for my Avatar was the first challenge. Why he’s called Bascule is a post for another time… but I will say that I wanted a name with substance, if only in what it meant to me.

Manipulating objects is surprisingly easy, though requires a degree of dexterity... The Inventory is easy if you remember using File Manager… Appearance isn’t to hard, but figuring out the complexities of skin and shape took a while. I spent the first few hours absorbed in ‘How do I…” rather than “Who should I talk to…” Typical bloke? Somewhere in those first few hours I met Liro, a Vampire and Renegade Time Lord from Israel (IRL). This was strangely reassuring… we talked about the Masquerade and Kindred etiquette… happy to be on familiar territory.

Feeling a little more in control I searched Google for other tracks of shared interests… and quickly found several locations. I spent my first evening listening to a talk on Zen and still regularly return to the Land of Enlightenment Meditation Hall. A friend took me dancing on the Titanic, and I visited ISTE Island, though all the action seems to be on Pacific Time. A coupleof days later I went to Sloodle 101 and intend to find out more about that…

For myself, stumbling around was just fine, and making progress brought a sense of achievement that motivated me to keep going. I guess I had enough transferable knowledge to apply lessons learnt in other contexts to this new experience. Not asking for help was a point of principle; anyone else with Be Strong Be Perfect drivers? I’m now working on the subtleties of animation override, having turned Qavimator up in Google and created an animation to allow Bascule to make a full bow, forehead on the floor, hands above his head. Zendo, not vampire etiquette…

What do I want with a blog?

Well?

Beyond needing one for the course I'm doing... who knows? I can't imagine wanting to share my thoughts with passing hoards.... not that hoards are likely to be passing. Maybe some good reason will happen along. Passing hoards please note, you're unlikely to find anything of interest here... move along now... move along...

The tag's are there 'cos they have to be... don't ask.