Virtual Environments: Is one life enough?

There seems to be an issue with attendance in the class. Only three out of the nine participants enrolled have attended so far – and not the same three each time. That means that four participants have not yet appeared in class. Last week one person sent apologies in advance but none of the other absent class members has done so since. Therefore it is unclear whether some people have opted out of the module with letting John know or were absent for another reason.This is unsatisfactory for all concerned because we are now two weeks into the syllabus but not everyone has gone through the introduction to the module.

Small classes, by their nature, are more intense and demanding on students than larger ones because there is nowhere to hide: everyone must contribute if meaningful discussion is to occur. This means that students can gain more due to greater individual participation. Unfortunately, it also means that even one absence from class meetings is very obvious and impacts on the possibility of sharing a range of different views. It also means it is not viable to host guest speakers or visit other locations as a class.

Finally, lack of attendance makes student group project work difficult. (This will not impact on assessment because participants are assessed individually.) It has a real impact on the depth of learning – experiential learning about the dynamics of group work is not possible of one is not actually a member of a group! The learning can only only be academic if you are in a group of one.

Those who attended class this week met Prof Dudley Dreamscape from University of Akron who joined the class and offered his support to participants. Each participant introduced themselves in the form of an ‘elevator pitch’, a less than thirty second statement of their interests. Other than that the class was a repetition of last week’s introduction. Interestingly, some of the participants already have blogging experience. The advice for this class is not to use an existing blog but to start a new one to record your experiences and reflect on what you learn throughout the module.

John also identified the student groups for this semester which will be notified to participants by email.

All participants are asked to read the post for Class 1 and complete the tasks listed under ‘Activity for next week’s class’ before we meet next week. In addition, you need to complete the tasks listed below before next week. That will involve visiting Second Life during the week, with your team mate.

THINGS TO DO BEFORE THE NEXT CLASS:

1. Explore: Get to know your team partner and explore SL together. You are to visit at least 3 locations that are new to you. Find them in search, or ask other residents for recommendations or select them at random.
2. Write the second post: on your blog reviewing the locations you visited. Describe the places and include photos, if you can. Explain what you liked and disliked about the location and talk about any interactions you had.
3. Read: 5 steps to build a productive and tight knit remote team