Information on the presentations

JOHN KIRRIEMUIR

Overview of presentation

TITLE: Surveying virtual world use in UK universities and college

This presentation is an overview of 'Who is doing what and where' with virtual environments, such as Second Life, in UK universities. Disciplines and subjects where virtual worlds are particularly used are explored, as are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using such a technology in university-based teaching and learning. The overview concludes with tips on increasing your chances of obtaining virtual world funding from UK academic funding bodies. These tips are based on several years of helping to assess funding proposals that focus on this particular technology.

DAVID BURDEN

Overview of presentation

TITLE: PIVOTE: Creating Learning Exercises for Virtual Worlds from a Web Browser

The presentation and demo will introduce the open source PIVOTE system which was developed as part of a JISC funded project to look at how problem based learning could be applied to virtual worlds. Originally developed for training paramedics at St George's London, the system lets tutors define and maintain the structure and non-3D content of the exercise on the web, and then creating the 3D environment and objects in the virtual world. An additional benefit is that the exercise can also be played in other environments such as the web and even on mobiles. The presentation will provide an overview and demo of the PIVOTE system, and a look at how it is being used in applications from paramedic and nurse training, to behavioural learning for children, health & safety and customer service.

MICHAEL CALLAGHAN AND KERRI MCCUSKER 

Overview of presentation

TITLE: Engineering Education Island. Teaching STEM subjects in virtual worlds The Engineering Education Island project in Second Life investigates the effectiveness of 3D immersive virtual worlds for engineering education using experiential based learning in the context of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. This talk will examine the practicalities of teaching Engineering related subjects in virtual worlds.

DANIEL LIVINGSTONE

Overview of presentation

TITLE: SLOODLE - a 3D Learning Environment

SLOODLE is an Open Source project which integrates the multi-user virtual environment of Second Life® with the Moodle® learning-management system.  SLOODLE provides a range of tools for supporting learning and teaching to the immersive virtual world; tools which are integrated with a tried and tested leading web-based learning management system. This tool will look at the development and practical use of SLOODLE in and educational context.

CARINA GIRVAN

Overview of presentation

TITLE: Aligning Pedagogy and Affordances in Virtual Worlds

This talk will focus on the practical considerations of designing and evaluating effective teaching and learning experiences in virtual worlds.