Saturday, November 21, 2009

PowerPoint Presentation in SL Fall 09

This semester one student volunteered to present in SL. He did a great job using gestures, wore a business suit, and his template and colors were great selections for SL. He used voice chat during his presentation. Students in the class participated in SL as the audience and used text chat to ask him questions. We used one of the many presentation areas at the eOwens Island. Great job, Cory.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Saturday, May 9, 2009

OAD270 Team Presentations

"I personally loved doing SL. I think that if I was given the opportunity I would choose it every time. " OAD270 Student.
"I did like SL, and I feel that it is a good way to present to different people and around the world. " OAD Student.

"I loved the flying (once I got used to it), being able to make yourself look the way you want to, and being able to travel to different locations. This can open (and has) so many opportunities to engage yourself in a way that is rewarding for you and the listener." OAD270 Student.

These are quotes from students who delivered their team presentation in SL on May 5, 2009. The team consisted of three students, and they all looked professional, used gestures, responded to questions, and presented their material effectively. Additionally, their topic was conducive to Second Life because it was on virtual assistants. The team created a Notecard for the handout material and posted it on an Information Post at the presentation area on the eOwens Island. The team used voice chat, and the students in the audience used text chat to ask questions.

Keep in mind this was a face-to-face class so the other students logged into Second Life in the classroom while those presenting worked in my office--each on a computer. I recorded their SL presentation using Camtasia Studio and for the first time recording--it's not bad. There are some sound problems and external noises.

I hope to perfect this assignment and consider other ways to incorporate SL into my courses.

Challenges: technical issues with voice chat. Voice chat worked, but we found that if connecting to one of the College's wireless networks, voice chat was blocked. Therefore, we used a Verizon wireless network for one of the student's laptops. Then one student worked on my desktop computer and the other student used her own wireless connection.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Presentations in Second Life

Two students delivered their PowerPoint presentations in Second Life last week using one of our many presentation areas on our island. Students stood behind the podium during the presentation. Then during the question and answer session at the end of the presentations, students stepped off the podium and walked toward the audience. This created a more engaging environment. They were very effective using voice and gestures.

Those students who didn't present in SL did participate, and their avatars teleported to the presentation area on the Owens island. As audience participants, they used text chat to ask questions at the end of the presentations. The student presenters created a more personal environment by using the other avatars' names when they were asked questions at the end.

There are some PowerPoint limitations such as animations and hyperlinks not working. However, the slide viewer is very easy to use, and it has arrows to advance the slides.

For the team project, three students plan to present in SL. My goal is to have them create a notecard for the partipants to pick up at the beginning of the presentation.

Also, I plan to invite others to listen to the presentations. We are going to try and record them using Camtasia.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Reflections from First Week of Class

I've returned to the classroom after my one-semester sabbatical. Now the challenge is using what I learned.

I introduced Second Life in my Presentation Management class. Unfortunately, we couldn't create accounts the first day. I recall this discussion in the SLED listserve, but I didn't have the foresight to take care of the problem in advance. Most of my students were successful in creating their accounts at home and downloading the Second Life client without a problem. Our problem is now resolved, and we can create accounts from our labs.

Thankfully, this is a small class--started with ten and now have nine students. One student dropped because she doesn't have Internet connectivity at home and said that the Camtasia videos I created gave her a migraine. Also since giving a presentation in Second Life is an extra credit opportunity, I explained that I would give her an alternate extra credit activity which I did. I never thought of the movement causing migraines especially since I don't suffer from migraines. Something to think about.

My other students are enjoying Second Life. I spent time in class showing some basics. They realize it's a challenge,but they appear to enjoy the challenge--especially the traditional students. They viewed the videos and now know "Torley Linden." He creates all the Second Life videos that are at YouTube.

Last evening I created a Group, OCCOAD270, so I can easily share information with my students, and I sent them invitations to join (for free). Four students have already joined the group. I sent them notices with some freebies. Of course, they all want to look "good" and the first area is HAIR. The freebies included hair.

My students will be working on an assignment requiring them to complete ten activities in Second Life. Additionally, they are required to attend presentations in Second Life and evaluate the experience. I posted some YouTube video links in the Blackboard website under the Lectures button. These videos address some of the skills they will need to complete the assignment. For example, they have to take a snapshot so I made sure to post a video link for that skill.

I think some students will want to use Second Life for one of their presentations. They realize that this will require additional time with me outside of class. Since our lab is free for an hour after class, we can continue to work.

Fortunately with my Perkins grant, I can give my students Linden dollars so they can upload snapshots, their PowerPoint presentation, and/or buy some items.

So--I'm glad to be back in the classroom and pleased with my students' reactions to Second Life thusfar.