Unimedia Composers

Unimedia composers create digital compositions on the web that employ the widest possible range of media. In order to move unimedia to new levels of quality, composers of this genre are encouraged to share their thinking and their work.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

"Second Life" Classroom Space

Virtual reality creations in animated 3D are an increasingly important element of 21st century literacy. Creations in 3D related to classroom life and schools would aid educators in considering its value and Second Life would appear to provide the tools to carry out such work. As an example, see the youtube video of the Taiko drum scene

Creations of classroom, theater and presentation space in Second Life are not difficult to find, but they are just that, spaces with chairs and no more. When an event is held, those present in Second Life can come claim a seat and watch or participate. My recent explorations and searches of Second Life space have not revealed any populated simulations of classroom activity. That is, no one has yet created a classroom simulation of a real K-12 or higher education school classroom that has simulated students in the seats, programmed (scripted) to behave in different ways responding to prompts and interactions from an instructor. As behavior management is a constant concern of both pre-service and employed teachers, this simulation space, populated by real SL play acting participants and by scripted characters, could be a powerful tool for learning and evaluating aspects of classroom instruction.


The next step would be to search for scripted characters, SL robots disguised as human avatars. Has this been done? The image above and its related youtube video from which the snapshot was taken implies that is.

If the answer is no, then such scripting would need to be composed. What scripting that is already done and available would be useful as a basis to create a simulated classroom characters?

A 3D simulation thinking and Second Life essay provides more background on this theme. Participants interested in helping are encouraged to contact me and/or to leave comments for this posting.