Joe Essid directs the Writing Center at the University of Richmond, where he teaches courses in writing and literature. He is a Richmond native who attended the University of Virginia and earned a Master's and PhD at Indiana University. His research interests include technology in the classroom and Southern literary humor. His academic writing has appeared in Computers and Humanities, The Writing Lab Newsletter, and anthologies about technology and writing. He is a contributor to Style Weekly and has appeared in Eighty One and RVA. Ignatius Onomatopoeia is the "avatar" who represents Joe in the game-world Second Life. Ignatius will be wandering the virtual terrain of Second Life while his creator writes here about what may be either "the next big thing" for the Internet or the latest darling of the cyber-hip... the reader can decide.
E-mail contact: jessid@mac.com | Web address: writing2.richmond.edu/jessid

Location: Between Homes

Readers following this blog will soon be able to visit the richmond.com Web site to follow Iggy’s adventures, as well as posts by guest-writers about Second Life and other virtual worlds.

The Times Dispatch is moving some blogs to this community portal, purchased not long ago by Media General.

As the TD Web staff get the new blogs set up, I invite you to continue reading about the recent conference on Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education, SL’s first guide dog for the visually impaired, a new road-trip, and the virtual world Metaplace at my Blogspot site.

See you at richmond.com soon!

Location: Texas State Technical College virtual campus

Chris Gibson has a job that includes something I’d enjoy: teaching students how to behave at dinner. Well, I’d like the eating part.  And Gibson uses Second Life to avoid the disasters that might occur were he to begin at a restaurant with real silverware, food, and dress codes.

I have heard horror stories of job applicants showing up for interviews or professional meals in inappropriate clothing, then not knowing which fork one uses for salad or what to do with new foods. A friend at such a dinner heard a participant say “I ain’t never had no beans that didn’t come out of a can.“

Yes, I would hire that person.

I suppose Chris’ students are better at flesh-and-blood events, but he takes no chances. Avatars must dress formally and act appropriately or their course-grade drops. He’s worked with SL clothing designers to provide free formal wear to the class.

The dining room itself reminds me of a formal space I use, once per year, for a presentation to our MBA students. The grand ballroom at the Hotel Jefferson features similar decor and, when one dines there, a full spread of silverware and plates.

Second Life will gain more respectability if it can be used for down-to-earth work such as reducing embarrassment as students prepare for lunch during job interviews. It’s prosaic when compared to the cutting-edge interactive artwork of Burning Life or the depth of design in certain roleplaying sims.

Both of those examples do not, however, teach good dining etiquette. And that sort of learning goal, easily supported by assessment data and evaluations, will sell campuses on SL.

Archive note: This and other posts published in 2009 can be found at my Blogspot site

Blogs for 2007 and 2008 can be found Archived here.

Location: Virtual Theorists’ Project, Montclair State University

In a required graduate course in Counseling Theories, Edina Gumbo’s students don’t just read about Freud, Jung, Adler, and Rogers. They build their offices and make a model of the Freudian personality: an iceberg where one confronts the Id making demands, the Superego saying no, and the Ego playing mediator.

The students, Edina, and AJ Brooks spent a year making this project come to life.  I had a sneak, hush-hush preview a few months back. You can visit the project for edification or to use in a class. The landing zone provides a map to the entire complex.

Features:

Visit Freud’s office and chat up the Freud-bot. I told Doctor Freud of my childhood nightmares about a chimp that made me hold its sweaty little paw.  The Freudbot was flummoxed by me, especially my question about billable hours.

Visit the offices of Carl Jung, Carl Rogers, and Alfred Adler to learn about their work. All three offices have note-card givers for information about their theories.

Visit the Iceberg. Freud’s office leads to this marvel, and I plan to use it when I next teach Freud in our interdisciplinary first-year course at Richmond. It is open to other classes.

One begins below the water, in the realm of the subconscious, and walks up from the infantile cravings of the ID (represented by insistent teddy-bears):

Inquisitive whispers: Read to me!
Frustrated whispers: I want to stay home!
Angry whispers: Give that back!
Hungry whispers: Feed Me!  Feed Me!
Inquisitive whispers: Read to me!
Happy whispers: Let’s Play!
Greedy whispers: Buy me that car!
Angry whispers: Give that back!

Until one comes upon the watchdog of the Superego (represented by Lego-like cops). I vaulted the gate, hoping they would chase me.

The build will be there for future classes, who will add details and also make simulations related to other theorists.

So what did Edina’s students say about building and using the simulations? They noted that it was more demanding, but more rewarding also. We quizzed them at a post-tour Q&A:

• “SL made the theories come to life and were much easier to understand”
• “the time applying the theories was effective”
• “The fact that everything was so ‘visual’ really helped me”
• “We were forced to apply the theories because of SL. Made learning it more well rounded.“
• “building in SL emphasized the need to do further research beyond just reading the text book”
• “I feel that it was good using SL because it made us have to read and learn these things on our own. We didn’t have to rely on the professor telling us everything”
• “I think it was a very creative way to learn what we needed—more than just reading and presenting in class”

Not everyone craved such active learning: students had the option to switch from a hybrid class to a traditional face-to-face class. Some did during the first week. One participant noted that the hybrid class meant “a lot of work outside of class to familiarize ourselves with 2nd life-setting it up, getting avatars” and another student added “and a lot of time building and searching for objects.“

Those who enrolled in Edina’s section show how powerfully simulations can change educational practices. All it takes is dedicated faculty, supportive I.T. and administration, and a lot of time.

And just maybe some work by Linden Lab to add some Reality Principle to our avatars’ Ids. Consider this photo from the VWBPE conference: I think the Lindens must have put in a default “stare at breasts” anim in male avis. I need a Superego HUD!

Archive note: This and other posts published in 2009 can be found at my Blogspot site

Blogs for 2007 and 2008 can be found Archived here.