NMC Campus Observer

Teachers Buzz Plorked

CDB Barkley (aka Alan Levine) : Sep 19, 2007 02:47pm

Got Plork? Why not?

Monday’s discussion for the NMC Campus Teachers Buzz was lively and fast moving! Guest host Aurilli Oh set up a conversation about “PLORK: Adults at play and work: A Collective Reflection” advertised as:

Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned resident, you’ve probably noticed that Second Life is a bundle of plork. It’s fun, satisfying, frustrating, intense. It’s a lot of thinking and feeling rolled up into flow (Csiksczentmihalyi, 1991) experiences for many of us. Aurili led a lively discussion on our experiences and observations of others’ experiences learning in and about Second Life. How do people in Second Life come to have the skills and knowledge they have? How do we/they you learn? What kind of learners are successful in Second Life? What kinds of learning seem to work best? What kinds don’t?

We had a nice group, some new, some familiar, who assembled on the red seats at Boracay- where FYI, host Corwin Carillon shared that some of his students, of their own accord, entered McKinsey’s Second Life startup competition … and they got 40,000 L$ for their startup.

For the meeting, as usual, Plain Text and Rich Text transcripts are available, along with photos.

Some highlights snagged from the transcripts…

How do you think people in Second Life come to have the skills and knowledge they have?

Experimenting
Determination
Patience
Playful exploration with social support.
Asking Others
I’ve learned the most through individual avatars “coaching” me
Discovery learning
Curiosity
Finding an activity that’s meaningful to him/her and pursuing it.
playful engagement
a shared project with a “tangible” result
Responsive environment and objects; interaction with peeps.
a desire to “influence” the environment…

What have you noticed about how your students/learners learn?

This technology is not transparent to the learner - yet

I was at a lecture today … nothing but PPT. During the break we were encourage to go and explore … nobody came back.

Now I know SL is not a game, but drawing on game research - it takes students several WEEKS to become used to the environment, so they can move beyond the basics and really engage

Keep in mind, though. People today don’t mind investing days or even weeks in their online presence.

I think SL is more engaging if the person themselves is more willing to actively engage rather than passively be towed along

Aurilli Ph

So how would describe SL in terms of learning and learners to a colleague who’s interested in it?

Description of SL expereince is a bit like trying to describe the smell and emotional repsonse to a garden…

I used to play in SL and work in RL…. now, it’s “kind of” the other way around

SL provides a new range of experiences that do set you apart from non-SLers when you try to explain them.. I’ve had that experience several times with colleagues…

How can we “convince” others of the importance of plorking?

Not sure about the rest of you but I have to deal constantly in RL with budgets to create my classrooms and laering environments plus supplies and the time it takes to set everything up and break it down. SL provided me with a way to circumvent all the pitfalls of reality.

Well, I have realized that I have things in common with people all over the globe. Also, friendships with people from other nations has made me painfully aware of how fortunate I am to live in the U.S., with all of our advantages, even though my politics are not in line with those of the current admin and I have been feeling down about my country.

I would think play would be highly relevant (coming somewhat as I am into the middle of this conversation) because play is a form of relaxation that creates the conditions under which learning happens more freely and easily.

it’s interesting to see the different elements of the internet that have been tied together here in SL - many ancient MUDs and IRC chatrooms, a particularly notorious internet classroom, and to some extent the modding community have moved here - so you get a wide variety of experiences and capabilities

The ability to build is what engages me.

Yes, creation is lots of fun, but meeting new people, that’s what’s fun for me, listening to their take on things.

I find SL is like logging in to Burning Man, but I’ve no idea if that analogy is relevant to anyone here or not.

think that appreciating the effort that goes in to attending to the inclusion of RL details in SL has given me a much greater awareness of their organic occurrence in RL.

I find spending too much time in here makes me yearn to do something “real”… with my hands… it’s a different type of creativity

I think that’s one of the wonderful things about SL — in some ways the hypnosis of class distinctions is eliminated.

Any closing thoughts, ideas reflections about plorking in SL for learning, enjoyment, community, etc?

LIke a harsh desert environment SL is a new experience for all of us at some point, and there are still a lot of people here who recognize that.

I see a ton of people entering, and they seem to want it all right away, without spending time in SL - it bothers me…I learned almost everything by observing, becoming friends, listening, then doing for others

We need better ways to get people in and have positive experiences in a short time

Joining groups really moves the experience forward more quickly I found. It’s hard to begin to find what interests you without connecting with those who know more.

Well, i still think that a sense of wonder is integral to really ‘getting’ this world.

Our big thanks go to Aurilli Oh and her colleagues from the pICTsl Farm visit them at Meadowbrook (186, 135, 21).

Got a good discussion topic? A build you’d like to give a tour of? A script gadget you’d like to test/share/give away? We are looking for YOU to host an NMC Teachers Buzz session in October or November. It’s fun, easy, and you will be famous (well among the 30 people that show up at least). Add your name and idea to an open date for the Buzz Planning