students and electronic media: teaching in the technological age conference

in EducationRamapo Islands: Three Case Studies

Kevin JarrettTechnology FacilitatorNorthfield Community SchoolNorthfield, New Jersey02-May-2008

Students and Electronic Media: Teaching in the Technological Age Conference | © 2008 Kevin Jarrett | 02-May-2008

• What is a multi-user virtual environment (M.U.V.E.)?– “3D isometric/third-person graphics, accessed

over the Internet […] dozens of simultaneous users […] a persistent virtual world.” (Wikipedia)

• Uses– eCommerce, prototyping, recreation,

education

• Forecast: rapid growth– “By the end of 2011, 80 percent of active

Internet users (and Fortune 500 enterprises) will have a ’second life,’ but not necessarily in Second Life” (Gartner Group)

Background


• Identity– “For some players, the avatar becomes a

purposeful projection or idealization of their own identity, while for others, the avatar is an experiment with new identities.” (Nick Yee)

• Power of Learning Affordances– “One study found benefits of video gaming

for visual attention, including greater attentional capacity, quicker attention deployment, and faster processing.” (Schmidt, Vandewater)

Research


• New Tools for Education?– “We believe that game technologies and

game-like learning offer new and inviting tools for young people to try out and eventually become new kinds of learners and citizens fit for the 21st century’s global world full of great perils and possibilities.” (James Paul Gee)

• Uncharted Territory– “…despite the increasing use of video games

in education, analysts know little about what exactly children learn from gaming, primarily because of a lack of rigorous research on learning outcomes.” (Schmidt, Vandewater)

More Research


Ramapo Islands

Peggy Sheehy, Library/Media Specialist

The Home of Ramapo Islands


Ramapo Islands

Students, Then

Students, Now


Ramapo Islands


Ramapo Islands

“Of Mice and Men”

“BodyImage

Unit”

“The Cay”


Role Playing, Today

Image credit: http://flickr.com/photos/64605911@N00/37434108/


Role Playing, The Future


“Of Mice and Men”


“Body Image Unit”



Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/6ndsmk

Video credit: http://youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U

http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/


“The Cay”


References

Gee, J. (n.d.). Spotlight on DML | Jim Gee: The Repertoire of Human Identities and the Digital World. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://tinyurl.com/5npzbu.

MUVE - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUVE.

Reuters/Second Life >> Gartner sees 80 % virtual world penetration by 2011. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2008, from http://tinyurl.com/32a4be.

Schmidt, M., & Vandewater, E. (2008). Media and Attention, Cognition and School Achievement. The Future of Children, 18(1), 73.

Yee, N. (n.d.). Avatar and Identity in MMORPGs. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/gateway_identity.html.


Thank You!

Kevin [email protected]

storyofmysecondlife.com

ncs-tech.org