The Impossible Made Possible...The Plan Comes Together!

Last night, we all gathered expectantly in Open Sim (OS) to view fruits of a semester's worth of learning and building in virtual environments. Needless to say I was a little hesitant. I knew that our project was very good. We had worked very hard to create a virtual rendering of the critical learning spaces described by Thornburg in his seminal "Campfires In Cyberspace." Walking through our finished prototype, I reflected on how convinced I was, initially, that I would not be able to complete a quality final project. However, working with Nancy and Sarah with each of us collaborating and using our unique skills, we were able to design a quality prototype that I felt actually exceeded our initial vision. But would the class like it? That was the question that made us all uneasy. Throughout the semester we have witnessed some incredible builds by the talented members of LTEC 652D. In particular, I remember the minecraft circuits built by Deanna and the living music machine built by Sarah! These were great examples of learners going well beyond the skills presented in class to master and adapt new techniques to solve problems in contextual areas that they are interested in. This is truly learning at its highest levels!

Deanna's group was first to showcase their OS world that featured the ability to hunt for Hawaiian words (objects) in an immersive environment. The build was expansive, beautiful, and immersive. I was truly impressed by the small details like being able to pet and interact with the dog or to play the piano in the replica of Iolani Palace. I was more impressed by their long-term goal to actually use the virtual world as a place where students could gather to practice speaking in Hawaiian- Brilliant!

Next was  Waynele's group that created a STEM Professional Development World for educators. Again, I was struck by the beauty and attention to detail. Clearly, they had spent many hours building the different stations and thinking about activities to help STEM educators. I was even more surprised after walking through these extraordinary builds that Dr. Peter had a criticism- that maybe they could take better advantage of the immersive affordances of the virtual environment. Oh Oh! What would he say about our build?

As we teleported into our world and everyone turned their day cycle to midnight, I monitored the OS chat. People were immediately taken in by the atmosphere. I was ecstatic. Many commented on how "awesome" the environment was and how it was cool to be able to have physical (virtual) representations (metaphors) of Thornburg's critical learning spaces. This echoed feedback that we received during our formative evaluation as LTEC 600 students commented that the virtual world was very cool, very immersive, and it really helped them to understand how campfires in cyberspace could be used to deepen learning in a classroom setting. Mission accomplished! Thanks to my great team mates!