LIBR 287-02
LIBR 287-11
Seminar in Information Science
Topic: Second Life & Multi-User Virtual Environments
Spring 2008 Greensheet
Jeremy W. Kemp, M.S.J., M.Ed.
E-mail
| Greensheet Links Textbooks and Readings Course Requirements |
Course Links
Class Web Site |
Resources SLIS eBookstore |
This class does not use Blackboard! See the class website: http://www.sloodle.org/course/view.php?id=34
The course opens for login at noon, January 22nd. You will create your own account. When prompted, enter the enrollment key "spartan".
Course Description
This class explores the intersection of Multi-User Virtual Environments and the new social web. It is a survey course in that it will review milestones in MUVEs and examine historical trends leading to the current rapid expansion of non-game 3D environments. It is also a design studio for students who want to build 3D immersive settings, clothing, vehicles, objects, etc.
Students will see several virtual worlds but will delve deeply into the Second Life platform.
The class is a project-based learning experiment. SJSU SLIS is building a new campus and students will participate in that effort. It is complete with buildings, a stadium, classrooms, parks, vehicles, etc.
The class is highly experimental – the first of its kind in the nation. You will succeed and enjoy the class if you assume the posture of an active course co-facilitator rather than as a passive consumer of technical training.
Prerequisites
- Completion of LIBR 202
- A broadband connection and relatively new hardware. See Second Life technical requirements here: http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/sl/index.php/Techreqs
- Comfort using Web 2.0 tools and new media settings. Experience with some form of social web is highly recommended.
- Willingness to tackle a complex interface. The tools are still very game-like and rough around the edges.
- Have a can-do attitude for solving computing issues including the inevitable snags and hiccups that come with cutting a new path
Course Objectives
Student Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- navigate immersive environments using an avatar;
- communicate in various modes using chat and messaging and convey an emotional affect or “personality”;
- call on literature in the use of MUVEs for library service and information delivery tasks;
- use a variety of information retrieval systems being offered in experimental immersive settings;
- use 3D building and scripting tools to organize and represent knowledge in simple structures and interactive objects;
- make recommendations to peers and managers about implementing virtual worlds activities in your organization.
LIBR 287 supports the following SLIS Core Competencies:
- design, query and evaluate information retrieval systems;
- demonstrate proficiency in the use of current information and communication technologies, and other related technologies, as they affect the resources and uses of libraries and other types of information providing entities;
- understand the system of standards and methods used to control and create information structures and apply basic principles involved in the organization and representation of knowledge.
In addition, this section supports the following SLIS Core Competencies:
- demonstrate proficiency in the use of current information and communication technologies, and other related technologies, as they affect the resources and uses of libraries and other types of information providing entities;
- use service concepts, principles and techniques that facilitate information access, relevance, and accuracy for individuals or groups of users;
- demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for group work, collaborations and professional level presentations;
- contribute to the cultural, economic, educational and social well-being of our communities.
See the SLIS Statement of Core Competencies at http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/slis/competencies.htm
Textbooks and Readings
Required Text
- White, B. (2007). Second Life: A Guide to Your Virtual World. Indianapolis: Que. ISBN: 9780321501660. This is available at the Spartan bookshop and in the SLIS eBookstore.
All additional readings will be available online in the Moodle site and on course reserves.
Course Requirements
Tasks to do Before the Class Begins
Please do the following prior to the start of class on
January 22, 2008 at 12 noon PT:
- Send an email indicating your participation in the class to: jkemp@slis.sjsu.edu
- Order and receive the required text
- Buy a microphone headset for your computer. Follow the Elluminate mike requirements: http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/software/elluminate/students/equipment.htm
- Read the basic Second Life guide
(http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/sl/index.php/Second_Life_Guide_for_getting_in_and_basic_movement_controls)
Optional
- Download the Second Life client
- Select an avatar
(http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/sl/index.php/Tools)
(You do not need a paid account for this class!) - See the SLIS Second Life wiki for more details on getting started: http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/sl
You don't need to enter SL before the first live session on January 29th, but many do. You will arrive on an "Orientation Island" and must work your way through a series of tasks to exit the island and find "SJSU SLIS" island.
Entering Second Life has been confusing for some students in the past. PLEASE contact me if you find yourself getting lost at the very beginning of your journey!
Course Calendar
- Class starts January 22nd
- First live Second Life session on January 29th 9-10pm
- Class ends May 13th
A detailed course outline is posted on Moodle. It contains a list of readings and project due dates for each week. All dates are subject to change with fair notice.
Assignments
There are 100 points divided into the following graded
activities:
| 10 | Survey paper |
| 10 | Forum participation |
| 40 | Quests - a set of 8 self-paced exercises |
| 20 | Service learning project |
| 20 | Build a “v-Portfolio” |
- Survey paper (10 pts)
Students will write a 1500-word paper (about 8 pages) outlining literature on the origin and present state of Multi-User Virtual Environments for teaching, learning and information retrieval. It should touch on current development of MUVEs as tools for information providing entities. Students should use APA style. - Forum participation (10 pts)
Each week, students are required to interact with each other in a learning community using the Moodle message board and synchronous meetings in Second Life. The instructor will post questions occasionally and students should comment on posts from colleagues. - Quests (40 pts)
Immersive 3D environments were created as game engines more than a decade ago. Though Second Life has done away with game affordances like scores and leveling, educational games and "learning as play" seem to work very well. The course includes eight tasks or quests, each with a motivating activity resulting in a "deliverable." The object, photo, transcript, etc. is uploaded into the Moodle course shell. Some examples quests students might accomplish throughout the term include:- Create an avatar self-portrait
- Critique a library space
- Be a reference desk customer
- Serve on a reference desk for one hour
- Make a web report with images from Second Life
- Join a community group and perform an ethnography
- Design a one-hour library program
- Conduct a program, do marketing, build a set and manage the event
- Build an object with 10 parts
- Create three scripted information objects with notecards, web addresses and labels
- Service learning project (20 pts)
Students assist with projects outside the SJSU SLIS campus for our neighbors on other campus and libraries. Project options are very flexible. This setup provides an experiential environment where students can actively construct knowledge while engaging in actual projects. SJSU's "neighbors" comprise most of the pioneers in immersive worlds used for non-game information service, storage and retrieval.
We will take advantage of our location by volunteering for short projects to help these experts and serve the LIS community. They will benefit greatly from our time
and expertise. In return, we get practical, real-world learning settings to practice in.
Example projects include:
- delivering training sessions
- creating buildings that house information or learning content designing learning objects
- doing related web-based projects outside the environment
- assisting SLIS faculty with their own Second Life projects
- filming "machinima" videos using Second Life as a set
- an outline written before your start and submitted to your client;
- a completed project artifact submitted in Second Life and/or Moodle;
- Build a "v-Portfolio" (20 pts)
This project will help you synthesize what you have learned and package it as evidence for your culminating e-Portfolio. See the list of core competencies:
http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/slis/competencies.htm.
It is important that you have something to show even when the class is over and you are not in Second Life. So you will build the display inside SL and also
document it on the web with photos, a Powerpoint, etc. Therefore, students complete two parts:- Second Life as a portfolio container. Choose some portion of your class projects and create a display area to highlight your work. Organize it using 3D interface tools and reflect on how it demonstrates mastery in one of the core competencies.
- Second Life as an evidence generator. Capture your display for viewing outside Second Life. You might gather Flickr images, YouTube videos, etc. The evidence you create here should be useable with no changes for your Libr 289 portfolio.
Synchronous Meetings
I’m available weekdays between 9:30am and 6pm and
informally in the evenings. Class members will need to
negotiate gatherings and maintain some flexibility.
During the class, students will:
- Download and install virtual world clients such as Active Worlds, Second Life, There.com;
- Use voice tools to communicate with classmates (text chat works in a pinch);
- log into the Moodle site and participate in a threaded messaging board;
- work with teammates and accommodate their schedules as much as possible.
Moodle
Because Blackboard is not connected to the Second Life
platform, this course uses the Moodle platform.
Students create their own accounts and enter the class
on or after the first day of the term (January 22).
The system has good documentation, and the instructor
will provide support for technical issues related to
using Moodle.
Dates And Time Requirements
Due dates for all assignments will be announced on the
Moodle site, and all submissions must be digital --
anything else is unacceptable. Points/final grades may
be adjusted is you do not follow these guidelines.
Late, Make-Up, and In-Class Assignments
Late assignments will not be accepted. Get your work
in on time! All assignments are due Tuesdays at noon.
Grading Scale
The standard SJSU SLIS Grading Scale is utilized for all SLIS courses:
| 97-100 | A |
| 94-96 | A- |
| 91-93 | B+ |
| 88-90 | B |
| 85-87 | B- |
| 82-84 | C+ |
| 79-81 | C |
| 76-78 | C- |
| 73-75 | D+ |
| 70-72 | D |
| 67-69 | D- |
| Below 67 | F |
In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:
- C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
- B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work;
- A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.
Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0.
Academic Integrity
Your own commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at San José State University, and the University's Academic Integrity Policy requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the Office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The policy on academic integrity can be found at http://sa.sjsu.edu/student_conduct.
Reasonable Accommodation of Disabilities
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability,
please e-mail me as soon as possible. Presidential Directive 97-03 requires
that students with disabilities register with the Disability Resource Center
(DRC) to establish record of their disability.
No matter where students reside, they should contact the SJSU DRC to register. The DRC Web site: http://www.drc.sjsu.edu/
One Washington Square - San José, California USA, 95192-0029
Phone: 408-924-2490
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