One big question looms for me. Will this course have anything different about learning design compared to what we did in 2008 with Flexible Learning and Facilitating Online – in the pre-MOOC era before the name of Moocs and interacting with large numbers of participants became fashionable?
My goals this week are to:
- Engage in all the activities – my introduction and initial interest in a design project has been conveyed on writing this.
- Explore the study circles with the intention of joining a project group.
- Find a definition of learning design that resonates.
I have decided to join a project with Ellie Brewster (Dr Sharon Collingwood) exploring learning design for creating presence in virtual worlds using open resources and mobile devices.Peter Miller\’s tip about Lumiya for android devices is a goodie so I will look into that so I can play on my eepad.
Day Five
I had a refresher in Second Life today and rejuvenated Branwen Trewellion – she now has a new haircut. For some reason, I found it more challenging to change the appearance of my avatar and to move her around. It looks like there have been some changes in SL since I was last there. I went to Koru (NMIT\’s space) and made it my homepage. Before that I encountered some strangers and one was attacking an avatar and there was lots of swearing so I felt the need to get out of the area quickly so went to a familiar space – Koru. However, once there, it felt quite lonely as no-one was around. Psychologically the beauty of a virtual world is the presence of others to interact with in a meaningful way, and I felt this need acutely when I was exploring today. Next time I will take a pic to put on here. I want to explore OpenSim next and some of the other virtual worlds platforms being mentioned, e.g., Cloud party and Twinity.
A big issue for me is accessibility for students when using virtual worlds so if they can use their mobile devices – i or android phones, e or ipads and notebooks that would be fabulous. As Sharon has mentioned orientation to the environment is key to success but it does take up a lot of time. I have been on the mind map and added some initial ideas. Next up the readings which I hope to enjoy with my feet up reading on the eepad….my back is killing me at the mo so I cant do much else. So in between hanging upside down and visiting the physio the Mooc (and a pile of library books, of course) is keeping me occupied.
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