Virtual Spaces as Web2.0 Learning Spaces

sarah robbins (aka intelligirl) - the session is recorded and will go on Educause connect soon, if you want to see it in full - the visuals are pretty good.

Quick classification of web2.0 - 4 elements: prosumer, remote applications, social, APIs

where do universities fit in?

who are our students?

where do they live (what space do they inhabit online)?

how do they learn outside the classroom?

Preparing new students:

Interesting concept of flexible identity across different spaces and environments

Facing a very different workplace

No Medial Hauntings - really interesting concept, new users don't have previous version hauntings they stand alone Ref: Sloane "Haunting history of J" Passions and Pedagogies in the 21st Century Hawisher and Selfe

New Learning Models - our games and our classrooms take approaches that are "learn by experiment"or "learn by social interaction" ie divided along gender lines, can new technologies enable both in the same place Sheri Graner Ray Gender Inclusive Game Design: Expanding the Market (2003)

Hypermediated (TV with multi-info)

Compare and contrast how things work (like information, chat etc) within a VLE and the social IM spaces, gaming environments that they inhabit socially. It is a very engaging premise, and the idea of how sophisticated the students (pre-14) use of technology and gaming is. But again a bit of VLE knocking - not sensing much empathy with the fear 2.0 concept. One example was Bb chat v Radius IM which mashes IM with google maps - and as a response on twitter windygap96 posts "radius vs. Bb chat...how many times have faculty told me they cannot manage the Bb chat imagine trying to get them to use radius? how do I?"

So my questions are (as always) - is this how it really is? are they in these spaces in the UK? "all their social interactions are IM, social networks, twitter" hmmm - how does this resonate with the research we have been doing recently? If this is the case in the US (if?) are we going to get this soon or is it never really going to have the reach within a UK cultural context. IMing hasn't replaced texting in the UK as predicted a couple of years ago.

On the other hand - Some great stuff about identity, rhetorical construct, feeling "different", community engagement online, encouraging specific behaviours, translating ideas, changing roles in dramatic ways

Students projects:

- exploring how the growth in open source software will reduce the cost of higher education.

- visitors blindfolded in the space to translate idea of cultural literacy

[aside from twitter George Mason have renamed their Digital Fluency Center as a Collaborative Learning Centre, gardnercampbell twitters: "Collaborative Learning Center" an easier sell to provost than "Digital Fluency Center." Interesting. Also, importance of a dedicated space."]

oops, too much twitter:

Questions about Croquet (http://www.opencroquet.org/index.php/Main_Page) her response was yes, its OK, (harder to use?) future is probably in multiverse - is that the right name?