Advantage and Disadvantage of MU3DE

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Virtual World Teacher Training Project (Orientation Tower for VW Educators)

Overview 1.Advantage 2.Demo 3.Tutorial 4.Lesson Plan 5.Tools 6.Community 7.Build

Update on 22th March, 2022

Unique Benefits of MU3DE for Education

Enrique Cachafeiro (avatar name: 8bitBiologist) sumarized well as follows;

"Virtual worlds afford many benefits to the learning process. At the high school level, students often become disenchanted with the learning process and fail to engage.
By using a virtual environment the students are more "active" by having avatars that wander and seek out the information to learn. They also take more ownership of their learning as they find the links and explore the space, as well as customize their avatar."
Education using Second Life/ OpenSim Grids (SL/OS) is in line with Constructivism and STEAM education;

Constructivism
"People construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences (, not through copying existing knowledge)." (Jean Piaget)
STEAM movement - Interdisciplinary approach
"Students need a literacy of a breadth of the primary disciplines which would include an ability to transfer knowledge with higher order thinking between disciplines," (Georgette Yakman, 2010)
"the easier it is to engage other subjects, due to factors like common language, the easier it is for students to realize how to apply knowledge from one curriculum to another." (Huber & Morrale, 2002)

Educational Use Cace Unique Benefits Weakness and Countermeasures

A. Lecture, student presentation and discussion interactively by remote access
(Lecture, Conference, Workshop, etc.) - Voice and visual communication in online distance learning.
- Synchronicity and Interactivity between Teacher and students
- Capability for remote, real-time communication among multiple users.
- Participation to campus and oppotunity for serendipity remotely.

If you use Web conference system (WCS) with SL/OS viewer, following technical difficulties in SL/OS can be avoided.

- Audio trouble
- Sharing lecturer's viewfield
- Avoiding YouTube asynchrony among participants
- Setting of Slide Displayer for lecturers
- Combined use of web applications (PowerPoint, YouTube, Google Earth, etc.)

Under COVID 19, remote classroom by WCS have become common, SL/OS is not necessary if lecturers use only slide displayer in a virtual auditorium.
However, since WCS needs registering participants in advance by the teacher as the host, WCS alone cannot allow us to communicate with whom we happen to meet in or out of a campus remotely.

B. Visualize contents and contexts in 3D space
(Poster session in 3D, etc.)
SL/OS have sustainable ecosystem where various and enormous 3D contents are accumulating by users. Edu Destinations
Visualization reduce barriers due to languages, cultures and disciplines.

For builders;
- Visualize own idea by oneself using in-situ building tools, fruitful marketplace and curating in open 3D geospace.
- Even for educators who can't use professional software (Maya, Unity3D, etc.) can enjoy building under existence of admirers.
- Interactive exhibits by Touch, Sit, Zoom, Shared media, Scripts, etc.
- Inexpensive way for educators to build 3D exhibits compared with exhibits in RL museums.

For visitors;

- 3D experience where visitors need to move and interact with displays actively. See "D. Discovery learning by collaboration".

3D experiences require a kind of literacy for both creators and visitors just as a language needs grammar learning.

For builders;
- Necessity of various skills for building and scripting.
- Enough considerations for curation and navigation in 3D space based on image literacy, because view angle in PC screen is much narrower than that in RL.
- Limited number of builders who have incentives for education.

For teachers;
- Necessity of sharing and supporting 3D educational resources and lesson plans.
- Cost for regions -> Get accademic discount for private Island. Use OpenSim Gris where less limitation for building especialy for archaeological reconstruction and Art museums.

For students;
- Questing, mapping, discovering view points, finding information, deciphering builder's intentions are required. See "D. Discovery learning by collaboration".

C. Multi-sensing immersive experiences
(Field trip, Performing Art, Language, etc.) - Sense places and events in a SL/OS that supports multimedia, such as visual, aural and simulations.
- An opportunity to visit places that people cannot access easily in the physical world. (Space, Deep see, Arctic, Rain forest, War area, etc.)
- Language education by voice and field trips to enhance their learning experience.

SL/OS don’t support VR headset yet
Current VR head still has problems like 3D sick, narrow view angle, insufficient network bandwidth, etc.

It's not just VR heads that can provide you an immersive feeling.

- Operate the SL / OS viewer by yourself on Full-HD monitor to explore actively.
- If you're giving a lecture using screen sharing of Web Conference System, you can give a immersive feeling by using FlyCam mode 3D mouse like Moving Shot in movies.

D. Discovery learning by collaboration
(Field trip, Museums, etc.) Discover and experience different types of learning with classmates in a user-created environment which is less structured than other social media spaces. - Capability for remote, real-time communication among multiple users.
-
- Hunts: Questing, mapping, discovering view points, finding information, deciphering builder's intentions.

Many SL/OS destinations are ill-structured and open-ended with no clear mission to accomplish.

- Importance for the teacher to define the purpose of the exploration and provide strong guidance.
- A balance between teacher control and letting students explore.
- Lesson plan notecard with Land Mark.
- Combine with mailing list or group talk.

Distraction from Learning

- SL/OS is not suitable for systematic and effective passive learning

E. Social skill challenge Students can participate in communities from a classroom to a college campus.
And outside of campus, there are various socio-economical activities are developed in SL.

- Social skill development in a physically non-threatening environment.
- Enabling disabled persons to experience living via a virtual world in ways they may be able to experience in the physical world.

How to protect students from threat and adult contents?

Threat and adult contents are worse in SNS and web contents than SL.

Teach students following measures;

- Select "General" rating.
- Don't open real personal information and don't accept friendship from strangers. Both are rather necessary in RL and SNS.
- Teleport to home at the dangerous situation.

F. Person to person communication under less stress circumstance

Communication through avatars is less stress and risk than that through face-to-face or video camera, especially;

- For people who have difficulty for face-to-face contact
- For people who want to keep their privacy.
(for Discovery learning, Social skill challenge, Counseling, etc.)

Making an avatar as my identity is always annoying.
Difference from face-to-face in RL;

- Lacking facial expressions and gestures
- A kind of realistic avatar sometimes gives uncanny feeling, uneasiness or revulsion. (Uncanny valley)

When you share the same space with somebody day to day, you are able to trust that person better.(Philip Rosedale, 2022)

G. Special training and experiment
(Nursing, Lab safety, etc.) - Medical and legal role play scenarios
- Experiments and training in potentially dangerous environments in real life.
- The training includes interactive experiences with hands-on objects to observe visual outcomes of one’s actions
Creating 3D content that can be used for training requires sufficient skills, great effort, and enthusiasm for education.
Few educators can do that.
We need to share such scarce resources with everyone and support their survival.

VW education is time consuming work for both teacher and students, and almost educational resources are ill-structured and open-ended.
So, SL/OS isn't suitable for mussive education or sytematic knowledge transfer.
Avoid situations where a class of more than 15 students.

512x512: Benefits & Weakness
512x512: Greg's experiences
512x256: Sign boards

Educational Use Cace	Unique Benefits	Weakness and Countermeasures
A. Lecture, student presentation and discussion interactively by remote access (Lecture, Conference, Workshop, etc.)	- Voice and visual communication in online distance learning. - Synchronicity and Interactivity between Teacher and students - Capability for remote, real-time communication among multiple users. - Participation to campus and oppotunity for serendipity remotely.	If you use Web conference system (WCS) with SL/OS viewer, following technical difficulties in SL/OS can be avoided. - Audio trouble - Sharing lecturer's viewfield - Avoiding YouTube asynchrony among participants - Setting of Slide Displayer for lecturers - Combined use of web applications (PowerPoint, YouTube, Google Earth, etc.) Under COVID 19, remote classroom by WCS have become common, SL/OS is not necessary if lecturers use only slide displayer in a virtual auditorium. However, since WCS needs registering participants in advance by the teacher as the host, WCS alone cannot allow us to communicate with whom we happen to meet in or out of a campus remotely.
B. Visualize contents and contexts in 3D space (Poster session in 3D, etc.)	SL/OS have sustainable ecosystem where various and enormous 3D contents are accumulating by users. Edu Destinations Visualization reduce barriers due to languages, cultures and disciplines. For builders; - Visualize own idea by oneself using in-situ building tools, fruitful marketplace and curating in open 3D geospace. - Even for educators who can't use professional software (Maya, Unity3D, etc.) can enjoy building under existence of admirers. - Interactive exhibits by Touch, Sit, Zoom, Shared media, Scripts, etc. - Inexpensive way for educators to build 3D exhibits compared with exhibits in RL museums. For visitors; - 3D experience where visitors need to move and interact with displays actively. See "D. Discovery learning by collaboration".	3D experiences require a kind of literacy for both creators and visitors just as a language needs grammar learning. For builders; - Necessity of various skills for building and scripting. - Enough considerations for curation and navigation in 3D space based on image literacy, because view angle in PC screen is much narrower than that in RL. - Limited number of builders who have incentives for education. For teachers; - Necessity of sharing and supporting 3D educational resources and lesson plans. - Cost for regions -> Get accademic discount for private Island. Use OpenSim Gris where less limitation for building especialy for archaeological reconstruction and Art museums. For students; - Questing, mapping, discovering view points, finding information, deciphering builder's intentions are required. See "D. Discovery learning by collaboration".
C. Multi-sensing immersive experiences (Field trip, Performing Art, Language, etc.)	- Sense places and events in a SL/OS that supports multimedia, such as visual, aural and simulations. - An opportunity to visit places that people cannot access easily in the physical world. (Space, Deep see, Arctic, Rain forest, War area, etc.) - Language education by voice and field trips to enhance their learning experience.	SL/OS don’t support VR headset yet Current VR head still has problems like 3D sick, narrow view angle, insufficient network bandwidth, etc. It's not just VR heads that can provide you an immersive feeling. - Operate the SL / OS viewer by yourself on Full-HD monitor to explore actively. - If you're giving a lecture using screen sharing of Web Conference System, you can give a immersive feeling by using FlyCam mode 3D mouse like Moving Shot in movies.
D. Discovery learning by collaboration (Field trip, Museums, etc.)	Discover and experience different types of learning with classmates in a user-created environment which is less structured than other social media spaces. - Capability for remote, real-time communication among multiple users. - - Hunts: Questing, mapping, discovering view points, finding information, deciphering builder's intentions.	Many SL/OS destinations are ill-structured and open-ended with no clear mission to accomplish. - Importance for the teacher to define the purpose of the exploration and provide strong guidance. - A balance between teacher control and letting students explore. - Lesson plan notecard with Land Mark. - Combine with mailing list or group talk. Distraction from Learning - SL/OS is not suitable for systematic and effective passive learning
E. Social skill challenge	Students can participate in communities from a classroom to a college campus. And outside of campus, there are various socio-economical activities are developed in SL. - Social skill development in a physically non-threatening environment. - Enabling disabled persons to experience living via a virtual world in ways they may be able to experience in the physical world.	How to protect students from threat and adult contents? Threat and adult contents are worse in SNS and web contents than SL. Teach students following measures; - Select "General" rating. - Don't open real personal information and don't accept friendship from strangers. Both are rather necessary in RL and SNS. - Teleport to home at the dangerous situation.
F. Person to person communication under less stress circumstance	Communication through avatars is less stress and risk than that through face-to-face or video camera, especially; - For people who have difficulty for face-to-face contact - For people who want to keep their privacy. (for Discovery learning, Social skill challenge, Counseling, etc.)	Making an avatar as my identity is always annoying. Difference from face-to-face in RL; - Lacking facial expressions and gestures - A kind of realistic avatar sometimes gives uncanny feeling, uneasiness or revulsion. (Uncanny valley) When you share the same space with somebody day to day, you are able to trust that person better.(Philip Rosedale, 2022)
G. Special training and experiment (Nursing, Lab safety, etc.)	- Medical and legal role play scenarios - Experiments and training in potentially dangerous environments in real life. - The training includes interactive experiences with hands-on objects to observe visual outcomes of one’s actions	Creating 3D content that can be used for training requires sufficient skills, great effort, and enthusiasm for education. Few educators can do that. We need to share such scarce resources with everyone and support their survival.