Welcome to the June 2014 Metagame edition of VEJ. In just a few days we will be joining our colleagues and friends at ISTE2014. The theme for this year’s Virtual Environment Network’s (VEN – formally ISTE SIGVE) Playground in Atlanta, is also Metagame. In both the VEN Playground and this issue of VEJ we hope to help answer the questions about why so many of our students can’t stop playing Minecraft? What keeps players so actively engaged in games such as World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, and Class of Clans? What is a Metagame? What makes it so enticing? So engaging? So addicting? Why can’t we stop playing?
Could it have something to do with the fact that Metagame play most often happens in an online virtual collegial learning community? Does it have something to do with the fact that the learning goals traverse beyond the game world and extend to multiple platforms including YouTube, blogs, wikis, twitter, guil d sites, Google hangouts, and other creative entities? Is the value in the play less about the win and more about the challenge of the game itself? And what is it about those Fiero Moments that keeps players willing to do whatever it takes to level-up?
As trailblazing educators are discovering through their explorations with gaming, these inworld, immersive, online, collaborative learning experiences are easily aligned to the Common Core S tate Standards and the Cognitive Rigor Mattrix, including Webb’s Depth Of Knowledge. The metagame affords players of all ages the ability to think, innovate, strategize, and evaluate their play (aka learning) at deeper, higher levels. Could it be that we are finally onto something that has the potential to revolutionize the way we teach and learn? Is it possible that Metagames could be the catalyst for the 21st Century Reformation of the 19th Century Common Schools?
How exciting to think that finally there is credibility for elementary students to demonstrate their acquired computational thinking and problem-solving skills through collaborative project-based learning assessments by building lego-like structures in Minecraft. And what about high school students in WoW dealing with probability and statistical analysis as they solve highly engaging tactical problems? It is already starting to happen. Students of all ages are creating tutorials, videos, worlds, and even online civilizations. They are engaging with peers using a private school server or using Skype and other VOIP to collaborate internationally. Either way, through their use of metagames they are thinking about their thinking and evaluating their own play/learning, all the while gaining digital citizenship skills on their way to becoming global citizens.
Remember the words to the folk song, “Where have all the children gone?” Teachers around the world know that it is becoming more and more difficult to motivate students to learn as the gap grows further distant between what they do in school to learn and how they learn outside of school. Students today are learning what they need to know to succeed in the second half of the 21st Century with their peers, faraway from the brick and mortar walls we call school
“ When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?” Let this issue of VEJ serve as that wake-up call!
Keep Smiling J
Roxie Neiro (SL)
Rosie Vojtek (RL)
Cover Photo and “What Is Metagame” on page 3 by Vasili Giannoutsos, aka Bluebarker Lowtide. “What Is Metagame” explains the cover picture and defines Metagame.
June 2014
In This Issue
• ISTE2014 VEN Sessions
• Meta-guide Partnerships Between Students via Oculus Rift and Second Life/Open Sim
• On Becoming A Guild: An Interview With Chris Luchs
• The Minecraft ABC Project
• IOS (Apple) Virtual World Apps
• Screenshots from World of Warcraft
• Professional Education Connections in Virtual Worlds
• My Avatar & Me
• Virtual Worlds for Education, FINALLY! An Interview with Gordon Holden
• The Inclusion of Disabled Players in Virtual World Games: The World of Warcraft Model
• Minecraft and Beyond
ISTE2014 VEN Highlights
• ISTE EduMachinima Fest for Teachers and Students
• Metagame: Virtual Environments Playground
• This Is Not a Game! Learning with Alternate Reality Games
• Learner Analytics in MMORPGs: Use for Curriculum and Instruction
• METAGAME Book Club
• The Recipe of Storytelling: Step 3 of 3
• The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to WoW: An Educational Technology Site
• Retro Raids: The Vintage WoW Experier
• Inevitable. . . Raiding in World of Warcraft
• Guardians Of The Grid
• Virtual Worlds Terminology
Coming in Next VEJ Issue – My Avatar and Me Part II
We’ll be meeting up with the Games & Simulation Network to talk awards!
Here’s the categories from last year http://bit.ly/2013vejcatgories
Tuesday 9 - 10 am VEJ Planning Meeting
PLN Lounge in Building B, Level 3 (across from room B313)
Be sure to read the articles in the special ISTE2014 section of this issue of VEJ for more information about what to see when you are in Atlanta 6/28 - 7/1.
By Fleet Goldenberg of Sambiglyon
(http://www.sambiglyon.org)
INTRODUCTION
What is 'meta'? It is a term that is used in everyday language, usually with a second word attached to the end of it to give it a specific context (metaphysics, metahuman, metaverse, etc.) But few people really know what it means.
The best way to comprehend a difficult concept is often to return to its origins, before layers of complexity were added over time. 'Meta' is an ancient Greek word that can mean a variety of things, including After, Among, Beyond, and Beside.
Once we understand these meanings then meta-buzzwords make more sense. 'Metaphysics' refers to physics theories that are Beyond current scientific proof. 'Metahuman' is a human who has gone Beyond – the traditional limits of humans (super-heroes and super-villains often being described in fiction as meta-humans.)
The 'Metaverse' – a description often applied to virtual reality worlds –could also be said to be Beyond the real world, because it enables humans to think and act in ways that are currently impractical or nearimpossible (nothing is completely impossible, given enough time and the will to solve it!) Virtuality is also Beside the real world though: connected to it as a parallel environment, but not quite integrated with it – yet.
This brings us to the subject of 'Metagaming.' Is it After, Among, Beyond or Beside? Metagaming is often spoken about as a means of influencing a game from outside of it in order to change how it is played.
An example is using knowledge in a gaming guide-book to arm oneself with knowledge about a particular game that they would not normally learn until they had progressed deep into the game so that they can play that game from the beginning with advanced strategies and foreknowledge (“spoilers”) of what is to come. Such guides could be said to take the player Beyond the game, as it helps them to bend or break the rules in a way that the designer may not have intended to be possible in the early stages.
There is also an element of being Beside the game, because the disruption of the usual progression of the play-experience means that the player has walked off the path that was originally set out for them and is on a parallel experience to that of other players.
Players who modify, or “mod,” the data files of their game to change its rules and/or environment are on a similar parallel path, because they
are playing in a different way to those who have not changed their game and thus having a different experience.
Guide-books are history, however. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality wearable technologies such as Oculus Rift, Morpheus, CastAR and Google Glass now offer the opportunity to transcend the limitations of guides presented in traditional media formats, especially when combined with other forms of tech (motion control, multi-directional walking treadmills, etc), including work and play with other people using the same equipment who are in the same room or on the other side of the world.
And in VR/AR environments that support User Generated Content – the ability to create and add your own objects or media to that environment – the benefits of modding become available to all users without the associated complexities that previously acted as a discouraging barrier.
So if you partner together in a mutually dependent training relationship a student on a computer who can intuitively access and analyse a wealth of live data on a huge range of subjects via a simple browser-based interface and a student who is wearing an Oculus head-set, then additionally mix in metagaming principles, what do you get? Metaguiding!
THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF META-GUIDING
The concept of using virtual reality technology to overlay a visible human guide-avatar onto the real world to assist a partner is not entirely new. The US television series 'Quantum Leap' (1989-1993), starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell, featured a time-traveler called Sam Beckett (Bakula) who was assisted in surviving perilous scenarios by a holographic representation of his friend Al Calavicci (Stockwell).
Al's real body was inside a holo-chamber in the present day that projected his voice and likeness through time to Beckett's current location in history. Al read information about the time period and individuals living in it from a frequently-malfunctioning portable device
that he held in the holo-chamber and was replicated in the hands of his avatar self.
Another example in television fiction of a partnership that broke the everyday limitations of the real world was 'Street Hawk' (effectively 'Knight Rider' on a motorcycle), which lasted for a single season in 1985. Retired motorcycle cop Jesse Mach uses a super-powered bike codenamed Street Hawk to solve a “crime of the week.”
Mach was assisted by federal agent Norman Tuttle in a control center, providing real-time advice and information updates to Mach and using the center's computers to take control of the bike remotely during its
300 mph high-velocity 'Hyperthrust Mode', which would be uncontrollable for a human rider.
Slightly prior to the debut of 'Quantum Leap', meanwhile, the UK-based Broadsword Productions television company produced a TV virtual reality game-show for teens called 'Knightmare' (1987-1994) that took a different twist on the guide-and-guided theme.
One of the four contestants, known as the Dungeoneer, wore a helmet that obscured their vision – except for what was directly beneath them but not their hearing. The room contained some physical objects such as furniture and equipment and sometimes an actor in costume but was otherwise bare.
The other three contestants, in another room, watched a mixed-reality image on a screen that combined together the Dungeoneer, actors, physical objects and digital paintings of rooms in a fantasy dungeon to act as the background for the living participants.
The role of the three advisers was to provide verbal instructions to the Dungeoneer about the contents of each room and how to negotiate the puzzles and deadly dangers of the dungeon rooms that they could see but the helmeted Dungeoneer could not.
These instructions often took the form of simple movement commands such as “Take two small steps to the right”, “Do a small jump forward and turn left” or “Look down at the table and pick up the goblet.” The helmeted contestant being guided needed to have absolute trust in his partners and follow their instructions to the letter to stand a chance of survival, and they in turn needed to provide quick, clear and correct information for the Dungeoneer to act upon
There are numerous examples of full episodes of the show available for viewing on YouTube, findable by simply searching for “knightmare.”
Not being able to see where you are and where you are going is an excellent exercise in trust-building but not very practical in education for much else. The ideal for us would be to use the VR/AR technologies we have available to us today to combine the “sat at an internetconnected computer” distance advising of 'Knightmare' with the visible, audible life-size avatar projection from 'Quantum Leap' that is overlaid on the real world beside a living human partner wearing a head-set.
Fortunately, this goal is in fact very achievable and very affordable!
GREAT FREEDOM AT LITTLE COST
The non-profit educational company Sambiglyon (www.sambiglyon.org), of which this author is a co-founder, has designed and constructed a mixed-reality live video setup for Windows 7 and 8 PCs (Mac version hopefully coming at a future point) that combines an everyday computer and webcam with the hugely popular live web video service Twitch.
It provides the ability to extract avatars, objects and other digital content from virtual reality worlds such as Second Life and OpenSim as cut-outs, via a graphics technique known as chroma-keying, or “green-
screen”, and overlay them seamlessly on live video footage of the real world as though they were a PNG image.
The combined video output can be seen via a live-updating Twitch channel page viewed with an Oculus Rift headset or on a web-browser page, and even recorded as a permanent FLV or MP4 video file.
Best of all, aside from the cost of a tablet and an Oculus Rift headset (and even the headset is optional with this mixed-reality system depending on how schools plan to utilize it), the grand total price of setting up your own version is zero. The two online services that provide the technology to make it function - Twitch and XSplit - are free and without time limit.
It is said that seeing is believing. So here as proof is just one example of the kind of end result that can be achieved, showing the live-video output of a Second Life avatar merged with a real-world car park on a Twitch channel page. OVERLAY OF
Sambiglyon has produced a fully illustrated, comprehensively detailed step by step guide for how to construct, configure and use the mixed reality system. It can be downloaded for free from www.virtualeducationjournal.com .
WHAT YOU NEED
Below is a full list of what is required for this project:
- A PC desktop or laptop for a student in the role of an “adviser” who will control the media that is being created and mixed together.
- An Android tablet for the Oculus headset wearer to carry that will be attached to the Oculus Rift via an HDMI cable and connected to the internet via wi-fi in order to receive the merged mixed-reality video from the Twitch video streaming account.
- A USB webcam or a digital camera for the adviser's PC that is capable of recording live video. A built-in webcam in a laptop may perform the same function. The camera should be pointed at whatever scene in real life that the adviser wants to be mixed in with the virtual media.
- Optional: a second screen to display a copy of the final merged video feed for the adviser controlling the avatar in Second Life/OpenSim (this video could not be shown on the adviser's main display, as that is the one being video-captured to provide the virtual reality image extracts).
- An Oculus Rift virtual reality headset (currently $350 USD for the Development Kit, but projected to be priced lower when the consumer version becomes available.) Find out more at http://www.oculusvr.com
The headset is not vital for this project to function, as the merged mixed-reality virtual and real-life video on the Twich web channel can be viewed on a normal computer display or even a smartphone/tablet screen. It is however vital for providing the complete user immersion that a virtual-reality meta-gaming activity requires.
- Second Life or OpenSim viewer software (FREE). It does not have to be special Oculus Rift versions of the viewers (OculusRift Channel for SL
or CtrlAltStudio for SL / OpenSim). This is because the student controlling the virtual environment – who is partnered with the Rift wearer - will not be wearing the Oculus headset but will instead be focused on generating the avatar actions, object manipulations and activities that will be combined in real-time with the real-life camera footage to create what the Rift wearer is seeing on its internal display.
- A Twitch web video streaming account (FREE). Sign up at http://www.twitch.tv
- An account with Twitch's recommended PC video editing software, 'XSplit Broadcaster' for Windows 7 and 8 (FREE). Download the software and register an account at http://www.xsplit.com
This system may be able to be used with Mac computers if one can find Mac video editing software that offers similar “green-screen” (chromakey) features to that of XSplit Broadcaster and will work with Twitch.
For the purposes of this guide, we use XSplit on PC because it is very simple to use and proven to work, and the author does not have a Mac to test alternative OSX-based software packages such as Camtasia for Mac (http://www.techsmith.com). We encourage Mac owners to experiment with their own setup and share their findings with the educational community.
CONCLUSION
The mixed reality system in this article is the very definition of metagaming: the information inputs provided by members of a class to the student currently wearing the Rift headset guide that wearer's interactions with the headset and the VR-RL combo environment being viewed within it in a way that the designers of the virtual component of that mixed environment may never have foreseen.
It provides a core framework that can be endlessly expanded upon by the addition of further software and hardware, using existing school resources in new and fantastic ways. Anything that can be imagecaptured with a cam or displayed on a computer screen (including the
user interface for web-connected 'Internet of Things' equipment such as consumer robotics, 3D printers, etc) can be harnessed in a way that bridges our world with the digital one so long as there is a plain-colored background somewhere on the real or virtual scenery that can be cut out with chromakeying.
Up until this point, there has been a clear distinction between Virtual Reality (complete immersion in a digital world) and Augmented Reality (the overlaying of digital content on the real world). With the mixed reality system, the benefits of user-created content platforms such as Second Life and OpenSim that were previously confined to those environments can now be applied to the real world to build and use virtual content in real-time.
In short, every teacher can become a player!
IB Guildees pose in front of Immersius after successfully defeating this monster of the deep.
On Becoming A Guild:
An Interview W ith
Chris Luchs
By Grid Jumper (SL), Tanya Martin (RL)
This interview is with Chris Luchs, Associate Dean for Career Technical Education at CCCOnline for the Colorado Community College System. The division he oversees includes Business, Accounting, Education,
Early Childhood Education, Computer Science and Multimedia Graphic Design. He is also the guild master and Raider leader for a progressive educators’ guild in World of Warcraft that also delves into Minecraft, Second Life and does excursions into other Massively Multi-player Online Games known as MMORPGs or MMOs.
Grid Jumper: The theme is of this issue of VEJ is the Metagame. So as a guild master how would you define the metagame?
Chris Luchs: For me, the metagame includes all the resources and usergenerated content that exists outside of the game and official game website. This would include game guides, theory crafting, Auction House (virtual economy) tools, addons, fan sites, strategy forums, and gamed focused databases sites (like wowhead http://www.wowhead.com/ ). And of course all of the Machinima or videos of gameplay and tutorials.
Guild Raiders contemplate the take down of Thok.
Grid Jumper: What is a gaming guild?
Chris Luchs: It is a collaborative group of players (all volunteers) that work towards a common goal within a game environment. However, this does not mean they are only interested in gameplay. There are banking guilds (guilds that focus on the business within the game), Player v. Player guilds (guilds that focus just on competing against other players), Role-play guilds (guilds that focus on creating a more in-depth backstory and narrative for their character), and many more.
Grid Jumper: You have many educators in your guild, do you consider your guild a guild of educators, an educational guild, or is there a difference? How does your guild differ from other guilds?
Chris Luchs: I should start with we are gamers. While we have researchers in the guild, we are not in the game to take the role of a participant observer or outsider. We are gamers and we play endgame. We don’t have graduate assistants or our students guiding us through content. We are not in the game to take a look around and then bounce to the newest edtech trend.
Chris Luchs: Since we play endgame content our focus is the learning and collaboration happening there. John Seely Brown made a video a few years ago entitled, “Why I Would Rather Hire a High End Raider than a Harvard MBA.” Here’s the link to the video and article (http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/03/researcher-would-ratherhire-wow-players-than-harvard-mbas/ ).
Grid Jumper: What a powerful video!
Chris Luchs: We like wicked problems and having a massive amount of options to solve the problem and, yes, most of the time, the problem is how do we slay the monster? Along with being gamers, Inevitable Betrayal is a group of collaborators that create educational content.
Chris Luchs: Many of our members are teachers, instructors, administrators, coaches, and technologists. We are a mix of job titles, backgrounds, and areas of interest. Yet, we all work and play together to create instructional content related to endgame Raiding, player and team performance optimization, and exploration guides for new expansions.
Chris Luchs: I think what sets us apart from other guilds is that World of Warcraft isn’t our third place. It’s not our equivalent of Cheers, “where everyone knows your name.” The guild is our online home base of operation for a group of educators committed to online and game based learning advocacy. There are lots of teachers in WoW and other MMORPGs who play but don’t talk about what they have learned as gamers or bring it into their classroom. Conversely there are educators and researchers who may be writing about or using aspects of games but who know very little about the deeper learning that is happening in games. We have a guild of educators who are presenting, writing, and blogging about deeper learning at endgame. We’ve been finalists in the EduBlog Awards. We’ve done everything from organizing tours of Raids for conferences to 3 endgame specific questlines with 3D Gamelab to holding tweetchats. This summer we’re also running a summer book club focusing on showing the gameplay written about in the book, For The Win, by Cory Doctorow. [See #Metagame Book Club article in this issue of VEJ.]
Grid Jumper: How did this guild start?
Chris Luchs: Initially, this was developed for a Global Goblin Run collaboration with a group of Australian educators led by Jo Kay and known as the Jokaydians. We also organized a WoW tour for attendees of the Virtual World Best Practice in Education conference. In World of Warcraft, there are two factions. They are called the Alliance and the Horde. There are other educator guilds but they are Alliance. Inevitable
Betrayal was created to have a Horde guild to try out the new character choice that had been introduced, which was the goblin.
Then Kae Novak used the guild as a learning space for the Games MOOC in 2012 and 2013. The educators from the Games MOOC seemed to like it enough to stay.
Grid Jumper: What was the vision for the guild and has that changed?
Chris Luchs: Our guild vision has changed. We still do provide tours for educators and researchers who want to look at a guild in a MMORPG but that is not our primary focus. We are currently focused on the constant learning that happens at the endgame content both in 10 player and most recently 25 player Raids. One of our members, Dr. Lee Ann Tylessing, seemed to have nailed it for us a few months ago when she asked us to participate in a presentation and gave our portion, the title, “Advanced Research Skills and Strategies in the Metagame.” Here’s the preview Google Hangout we did during that presentation. (http://youtu.be/q_DMs1sKwU0 )
Grid Jumper: What’s up with the name?
Chris Luchs: LOL! Yes, I guess Inevitable Betrayal might sound a bit weird to some. For us, a lot of the founding members were big Firefly fans. There is an opening scene in the Firefly series, with the phrase, “Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal.” You can see the clip at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znxFrgql5dc. We also have a small Minecraft server outpost called “This Land.”
Grid Jumper: How is your guild organized? Can you describe the structure and hierarchy if there is one?
Chris Luchs: We have a guild master and a co-guild master to handle most of the administrative parts of the guild like setting ranks,
managing the bank, and providing the vision and direction of the guild. We also have three officers that help out with recruitment, interviewing new applicants, mentoring new guildees, and approving bylaws and other governance issues. Our officers include Kae Novak, Joseph Doan, Jerry Buchko and, of course Tanya Martin. Then we have a few members that take leadership roles in areas of interest like Retro Raiding, fishing, crafting, etc.
Grid Jumper: How does that relate to the Metagame?
Chris Luchs: A lot of the non-guild administration pieces relate to the metagame. The Raiders, both progressive and Retro, rely heavily on the metagame. Our crafters use and recommend resources for others that are looking to chose a profession, how to level it the fastest, what to sell/buy things, etc. So there is a lot of sharing of preferred sites and knowledge. As far as how we as guild contribute to the Metagame, it would be through our Google + Community http://bit.ly/ibgooglecommunity, and our Flickr Community Inevitable Betrayal. We have over 1000 screenshots https://www.flickr.com/groups/inevitable/ and we continually do livestreams and make recordings.
Grid Jumper: Have your guild members always played games?
Chris Luchs: I’d say that about half our members have always played video or computer games since they’ve been available to them. The other half are new to MMORGPS like World of Warcraft but have experience in sandbox genre games like Second Life, Sims, and Minecraft.
Grid Jumper: Is your guild involved with only one game or does it participate in multiple game environments?
Chris Luchs: We always have members trying out new games, but for us, World of Warcraft seems to be our virtual base of operations and hub of activities. What we’ve been doing lately is having our members do a hangout introduction to their new game of choice and then archiving it for our members to watch and explore when they are ready.
Grid Jumper: Are there expectations of the people in the guild? And, if so what are they?
Chris Luchs: Yes, our expectations for guildees revolves around activity in and outside the guild and adoption of the collaborative culture in our guild. You can read more about it at (http://inevitablebetrayal.shivtr.com/pages/expectations ).
IB Guild members fish on Timeless Isle while discussing guild business.
Chris Luchs: The main expectations that we are looking for in guildees, is to be active long term, attend/watch and comment on the monthly
State of the Guild, actively participate in one educational event the guild hosts each month, share information by posting to the Google+ Community once a month, and wait to level your first toon to 90 until we can organize a leveling party. So we’re not a guild of lurkers or soloists.
Chris Luchs: As you can see, there are expectations. But, we feel they are readily achievable and really contribute to the guild culture and community. There is a 3 month probation period and an application interview that we do to help new applicants get a feel for the guild and to give both sides time to determine fit.
Grid Jumper: You mentioned a monthly state of a guild, can you tell us about that?
Chris Luchs: Yes we do hold a monthly state of the guild meeting where we discuss our progress as a group, celebrate individual achievements, and discuss upcoming guild business like gold generation to pay for
repairs, upcoming events, discussing Raid progression, Retro Raiding, and areas where guildees need help.
Chris Luchs: We do them on Google Hangout and broadcast them on the gamesmooc youtube channel. Our guildees form a Raid and we go fish to help stock up the bank with foods while we all talk and discuss the topics of the day. So we have the audio and video feed from youtube and then we also have the in game text channel as the backchannel for all our guildees to share and comment.
Grid Jumper: How is your guild involved in the metagame?
Chris Luchs : We are active contributors to the metagame. We have developed 50+ tutorial videos for various classes, specs, quests, and how to do things in game. We also have an extremely active Google + Community where we share machinima, resources we’ve found and discuss tactics and strategies for being successful against bosses.
Guidlees take positions and discuss strategy and timing. This is a time when information from the metagame is shared and discussed.
Grid Jumper: Can you explain what a Raid is?
Raiding is really the graduate school of gaming.
Chris Luchs: Sure…. a Raid is a part of the game that typically happens once players have reached max-level for a given expansion. You spend all that time leveling from 1 to max-level and Raiding is where you apply all that you have learned. Raiding is really the graduate school of gaming. The Raid is actually a series of bosses designed to challenge experienced players. Bosses are the big bads of the gaming world and Raid bosses are the biggest of the big bads. :D So players will fly to some location in game and gather and then run into the Raid. They will have to battle trash, which are less powerful monsters, mini-bosses, and then finally the Raid boss. Typically there are a handful of bosses in each Raid.
Chris Luchs: These fights are typically the most difficult in the game and require a team of dedicated players to figure out how to master the mechanics and defeat each boss. The entire Raid is hard and where players will find the hardest fights and best loot. Some bosses will require 100+ attempts before they can be downed.
Chris Luchs: Each player has to be individually optimized for each fight and the entire team has to be optimized to be successful. In Inevitable Betrayal, we do a lot of work with our members to help them succeed as we group source gearing up for Raids. Gearing up refers to things like helping get better armor, potions, gems, and other things that help the player become more optimized to their role and the fight.
If you’d like to learn more about Raiding in general, the Inevitable Betrayal officers and really the whole guild, were involved in developing and teaching the “Ready to Raid” questline in 3D Game Lab in May 2013.
You can take a look at the outline here. http://inevitablebetrayal.shivtr.com/pages/readytoraid
Grid Jumper: Now there are different types of Raids, right?
Chris Luchs: Yes, first there are different levels of Raids. Most games have gone through multiple expansions, so there will typically be Raids at each of these expansion levels. So in World of Warcraft, Raids are available at level 60, 70, 80, 85, and 90. So there are differing levels of challenge as players can go into any of the lower Raids with higher-level characters. Sometimes we do this to help introduce new players to Raiding.
Chris Luchs: The first level of differentiation is based on the maximum number of players allowed in the Raid. This number varies between 10, 25, and 40 players for World of Warcraft. Next are Raid Instances v World Bosses. The Raid Instances are limited to 10 and 25 players and occur in a separate phase of the game, so it is only the team and the monsters. World Bosses require up to 40+players, and occur out in the open where everyone can join in.
Grid Jumper: Can you give our readers an example of what you are talking about?
Chris Luchs: An example is Oondasta in WoW. When Ooondasta first came out, it required 120+players to down him. So that is 120 random players that all decide to group up and fight this big T-Rex. After a few server crashes, WoW reduced the power of Oondasta to where it took only 60 players to down him. After a few more crashes, Oondasta was reduced further so it only took 40 players to down him.
Chris Luchs: Then there are Retro Raids. These Raids are typically players that really enjoy exploring the old content. World of Warcraft has some beautiful and challenging instances. If you missed them the first time around, you may want to form up in a group and go back in and experience them again. One of our guildees, Rebekah Luminous regularly organizes these on Friday nights. [See article by Rebekah Luminous in this issue of VEJ for more details.]
Chris Luchs: Lastly is what I’ll affectionately call “Smash and Grab” Raids. The main goal of these Raids is to get achievements, titles, mounts, and cool looking gear as quickly as possible. These Raids would be players at the current endgame level that run back and race through the old Raids. There is not much challenge until they get close to maxlevel. For example, most level 90 players in WoW can run any level 60 to 70 Raids solo and be very successful. However, once they hit level 80, they may need 6+ players to be successful in a 10-player Raid and 10+ to be successful in a 25 player. At 85, they may need 8+players for a 10player and 15+ for a 25-player.
Oondasta
Grid Jumper: Can you tell us more about a Retro Raid?
Chris Luchs: As I mentioned before, Retro Raids typically refer to going back to older Raid content. This is typically done either because the group really liked the fight, wants some piece of loot (cool looking gear or mount) that is dropped from the old Raid, or wants to earn an achievement. Currently in WoW there is a big culture of Retro Raiding for mounts and for gear that can be transmogged. Transmogging is a new part of WoW where players can make any of their current gear look like another in game piece. There are limits, the player must have the desired transmog piece in their baRs or banks, and the pieces must be similar (plate armor can be transmogged into plate armor). This new feature has really increased the interest in Retro Raiding as players are constantly trying to customize the look of their character. Retro Raiding also seems to go hand-in-hand with one of our guild’s roleplaying activities. Inevitable Betrayal does organize seasonal fashion shows in World of Warcraft. If your’re really curious you can watch/listen to our last two fashion shows. The dialogue and fashion description may be better than the video. Both of these fashion shows were done in Retro Raid instances. The Spring Fashion show was in the Conservatory of Life http://youtu.be/ZAGS_Na3znM and the Fall Fashion show was in the Firelands http://youtu.be/-698q1uO3P0. You can really hear in these videos how often we go OOC or Out of Character.
Chris Luchs: The Retro Raiding really applies to any Raid where players are running old content. They can be true Retro Raids where everyone has their characters at the level when the old content was meant to be played. They can endgame level characters going back to explore. Or they can be smash and grabs where higher-level characters stomp their way through the dungeon, ignore mechanics, and exact revenge for past deaths. Either way, it’s still a lot of fun!
Inevitable Betrayer Guildies participate in a chess game as part of vintage content during a Retro Raid experience.
Grid Jumper: What is an “Inevitable Instructor?”
Chris Luchs: Well . . . it was inevitable! If you have a group of educators, they want to learn and then they want to teach and share what they learn. The Inevitable Betrayal guild members started to make guides for their guildees, exactly what you would expect – slides, livestream of game play, written tutorials, videos and yes, hands-on workshops in World of Warcraft.
Chris Luchs: So, Inevitable Instructors are really that group of collaborators in the guild that creates educational content. Many of our members are educators, instructors, administrators, coaches, and technologists. We are a mix of job titles, backgrounds, and areas of interest. Yet, we all work and play together to create instructional content related to endgame raiding, player and team performance optimization, and exploration guides for new expansions. After we made about 10 or so video guides, we started to discuss what do we call these
in our guild chat. Marianne Malmstrom said, “Inevitable Instructors, of course.” Here’s a link to our playlist. http://bit.ly/inevitableinstructors
Grid Jumper: How do Inevitable Instructors use hangouts and hangouts on air?
Chris Luchs: Constantly! In fact, part of the briefing to new members is that any guild activity at anytime may be livestreamed over Google Hangout. Typically if we have 10 players or less, we’ll hop in Hangout rather than another VOIP like Ventrilo or Mumble. We often have a player in hangout and record the fights so we can go back and look at the attempts.
Chris Luchs: But the way, Inevitable Instructors use Google + Hangouts most weekends. We livestream Instructional Hangouts. Our next upcoming Inevitable Instructors Weekend Webinar will be on Sunday
Google Hangout Screenshot
July 13. It is being developed by Milo Lyons – on how to play a warlock.
Other members of the guild have run with his warlock workshop a bit and they are now calling it Lock-a-palooza. So over Hangout, Inevitable Betrayal will broadcast some slides, instruction and then livestream the in-game practice and play.
Grid Jumper:
Your guild participated in an Hour of Code last December.
Can you describe how you did that?
Well, as you know Grid, it was organized by someone with the RL name, Tanya Martin (aka Grid Jumper (SL) LOL, from Broward County, the sixth largest school district in United States. Tanya is from the Talent Development Division of the Broward County School District. She is also one of our guild officers and our guild’s Director of Recruitment. We spent an hour making macros and looking at the code. There is a livestream recording of Inevitable Betrayal working with macros and then dueling. If you are really interested you can watch it at this link. http://youtu.be/lgvIzzvR7w8
[The IB Guild participated in Hour of Code in December 2013. Guidlies Learned to code Macros – combination buttons coding a series of casts/powers. Picture above.]
Grid Jumper: As an Associate Dean of Career and Technical Education, how do video games relate to the career and technical field?
Chris Luchs: The relationship is in the epistemic frame that games provide. In CTE, we really focus on both academic and the technical mastery of a skill set. Games provide a lot of great applicable frames for us. One big example is Business; most games have an economy, auction house, and professions. In a large MMORPG like WoW, you have thousands of business transactions occurring each day. Players have to set prices for goods for sale, buy raw materials, engage in direct and indirect sales, and model a lot of business/entrepreneurship ideas and concepts.
Chris Luchs: So it is very easy to have a student create a business in the game and then provide them with criteria on how they should track sales, expenses, profit, market their goods, and what types of professions they can choose. WoW offers educators the chance to have students experiment with business opportunities in virtual manufacturing, inventory management, accounting for a small business, entrepreneurship, sales and marketing, retail, and wholesale. The key is to define the epistemic frame within the game and your curriculum and then give the students the parameters to work within.
Grid Jumper: Where do you think the Inevitable Betrayers Guild be in 5 years?
Chris Luchs: I asked our officers this question and this was the consensus. In five years, Inevitable Betrayal will be “Roaming the postapocalyptic landscape, fighting back the zombie hordes while trying to grasp at some fleeting moments of what we considered normalcy before it all fell apart.” It seems to fit with our mission statement, “curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal.”
Grid Jumper: Is your guild open to new membership? Is there a process and/or information for those who may be interested?
Chris Luchs: We are – but we want to make sure it’s a good fit. So we have an application process and a three-month probation period. We’re really active and group oriented so that doesn’t fit everyone’s play style. We are more of an “ask what you can do for your guild – rather than, what your guild can do for you” attitude. Guilds really do have cultures. On the online discussion boards on the metagame sites, there is constant discussion on types of guild cultures and also if you are running a Raid what is the Raid etiquette that is specific to that group. You can take a look at Inevitable Betrayal’s application and how we explain our culture by going to this link. http://bit.ly/Zh3ytP
We are more of an “ask what you can do for your guild – rather than, what your guild can do for you” attitude. Guilds really do have cultures.
Chris Luchs: If you are a level 90, you don’t have to join our guild to come run with us. We also conduct open Raids. We are currently looking for people to come raiding with us. We have open Raids every other week. We do the Ally (or Alliance) side on Friday evening and the Horde side on Saturday evenings. Here’s the link to go take a look at the open Raid site. http://bit.ly/1n7xOG0
Guild Invite
Grid Jumper: What would your recommendations be for individuals interested in getting involved with games and the Metagame in particular? Are there prerequisites, do you have to be a current gamer or do you need to belong to a guild?
Chris Luchs: There really are no prerequisites. Being a gamer and belonging to a guild gives you an advantage. But, the games and the metagame are accessible by anyone. The advantage for being a gamer is that the language will be familiar as will be the navigation and overall aspects of the game. The advantage of being in a guild is that you benefit from the distributed knowledge of everyone in the guild and their ability to quickly point you to valuable resources and metagame sites.
Grid Jumper: Thank you for taking the time to do this interview with me. I am sure the VEJ readers have enjoyed learning more about WoW and the Inevitable Betrayal Guild in particular. I would like to also encourage
anyone interested in WoW to check out the numerous resources in this article. Then, if you see a fit, we hope you will join in the fun!
[A special thanks to Grid Jumper (SL), aka Tanya Martin (RL) for conducting this interview with Chris Luchs (RL), aka Abacus Capalini (SL). Tanya Martin works for the Office of Talent Development, the division tasked with ensuring professional development standards and managing all professional learning provided in the district. Her main responsibility is working with Broward Virtual University, the online professional development arm of the department. Tanya co-presented on game-based learning at FETC 2013 and has been accepted to present on Machinima at FETC 2014. Martin regularly investigates and blogs on immersive and game-based learning. Her educational technology blog, Gridjumper’s Blog, won the 2013 Virtual Education Journal’s Reader’s Choice Award for Best Virtual Blog. It has also been nominated twice for best educational technology blog for the 2011 and 2012 EduBlog Awards. In 2012, she was a top-five finalist for blogging about collaborative 3D environments for learning and teaching.]
The Minecraft ABC Project
By Rosie Vojtek (RL), Roxie Neiro (SL)
I am the proud principal of Ivy Drive Elementary School in Bristol, Connecticut. We are a K-5 elementary school with approximately 400 students. I have had the joy of serving as principal for the past 15 year. Each year I have been at the school we have continued on our “Journey to Excellence” with a different theme such as Reach for the Stars, Climb Every Mountain, Swim to Success, and Oh, The Places We Will Go to name a few. Next year we plan to continue on our Journey to Excellence by Building A Better World. I am very excited, because there is no better way to motivate and capture the passion our students have for learning than through the virtual world of Minecraft.
At an assembly on Thursday, June 12, 2014, we announced our school-wide theme for next year. I explained to students that there are a number of ways we will work to Build A Better World. First, they will learn as much as they can so that they can achieve their personal best. The skills they learn today will help them build a successful life for themselves, their family, and their community in their future. Second, our school will continue to do a service project each month to improve the quality of life for others within our own community and/or the world at large. And finally, our students will be able to learn and practice the 21st century skills they will need to successfully collaborate, communicate, solve problems, and become competent and caring global citizens by working together in the virtual world of Minecraft. We plan to do several grade-level and school-wide collaborative, project-based learning activities next year. When you put children and Minecraft together in the same sentence, you can imagine how our students roared with their applause and excitement.
Several students then made presentations to the school about their work/play in the world of Minecraft. I also invited a student from another Bristol School, Greene-Hills, to share a Google presentation he had recently completed on Minecraft. Jonathan shared his Minecraft ABC slides with the students who sat on the edge of their seats in awe listening to his every word.
I had never met Jonathan before June 12th. I had heard about his project from one of his teachers. His parents brought him to Ivy Drive School to present his work. I was so impressed with his presentation that we have published the entire presentation using Issuu and posted it on the VEJ website. You can read the entire work by Jonathan at www.virtualeducationjournal.com .
Here are a few pages from his project. Enjoy!
Minecraft ABC Project
5
Grade
By: Jonathan Greene-Hills
Introduction
Minecraft is a sandbox construction game that can be used to build your imagination. The player has the ability to build creative structures and buildings on multiplayer or singleplayer servers using only their imagination. It’s like virtual legos and has three options: Creative, Survival, or Hardcore (Adventure). Minecraft was created by Markus Persson (Notch is his nickname) and released on November 18, 2011. It is very popular and was awarded Player and Editors choice in 2011. As Notch said, “The sky's the limit!”
Ais for Armor
Armor protects you from many dangers. For example, armor protects you from mob attacks, fire, lava, cacti, explosions, and enemy player attacks. You can make leather armor from cows or horses, golden armor from gold ingots, iron armor from iron ingots, and diamond armor from diamonds. It takes 24 of each material (leather, gold, iron, or diamond) to make a full set of armor. Chainmail armor exist in the game but you can’t craft it. You would receive it by trading with a villager, or by grabbing it when a mob drops it. On your hotbar, there is a row above your health bar. If you put on any armor correctly, another bar will appear above it showing mini iron chest plates. The more chest plates are filled, the better your protection is. If you have all diamond armor, your armor bar will be full. You can enchant your armor to enhance its protection, allow you to breath underwater to protect you even more from fire and falling. My opinion is to get iron armor first because leather armor barely gives protection, gold and diamonds are hard to find, and chainmail is hard to get.
These screenshots were taken by me on June 4, 2014 while playing minecraft.
This shows each type of armor from least to greatest in protection.
This is the recipe to create each type of armor.
B is for Brewing (Potions)
Brewing is the process of creating potions and splash potions. You need three water bottles, one ingredient, and a brewing stand to brew a potion. Bottles can be crafted by glass or fished out of a lake using a fishing pole. There are many ingredients that you can use for example, pufferfish, spider eyes, golden carrots, and glistering melons. Pufferfish are used to make water breathing potions, spider eyes make poison potions, golden carrots make night vision potions, and glistering melons make instant health potions. My favorite potion is the swiftness potion, brewed and created with sugar.
Here are all the ingredients to making potions.
Cis for Creeper
Creepers (aka Creepus Explodus) are the most dangerous mob of them all because their secret weapon is TNT. It is built with a TNT block in its body. It’s automatically programmed to follow any human, hiss, and blow up causing the player and everything near it to explode. It got its name from its creepy talent; to sneak up from behind you almost completely silently. It randomly spawns in the overworld, which is the normal land that you spawn in, at night. They can also spawn in areas with a light level of 7 or less for example, in dungeons and caves. Unlike zombies and skeletons, creepers don’t die in the sunlight. If you manage to defeat it before it explodes, it will drop 0-2 gunpowder pieces which can be crafted into TNT. They have no arms but they can still climb ladders. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
This is a Creeper
Z is for Zombie
Zombies are one of the most common hostile mobs. They have green bodies spawn in the dark. They slowly walk toward you, making growling noises, and inflict damage when 1-2 blocks away. Like skeletons, zombies can pick up armor like helmets and tools like shovels and will burn in the sunlight. When defeated, zombies will drop rotten flesh. They can rarely drop carrots, iron ingots, and potatoes, and shovels, swords, or armor (if equipped). Zombie pigmen are half zombies, half pigs. They are naturally spawned in the nether and are created when a pig is stuck by lightning. They are like wolves, harmless unless provoked. I like to make a dark cave that zombies spawn in to collect the materials that they drop.
,;;/;./;////’/’
About the Author
My name is Jonathan P. I am 11 years old and live in Bristol, CT. I’m in 5th grade at Greene Hills School. I belong to the gifted program and tech club. I like to go on vacation to Maine, Cape Cod and New Hampshire. I play two sports, lacrosse and basketball. I love fishing and hiking with my family. I love nature and enjoy exploring in the wilderness. I have several types of fish and a bunny. I also love growing a veggie garden every year. My 3 favorite subjects are math, writing workshop, and gym. Minecraft is my favorite video game. I hope you enjoyed reading my Minecraft ABC Book!
After we finished with the presentations on Minecraft, students were able to spend time in our computer lab exploring Minecraft. Some of my students were pros and some of them had never seen Minecraft before. But, to the surprise of all of us, even our newbie first grade students entered the tutorial naturally – as if they had been working in Minecraft for their entire lives. We the adults, on the other hand, were the only ones who hesitated. But, alas, the students did not leave us behind. We all learned a lot from them during this short exploration. I expect we will all learn a lot more next year as we continue our Journey to Excellence through the amazing 3D virtual environment of Minecraft.
Our school has it’s own server and will be running MinecraftEDU to create a safe and secure environment for students to use. You can learn more about MinecraftEDU @ http://minecraftedu.com . MinecraftEDU will also have a booth at ISTE2014, so be sure to check them out if you want to do something similar at your school.
“Scott merrick is the v-Learning Specialist at Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (TN). On the Journal website, he recounts how the District built a virtual school, how he keeps students engaged and how he plans to expand the school’s offerings.”
Be sure to watch his three-minute video and read more at: http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/06/23/starting-a-virtualschool.aspx - 1Y8yDlg4Y506vkif.99
IOS (Apple) Virtual World Apps
By William Schmachtenberg (rl), aka Dae Miami (sl)
Creating Apps for Android and IOS in schools is becoming more and more popular. A year ago, the Assistant Superintendent and Director of Secondary Education asked me about how to create apps and to possibly start an App development class at my school. VSTE (Virginia Society of Technology in Education) has run training sessions on Android App development, as has a local community college. About 50% of the freshmen and sophomores that I teach would take an app development class if it were offered. The computer-programming teacher at my school is considering restructuring her introduction to computer programming class to include App development.
In 2012, I started looking into creating Apps. I had an iPad and was concerned about the lack of good educational science apps that I could use in class. The chairman of the science department at my high school also looked into this and decided not to buy iPads for the science department because of the poor quality of the apps. When I went into the App Store, I saw very simple apps for fossils where the developer had merely taken pictures of fossils and included some information about each fossil. Not only was the app very simple, but also there was no systematic discussion of major fossil groups.
In 2013, I created my first app called Science Island and released it on the App Store.
Science Island was a virtual island in which you could explore and find 20 shells. The player could navigate with virtual joysticks around the island and answer questions in geography, oceanography, chemistry, geology, and meteorology. I included real world meteorological data to analyze in the simulation. Also, if the player gets a question wrong, feedback is provided to help guide them to the correct answer.
A scoring system and inventory was included as well. David Campbell, a musician and composer, who also teaches at my school, included an original sound track for the app. Science Island was an immediate success being downloaded in over 40 countries in 48 hours. To this day, it still gets 30 to 50 downloads a day.
I next released Geology Island 2 on the App Store. I used the same virtual terrain for Geology Island as I had used for Science Island, but I
included 40 science questions mainly focusing on volcanoes and rocks. Players could explore inside the volcano as well.
A few months later, Ocean Explorer was created.
Players could search for 20 animated marine organisms including a great white shark, giant squid, and killer whale. When you touch the animals on an iPad, they stop swimming and a question is displayed. Feedback, an inventory, and scoring system was included in the app.
To help find the animals, a sonar system was included showing your location and the location of the animals in the game. After all 20 animals had been found, it was possible to locate a sunken WWII German submarine. Ocean Explorer is one of the most popular apps I have submitted to the Apple App Store.
After two years of research and development, I created 3D Fossil Adventure.
Fossil Adventure was based on road cuts along route 311 near Catawba Mountain in Virginia. This is one of the classic fossil collecting sites for the Appalachians.
I carefully measured the location of these stops with a GPS and mapped each one into the app. Digital pictures of the out crops were used to texture the landscape, which was based on US Geological Survey Elevation data. Pictures of fossils from this area collected over the last 25 years were included in the App.
As the player looks for 25 fossils in the area, they collect and identify the fossils. There are on-screen guides to help with the characteristics and classification of the fossils. An interactive map is included to aid in finding the fossils. It includes the main geological formations in which they are found. Online resources are available on my website to aid teachers, students, and parents who wish to use this app in the classroom or at home.
3D Mineral is the latest app I have created.
As the name suggests you can explore the jagged cliffs of this virtual area to find 20 minerals. Upon clicking on the mineral, you are asked to identify the mineral. Just as in the fossil app, on-screen guides aid you in mineral properties and classification. A GPS and topographic map system in the app helps the player find the minerals.
Links to all of these apps are found on my website: www.evwllc.co. That website includes documents concerning the effectiveness of Science Island in my classroom.
I also have a link to work that my students have done. Science Island is a free App, whereas the others are paid apps.
If you would like to review my apps and send me comments or submit a review of the app for the app store, email me at: wschmachtenberg@gmail.com.
I can send you a promotion code for any or all of the apps so you can try them for free if you are willing to write a short review of the app.
Screenshots from World of Warcraft
By April Hayman
Retro Raiders – Friday Night Retro Raids
April Hayman is an Instructional Designer. Follow her on Twitter: @april_hayman and read her blog: http://idlovesedtech.wordpress.com/
Immerseus - 25 Man Inevitable Betrayal Guild Raid.
Order of the Cloud SerpentTasedorae Receiving Her Cloud Serpent in Pandaria.
Professional Education C onnections in Virtual Worlds
By Beth O’Connell (RL)
Beth Ghostravel (SL)
Presented at the VWBPE Conference on April 10, 2014
As educators, our professional connections are crucial for sharing ideas and knowledge, as well as support. Virtual worlds enable us to connect with people inexpensively, at all hours and seasons, adding to our PLNs (Professional Learning Networks). This information applies to the virtual world of Second Life, as I’ve found that to be the best place for networking, but many of the tips apply to other virtual worlds as well.
Our essential question is:
How can we best use our professional connections to benefit our teaching and learning?
Think about the professional connections you already have. Write down one professional organization that you’ve found to be helpful.
A Little about Me
Here’s the story of how I got started in Second Life. I posted this in my blog a little over a year ago (http://booklady9.edublogs.org/2013/03/15/professional-virtualworld-adventures/)
Last summer (2012) I took a class with the NorthTIER consortium on Virtual Worlds and Games in Education, taught by Laura Briggs. My initial goal was to learn to use Second Life to attend VSTE meetings and professional development sessions online. I learned so much more – my professional and personal worlds have been expanded exponentially.
When I started using Second Life (SL), I had a steep learning cliff to conquer. It took me a week to learn how to move my avatar around effectively, and a month before I learned how to change my clothes. I persisted because the people I met there were so helpful and welcoming that I wanted to participate in the communities that I found.
As you may know, my job as a solo school librarian is extremely isolating. I am a team of one, in a building of 800+ people. My district is kind enough to let me run SL in school, making it possible to attend inworld meetings during the day, and to network with people on my few occasions for downtime. I am able, from my computer here, to have meaningful professional interchanges with people all over the world.
It’s a virtual world, but the people are real.
Currently I am a member of 18 different educational groups in Second Life. I attend Virtual Pioneers meetings on Sunday nights; VSTE meetings on Monday nights; ISTE office hours on Tuesday nights; ISTE meetings and socials, plus VSTE planning meetings, on Wednesday nights; VWER meetings on Thursdays after school; and BIO-SE and Nonprofit Commons meetings on Fridays during school. Because the latter two are conducted in chat rather than voice, I can follow along even when I have classes coming in to check out books. I consider myself a liaison between all of the groups, and I do lots of cross-postings of meeting notifications among all of them. I like being able to connect people together, and help create community. I’ve been enriched so much – it’s a virtual world, but the people are real.
That was last year. I updated my blog just before my talk in April:
My professional connections have gotten deeper and more numerous over the past year. I thought about saying “my *virtual* professional connections,” but although the meeting places are virtual, the people and the connections are real. In many cases they extend into other social media, and into physical life (PL, also known as RL for Real Life).
I still attend the same meetings that I did last year, with the addition of ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries), an ALA affiliate. These meetings and groups still do not contribute directly to my job, but I feel certain that my passion for virtual world education will lead somewhere, eventually. At the very least, they boost my morale and satisfaction with my current, somewhat challenging job.
My roles in these groups have changed over the year. I got frustrated with trying to find information about the various meetings, so I wound up doing publicity inworld, and on social media, for all of these groups. For Virtual Pioneers, I co-host the biweekly Meet & Greets, and help corral people on tours. I’m a VSTE Facilitator, helping to plan events. I’m the Producer for the ISTE SIGVE Speaker Series. I helped start the Cultural Community Hub. I’m Transcript Editor for VWER, and I help with transcripts for NonProfit Commons. I also helped with streaming sessions for the OpenSim Community Conference last fall (http://conference.opensimulator.org/2013/). My husband feels like even when I’m home, I’m never home!
I make friends wherever I go in SL, at least one a day. The result of all of these connections is that when someone is telling me about their project, I can usually think of someone else who might be able to help them, resulting in more connections within the education community.
Profiles
But, enough about me. Let’s find out about each other. How can we find kindred spirits? Browsing profiles!
Look around at the profiles of the people you encounter in virtual worlds. Don’t be afraid of appearing nosy. Profiles (for most people, anyway) are meant to be read. The photo above illustrates how to find a person’s profile, using the Second Life viewer. Other viewers are similar.
Here are some things to look for in profiles when you’re seeking professional connections:
2nd Life:
Education-related group(s)
A lack of unprofessional-sounding groups
Picks:
Education-related place(s)
A lack of unprofessional-sounding places
1st Life:
Indication of RL education job or interests (while still protecting privacy)
When you find someone you’d like to connect with, chat with him or her a little (in Nearby or IM) before sending a friend request. It’s nice to break the ice first, and tell them something you have in common.
Here are some other things to look for when you’re seeking professional connections:
Appearance
Professionally dressed avatar
Human avatar helpful, but not necessary Clothes, shape, and hair not from the Linden Library
Speech
Professionally appropriate (in chat, and possibly in voice)
Uses IMs and nearby chat appropriately
Appearance is probably the least important of these. Sometimes experienced educators are new to SL; they may look like newbies here, but in the education field, they’re not. These things are all clues about how trustworthy the person behind the avatar might be. None of them are totally significant alone, but together the clues can help you form a professional opinion about the person behind the avatar. You can use these ideas to make yourself look more professional, too. Often people will have an avatar for professional stuff, and an alt (alternate, or secondary, avatar) for play. Some, like me use an alt for machinima, or more group slots.
Professional Groups
The following groups have been really helpful on my professional journey in virtual worlds. The meeting calendar at the end of the article includes more information about each group and instructions for joining groups.
ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries)
As a librarian, I looked for my people in SL, but I couldn’t find them at first. The American Library Association (ALA) used to have an island, but that had closed.
I found the Community Virtual Library (CVL), and they helped me find the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), which has monthly programs in SL.
Virtual Pioneers
Virtual Pioneers was the first place where I felt at home in SL. This is a group of people who are interested in exploring historical sims. Most are educators, but not all.
The upstairs of headquarters contains a gallery of free historical clothing from different eras, and a wall-full of information from past tours.
Every other week we have tours, and on the opposite weeks we sit around the campfire and chat.
VSTE (Virginia Society for Technology in Education)
VSTE is where I got my start in SL. It’s a state affiliate of ISTE, and as far as I know it’s the only state affiliate in SL.
Virginia has an amazing group of educators. We have a lot of fun together, but we also get a lot done to further education in virtual
We have a whole island, which includes a historical simulation of the Jamestown Colony and American Indian Village.
ISTE VEN (International Society for Technology in Education, Virtual Education Network)
(formerly ISTE SIGVE, or Virtual Worlds Special Interest Group)
ISTE is probably the largest educational technology organization in the world. The SIGVE is the largest special interest group in ISTE.
We have a monthly speaker series and biweekly tours, and we participate in the annual ISTE conference in June.
CCH (Cultural Community Hub)
Ewan Bonham and I started this, inspired by a talk about the Virtual Education Journal (VEJ) at ISTE last year. Along with StarLight and several other people, we look for communities in SL that educators might be interested in, and we set up a hub with information.
The hub pictured above is the first location. The CCH, hosted by Wisdomseeker at Whole Brain Health, recently moved with them. The new location is given below.
VWER (Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable)
This group has met weekly in SL since 2008 to discuss education. Every other week is Open Forum, when anyone can bring up a topic for discussion, and the alternate weeks have themes set in advance.
The meetings are in text, so it’s easier to keep up, and the official transcripts are posted online at vwer.org, under the Library tab. I’m a little behind on getting these posted; after the 2014 ISTE conference I hope to start getting caught up.
Kali Pizzaro runs the group, and Grizzla Pixelmaid and Sheila Yoshikawa act as moderators sometimes.
NPC (TechSoup’s NonProfit Commons)
Although this isn’t directly education-related, Rhiannon Chatnoir organizes interesting topics here every Friday. I always learn something new, and as in all of these groups, meet wonderful people.
TechSoup offers lots of resources for nonprofits, both inworld and out.
Contact Information
Let’s connect! Send me a friend request if you’d like. Send IM or notecard to Beth Ghostraven in SL
Time Zone: Eastern
Visit me inworld at the Book and Tankard Pub in Victoria City, Caledon SLurl: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Victoria%20City/7 5/150/23
Email me at booklady99999@yahoo.com I’ll see you around the metaverse!
Weekly Calendar of Education Groups in Second Life
Updated June 2014
To join a group, find the URI link given here just under the name of the group. When you’re logged in to Second Life, copy and paste the URI into Nearby Chat, then click the link to go to the group profile. Once there, you can click the Join button to join. Make sure you have a group slot open; the maximum number of groups is 42.
Monthly on 3rd Sunday at 12 noon SLT:
ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) and the ALA VW Committee (American Library Association's Virtual World Committee)
Community Virtual Library (CVL) Meeting Space http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Imagination Island/103/186/25
A teacher-librarian with 18 years of experience, Beth came to Second Life over a year ago to network with VSTE (Virginia Society for Technology in Education), and quickly found other education groups for which she publicizes events. She attends four to six inworld events every week, and enjoys helping people connect with others. Beth is a VSTE Facilitator, the Producer for the ISTE Speaker series, and publishes the weekly transcript for VWER (the Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable).
My Avatar and Me
-Spiff Whitfield (SL), Andrew Wheelock (RL)
Can you see the real me?
Can you see the wonder and peaceful whimsy?
Can you see the intensity and raw artistry?
Can you see the creativity and unspoken passion?
Can you see the history and timeless virtue?
Can you see the romance and lost simplicity?
[Stay tuned for My Avatar & Me Part II. It will be featured in the August 2014 issue of VEJ.]
Virtual Worlds for Education, FINALLY!
An interview with G ordon Holden
Heritage Christian Academy, Vancouver, British Columbia
By Scott Merrick
In the last issue of VEJ, we discussed and toured two iterations of this pioneer's work to bring virtual worlds (aka 3D synchronous online learning environments) to his students and his students to them. I hope you will agree that Gordon Holden is literally leading a major front of the campaign up there at his school in Kelowna, British Columbia.
Heritage Christian Online School is centered 140 miles, as the raven flies, inland from Vancouver. Gord works from his home in Courtenay though. Situated on the eastern shore of Vancouver Island, he is surrounded by forests and lakes, with the world-class ski hill named Mount Washington nearby to the west, and an ocean laden with 6-25lb. salmon to the east. He has team members working with him from locations as close as a mile away (Ryan), to mid-Vancouver Island (April), Vancouver (Heather), the interior of BC (Michelle), Sacramento (David), the Silicon Valley (Cindy), and as far away as Indiana (Scott).
SM: Hello, Gord. How are you?
GH: Good thanks Scott, and you?
SM: Great. Okay, we’re getting together to follow up on the last interview. At that time we said we hoped to hear about some amazing new developments there. What’s the news?
GH: Okay, well the latest is, we’ve since been in touch with a communications company that offers all the bells and whistles that Blackboard does (note: Pearson owns Blackboard Learning Management System). They want to add a 3D capacity to what they offer so we’re collaborating in the hopes of combining our environments with their tools, such as screen-sharing, whiteboards, video streaming, and actual breakout rooms, etc.
SM: Wow, that’s big.
GH: Yes. They understand the benefit of being able to meet synchronously in environments that skirt some of the pitfalls of other meeting spaces, both from some personal and technical standpoints.
SM: Yes. Well I know that for SIGOL, what is now rebranded as the Online Learning Network, we for a while tried to use Skype and Google Hangouts but we found that meeting members were dropping out, getting feedback, breaking up, some people were driving, or in schools with sub-par broadband, all that. So we dropped back to using the POTS, the Plain Old Telephone System, for leadership meetings.
GH: One of the goals is to totally get away from using Skype with students.
SM: That’s what we’re using now.
GH: I don’t have concerns with adults using Skype, and in a distancelearning situation like us, it’s so convenient. But when you introduce this as a tool for students to begin communicating with each other, you may find you’ve built your platform on the sand so to speak, where it
just takes one good storm to wash that solution away. I know how foolish that sounds to many, but we simply embrace the concept of seeking to be proactive about storm-proofing ourselves with better resources than Skype.
SM: That’s a point well-made and well-taken.
GH: And, it is the reason for developing our use of the environments we’ve been talking about. Unity and Active Worlds can be relatively failsafe environments regarding the kinds of troubles that could occur when students are involved.
SM: There are certainly issues that can arise in Second Life.
GH: Yes, and they do every once in a while despite all the valiant efforts we make to prevent them. The fact remains that some students will find a way to push the boundaries and do. Personally, that’s an attribute I feel we need to treasure and value, but that’s clearly not the response we can expect from parents and administrators.
SM: Right. The reaction’s going to likely be “lawsuit.”
GH: And/or the complete gutting of programs that have taken a lot of effort and expertise to build. As educators, while we might personally disagree with those values, we do have a responsibility to model respect for others that may not share our values. The failure of some teachers to do this has driven many families out of public education. The educator’s stool will only stand if the legs of effort and expertise are accompanied by respect. We would not, should not, and do not expect children of the Hindu faith to kill frogs for science. We need to carry this attitude to its logical extension with other stakeholders in education as well.
SM: Agreed.
GH: While Unity3D provides many safeguards when it comes to being interactive and immersive, the challenge is that it takes considerably more time, resources, and effort to get there just now. This is rapidly changing, but still, any time you’re adding something you need to republish the world again.
SM: Yeah.
GH: Whereas with ActiveWorlds, it’s almost laughably easy to add anything. And, the company has been on a tear over the last two years upgrading. I can seldom sign in without installing a new upgrade. I suspect that much of this is due to a partnership with another media company looking to develop a 3D presence.
SM: So you say that ActiveWorlds is working with a media company?
GH: I wouldn’t credit what I’ve shared as much more than gossip on that matter. As a platform for presenting, however, ActiveWorlds has developed to the place where the only thing unavailable is screensharing. [For more information about ActiveWorlds visit https://www.activeworlds.com/index.html ]
SM: Right. I’ve been working on that particular issue in Kitely (OpenSim), and I’ve discovered an online platform called ScreenLeap (http://screenleap.com) and with a free account there, a teacher can share screen to a URL for one hour a day. The paid accounts allow more time and we may well move into that, but for tutoring or small group sessions inworld one hour a day might just do it for us in Kitely. It works pretty well, basically URL on a prim and with Kitely voice capability, it may be a good start for our teacher who plans to use that within the next couple of weeks. [For more information about Kitely visit http://www.kitely.com ]
GH: Thanks for that tip Scott, I’ll be looking into Screenleap. How do you deal with the nudity in Kitely?
SM: We haven’t seen it, and we are clear about expectations for appropriate behavior there and don’t expect any problems from our small group of students. If we do, we will be issuing student accounts and controlling passwords. They’re working on bulk upload of avatar accounts at Kitely at a development level, but they haven’t gotten there yet. I simply plan to generate some email accounts for this purpose and to control those. Also, I actually spend some time actively looking for offensive material or behavior in Kitely and aside from a nude beach sim, where no
one was present, I was stymied. And, if you set an account’s maturity ratings to General, it can’t then be reset. We think it’s a non-issue. And we can also make the world private at any time.
GH: So it’s a moderated environment. It must be. Most public virtual environments are not and often become feral, akin to “Lord of the Flies.” Many children come to assume this is normal. So even in ActiveWorlds, we want to carry the expectations of the IBURST rules in Quest Atlantis and the mature, moderated atmosphere forward.
SM: Yes. I’m loving what I’m seeing. Unity is beautiful. I mean if you can get those media tools in there you’re golden. Golden Gord.
GH: Ha, yes, for direct instruction, right. Not where I necessarily want to be going though. The reality however is that the promise of 3D interactive VLEs (Virtual Learning Environments) will never be realized with considerably less than 1% of the teacher population involved. While most are mired in direct instruction mode, Unity at least lends
itself to giving them an opportunity to do something familiar in a new way, with virtually no learning curve for the educators and students users. One can only hope that this baby step will lead to evolving and adopting a much more exciting and educationally sound approach. It’s a baby step. J
SM: Yes. Something to hope for. You’re showing me AW3DU now? (http://www.aw3du.com ) It’s gorgeous!
GH: Yes, I often have trouble convincing people that it’s not SecondLife. Beyond the graphics though, ActiveWorlds is about to release their “curriculum tool” for use in educational universes. I’ve been through a pilot quest that used this tool and was very, very impressed. AW3DU is now set up so that experiential learning and the curriculum can be easily integrated. But, we were talking about developments?
SM: Yes. We’ve heard now about the developments in the software for Unity3D and ActiveWorlds, so what changes has come out of this for you?
GH: We’ve begun working with an E-learning school in Alberta with 25 school sites spread across northern Alberta and into Northwest Territories. These First Nations schools want to do something similar to what happened when I was at North Island Distance Education School. I had two new First Nations brothers who were apparently disinterested in schooling. They were apparently interested in their heritage though. So, I told them to rescue it. When they asked how they could do that, I told them to “rebuild your village” virtually. It had been ravaged by floods, time, and emigration, so they needed to reconnect with their elders and other relatives, they needed to conduct a great deal of research, and actually go to the site to map it out.
GH: They were as happy as pigs in mud and easily absorbed the building skills needed to virtually replicate the village using a very old version of
ActiveWorlds. They subsequently embedded the history, the stories, the music and the art, and the language of their people. In doing so, they covered the Prescribed Learning Outcomes of our Ministry of Education in “virtually” all their subject areas. It was just amazing. These two shy boys accompanied me to a conference where they presented to approximately 500 ICT specialists. They received three standing ovations, a confusing development for them, as they did not know what a standing ovation was. They were only 12 and 14.
SM: Very cool.
GH: In Alberta, First Nations students are often moving from place to place with their parents, for work. So it’s very easy for them to lose touch with their roots, which are very important to them. So, having built them virtually, students will always be able to go back and maintain a sense of community in those virtual villages. I’m very excited by this.
SM: You should be.
GH: Perhaps an even bigger development might be the recent commitment by Ambrose University to move into virtual environments. They want to partner with us to use our ActiveWorld environments for Professional Development in a really progressive school district in
Calgary. Instead of doing PD in the traditional way, which as you know sometimes translates into a situation of “wish I could, wish I did…”
SM: “Sit ‘n’ Git.”
GH: That’s right. What happens is that this school has their teachers do their ProD through a Masters Program that goes over five years. These teachers attend Ambrose University for their courses and are responsible and accountable for demonstrating the outcomes from what they learned. And, of course they are rewarded at the end with a Masters Degree, which represents a significant increase in pay.
SM: Really. What an incentive. The incentive that keeps on incentivizing.
GH: Indeed. Additional plans include integrating ActiveWorld into their Teacher Training Program. They’re even talking about starting up a Bible College where international students could attend 24/7 in the 3D VLE we provide.
SM: Wow.
GH: For my school, the biggest development for our Immersive Technology Program will be the “curriculum tool” offered by ActiveWorlds. We’ve been getting substantial push from parents and students to expand our program from grade 5-7 to 4-8. Unfortunately, Quest Atlantis doesn’t provide curriculum for our grade 8 students, so we are using this new tool to begin creating a quest-based resource tailored to grade 8 this year, followed by grade 9 and 10 in the years to follow.
SM: I saw a lot of that at a recent district resource fair. There were a whole lot of . . . sort of . . . cartoony games, that are espousing an effort to scaffold and differentiate and adapt learning. But most of it looks just formulaic, off-putting to me.
GH: Well of course. Formulas beg a specific result that becomes the answer, instead of a true solution. You are a veteran of Quest Atlantis, where the only significance those answers have depends upon the
meaning ascribed to them by the context and perspective they are imbedded in.
SM: Which sounds a lot like life, right?
GH: Indeed. Any important questions in life are without black and white solutions. There are no stock answers, only shades of gray. How unfortunate for the child that spends their entire educational career learning that answers are found in T/F and multiple-choice responses. Now, the exciting thing is that because our students have worked through QA to grade 8, they’re very familiar with how to properly scaffold experiential learning. So, I am making them responsible to create the curriculum for each other.
SM: So they are creating higher-order questions.
How unfortunate for the child that spends their entire educational career learning that answers are found in T/F and multiple -choice responses.
GH: Absolutely. And for anyone who doubts that they can, I can only say that none of the work my students have done has ended up in the garbage. It’s too valuable to throw away. We’re actually in the process of creating a 3D Wikipedia of knowledge where the learning is experiential.
SM: How awesome is that.
GH: Really. So I have a backstory, an introductory mission, and problems that needs to be set up for those searching for “best” solutions. Like those two First Nations brothers that preserved the history of their people while meeting their learning outcomes. The students will create missions for their peers from their own research and study.
SM: So just to keep it straight, you’re go ing to do this in ActiveWorlds, right?
GH: Right.
SM: That’s very exciting.
GH: Indeed. Our students have actually become true partners in providing their educational experience. A great start for life-long learning.
SM: Curriculum designers.
GH: Well many of the students who are going through want to be teachers. I give full-credit to the incredible group of teachers I work with. One does all this with students on the autism spectrum. She cannot talk about the transformational effects without becoming emotional. April is wonderful, and by the way, “Amurican.”
SM: “Amurican?” (laughs)
GH: She’s has a lovely Georgia accent. Yes, April saw the light, moved to Canada, and has become a real blessing to many here. God bless America! J There are a few more projects simmering on the stove, but I’m not quite ready to speak of them. I think perhaps it would be good to end with this today. If we can finish off with another session, I hope to have an update on Quest Atlantis, and would love to initiate an examination and discussion on “The Dangers of Engagement.” How’s that for a teaser?
SM: Gord, as always it’s been fun talking with you and I hope the VEJ readers have enjoyed the discussion and learning about all you are doing and will do. We are separated physically by some 3800 miles, but today Skype brought us together, as Second Life has done so many times over the course of our friendship. I hope to be seeing Gord in ActiveWorlds someday soon.
[Stay tuned for Part III of this series in the next issue of VEJ.]
The Inclusion of Disabled Players in Virtual World Games: The World of Warcraft Model
By Don Merritt, PhD Candidate Texts and Technology PhD Program
University of Central Florida
[This paper is based on the ongoing dissertation research of the writer and is not a final analysis.]
My dissertation research focuses on addons in WoW. I suspect there is a strong correlation between addon use and player immersion among players with disabilities. My survey instrument closed at the end of May so the following data is still preliminary but so far suggests that there is some sort of relationship. Data analysis and follow-up questions to some of the respondents will continue through the summer with the research expected to be complete in the fall of 2014.
There are two assumptions I’m testing that I will discuss here:
1. Players with disabilities make extensive use of interface addons to manage their in-game experience
2. Addons used by a player with a disability address the specific disability of the player
Much has been made over the years about the potential and the importance of virtual worlds. They can be entertainment and/or
educational spaces, cultural sites, and performance platforms. However, often lacking in this conversation is a deep discussion about how people with disabilities come into these environments.
A recent multi-disciplinary literature review highlighted the research gaps in understanding the relationships between virtual worlds and userswho are disabled. Among the gaps were a lack of research regarding universal design standards and principles within virtual worlds as well as understanding how people with different types of disabilities use and interact with virtual worlds. “An important factor when considering people with disability is the variety of challenges this group encounters, depending on the disability” (Stendal, 11)1. For instance a user with a mobility-limiting condition may have trouble using a keyboard and mouse, severely limiting their interactions within a virtual world, while someone with a visual disability such as blindness may not be able to interact meaningfully with the virtual environment at all.
Despite these challenges there is
anecdotal evidence of very successful players with disabilities within virtual world games and World of Warcraft in particular. The website WoW Insider has featured a number of WoW players with disabilities over the years2. WoW Insider features have covered “Shorty”, the person behind Ability Powered Gaming3, and Hexu and Davidian, a completelyblind player and his “guide dog guildie” assisting him through Azeroth and its raids4. It also recently featured Kephas5, a player with very
1 Stendal, Karen. “How Do People with Disability Use and Experience Virtual Worlds and ICT: A Literature Review.” Journal For Virtual Worlds Research 5.1 (2012): n. pag. Print. Assembled.
limited vision who has put together a YouTube video6 that explains how he uses add-ons to reconfigure his UI to make it more useful to him.
Add-ons (or addons) appear to be a common thread between these users. Addons allow the player to manipulate the game UI in some specific ways not otherwise possible through the game client. There is a large and well-established addon developer community and a deep pool of available addons built up over WoW’s nearly decade-long run. They can be downloaded from sites for specific addons, like CT Mod [http://www.ctmod.net/] or from sites that host lots of different addons, like http://www.curse.com/ or http://wowinterface.com/addons.php .
In 2009 Blizzard set forth an 8-point policy regarding addons and addon development on their forums. They state that “[o]ne of the primary goals of the user interface is to allow players to customize their game experience. . . These guidelines have been put in place to ensure the integrity of World of Warcraft and to help promote an enjoyable gaming environment for all of our players. 7” It’s important to point out that they say “all of our players,” not just players with disabilities. This phrasing suggests that this policy was not created with any specific category of players in mind. [To learn more about the addon policy see http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1021053914 ]
In March I distributed a survey aimed at WoW players with disabilities through Twitter, blogs, and websites of WoW players in the disability community. The survey includes a field for email addresses for
those who are willing to answer additional questions about how they use addons. For the first 6 weeks there was little response – only 13 people took the survey. In May I applied for and received a grant through the UCF College of Arts and Sciences to fund an incentive for taking the survey – a $10 gift card to the US
Amazon.com store. The survey was re-released over Memorial Day weekend and picked up over 600 more responses in three days. The survey was closed and initial data collection ended on Memorial Day.
To simplify things for respondents I suggested 4 general categories of disability (and one “Other,” catchall option) and asked respondents to identify into which ones they fit. The categories were not mutually exclusive and some respondents indicated their condition fit into more than one category. Some respondents did not identify with any of the categories.
While the latter’s responses will be included in the final discussion they
are not included in the data below. (I assume they only filled out the survey to get the gift card.)
Category
Visual (blindness, color blindness, etc.)
Auditory (deafness, tinnitus, etc.)
Manual Dexterity (amputations, limited arm mobility, paraplegia, etc.)
Cognitive (dyslexia, PTSD, etc.)
Other
(n=409)
When asked why they used addons, most responded that managing the UI played an important role in how they were able to interact with the game.
Oftentimes that management was simply moving things on the screen, but several explained that addons assisted in planning or explaining the world and played a key role for them.
Follow-up email will go out at the end of June to some recipients to ask them to provide more details about how they use specific addons, and why.
The next step of my research involves categorizing WoW addons
based on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The Center for Applied Special
Technology (CAST) has a breakdown of UDL principles and guidelines on their website that will be used in this analysis8.
UDL Principles
Categorization of addons according to UDL principles and guidelines may be tricky in some instances but very straightforward in others. For instance, the addon Deadly Boss Mods (DBM). When you read the description of DBM on Curse.com9 you notice right away some functions that fall under one or more of the three Principles of UDL. For instance, DBM’s ability to affect how bars change appearance before they expire could be considered an alternative means of visual
information under Principle 1, and (arguably) also a method of supporting planning and strategy development under Principle 2. These categorizations may be subject to debate, however, and the functions of other addons may not be so easy to categorize. In order to increase the reliability of my categorizations I have sought out additional raters who are familiar with both WoW and UDL principles and guidelines. I will combine all of the ratings for a more reliable analysis of the addons. I have identified a list of the “most popular” addons on http://www.curse.com that will get categorized. I will also categorize the addons listed by respondents of the survey. There is some overlap between the two groups of addons but not as much as I expected.
Once categorized I can try to identify any correlations between a particular addon and its use by players with certain categories of disability. Given the high utilization of addons between those with manual dexterity and cognitive conditions I expect to find some very clear correlations. Visual and auditory conditions may be less obvious, if any exist.
One of the things I hope to learn from my research is whether Blizzard’s approach to addons has been a boon to players with disabilities. If it has, this may suggest approaches in other virtual world environments that could make them more accessible to more people.
It may also be an example of some of the UDL principles evolving naturally over time in these environments – most addon creators are not professional educators or UDL experts. They are simply players who are looking for ways to play more enjoyably.
One may cynically say that Blizzard has allowed players to do the R&D for them, and of course there are some business interests in this approach. However the optimist in me believes the result has been an accessible environment, one that may offer lessons for future, less commercial, uses.
Minecraft and Beyond
By Trevyn Slusser
Minecraft, a wonderful world of blocky environments, horrible monsters, and endless possibilities, but not all possibilities are restricted to the game itself. Minecraft is also a prime example of Metagaming. Metagaming is defined as "a broad term usually used to define any strategy, action or method used in a game which transcends a prescribed rule set, uses external factors to affect the game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by the game.
Another definition refers to the game universe outside of the game itself." In my opinion Minecraft covers this definition perfectly. Lets break it down.
For action, strategy and method all you must do is look at the numerous servers out there that fans of Minecraft have created. Some are educational where as others are a game within a game.
While one may be more action packed than the other (depending on the class) both serve the definition in both strategy and methods. Furthermore with this method of education, it transcends its original purpose flowing out into the world and nesting in the minds of students.
Minecraft once again transcends its limitations and even the gaming universe in all that it has inspired to create. From music to art, from baking to plush toys, it's easy to see just what an impact Minecraft has had on the online and gaming community.
Music:
Don't mine at night
Many have joined together to create sites dedicated to Minecraft alone. Talk about going "beyond the supposed limits or environment"!
You don't have to take my word for it. The following list has some beautiful examples of what the Minecraft community has taken and created with this amazing game!
Educators attend Machinima previews in an immersive environment.
Machinima has been used by gamers to chronicle achievements and learn from mistakes as well as by artists to create video that would be impossible to create in “real life”. Most recently, Minecraft players of all ages have been creating machinima to tell stories, explain processes, give information, and just capture the fun in video format.
Machinima is an art form, using video capture of computer games and/or virtual world activity to make a movie. Many of the requirements in making movies in the physical word such as script writing, directing, camera work, special effects, sound editing, video editing, acting, costume design and set design are used in the making of machinima. Potential abounds, for teachers and students alike, in using this art form of media creation and manipulation for teaching and learning.
The annual EduMachinima Fest is held at the ISTE Conference and provides attendees with a Movie going experience unlike many others. This year, two ISTE Networks are sponsoring the EduMachinima Fest. Both the Games and Simulation Network and the Virtual Environments Network will sponsor the event that includes productions created in online games and virtual environments. Attendees can enjoy watching a series of machinima demonstrating how students and teachers create and share their manipulation of images, sounds, music and words effectively to convey a message.
Developing a machinima product is one way to demonstrate skills in media design, self-expression, critical thinking, collaboration, and knowledge of multiple academic subjects. The skills are clearly aligned to Common Core standards and our digitally connected culture. Attendees will be able to vote for their favorites during the Fest on June 29th in Atlanta and winners will be announced at that time.
The 2014 Categories for Machinima are:
Timed Video Categories
6 Seconds and Gone (it’s like vine - only 6 seconds)
60 Seconds and Gone (you have 60 second to show us something!)
60 Second - 3 Minutes Metagame theme
The theme for this year’s Virtual Environments’ playground is the Metagame. The metagame is all the learning that happens outside the game. How would you show us the metagame? You have between 60 seconds and 3 minutes to try.
No Time Limit Video Categories
Digital Storytelling
Digital Sandbox/Building (show us how to build in your game, world or server)
Let’s Play/Tutorials
Curriculum or Content Area (Machinima related to any curriculum or content area)
Google Hangout Livestream (let’s see how you are livestreaming and recording gameplay using Google Hangout)
Mixed Media (must contain at least 80% of screencapture in video games or 3D environments)
Channels
This can be YouTube, TwitchTv, Vimeo or other public channels where at least 80% of the videos are Machinima.
Additionally judge’s awards will be given for Best Overall, Special Effects, Editing, Sound, Machinimatogra phy and a special category: ISTE Conference clips.
Be on the lookout for “Greenscreen” video capturing stations that will place you into a virtual environment, Minecraft, or World of Warcraft. Then come to the Fest and see your performance on the BIG screen.
Want to know more about making machinima? Check out the Machinima Livebinder at: http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=306926
Follow the EduMachinima Twitter @EduMachinima
Metagame:
Be Sure To Join The Fun! Hope To See You @ ISTE 2014
Virtual Environments Playground
ISTE 2014: Monday June 30, 2- 5:30 pm
GWCC Building B, Level 2 ( near room B206)
Playground Coordinator: Vasili Giannoutsos (RL)
Bluebarker Lowtide (SL)
Meta…..the metagame that is! Why can’t your students put down Minecraft? What is about World of Warcraft, Guild Wars and Clash of Clans that has them so engaged? We’re not talking solo play but collaborative learning online in virtual communities. This learning goes beyond the game world and extends to multiple platforms to include YouTube, blogs, wikis, twitter, guild sites and other creative endeavors.
Have you taken a look to see what your students are doing in these worlds? It’s deeper learning and it can totally map to the standards we’re being asked to use.
When your student showed you that lego-looking building in Minecraft did you see where the computational thinking took place?
In World of Warcraft, did you see high school level statistics and probability straight out of the common core?
Over Skype and other VOIP, have your students told you about the international collaboration and digital citizenship straight out of the ISTE NETS?
Have you seen them progress from Minecraft to Roblox to full sandbox genres like OpenSim?
They are creating tutorials, videos, worlds and even online civilizations. That’s the metagame and every afternoon and evening your students are in there online creating it.
In this virtual environments playground, participants will experience the authentic learning experience that goes beyond game convention into the Metagame. Our goal is to give participants the skills and tools needed to support students in building the worlds of the future and a community that extends beyond the conference.
Stations include:
• Virtual Education Journal (VEJ) with an Occulus Rift Demonstration
• Minecraft with Marianne Malmstrom and Laura Briggs
• World of Warcraft with Inevitable Instructors
• Open Sim, Kitely and Second Life with Andrew Wheelock and Scott Merrick
• Coding with Trish Cloud and Laura Briggs
• #metagame and the Metagame Book Club
We’ll be using the hashtag #metagame on twitter and Google+ to send out updates so please follow us there.
In addition to this year’s playground, VEN has a Google + Community and synchronous online events in which participants can network and continue to support and collaborate with each other throughout the year.
Useful Links:
• VEN Google + Community http://bit.ly/sigvegoogle
• VEN Weebly http://sigve.weebly.com/
• ISTE VEN flickr site http://www.flickr.com/groups/sigve/
This Is Not a Game! Learning with Alternate Reality Games
An Interactive Lecture @ ISTE 2014 Tuesday, July 1, 1:15 pm – 2:15 pm
By Kae Novak, Tanya Martin, Chris Luchs, Joseph Doan and Mellody Collier
Participants will experience elements of alternate reality games (ARG) using mobile devices, transmedia and critical thinking skills to play and solve the mystery as students would.
This is Not A Game (TINAG) or the TINAG attitude is one of the elements that sets the tone for this type of highly engaging and challenging game. It is also why ARGs work so well in engaging students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems. It is an alternative to flipped classrooms and case studies and allows students to play a role in a situated environment. ARGs also allow the teacher to be creative with how technology is used to enhance learning and create a playful space for students.
In this interactive session, participants will experience in an abbreviated time period, the fun, flow and fiero of an Alternate Reality Game (ARG). ARGs are interactive narratives that use the real world, technology, movement and transmedia as platforms for learning. Participants will be able to identify the specific components of an ARG that allow for cognitive scaffolds and problem-based learning. They will understand the underlying methodology of an interactive narrative played out over multiple media platforms. Participants will also be able to determine if they have the time and the resources to integrate a full ARG into their curriculum or instead use certain elements. Unlike other forms of game-based learning, ARGs allow teachers to be game masters, storytellers and co-create the game and the experience along with their students.
Keller’s ARCS Motivation Model will be employed in the design of the interactive session and participants will leave understanding how to choose elements of an ARG that would work for motivation in their classroom. Mobile technology and transmedia will be utilized and allow
for assessment of participant’s information and technology literacy. There will be an emphasis on finding the right technology tool based on the educator’s particular circumstance.
They will also understand and be able to articulate how ARGs fit into the 7E learning cycle of Elicit, Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate and Extend.
The presenters have used ARGs for business, accounting, mircobiology and criminal justice classes as well as professional development for educators and administrators.
Session Purpose & Objectives
After a short welcome, presenters will introduce the 20-minute gameplay. Participants will be placed into teams and use their mobile devices to research, work out the puzzle and solve the mystery designed for the interactive lecture session. The 20-minutes is designed to be fully engaging so that participants experience the orchestrated time prior to discussing the potential in classrooms. Participants will make choices in a type of crowdsourcing research task, in an effort to solve a defined problem, using the digital tools at their disposal. The remainder of the hour will be spent in an interactive discussion/brainstorming of ARG design and elements of ARGs.
Presenter Background
The presenters for this workshop are varied in their experiences and come from different parts of the United State having met while organizing an online virtual worlds conference. Kae Novak, Joseph Doan, Chris Luchs, and Tanya Martin followed up that conference with collaborating together to design and deliver a 4-week open course on P2PU entitled ARG Academy during summer 2012. https://p2pu.org/en/groups/arg-academy/.
Following the ARG Academy, Kae, Chris, Joseph and Mellody Collier, the fifth presenter in this group, were involved in the design and implementation of the game elements and were breakout session presenters in ISTE 2013 Epic Leadership Symposium: Gamification
1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
b. Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources
Although we are exploring alternate reality games, participants will explore real worlds issues and authentic problems using digital tools and resources the same way that their student would. They will be able to experience the augmented reality, extrapolate from it and bring this methodology back into their classroom.
d. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.
Participants in this session will engage in learning with colleagues face-to-face and virtually.
2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experience and Assessments
a. Design and adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.
Participants will learn how to design and adapt ARGs which utilize digital tools and resources across numerous platforms to promote student engagement, learning and creativity.
Supporting Research
Considerable research has been done on game based learning and augmented reality in education at MIT and by Chris Dede at Harvard University looking at immersive simulations and their use in relation to student learning, engagement and assessment. Less research has been done on ARGs which expand the learning platform to the whole world and give the teacher the role of game master and storyteller. The research that supports ARGs educationally and where we can find the role for teachers in them are below:
McGonigal, J. (2006). This might be a game. (Doctoral dissertation, University of California) Retrieved from http://www.avantgame.com/McGonigal_THIS_MIGHT_BE_A_GAME_sm. pdf
McGonigal, J. (2008) Why I Love Bees: A Case Study in Collective Intelligence Gaming. In The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games and Learning, ed. Katie Salen. Massachusetts: MIT Press,199-228.
Bellocchi (2012) reported on using an alternate reality game as a way or engage pre-service teachers with STEM subjects.
Bellocchi, A. (2012). Practical considerations for integrating alternate reality gaming into science education. Teaching Science: The Journal Of The Australian Science Teachers Association, 58(4), 43-46.
Tsvetkova et al. (2009) advocate for the use of ARGs in Teacher training as well as in O’Donovan et al. (2009).
Tsvetkova, N., Stoimenova, B., Tsvetanova, S., Connolly, T., Stansfield, M., Hainey, T., & ... Ortiz, C. (2009). Arguing for Multilingual Motivation in Web 2.0: the Teacher Training Perspective. Proceedings Of The European Conference On Games Based Learning, 371-378.
O'Donovan, A., Tsvetkova, N., Stoimenova, B., Tsvetanova, S., Connolly, T., Stansfield, M., & ... Ortiz, C. (2009). The Truth About Alternate Reality Games: Args in Educational Method, Args as Educational Method.
Proceedings Of The European Conference On Games Based Learning , 287293.
Additional articles and publication on the use of Alternate Reality Games for education include:
Boskic, N. (2011). Play to Become a Leader and a Citizen of the World: ARGs as Teaching Spaces for Personal and Social Change. Proceedings Of The European Conference On Games Based Learning, 675-682.
W. Butler, J. (2010). A Whodunit in Two Acts: An Online Murder Mystery that Enhances Library and Internet Search Skills. In D. Gibson & B. Dodge (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2010 (pp. 3197-3200). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Hakulinen, L. (2012). Alternate Reality Game for University-Level Computer Science Education. Proceedings Of The European Conference On Games Based Learning, 623-626.
Holden, C. L., & Sykes, J. M. (2010). Leveraging mobile games for placebased language learning. International Journal of Games-Based Learning, 1(2) 1–22. Retrieved from http://arisgames.org/wpcontent/uploads/2011/04/Holden_Sykes_PROOF.pdf
Moseley, A., Whitton, N., Culver, J., & Piatt, K. (2009). Motivation in Alternate Reality Gaming Environments and Implications for Education. Proceedings Of The European Conference On Games Based Learning , 279286.
O'Shea, P., & Curry-Corcoran, D. (2012). The viability and value of student- and teacher-created augmented reality experiences. In T. Amiel & B. Wilson (Eds. (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2012 (pp. 22972320). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Learner Analytics in MMORPGs: Use for Curriculum and Instruction
ISTE 2014 Poster presentation
Sunday, June 29, 2:00 – 4:00 pm
By Joseph Doan, Chris Luchs, Tanya Martin & Kae Novak
Explore the potential of learner analytics, dashboards and data visualization offered by Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) for assessment and student driven learning.
Educators and students spend a lot of our time generating, reviewing, and sharing data with our students and colleagues. What story does this data tell us? More importantly how can it be harnessed to help students succeed?
While most learner analytic tools in education are currently being investigated, prototyped and built, a plethora of complete, mature, and robust tools are already available for players of popular MMORPGs. These online games are actually massive experimental learning spaces where participants are constantly assessed, provided immediate feedback, and provided tools to monitor progress and improvement as they progress through the game. The learner analytics come in the form of the various addons, mods and plugins created as supplements to the game.
This session presents examples of these learner analytics tools and discusses how gamers utilize them to learn by analyzing the data to
evaluate self and peer performance and formulate strategies aligned to the evaluation.
Session Purpose & Objectives
• Provide examples of learner analytics and tools used by players of popular MMORPGs
• Discuss what these tools measure and how they gather the information
• Discuss how players utilize these tools
• Discuss overall scaffolding, presentation of learning material, and instructional design aspects of MMORPGs
• Discuss how instructors can use analytics in game based learning
Presenter Background
These four presenters are member of a gaming guild, which presents a regular weekend webinar for educators to learn more about gameplay in World of Warcraft, Minecraft, Elder Scrolls Online and other MMORPGs. Past livestreams can be viewed at the Inevitable Instructors Playlist http://bit.ly/inevitableinstructors .
1. c. Use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.
MMORPGs use sophisticated modeling, math and statistics for all aspects of game play. To optimize performance, the users must research this modeling, test strategies, and then develop strategies to adapt to changes in the models as the MMORPG developers adjust their models.
3. c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks.
MMORPGs have thousands of devoted players. Many players have developed third party fan and supplemental site that offer advice, strategies, tactics and more to players. Players must learn to sift through all the meta data and select the sources and tools that best fit their playstyle or immediate needs.
4. c. Collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions.
MMORPGS are real time fail fast environments that promote collaboration, rapid prototyping of strategies and tactics, and quick decision making. Many players have done preliminary research to prepare them for specific challenges and adapt their strategies and tactics as they collect new data during their experiences in game.
Common Core State Standards addressed
9-12 Modeling
Learner Analytics in MMORPGs link classroom mathematics and statistics to gameplay and decision making. Learner analytics are used to interpret the mathematics in terms of the original situation and validating the conclusion by comparing them with the situation and making. Learner analytics provide a process for educators and learners to understand modeling conditions in order to make individual adjustments as necessary.
9-12 Statistics and Probability
Standards of Mathematical Practice: High School: Statistics & Probability
Understand and evaluate random processes underlying statistical experiments
CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-IC.A.2 Decide if a specified model is consistent with results from a given data-generating process, e.g., using simulation. For example, a model says a spinning coin falls heads up with probability 0.5. Would a result of 5 tails in a row cause you to question the model? Evaluate models from addons and mods to see if they are consistent with in-game play.
Understand independence and conditional probability and use them to interpret data
CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-CP.A.2 Understand that two events A and B are independent if the probability of A and B occurring together is the product of their probabilities, and use this characterization to determine if they are independent. Determine if two events are independent during gameplay.
CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-CP.A.3 Understand the conditional probability of A given B as P(A and B)/P(B), and interpret independence of A and B as saying that the conditional probability of A given B is the same as the probability of A, and the conditional probability of B given A is the same as the probability of B. Determine if two events are independent during gameplay.
CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-CP.A.5 Recognize and explain the concepts of conditional probability and independence in everyday language and everyday situations. For example, compare the chance of having lung cancer if you are a smoker with the chance of being a smoker if you have lung cancer. Independently and also using game analytics explain the concept of conditional probability and independence in relation to their own and others’ gameplay.
Use probability to evaluate outcomes of decisions
CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-MD.B.5 (+) Weigh the possible outcomes of a decision by assigning probabilities to payoff values and finding expected values. Using in game analytics, addons and mods weigh the possible outcomes of a design by assigning probabilities to payoff values and finding expected values.
CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-MD.B.5a Find the expected payoff for a game of chance. For example, find the expected winnings from a state lottery ticket or a game at a fast-food restaurant. Using in game analytics, addons and mods weigh find the expected result of an encounter or equipment drop.
CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-MD.B.5b Evaluate and compare strategies on the basis of expected values. For example, compare a highdeductible versus a low-deductible automobile insurance policy using various, but reasonable, chances of having a minor or a major accident. Evaluate and compare strategies based on expected values such as player level, item level and percentage of equipment drops on a specific encounter.
CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-MD.B.6 (+) Use probabilities to make fair decisions (e.g., drawing by lots, using a random number generator). Use probabilities to make decisions on group sharing of winnings based on random number generator.
CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-MD.B.7 (+) Analyze decisions and strategies using probability concepts (e.g., product testing, medical testing, pulling a hockey goalie at the end of a game). Analyze decisions and strategies using probability concepts such
as assignments within a group or decision to initiate an encounter.
Supporting Research
The use of MMORPGs for learning has been explored and researched during the last decade in research like Childress, M., & Braswell, R. (2006). Using Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games for Online Learning. Distance Education, 27(2), 187-196. and works like Steinkuehler, C. & Chmiel, M. (2006). Fostering scientific habits of mind in the context of online play. International conference on learning sciences, 723–729.
Over the last decade, Jim Gee has also been advocating for the use of games as assessment in his presentations and writings.
Gee, J. P. What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy. 2nd ed.: Revised and Updated. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
Gee, J. P. (Presenter) (2008). Big thinkers: James Paul Gee on grading with games [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/james-gee-video Gee, J. (Presenter). (2010, May 24). Innovation, gaming and assessment [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyiOlWXDd-Q Herron, K. (2012, March 29). [Web Blog]. Retrieved from http://spotlight.macfound.org/blog/entry/jim-gee-on-the-use-of-videogames-for-learning-about-learning
Yet, player analytics and learner decision making based on analytics is an emerging trend and the research is preliminary in nature. Currently the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning (JCAL) has a call out for a special issue on Learner Analytics in Massively Multiuser Games, Virtual Worlds and Course.
The NMC Horizon Report: 2013 Higher Education Edition reports learning analytics as being two to three years from adoption. The learner analytics discussed “assess responses, provide immediate feedback and make adjustments in content delivery and format (
Johnson et al., 2013). MMORPGs already do this and provide dashboards where players receive actionable data. Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Estrada, V., Freeman, A., and Ludgate, H. (2013). NMC Horizon Report: 2013 Higher Education Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.
In Stage 1 of research conducted by Hou (2012) the game records motion and event. 82 recorded items provided information on learning process as a way for parents to monitor players’ progress. Hou, H. (2012). Exploring the behavioral patterns of learners in an educational massively multiple online role-playing game (MMORPG). Computers & Education, 58(4), 1225-1233. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2011.11.015
We anticipate that the popularity of game based learning will necessitate that educators, curriculum developers, teacher educators and administrators understand how analytics are used by players to learn and drive needed research. This poster session seeks to present a basic foundation on learner analytics in MMORPGs.
MUST READ: Report Released March 11, 2014
Digital Life in 2025
Experts predict the Internet will become ‘like electricity’ – less visible, yet more deeply embedded in people’s lives, for good and ill.
A collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of the following individuals: Prof. Janna Anderson, Director, Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Project Lee Raine, Director, Internet Project Maeve Duggan, Research Assistant, Internet Project
Read the report @ http://www.elon.edu/docs/eweb/imagining/surveys/2014_survey/PEWElon%20DIgital%20Life%20in%202025_Report%20I%203-11-14.pdf
Find related reports about the future of the Internet @ http://www.pewinternet.org/topics/future-of-the-internet/pages/2/
#METAGAME Book Club
http://sites.google.com/site/metagamebookclub/
Welcome! We’re doing a book club. Well, actually it's a Book Club +.
Inevitable Instructors along with ISTE's Virtual Environments Network and the Games & Simulations Network will be doing a summer book club from July 15 - August 16, 2014.
It involves reading publications, a really great book, going to websites, watching videos and even going in game. So there is no question about it –the #metagame book club is a Book Club +.
This book club has 2 tracks. There are Game Studies (great for English and humanities teachers) academic readings with Sherry Jones, the creator of the Rhetoric and Games or rgMOOC.
The second track will be facilitated by the educator’s gaming guild, Inevitable Betrayal.
The book for the second track, is the young adult book, For the Win, by Cory Doctorow (great for economics, social studies and anyone looking to
engage their students in reading). It is also gives an insider’s look into massively multi-player online role-playing games (MMOs and MMORPGs).
Vasili Giannoutous will lead up the literary discussion with Kristina Thoennes and Trish Cloud. The Inevitable Betrayal guild will livestream from World of Warcraft to show you the endgame play described in the book.
For the Win, also goes delves into virtual economics. From World of Warcraft, Chris Luchs and Kae Novak will livestream how the economy functions in a global online game.
For The Win is available on Kindle, in print, or you can download the free version at http://craphound.com/ftw/download/
This is an open book club for all educators. We’ll be using the hashtag #metagame for twitter and all tagging in social media. The model for the book club is based on social network knowledge construction.
Participating instructors will be able to be active in the book club in several ways from lurking (reading the discussions) to actively creating content. This will be a great opportunity for you as an educator to build your game based learning PLN (Personal Learning Network), learn about games and have some fun!
And if you are the ISTE Conference, Metagame Book Club facilitators will be at the Virtual Environments Playground 2 pm – 530 pm GWCC Building B, Level 2 (near Room B206) so drop by and chat us up!
To sign up for the summer #METAGAME Book Club please go to http://bit.ly/metagamebooksignup
The Recipe of Storytelling: Step 3 of 3
By: Bluebarker Lowtide (SL)
Vasili Giannoutsos (RL)
As any part of any story or narrative, you have the main eight basic ideas: setting, character, conflict, plot, action, climax, resolution and conclusion. But we are talking about the special things in storytelling that not many people know about. Once you know them, they will certainly improve your stories and separate you from the rest of the formula fiction out there. Let’s call these the secret ingredients to making a great story.
Today’s secret ingredient is: Subplot.
You are probably wondering what a subplot is? Why is it different from a regular plot? As we know, a plot is the events that happen and surround your main characters as they progress through the story from the beginning to the end. Subplots are the events that happen to the supporting and/or background characters that may or may not involve your main characters. Now these subplots tend to be more geared for the lengthy novels and epics, however this does not mean novellas or short stories cannot have these either.
One may ask why have subplots if a story is only about main characters? In truth, a story is a living and breathing world that has everyday characters that run the stores, enforce the laws, or even run libraries. These are their stories and they have a place in the compendium of Literacy Devices.
In most cases, stories are a gateway into the experiences, trials and tribulations of the human condition, and by extension, about us. It is this fundamental component that has kept civilizations alive, long after their fall: from ancient Rome to the Medieval times; from the stone age to the industrial age; and even from Eastern European culture to the land of the rising sun.
Stories.
No matter how big or how small, stories stand the test of time and are the true legacies and memorabilia of our society as they weave the story that is humanit.
In modern times, there has been an emergence of subplots most commonly known as episodic television shows. From high-thrilling dramas to kid-friendly cartoons, episodes are essentially extra stories that, bit by bit, continue the story as they sprinkle in memorable characters and events.
Another form that subplot has jumped into is superhero comics. In addition to the main hero defeating villains, supporting characters have their day-to-day jobs that often help or hinder the main hero. For instance, Lois Lane is a reporter for the Daily Planet and often needs to be saved by Superman because of the predicaments she finds herself in.
Our examples for this article are two adaptations inspired by real ink-paged books. First, Lewis Carrol’s “Through the Looking-Glass.” Second, L. Frank Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” These are two beautifully written literary classics that have the perfect amount of spice through imagery and subplots. So cleverly written – they are an afterthought.
Tim Burton’s 2010 film adaptation, “Alice in Wonderland,” and Stephen Schwartz Broadway musical adaptation ,“Wicked,” which is a further adaptation of “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” by Gregory Maguire have brought English Literature to the forefront of pop culture and the nation’s youth. Though both have ground breaking visual effects and state of the art technologies, they both share the commonality of superb story, character and narrative elements that make them really shine.
The subplot spectacle could continue in many ways, such as with the white rabbit, Bayard the bloodhound, or the White Queen in Tim Burton’s dark revelation of the curious world of Wonderland. But the subplot I would like to focus on is of Mallymkun the Dormouse.
In most other reincarnations, the Dormouse has been a slothy mouse that sings and tells stories if one can keep him awake. In the adaptation, still accompanying the Mad Hatter and the March Hare at a never-ending Tea Party, Mallymkun is quite the juxtaposition as she becomes a courageous, swashbuckling dormouse. Mallymkum is very action-orientated and without her help, Alice would not have escaped capture from the Bandersnatch. Mallymkum singlehandedly defeated terrifying creatures that would have done harm to the main characters.
Though in essence, the debate of Mallymkum being a support or main character could arise. Main characters are trademarked by their emotional and mental changes throughout the story whereas Mallymkum remained heroically flat throughout the film.
Within “Wicked,” we find the perspective switched from Dorothy to the Wicked Witch of the West named Elphaba. The story does try and explain the events leading up to her apparent death, while the musical provides fantastic singing, bombastic dancing, and charming characters. Within the characterization of the cast we are treated to a different side of Oz – about a world filled with mysterious troubles, blind figureheads and tragic oppression.
Elphaba wished to reveal the truth of the matter but every time she does, bad things happen as her spells have unintended consequences.
The subplot I would like you to consider is Doctor Dillamond. With a more profound existence compared to Mallymkum, the good Doctor was a representative of the good that come with animal rights and equality.
As the story of Wicked continues we find that animals have been losing their ability to speak along with the equally gaining opposition of the authority of Oz to lock-up and subjugate the animals of Oz. Due to Doctor Dillamond’s intellectual connection, his capture and imprisonment gives Elphaba her added motivation to oppose the Wizard of Oz. The Wicked Witch of the West could have readily been an enemy of the Wizard of Oz, but with the subplot of the animal persecution, it was added fuel to the fire.
As we have seen the added subplots can actually drive a story forward or be strong motivators for our main characters to press onward with more determination. Subplots can be as involved or as simple as the writer wants, but don’t get so wrapped up with subplots that you forget you have a main story to tell.
There are several ways to practice visualizing subplots. First off, ‘people-watching’ is a popular pastime for sociologists and artists that could be done in a mall, park, or any public place really. But for writers, watching someone and trying to create a story for them is a great way to start.
Another way to try subplots is practicing “A Day in the Life of…” free writing exercises of shop owners, non-player characters (NPCs) and sidewalk walkers. Imagine what a person does in his normal day-to-day activities or interview someone to gain a new perspective about what one person out of a billion does in their life. See how people’s lives connect with one another and watch how the affect they have on you and your main story. You will be pleasantly surprised, I assure you.
Now this wouldn’t be complete without an example lesson, and I know a perfect way to go with this one. You may have already been doing this without even knowing it. History is a great subject to enter into the inside world of subplots – that is, the story within a story if you will.
When exploring Units of War, we often look at the factual information: who won, how many died, when the battle happened or what kind of weapons they used. But this is also another exploration of the time period and the way they lived. Probably one of the favorite state history topics in Virginia is the study of the Civil War. Ask your students to pretend to be a soldier in the Civil War. Help them imagine what the times were like, the places they would see, or how it would feel to be fighting against their family members because their views differed.
The North versus the South was not the most celebrated time in U.S. history, but it was a very important time in the making of this country. Many facts can be incorporated in this project. The
information will be more personable when students do the research themselves. Basically, they can become living historians when they find enough information on a particular person or event.
It sounds simple, but subplots can be used to effectively broaden an audience’ view on the bigger picture that is the main story. Though subplots are simply a story within a story, they intricately weave and layer the plot with other elements such as setting and characters.
Using additional story elements within a subplot allows writers to begin to build something that truly becomes a work of wonder. By creating and blending stories and content with research, writer’s begin to cross the different thresholds of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to the top with Self-Actualization – problem-solving, creativity and interpretation of information.
Did you ever, like me, log into World of Warcraft (WoW) and feel lonely, isolated, disconnected, and out-of-touch . . . as you stumbled around wondering, now what? What do I do? How do I start? What do I need? How do I play? What happens if I die?
Well, the great news is that Norana Cantrell has created a resource just for us! She writes on her website that her guide began “when I was taking a course on education in virtual worlds. All of my fellow graduate students were adults and the majority of them had little to no experience with video games.”
Ms. Cantrell continues saying, “A lot of the mechanics of playing in World of Warcraft was not intuitive for them. This caused me to realize that, while there is a lot of material available online on things such as the best way to run through a dungeon, there was nothing on what to do when you die, or even how to turn in a quest.”
Thus, her website, http://noranac.wordpress.com/how-to/absolutebeginners-guide-to-wow/ provides just that kind of information for all
of us who would like to start playing WoW, but don’t even know what to ask! On her website you can find the following video tutorials:
• Movement and Walking
• Quests and Questing
• Combat (aka Killing Things)
• Actionbars/Toolbars
• Your Hearthstone and You
• Gear and Equipment
• Cleaning Out Your Bags
• What To Do When You Die In-game
A huge THANK YOU to Norana Cantrell for this very useful guide for WoW newbies like me. Be sure to checkout her video tutorials at the website listed above.
WoW Photo by Izzy Karu
Retro Raids: The Vintage WoW Experience
By Rebekah Luminos
Raids are content created to keep level-capped characters challenged and actively engaged in the game. When new expansions are released and characters level-up to the new highest achievable level, raids from previous expansions are not as challenging, but they can still be engaging. Excursions into raids that characters have out-leveled are referred to as
Retro Raids.
Character level caps are raised when new expansions are released, usually years apart. Today’s new content will be tomorrow’s “retro” content with a vintage appeal. I have been a member of Inevitable Betrayal, a guild of educators, since 2012. I am a part of the guild’s progressive raid team tackling current-content raids. Every Friday night, I organize a Retro Raid for nostalgic players or players (like myself) who were not around to experience these
raids in their heyday.
A raid consists of several difficult opponents, commonly falling into two categories: “mobs” (lesser opponents such as monsters, beasts, etc.) and “bosses.” Because they are not as difficult to defeat and drop loot of lower quality than what a boss drops, mobs are also often referred to as “trash”. In current-content raiding, the mechanics of a boss fight may take several weeks of experimentation and research to overcome. It may take many months of determination to successfully prevail over all of the bosses of a currentcontent raid. Retro Raiding is less challenging because, depending on how much of a gap there is between the characters’ levels and the intended level of the raid, characters may outmatch the boss's power, sometimes by quite a lot. A Retro Raid can often be cleared in as little as a few hours.
Raids are designed to test the mettle of a large group. Commonly, there are two raid modes in World of Warcraft: 10 player and 25 player. Recently, a “Flexible” mode was introduced that allows for groups of any number between 10 and 25 players. Current-content raiding requires a full group, and all participants must be at the level cap. Retro Raids can accommodate less than 10 players, and groups may include characters that are not at the level cap. The only restriction on participation is that each of the characters in the group must meet the minimum-level requirement for which the raid was originally designed. Some Retro Raids can be completed by a lone character (“soloed”), depending on the mechanics of the fight.
Raids often have achievements associated with specific actions performed during encounters with bosses. In current-content runs, the encounters are challenging enough without the additional difficulty of the precise actions required to earn the distinct achievements associated with that encounter. A Retro Raider looking for a challenge might choose to pursue raid achievements as their over-all goal. Individual raid achievements may also be a part of a meta-achievement. In addition to the achievement itself, meta-achievements usually reward cool titles, epic mounts or rare companion/battle pets. For example, completing Icecrown Citadel — a level
80 raid in heroic mode rewards characters the title “Bane of the Fallen King.” And the meta-achievement “Glory of the Icecrown Raider” rewards the Reins of the Bloodbathed Frostbrood Vanquisher. Guild members from Inevitable Betrayal celebrated getting their Frostbrood Vanquishers by circling in a flock together.
In addition to character-related achievements, completing Retro Raids in a group consisting of at least 8 members of the same guild may earn achievements for their guild as well. “Guild Glory of the Cataclysm Raider” unlocks the Reins of the Dark Phoenix in the guild store. Items in the guild store may be purchased by any member of the guild who has earned a specific reputation with their guild and has enough gold in their pocket.
Collaboration, coordination, and cooperation are essential for successful raiding both current or retro content. In current content raiding, you formulate a strategy for surviving the encounter and ultimately defeating your foe. In retro raiding, you formulate a strategy for obtaining the achievement you want from the encounter. It is during these current and retro raiding adventures that members of Inevitable Betrayal apply and refine the teamwork skills and strategies much sought after by organizations and enterprises in the real world.
Inevitable…
Raiding in World of Warcraft
By Kae Novak (RL), Que Jinn (SL)
We know that you love your other guild, server and regular raid group. But perhaps you have a level 90 alt who is dps or heals and you feel like dusting them off for an occasional social run with a group of educators.
We have the tanks - even when we have to three tank a boss. So we would be looking for heals and dps to run a flex run and who knows maybe occasionally a 25-player normal.
We use DBM and Recount so please have those addons updated.
We do have a raid culture.......it's well....we'll show you.
Happy Holidays Out-takes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PswvbelaLR0
and it looks like this when we raid.
Wing 3 Boss Attempt on Flex
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WueoRUuS5f8
We're here to have fun and ....so we frown upon....well frowning, whining, divas, dramas and.....players with savior complexes. It's a social run and we <3 players who realize that each raid is a new combination of players and the chance to learn something different with a bunch of educators who game.
Dust Off Your Ally - Open Run
We take out our Allys twice a month to do a casual, social flex run. We run for two hours so please be on time. It’s kind of like a potluck, we’ll bring the tanks please bring dps and heals. Please sign up here. http://bit.ly/allyrun
Horde@Heart – Open Run
Twice a month on Saturdays, we do a late night casual social run that last for two hours. Please sign up here. http://bit.ly/1xcNyxp
And of course as soon as Warlords of Draneor are out in December 2014.....look for Expansion Events on our site! http://bit.ly/1n7xOG0
A game is an opportunity to focus our energy, with relentless optimism, at something we’re good at (or getting better at) and enjoy. In other words, gameplay is the direct emotional opposite of depression. -Jane McGonigal, Reality is Broken
Technology gives kids power that people their age have never had. Let's help them use it wisely. Marc Prensky
Photo By Trish Cloud
Virtual Worlds Terminology
achiev n. achievement
add n. additional monster/mob
AFK v. away from keyboard
aggro n. the monster’s focus, aggression
ah n. Auction House (See also trade, shop & store)
alt n. another account, not your main avatar (See also char, toon, mule, & twinks)
ally n. Alliance player (See also alli, blueback & goodies)
AO n. Animation Override
aoe n. area of effect
ATM p. at the moment
avatar n. the form you take that other users can see
BBL p. be back later
belf n. blood elf race
boe adj. binds-on-equip (See also binds-on-account & No Transfer)
BRB p. be right back
brt p. be right there
buff n. beneficial spell
Builder n. someone who builds or crafts places, clothes or items
byob p. bring your own buffs
cc n./v. crowd control
cd n./v. cooldown
cp n. combo points
cya p. see ya (later)
dc v. disconnected from game/server (See also booted, crash & restart)
debuff n. reduce stats
ding p. level up (See also ping, ding! & *victory dance*
dk p. don’t know, n. death knight
dmg n. damage
DND p. Do Not Disturb
exp n. experience points
ftw p. for the win
fyi p. for your information
G2G p. Got to Go
gank n./v. planned kill from one or more players
gg p. good game
gl p. good luck
gm n. game master
gn p. good night
grats p. Congratulations (See also gz, congrats & congrazzles)
guild n. a group of individuals that work together for a common goal (See also clan, group, party, linkshell & troop)
hax n./adj. someone who is cheating or hacking
HD n./adj. High Definition
heals n. healer
hp n. hit points, health points
ilvl n. item level
IM n./v. instant message
inc v. incoming
inv n./v. to invite or inventory
inworld n. in game, online
jk p. just kidding, joke
ks n./v. kill stealer (See also kingslayer)
l33t n. elite (See also leet, LEET & pro)
lag v. slow reaction while playing due to server, computer or internet
lfg p. looking for group (See also looking for party, looking for raid & looking for more)
lol p. laugh out loud (See also lul, XD, rofl, lmao& lmfao)
lvl n. level
mats n. crafting materials
metagame n. game inside a game
mmorpg n. massively multiplayer online role playing game
mt p. miss tell, mistype
n b n./adj. unskilled player (See also noob, newb & noobie)
np p. no problem
npc n. non-player character
nvm p. nevermind
nuke v. deal dmg while ignoring threat and agro
oic p. oh I see
omg p. oh my gob
omw p. on my way
oom p. out of mana
pc n. player character
pk n./v. player killer
plz p. please (See also plox & PLS)
port n./v. portal or teleport
pot n. potion
prims n. 3D shapes used to build
pwn v. to dominate, to defeat easily (See also own & pwnage)
QQ emote. Tears, cry me a river
rez v. to make an item appear or to resurrect a dead player
rl p. real life
rp p. role play
sculptie n. special prim used to create complex shapes
shammy n./adj. shaman job class (See also shammie & kitty)
sim n. a place, island or location
sl p. second life
squishy adj. cloth wearing class
sry p. sorry (See also soz & srry)
tank adj. defense, meat shield
tbh p. to be honest
thx p. thanks (See also ty & tyvm)
tp n./v. teleport
troll n./adj./v. to annoy, give bad response for reactions, creeper
ts p. teamspeak
Uber p. very
Vent p. Ventrilo
Viewer p. program used to view Virtual Worlds
wb p. welcome back
woot p. expression of joy or exuberance (See also wohoo, ^^, yahoo, & yay)
wow p. World of Warcraft
yw p. you’re welcome
zerg v. to rush, to charge
Be sure to visit us in Second Life @ http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/EduIsland 9/20/37/22
To Read VEJ online visit: http://www.virtualeducationjournal.com/
For more information about ISTE SIGVE/VEN or to join the fun, visit: http://sigve.iste.wikispaces.net/ & http://sigve.weebly.com/
