"Using Second Life "vPortfolios" to mirror ePortfolios in a Graduate Library Science program" by Jeremy Kemp
1. Organization/Institution Name
San Jose State University School of Library and Information Science
2. Project Name
vPortfolios in LIS 287 - Virtual Worlds
3. Names of project lead(s) at your organization
Jeremy Kemp
4. Contact Information
Name: - Jeremy Kemp
Company: - San Jose State University
Address: - One Washington Square
City/Town: - San Jose
State: - CA
ZIP/Postal Code: - 95192-0029
Country: - US
Email Address: - jkemp@slis.sjsu.edu
5. Funder for project
San Jose State University School of Library and Information Science
6. In 100 words or less, please write a description of your project and how it leverages virtual worlds for learning.
Students must complete an ePortfolio before graduating from our program. The time they spend learning about Second Life and virtual environments could be useful during that culminating portfolio building process. In this assignment, they must complete two separate tasks: Using Second Life as a portfolio container and Second Life as an evidence generator. They choose some portion of the class projects and create a display area to highlight the work. Then they organize it using 3D interface tools and reflect on how it demonstrates mastery in one of the core competencies. But they must also capture the display for viewing outside Second Life. The evidence they create should be usable with very few changes for their program-wide ePortfolio.
7. In which of the following settings does your project take place
College
8. Which of the following will your best practice explore?
Tools
Distance learning
Skill development
9. Which virtual world(s) or gaming environment are you utilizing in the program being described?
Second Life
10. Why did you choose that specific platform or community for your project?
Second Life is the only platform that offers simple building tools and public access to my students' work.
11. What are the learning objectives of your project?
• Understand the system of standards and methods used to control and create information structures and apply basic principles involved in the organization and representation of knowledge.
• Use service concepts, principles and techniques that facilitate information access, relevance, and accuracy for individuals or groups of users;
• Demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for group work, collaborations and professional level presentations;
12. Best Practice: Please describe one key element of your program's success that you learned during the process and would like to share with the RezEd community.
ePortfolios have a long history in education –especially experiential learning and authentic assessment where students do something in the classroom that closely mirrors what they will do when they are done with formal training. San Jose uses ePortfolios on the Web to test students’ ability to create real things. They demonstrate a set of competencies by gathering evidence. We think these competencies are vital to their future success in the field.
The competencies they present in Second Life are identical to the program goals. Their work in the class can flow directly into their culminating project for the master's degree. The things they create in Second Life get exported as photos and movies into evidence they show in their ePortfolios.
This project is very motivating for students because their time in the virtual environment isn't just exploration of an exotic setting. They are excited that they can save time using Second Life with powerful modeling tools and interactive scripts to arrange their work and explain its significance. This accomplishment leads to greater levels of engagement
with the project and induces learning through project-based learning.
2D student portfolios jump off the screen as 3D "vPortfolios" and add a new level of depth and excitement to the projects.
13. What would need to be in place (in terms of skills, staffing, infrastructure, systems, etc.) for someone else to reproduce your best practice?
You need land, obviously. I found that small plots of 5m2 work just fine. I did not sell them land so as to avoid the prim limits and instead kept building open to all. Students should have some basic building and scripting skills. They should also have access to a media-sharing tool like Flickr, Youtube or the school's own Learning Management System
14. Please write a short anecdote that reflects this best practice.
Late one evening I stopped into the vportfolio area to see the progress. I found a raging party in process! Three students had music blaring and their avatars danced as they swapped tips on how to create notecard givers and twisting textures around small objects in their vPortfolio cubbies. And several times I saw that formal class might have been in session but several students had wandered off to work on their portfolios. Many of them suggested that the cubbies were more like their apartments and they displayed personal items as well.
15. Please include the URLs of any photo(s), video(s), or sound file(s) that are specific to the program you are describing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8995363@N02/sets/72157603371333970 http://blip.tv/file/341462/
San Jose State University School of Library and Information Science
2. Project Name
vPortfolios in LIS 287 - Virtual Worlds
3. Names of project lead(s) at your organization
Jeremy Kemp
4. Contact Information
Name: - Jeremy Kemp
Company: - San Jose State University
Address: - One Washington Square
City/Town: - San Jose
State: - CA
ZIP/Postal Code: - 95192-0029
Country: - US
Email Address: - jkemp@slis.sjsu.edu
5. Funder for project
San Jose State University School of Library and Information Science
6. In 100 words or less, please write a description of your project and how it leverages virtual worlds for learning.
Students must complete an ePortfolio before graduating from our program. The time they spend learning about Second Life and virtual environments could be useful during that culminating portfolio building process. In this assignment, they must complete two separate tasks: Using Second Life as a portfolio container and Second Life as an evidence generator. They choose some portion of the class projects and create a display area to highlight the work. Then they organize it using 3D interface tools and reflect on how it demonstrates mastery in one of the core competencies. But they must also capture the display for viewing outside Second Life. The evidence they create should be usable with very few changes for their program-wide ePortfolio.
7. In which of the following settings does your project take place
College
8. Which of the following will your best practice explore?
Tools
Distance learning
Skill development
9. Which virtual world(s) or gaming environment are you utilizing in the program being described?
Second Life
10. Why did you choose that specific platform or community for your project?
Second Life is the only platform that offers simple building tools and public access to my students' work.
11. What are the learning objectives of your project?
• Understand the system of standards and methods used to control and create information structures and apply basic principles involved in the organization and representation of knowledge.
• Use service concepts, principles and techniques that facilitate information access, relevance, and accuracy for individuals or groups of users;
• Demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for group work, collaborations and professional level presentations;
12. Best Practice: Please describe one key element of your program's success that you learned during the process and would like to share with the RezEd community.
ePortfolios have a long history in education –especially experiential learning and authentic assessment where students do something in the classroom that closely mirrors what they will do when they are done with formal training. San Jose uses ePortfolios on the Web to test students’ ability to create real things. They demonstrate a set of competencies by gathering evidence. We think these competencies are vital to their future success in the field.
The competencies they present in Second Life are identical to the program goals. Their work in the class can flow directly into their culminating project for the master's degree. The things they create in Second Life get exported as photos and movies into evidence they show in their ePortfolios.
This project is very motivating for students because their time in the virtual environment isn't just exploration of an exotic setting. They are excited that they can save time using Second Life with powerful modeling tools and interactive scripts to arrange their work and explain its significance. This accomplishment leads to greater levels of engagement
with the project and induces learning through project-based learning.
2D student portfolios jump off the screen as 3D "vPortfolios" and add a new level of depth and excitement to the projects.
13. What would need to be in place (in terms of skills, staffing, infrastructure, systems, etc.) for someone else to reproduce your best practice?
You need land, obviously. I found that small plots of 5m2 work just fine. I did not sell them land so as to avoid the prim limits and instead kept building open to all. Students should have some basic building and scripting skills. They should also have access to a media-sharing tool like Flickr, Youtube or the school's own Learning Management System
14. Please write a short anecdote that reflects this best practice.
Late one evening I stopped into the vportfolio area to see the progress. I found a raging party in process! Three students had music blaring and their avatars danced as they swapped tips on how to create notecard givers and twisting textures around small objects in their vPortfolio cubbies. And several times I saw that formal class might have been in session but several students had wandered off to work on their portfolios. Many of them suggested that the cubbies were more like their apartments and they displayed personal items as well.
15. Please include the URLs of any photo(s), video(s), or sound file(s) that are specific to the program you are describing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8995363@N02/sets/72157603371333970 http://blip.tv/file/341462/
Tags: Second Life, ePortfolios
Views: 1
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hannah on -
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