Maybe Sloodle offers salvation?

The early bird catches the worm? I was invited to a webinar this morning presented by Daniel Jack Livingstone from the University of the West of Scotland...

The session was demonstrating how Sloodle tools could be used to develop interactive educational activities.... Hurrah! Whilst it was a 7 am gig... It was very helpful.

I can now potentially tie an immersive environment to the curriculum and assess as well... Well I think I can potentially do it with personal avatar based web pages... The original development that was demonstrated was equivalent to the HUD systems that the military use, but it offers a dedicated and personalised assessable environment.... Though again the development time does seem astonishing.... it reminds me of the economic principle that dictates that space expands to the time and volume it's given...

ePedagogy and eLearning: Disruptive Technologies may offer perspective?

Ah.... following on from my thoughts and how to nail down the benefits or value of Second Life as an elearning environment (or have pedagogical worth), I have arrived at the pithy question of Christensens concept of Disruptive Technologies....

As far as I can gather this is a concept or reality where a  new technological innovation presents change or benefit that effectively makes redundant old processes; akin to replacing old coal gas with north sea gas, or the Fax machine with email attachments....

However there are some innovations that have been less disruptive than initially thought as the return on investment questions the initial worth. Supersonic flight springs to mind as does Nuclear Energy when compared to conventional power generation.

When I consider  VR AR or simulated learning environments I wonder whether their less than utopian access plus the cost of build and exclusivity of use can be compared to the Concord.....  

I need to investigate further... as the caveat is that the word affordable is often mentioned in the same sentence as  Disruptive Technologies..... Ho Hum #2

Heres the Harley in second life...

it is essentially a shivel head bobbed chop, without exhausts as yet...

ePedagogy - a Myth? I want Corroboration...

I get the feeling that the return on labour with perhaps the majority of most eLearning projects will be small and of potentially small pedagogical value:  especially when measured to the amount of effort that has been put into the construction of the edifice/product/tool whatever....

I reckon that for eLearning to have value it has to have measurable outcomes: a 1000 years of conventional learning  always had assessment to make certain that what was being taught could be measured as correct or valuable ... essentially using hypothesis, this is established from Pythagorus to Gestalt. This culmination of this  formalised learning finally modifying into a post Second War pragmatic group based tutilege process, that which our generation has grown up with.

eLearning seems to stress customisation and embedding the student, the onus being that what the student finds helpful will make them learn..... We have all seen Bill Gates on webinars espousing the virtue of choice and self determination enabled or (nare dare say) enhanced with the Microsoft toolset - the world truly is our oyster here.... 

But back to the grit and grist of real learning... Does this set that the minimum requirements are monitored? Does the student or learner really understand the input process?  How can we measure outcomes?  for elearning to work from a pedagogical perspective we have to have eAssessment.... ah.... now that adds even more labour and some really tricky labour at that....... ho hum....

Further to Pedagogy; objectives and validity

I have been putting my mind to the validification of the second life elearning project. I have a project which holds together:  it is essentially a 5 chair (realworld) timeline travelogue from  the Parker collection tied to a second life environment where the avatar is essentially the student visitor immersing in the techniques and the environment of that chair construction - this is then combined with current fine furniture cuuriculum from City & Guilds...

The second life enviornment is essentially a 3D "Dorling & Kindersley" experience tied to adult curricilum and aiding learning outcomes.. Whether this has benefit from a utilitarian principle is doubtful, Im kind of with Larry Cuban on this one... http://markmail.org/message/uall7hg3m3va2x53  “Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom” Larry Cuban

I suppose pedagogically I will get more value from the exercise than the punter will, I will be able to fabricate doric columns and build the character of 3D ornamentation Ware & Stafford of the "Illustrated Dictionary of Ornament" eat your heart out...

and another built model

this time is a Shovelhead bob Harley - this one is a lot more correct and accurate though its more spartan than the speedy twin which was my first attempt... which I think has a bit more mojo

Pulling the strands together: the subject rather than the rendering environment

This module is like a plugboard..

I have the connection with John Cross at the Sir John Cass foundation and the benefit of the Parker collection to build on, I have the connection with Colin Eden Eadon at Statford college with his superb fine furniture course, I have the furniture curriculum from City & Guilds, Im investigation pegagogical imperatives to validate the VR environment.. and I can just about build/render in SL though  Im still some distance from scripting...  Im assembling my ideas slowly but surely