"Mr. C's MUVE LinC Project"
Jeffrey Ferris Cooper
Abstract:
This project is designed to be used in conjunction and support of an educator's own chosen project and will support them in a wide variety of ways:
- MUVEs enhance *your chosen unit*
- Project helps educators find online projects, lesson plans, collaborators
- MUVEs represent *safe educational environments for collaborations*
- Work with peers, experts, students & parents
- Practice engaged learning on national and international levels
- Team teach both real and non-real time
- Present project at TCC Conference 2000
The Educational MUVE Project introduces educators to a critical yet overlooked area of the Net:
- Educational Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs):
Although a large number of "EdMUVEs" exist in a wide range of subject matters, many
have never heard of, let alone visited these important online communities. It is the hope of this project to facilitate, educate and motivate K-12 Educators to utilize this vital tool for bringing education into the next millenium.
Learner Description/Environment:
Participants will spend a minimum of ten online hours at several Educational MUVEs, learning commands, creating personal characters and rooms, join with another class and engage in online team teaching, and present in the TCC Conference 2000 next year (and other online conferences at the wish of the participant).
Time Frame:
This project will begin both in the Summer of 99 and restart in the Fall 99 and culminate with the TCC Conference in April 2000. The project is ongoing, and will hopefully continue to grow.
Learner Outcomes:
1. Students, educators, administrators, and community at large (including parents, business partners, etc.) will engage in polysynchronous communications via Educational MUVEs (Multi-User Virtual Environments), learn commands, create rooms, collaborate with others, and perhaps create their own MUVE.2. Educators will learn basic commands (communication tools, movement) and search the contents of several Educational MUVEs to become acclimated. They will be guided by Project Coordinator Jeff Cooper in addition to other EdMUVE denizens. All will create passworded accounts, create personal descriptions, interact with other participants, and create their own homerooms.
3. Educators will develop particular expertises depending upon individual and group needs. Most will learn to use email within the system (and beyond), most will subscribe to at least one listserv within the system, most will learn to project WWW sites to remote computers, some will develop adjunct WWW sites for their rooms, some will learn object oriented programming from tutorials within the system.
4. Both individuals and whole groups will plan research, project portfolio (based on subject matter and grade level), track progress, and perform self-evaluation.
5. Educators will engage in activities for traditional research and directed Internet search utilizing MUVEs. They will begin to sense the community within each indivudual MUVE, as well as between. Exploring other MUVEs, reading academic articles relating to pedagogical shifts (away from teacher-centered didacticism towards student-centered projects), engaging in subject specific team learning projects, working as a cohesive unit (diminishing separation between students, teachers, and society) will enhance the community spirit of the project. It is hoped that all who
participate will begin to create their own MUVE.6. Improve and develop team teaching skills.
Structure of the Learning:
Authentic Student Task:
Educators will enhance a unit for their students by creating their own MUVE character and room.
Educators will engage in team teaching of their unit and partipate and present during an online conference (TCC 2000).
Hook:
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL TEAM TEACHING
- Educators will participate and present in an international conference on improving teaching through collaborative methods utilizing MUVEs.
- Educators will become part of a collaborative learning and teaching team, learning both from each other, professionals in the field(s), and become part of the global educational community.
- An improved sense of community will develop as participation, collaboration and communication grow.
- The project will culminate with participation in the TCC Conference 2000.
Best Use of Technology:
Educators will:
- Use the WWW to find the latest information for their unit to help facilitate room building, and post links for students to follow.
- Facilitate collaboration and team teaching utilizing MUVEs
- Communicate and collaborate with subject or technology experts in MUVE sessions.
- Enjoy the ability to communicate with both parents and students in a sustained educational environment.
- Publish original work and their original (and eventually updated unit) to a worldwide audience utilizing a variety of publishing techniques using MUVE and WWW pages.
Educator Choice:
Educators will choose what unit they will share via the MUVE.
Educators will choose who they team teach with.
Educators will choose which MUVE tools best facilitate their unit.
Educators will choose how to present their MUVE project to an online conference.
Project Evaluation:
Peer review and input will be the most significant evaluation.
Discussion of project effectiveness at the TCC 2000 Conference.
Alignment with Standards:
"Effective middle level staff development requires staff members to learn and apply collaborative skills to conduct meetings, make shared decisions, solve problems, and work collegially."
National Staff Development Council's Standards for Staff Development
TCC Online Conferences
Kapi`olani Community College
University of Hawai`i
Honolulu, HI