A Real Sense of Accomplishment, Veterans, and Shenanigans

In class this week, we had a virtual "Show and Tell" to showcase our developing building skills.  I created a "car" which ended up looking a bit more like a pickup truck with no sides.  It had a screen where the windshield should have been onto which I imported a YouTube video about not texting and driving.  Theoretically, I could use this tool for student drivers to have a more realistic experience of watching what happens in first person when you text and drive.  Doing this project brought me a great sense of accomplishment.  Even though I created a non-physical object, it felt real to me.  I invested time, used creativity, and tried to be thoughtful in my design.  I had a sense of ownership over something that doesn't actually physically exist.  This reinforced the idea that learning, real learning, can take place in meaningful ways in a virtual setting.  Prior to this class, I had been trying to think of ways to create "hands-on" learning in a virtual setting, but I didn't know what kind of tools were available.  I am so thankful for the exposure to more e-learning tools that can provide me with a place to interact with objects in a way that creates a similar internal and external response as what I would have experienced in a F2F setting.

Our class also had a guest lecturer who talked about utilizing SecondLife to enhance the job skill and application/interview process with adults who have varying disabilities.  I was so happy to hear that military veterans were utilizing these services.  Oftentimes, veterans have difficulty assimilating back into civilian life.  Classes are provided (TGPS) for the transition, but disabled veterans often have more challenges.  Sometimes the injury occurs during deployment and is accompanied by long stays in the hospital.  Mental health issues may not surface until later, and while there are lots of support services, some people feel uncomfortable utilizing them.  The potential for anonymity in SecondLife could help veterans suffering from PTSD or other mental health issues reach out for help when they might not otherwise ask.  It may even be possible that due to the circumstances of their end of service, they may not have had access to the same tools other military members had when leaving the military.  Mentoring is a big part of military culture, and the program partnered folks with other disabled professionals to encourage and provide hope and assistance.  I think this is a fantastic resource for disabled vets, and I will certainly be telling my military friends and community about it.

In my LTEC 602 class, we're developing a website for teaching about AR/VR.  I thought it would be nice to bring my colleagues into OpenSim to show them what it's like for part of our project, teach them how to make avatars and move around, and explain simple building.  Unfortunately, my one team member couldn't get Firestorm to download on her laptop.  My other teammate and I spent about an hour teaching/learning/goofing around in OpenSim.  It was a great way for me to solidify my building skills by teaching them to someone else.  I told him about how I lost my art sculpture in the ceiling (which magically reappeared in my inventory and maybe never totally disappeared in the first place).  I then took him on a tour inside the COE building to show him how you have to be careful when you build things because they can show up in different areas.  For example, there are random building squares that have gotten lost during practice builds in class and are just randomly floating in the air inside the building.  We walked into one of the rooms, and that's when the shenanigans started.  We decided that it would be hilarious to put a portrait of Dr. Peter on the wall in one of the classrooms.  So I showed him how to do it, and we decorated it, learned how to put type on a prim, and took photo evidence.  It's actually still up on the wall for the time being (and I really, really, really wanted to put them on all the walls, but I practiced a tiny bit of self-restraint).  Even in these shenanigans, we were able to build, collaborate, and discover...all part of the learning process.  It was a good reminder to me too that other students, my potential future students, may want to have their own shenanigans in the virtual world, and hopefully I can have as good of humor as I'm hoping Dr. Peter will have. 😉