Designing a Virtual World Course

Abstract

Preparing designs for online collaborative learning involves careful consideration of applicable and recent reliable resources. Published research inadequately paces the evolvement of newer teaching technologies. Regardless of the delays involved in conducting and reporting statistical testing of the new technologies, tentative progress has created new paradigms for teaching and learning online. Activities designed, and currently being used for online learner collaborations provide the substance for future research to determine whether universities are selecting the most appropriate technologies.

Course Project

The course project presents a synopsis for an online course entitled "ED4010 Exploring Virtual World Technologies", and includes its description, background, security, instructional approaches, goals, objectives, and learners' descriptions. Additionally, the synopsis incorporates four online collaborative activities' designs, which provide elements such as the activities' directions, objectives, timelines, processes for students' submissions, and assessments. Recently published substantive research was reviewed from scholarly, peer-reviewed articles and relevant textbooks.

Course Description

The activities described below were configured for a Northcentral University course entitled "ED4010 Exploring Virtual World Technologies". Reflecting upon the basis of Northcentral University's mission, goals, and objectives is appropriate for designing a course for Northcentral University. Therefore, the mission statement and goals are provided below as presented by Northcentral University's president, Dr. Gardner, and by Northcentral University's School of Education. Dr. Gardner ( 2012) remarked that:

Northcentral University's mission statement includes a commitment to provide people throughout the world with quality educational opportunities by offering accredited Graduate and Undergraduate programs through a proven, fully online, distinctive faculty mentored approach to learning. With highly credentialed and passionate staff, utilizing progressive methodologies, Northcentral University prepares graduates to be distinguished contributors to societies around the globe. (para 1) The mission statement and goals provided by Northcentral University's School of Education (2012) are:

To prepare professional educators at all levels to become effective leaders, reflective practitioners, and successful communicators within the diverse field of education. The School of Education's mission is centered on improving teaching, learning, research and leadership contributions throughout all levels of education. The School of Education at Northcentral University will produce professional educators who can apply concepts of the disciplines; effectively communicate; conduct sound, open-minded research by addressing issues critically and reflectively; create solutions to problems, respect diverse cultures and backgrounds; demonstrate a commitment to the highest ethical and professional standards; foster effective discussion of theoretical problems within the education profession; and nurture a commitment to life-long learning. (para 1)

The principles mentioned by Dr. Gardner and the Northcentral University's School of Education are assimilated into the following course's design. Furthermore, integrating these principles avails the learners to participate within collaboratively based activities. A learning platform based upon collaboration provides learners with a "sense of community…(as well as) membership and feelings of friendship, cohesion, and satisfaction among learners" (Desai, Hart & Richards, 2008, p. 333). Other key topics pertinent to the design of online collaborative activities are noted below such as issues related to online security.

Background: Second Life and Computer-Assisted Collaborative Instruction

A series of four activities based upon using a virtual world, Second Life, were presented to Northcentral University's Department of Education for this course. The method used to gain approval involved the innovation-decision process, which involved five steps: knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation (Du, 2011). This method is a process employed when an attitudinal change toward an innovation such as Second Life is under consideration.

A component of the knowledge element provided to the Education Department included that research by experts in the field had confirmed that the Multiple-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) "create authentic, situated, and distributed 3D learning experiences" (Du, 2011), and add positive learning outcomes to "distance education courses for graduate students, collaboration, online teacher development, and scientific literacy" (Du, 2011, p. 43). Once a favorable attitude was gained by the presentation, persuading those who could approve the use of Second Life enabled a favorable decision (Du, 2011).

Ion and Vespan (2011) discussed that computer-assisted collaborative instruction is extremely valuable for learners who already use a variety of multimedia systems as do Northcentral learners because "deploying collaborative activities inside an assisted instruction platform facilitates extending the scope of knowledge for each student" (p. 125). If learners form teams based upon similar interests, a knowledge base is developed as a result of collaborative activities, and that knowledge base creates a unique identifier for the team (Ion & Vespan, 2011). By combining collaboration with assisted instruction systems, a "consciousness society" (Ion & Vespan, 2011, p. 125) develops.

The activities described below support expansion of collaborative skills by prompting learners to communicate with each other, and incorporate each other's ideas into new knowledge (Zhang, Venkatesh, & Brown, 2011). As collaborative skills expand, knowledge contextualization provides the framework needed for learners to evaluate the value of shared information. As a team's learners contribute relevant information, other team members experience reduced time and effort on retrieving and processing information. The team members' various perspectives enables the group to assess problems, and reach a decision with optimal results (Zhang et al., 2011).

Zhang, Venkatesh, & Brown (2011) identified other factors relevant to building collaborative skills such as (1) "indeterminacy" (p. 566), which is when learners post comments in the team forum that usually initiates feedback from peers, and knowledge sharing; and, (2) "emergence" (p. 566), which enables team members to stay up-to-date on information shared in the team forum, and lessens the effects of "knowledge asymmetry" (p. 566) that is known to adversely affect knowledge-building. These two factors, which were included in the forthcoming activities' design, enable team members to assimilate new information or ideas with others' ideas (Zhang et al., 2011).

Platform Security

"Every software system, especially web-based, can be attacked by hackers with the objective of data retrieval, gaining unauthorized access or simply (cause) data loss" (Butucea & Cervinschi, 2011, p. 115). Northcentral University's Information Technology and Education Departments will assess its technological robustness to verify that learners and the instructor can use Second Life with minimal disruptions after logging into the learner platform. One reason that Second Life was chosen for the activities includes that its developer, Linden Research (2011) reported that the technology platform used for Second Life shows a history of being very stable, and that significant work has resulted in improved web site reliability.

Furthermore, Linden Research (2011) secures account information. In addition, user login provides password-only authentication on an encrypted HTTP connection, and Second Life administrators do not have password access of users. Also, a user's connection to the Second Life Viewer does not compromise a computer’s security. However, encryption is not used for text and voice chatting. Second Life's chat logs are retained for only two weeks, and voice chat is not retained at all. The servers used by Second Life reside in a secure hosted facility. Impersonating other users is impossible, and multiple concurrent logins are restricted. Although Linden Lab virtual employees can travel without restraint in Second Life, the employees enter within a user's or group's region mostly with pre-approval by the user or group. The virtual employee's avatar name displays in the attendee list after entrance (Linden Research, 2011).

Linden Research (2011) noted that non-educational content in Second Life does not effect a virtual campus or classroom. Linden Research (2011) established administrative controls provided to the private regions within which classrooms are established. In addition, universities can implement adult search filters to eliminate the possibility that learners will access adult content, which was moved to another of Second Life's continents.

Instructional Approaches

Desai, Hart & Richards (2008) reported that current best teaching practices indicate that e-tools and curriculums contained within an instructional design are most critical for achieving successful results in online teaching and learning. Although historically "instructional de-signers know little about game de¬velopment, and video game devel¬opers may know little about training, education and instructional design" (Downey, 2011, p. 33), Downey's (2011) research about the "i-MMOLE framework, (which) draws from several independent, yet related, instructional approaches" (p. 35) (Constructivist Learning Environ¬ment Design, Problem-Based Learning, and Experiential Learning), provides a reliable groundwork for this course's design. Consequently, the course's activities will represent a blend of these approaches by using the i-MMOLE framework to create learning opportunities using a virtual world setting:

Constructivist Learning Environments Design. This approach aids in designing learning activities that present problem contextualization, representation, and manipulation. Authentic problems or cases given to students requires solutions. To scaffold learning by motivating learners to apply previously related materials to new learning opportunities can be synchronized so that learners receive new parts of a problem just-in-time. Cognitive processes are supported by using knowledge construction tools. A critical feature of constructivism provides learners with collaborative tools to strengthen communications (Downey, 2011).

Problem-Based Learning (PBL). Requiring that learners take the responsibility for self-learning and learning with others, once acquired, new learning is applied to a problem for re-analysis and a solution. By integrating PBL with a variety of disciplines and subjects, learners can approach ill-structured problems with more acuity gained from free inquiry. As in the constructivist design, collaboration is critical as is discussing new knowledge that is valuable at a societal level (Downey, 2011).

Experiential Learning. The four stages of experiential learning include doing (performing an action or experiencing an event), observing (documenting the results from the first stage), thinking (reflecting on the first stage includes consideration of varying effects), and planning (devising strategies for conceptual application for other situations), which involves restarting at stage one to use the newly developed plan to extend learning (Downey, 2011).

Course Goals

The goals for the course, ED4010 Exploring Virtual World Technologies, include (1) providing people globally with a quality educational opportunity by offering an accredited undergraduate course using a Blackboard-based online platform, and a mentored approach to learning, (2) using a progressive methodology to prepare graduates to be contributing global citizens, (3) preparing professional educators to be more effective leaders and communicators, (4) enabling graduates to improve teaching, learning, research, and leadership within education, (5) fostering graduates with a strong commitment to use current technologies effectively, and
(6) nurturing graduates in the acceptable practices for respecting diverse cultures and backgrounds while using the highest ethical standards.

Junk, Deringer, and Junk (2011) recommended that the "goal of an online program should be to provide an environment which actively engages students in the learning process and promotes independent learning where students take ownership of their work" (p. 2). As the goal to shift the role of instructors toward facilitator to support self-directed learning, the instructor provides the structure around which the student learns. The instructor also empowers learners to use their innate strengths to engage others in learning (Junk et al., 2011).

"Virtual classrooms modeled as learning communities or communities of practice try to inculcate self-directed learning in students as they interact with others. The goal is to advance the collective knowledge and in that way to support the growth of individual knowledge" (Maurino, 2007, p. 48). Consequently, by sustaining a sense of a learning community in the following activities, respect between learners should occur due to learners' contributions as collaborative mechanisms synthesize the learners' diverse views and communications (Maurino, 2007).

One goal of the course will be to dispense with assessing learners based upon the "amount of time students spend on the course" (Shieh, Gummer, & Niess, 2008, p. 67). Instead, learners should be assessed based upon their "level of student engagement, learning objectives, and student achievement" (p. 67). The assessment tools itemized in each activity are designed to accomplish this transition.

Course Objectives

In the course, ED4010 Exploring Virtual World Technologies, objectives will include that (1) a social presence (Shieh, 2011) within a virtual world is established by each learner, and the facilitator by the end of the first activity; (2) learners will engage in at least four in-world conferencing sessions using different tools; (3) learners will create a project with a team in-world for each of the four activities; and (4) learners will engage other class members in conversation in-world after an instructor's segment is completed. The objectives noted above support Northcentral University's mission to provide learners with "futuristic educationalists (who) see that education through a technology role" (Musawi, 2011, p. 131) supports learning opportunities that are "highly interactive, individualized, flexible, and accessible" (p. 131). A learning model combining technology and pedagogy, known as technogogy, is the "transformative use of technology to foster learning where the power of multimedia and Internet makes it possible for technology to cater to the needs of pedagogical and andragogical elements that can be viewed from the standpoint of technology" (Musawi, 2011, p. 132).

Description of the Learners in the Course

Learners are members of an online undergraduate educational program for teachers who are "self-motivated, well organized, and capable of being independent learners who are reflective and critical thinkers" (Junk, Deringer, & Junk, 2011, p. 3). The maximum number of students for this freshman course is 55 due to the support structure of Second Life; the expected class size is 25, and each team will consist of five members. Other learner features include a cooperative aptitude toward other students as well as literacy for managing computers, the internet, and e-tools for the course's learning platform and elsewhere (Junk et al., 2011). These features were assessed during the educational program's admission process, which also required the learners to be "open-minded and willing to share information regarding their lives, work, and educational experiences as well as be willing to contact the instructor if encountering a problem" (Junk et al., 2011, p. 3).

Grade, Age, and Learning Level

"Research also indicated that there is no relevance to age, gender, previous online experience, academic field of study, or persistence in taking online classes in relation to the creation of an online sense of community" (Desai, Hart & Richards, 2008, p. 333). There are no restrictions placed on learners' ages as long as they have finished the university's admission process, which would filter out students who do not pass English language requirements. The online learners are in the Department of Education (undergraduate) freshman class who can elect this class during the last semester of the first year, and can be enrolled in this class as long as they have passed all previous classes.

Background Information About the Learners

The course is offered during the last (fourth) semester to provide adequate time for learners to become proficient at working online in the course platform. Online classes required during the first three semesters of the program all require online and internet-based collaborative learning. Additionally, by the fourth semester, learners will have been exposed to activities requiring proficiency in interacting and collaborating with peers, and gain a high level of maturity and discipline (Desai, Hart & Richards, 2008).

Activities

The course's platform provides among other things links to assignments, to the class and team forums, the university's e-mail system, the Second Life website, and other instructor-supplied resources. Prior to the first activity described below, team and individual assignments as noted above required learning to use Second Life. The course is twelve weeks in duration: the two-week review of Second Life begins during the third week of the course, and the four activities using Second Life begin during the sixth week. Each of the activities will be accomplished in seven days, and during the tenth to twelfth weeks, teams will begin work on the course's signature assignment using Second Life.

Pre-Activity Learner Preparation (Week Three)

Learners are already registered as Second Life users. The instructor posts the third week assignment, which requires that learners select the link shown in the course platform for going to Second Life, and after logging in, selecting the link to the region set-up for this course's classroom in Second Life. Learners are required to attend a synchronous meeting presented by the instructor, and then will be instructed to talk to other classmates while in the virtual classroom for forty-five minutes. Afterward, the instructor will obtain the transcript from the learners' discussion, and the instructor will remind students to read Second Life's Quickstart Guide (Exhibit B and C) prior to completing and submitting an assessment in the course platform by the end of the week.

Technological Elements

The University's network and learners' computers are tested for meeting the minimum requirements (Exhibit D) to run Second Life successfully (Second Life, 2012). The instructor and learners will use Adobe Flash in the learner platform to access materials related to Second Life. Butucea and Cervinschi (2011) recommended "Flash technology to allow manipulation of media files (audio and video)" (p. 109). Flash software runs on users' computers through a plug-in, the Adobe Flash Player, which employs scripting language known as ActionScript that is similar to JavaScript (Butucea & Cervinschi, 2011).

Northcentral University referred to Qunhua and Nordenskiold (2011) for information that is designed to assist and inspire educators who may want to use a virtual world such as Second Life for teaching. Particular reference was made regarding intercultural Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (iCSCL) achievable using Second Life, which supports Northcentral's mission and teaching objectives. "iCSCL is based on the theory that knowledge is a social construction, and that learning is facilitated by collaboration" (Qunhua & Nordenskiold, 2011, para 3).

Northcentral University also referred to Downey (2011) who reported that "Instruction for Massively Multiplayer Online Learning Environment (i-MMOLE) is a research-based instructional design framework created specifically for designing instruction that incorporates virtual world environments" (p. 33). Downey (2011) remarked that "today, virtual world and game-based educa¬tion stands at the same crossroads where Web-based education stood in 1993" (p. 33). To address overcoming these crossroads, Downey (2011) presents findings based upon a virtual-world instructional i-MMOLE framework, which was conceived "to guide the design of instruc¬tion to be created and set within a virtual world" (p. 34). The Worlds of Education (2012) website provided lesson plans based upon the i-MMOLE, which were adapted for the following activities' design.

Activity One

Nguyen's (2011) lesson plan for undergraduates entitled, Virtual Schools for the Future, was chosen to design this activity's framework. Although Nguyen's (2011) plan was not developed for an entirely online class, this paper redesigns Nguyen's (2011) lesson plan to accommodate an asynchronous and synchronous collaborative online undergraduate course's activity for the previously identified "EDU101 Future Collaborative Online Learning Technologies" course. Exhibit A is presented as an important tool for the instructor and learners to use to gain internet access while in Second Life. Such access by learning teams promotes in-world practice, an instant use and visualization of internet-based information, and enables the team to stay within Second Life to investigate problems rather than exiting the Second Life meeting place, retrieving information, and reconvening the team in Second Life.

Description of Activity. The first activity for ED4010 Designing Collaborative Online Learning Using Technology is to visit Second Life and other virtual worlds used for education. Learning teams will obtain knowledge about virtual worlds by finding and reviewing related online articles and web sites. The teams will visit International Schools Island, a virtual school in Second Life, and integrate new knowledge about their virtual world experiences to compile a team paper exploring the possibility of building an educational establishment in Second Life or in another virtual world.

Why Considered a Collaborative Activity. Due to this computer-based collaborative learning activity using computers, learners interact with each other by communicating, and exchanging information. New knowledge is acquired more efficiently, and with improved understanding. "Students learn one from each other and clarify notions that they did not understand very well about the instructor’s course…through group activity, using different forms of real time communications like chat, audio and video, provided by the assisted instruction collaborative platform" (Ion & Vespan, 2011, p. 121), which is better known as vicarious learning that allows learning by observing and working with others.

Directions for the Activity. Learners will transport to their classroom in Second Life, and synchronously listen to the instructor's lecture. Afterward, learners will review the required readings assigned by the instructor, which are posted in the course platform, and within the Second Life classroom. Learners will then discuss the information as teams, and combine the information from the readings with additional research, which includes a visit to one or more some virtual schools in Second Life to explore the possibility of using virtual worlds to create an educational class of the future (Nguyen, 2011).

Lecture. Learning institutions are discussing virtual worlds as a solution or at least a tool for online education in the future to promote a higher level of quality learning for online classes and schools. Virtual worlds can enable learners to keep abreast of the newest learning technologies, and as educators, gaining knowledge about new internet tools helps to decide whether these tools can be appropriately and effectively applied to teaching.

Resources and Materials. During the lecture, the instructor projects the image of the course forum in Second Life's classroom, and explains that the links posted are recommended for the team assignment due at the end of the week. The links provided are:

Active Worlds and Education - 3D Virtual Worlds
Virtual Worlds – Best Practices in Education
Shared Virtual Worlds for Education: The ExploreNet Experiment
Education in virtual worlds - Wikiversity

In addition to the links above, the instructor indicates that learners should search for more websites related to virtual worlds used for education. During the discussion time after the lecture, the instructor asks learners to reflect upon and discuss whether virtual worlds will help students learn better, and if virtual worlds could replace traditional schools in the future. The instructor prompts learners to print out the discussion log prior to exiting Second Life in order to use peer responses for developing a post for the class forum, which is due at the end of the week. The team assignment includes the following:

By the end of the week, learning teams will teleport to the International School Island within Second Life, and explore various areas on the virtual campus. The island's URL is http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/International%20Schools/70/84/24. Items of interest include the International School's towers known as the information, technology, and curriculum towers. Each tower contains seven floors, and the team collectively will investigate and compile notes about each floor. Specific attention should be given to the floor with information from educators about developing a virtual school. Once completing this tour, learners should (1) revisit their answers developed above for a class forum posting, and decide if there answers should be revised based upon their new knowledge, and (2) as a team, develop and submit a report that explores and discusses their findings within Second Life, which can include the team visiting other virtual schools after inputting "schools" as a search word in a search engine such as Google.

Activity's Objectives. The activity's objectives are to (1) motivate learners individually and as a team to investigate virtual worlds as a teaching format, (2) provide more time for learners to acclimate and become comfortable using avatars within a virtual world, (3) open up learners' minds to the possibility of using a virtual world in their future classes, (4) provide an activity that uses collaborative synergies to develop learners' teams.

Activity's Timeline. The above activity by the individual and team learners is started at the beginning of the course's sixth week, and completed by the seventh day of week six.

Activity's Process for Submission. The individual assignment will be posted to
the class forum by day three of the sixth week, and each learner will respond to at least six peers with a reflective post by day five. The team assignment will be developed during their presence in Second Life, worked on during the week in the team's forum, and one elected team member will compose and submit the final team paper by the end of day seven to the instructor.

Assessment Tools for Activity. "Instructors have found that it is more difficult to assess learner achievement in e-learning…due to the lack of resources to help instructors assess and improve online courses" (Desai, Hart & Richards, 2008, p. 131). Nguyen (2011) wrote that assessment of new knowledge gained by the learners can be acquired by the instructor's review of the individual and team submissions, which is based upon the course's rubric, and the class forum responses.

Activity Two

Activity Two for the course, ED4010 Exploring Virtual World Technologies, is designed by modifying an activity by Dickson (2011). Dickson (2011) introduced "the basics of interactive design concepts relating to exhibitions and museums within virtual worlds" (para 1). The concepts which will then be applied and integrated into creating interactive learning objects.

Activity's Description. Current teaching trends point to a more interactive based learning platform. Addressing this trend requires that preservice learners find more innovative and interactive ways to present course content to future students by motivating students to be more attentive, and encourage collaborative learning by using new technologies.

Providing Experiences. In the course platform, required readings include: design concepts, design principles, and usability. The assignment includes directions for learners to complete and submit the usability activity. Since all learners have created a Second Life profile, the next direction includes downloading and installing the Second Life viewer, reviewing the Second Life Tutorial, and transporting to: http://secondlife.com/destination/usf-health. After reviewing, teleport to www.thetech.org, and navigate through the virtual worlds while being attentive to the manner in which lessons, and lectures and information are provided in the virtual environment. Download and install the Google Earth application. Visit the website http://gelessons.com/lessons/ and browse lessons on topics which are interesting.

Grade Level(s). Undergraduate.

Assessing Learning. Learners will make several class postings in the discussion section in Blackboard. Postings will provide insights and evaluations about their experiences in Second Life, and while in Google Earth. Learning teams will create a map lesson using Google Maps using information at: http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/index.html

After completing the learning activities, learning teams will design and create an interactive lesson to be used in the online classroom. Citations will be constructed according to APA standards.

Why Considered a Collaborative Activity. Learning teams collectively create a map, and design and create an interactive lesson. Due to this computer-based collaborative learning activity, learners interact with each other, communicate, and exchange information. New knowledge is acquired more efficiently, and with improved understanding. "Students learn one from each other and clarify notions that they did not understand very well about the instructor’s course…through group activity, using different forms of real time communications like chat, audio and video, provided by the assisted instruction collaborative platform" (Ion & Vespan, 2011, p. 121).

Directions for the Activity. Learning teams will design an interactive learning platform using Google Earth. The same virtual classroom used in activity one will be used for activity two. The instructor will present an interactive media lecture while learners are synchronously attending the lecture in the Second Life classroom. After the lecture, the instructor indicates that the notes will be posted in the course platform. The lecture addresses virtual world design principles and concepts, usability and usability testing. Since the learners were previously introduced to the concepts of Second Life in activity one, updating their profile is required. The following virtual worlds' links are to be posted after the lecture in the Second Life class for learners to use:

http://www.thetech.org/

http://secondlife.com/destination/usf-health

During exploration of the virtual worlds, learners will be told via the posted assignment that paying attention to the methods used in presenting information in a virtual world is important. Learners are informed during the lecture to download and install Google Earth on their computers, and review the information at the following link:

http://gelessons.com/lessons/

Activity's Objectives. To extend learners' virtual world skills by using the Second Life software to attend a synchronous class, and provide information about Google Earth so that learners as teams can create an interactive lessen plan using Google Earth.

Activity's Timeline. The above activity will start and end during week eight of the course. Activity's Process for Submission. The individual assignment will be posted to the class forum by day three of the eighth week, and each learner will respond to at least six peers with a reflective post by day five. The team assignment will be developed during their presence in Second Life, and using Google Earth, worked on during the week in the team's forum, and one elected team member will compose and submit the final team paper by the end of day seven of week eight to the instructor.

Assessment Tools for Activity. The instructor will apply the rubric's guidelines for learners' postings to the class forum. In addition, each team will post their Google Earth tool in their Second Life classroom, and present it to the rest of the class in a synchronous setting. Based upon comments received after each presentation, and review of team members notes in the team forums, grades will be assigned.

Activity Three

Flemban's (2011) learning goal described that learners will combine the reading from the class' text, lecture notes (presented as in activity one and two), and from internet sources to explain the proper method to capture photos. In the same team as established by activity one and two, learners will use Second Life to upload Photoshop-edited photos as an exhibit into the Second Life classroom.

Description of Activity. Learning teams will generate electronic photographs, and use free Photoshop Software to edit the photographs. Teams will devise a collective plan representing clarification of each member's responsibilities. After the team has created an online exhibit of their photographs, the exhibit will be presented by each team at a synchronous session in the established Second Life classroom.

Grade Level(s). Undergraduate education students.

Assessing Learning. Using the rubric, the comments received from class members about the teams' projects, and the quality of the individual class forum's postings will be used by the instructor to post grades.

Why Considered a Collaborative Activity. Collaborative activity is achieved by the teams' work in learning Photoshop, creating and editing photos, assembling an exhibit, posting it in the Second Life classroom, and presenting the exhibit to the class. The teams also create a plan to carry out the exhibit's development, and each member has a specific responsibility in the process.

Directions for the Activity. After each team creates a plan to assign responsibilities, posts the final plan in the team forum, and discusses using Photoshop software to edit photographs, the team will progress through the week using a predetermined timeline to keep the project on track. The instructor provides assignment details in the course platform. After the team reaches each milestone, and the exhibit is finalized, the team leader will post the exhibit in the Second Life classroom one day before the team presents its exhibit during a synchronous presentation. The class members will make written or oral comments in the virtual classroom about the presentation. Individual assignments will include discussing in the course platform's class forum the efficacy of using photograph software to create an online tool within Second Life.

Activity's Objectives. To extend learners' virtual world skills by using the Second Life software to attend a synchronous class, to further expand collaborative skills by requiring teams to investigate and use Photoshop, and editing photographs in order to create an online exhibit within the Second Life classroom.

Activity's Timeline. The activity described above will be started and completed during week nine of the course.

Activity's Process for Submission. Each learner will submit quality postings in the class forum by day three of the ninth week, and each learner will respond to at least six peers with a reflective post by day five. The team assignment will be developed during the ninth week, and submitted as an exhibit in the Second Life classroom. The team will also discuss their exhibit during a synchronous presentation.

Assessment Tools for Activity. Using the rubric, the comments received from class members about the teams' exhibits and presentations, and the quality of the individual class forum's postings will be used by the instructor to create grades.

Activity Four

Activity Four is designed from an activity presented by Goossens (2011). This activity is the fourth in the series of activities that serves to scaffold collaborative learning using the Second Life virtual world. After the completion of this activity in week ten, the two remaining weeks of the course are designed to challenge the five teams of five to design an educational product for their final project using the virtual world software of their choosing.

Description of Activity. This activity exposes the learners to another educational location in Second Life, which was designed and named after the Instructional Society for Technology and Education (ISTE) standards. The educational location is a Second Life island. The ISTE educational forum serves as a teaching tool for online learners to discover the use of podcasts, blogs, and other emerging technologies for educational purposes. Although the ISTE forum was built by non-Northcentral University staff, the forum is open to anyone who wishes to enter and learn, and those managing the forum can serve as mentors to this course's learners as they strive to learn about other e-tools for education, and design a Second Life classroom.

Grade Level(s). Undergraduate Freshman.

Why Considered a Collaborative Activity. At the end of the activity, the learning teams collaboratively discuss the features in Second World that stood out, was fun, could be improved, and was the least enjoyable. Each team submits a summary, which also includes ideas for a podcast, a blog and an emerging technology usable for educational means. Once each team's summary is in the appropriate forum, all students should respond to each team's summary.

Directions for the Activity. Since the instructor has arranged for the class to use the information and tools at ISTE Island, students will print out the handout provided in the course's platform entitled "ISTE Island Blueprint", and teleport to ISTE on the first day of week ten. Upon arrival, students will follow numbered directions in the virtual classroom: (1) read the ISTE NETS Standards for teachers, (2) explore the entry area as a team, (3) attend an ISTE meeting with your class, (4) network with your classmates within Second Life to discuss the meeting, (5) perform the series of activities on ISTE Island per the handout, which includes visiting certain parts of the island as described in the blueprint to learn about podcasts, blogs, and other emerging technologies, and (6) after completing the activities, each team will compose a six page reflection paper describing the experience at ISTE, what was learned about podcasts, blogs, and other technologies, address how the information about podcasts, blogs, and other technologies has affected the team's opinion about using technologies in online courses, and present two to three ideas about integrating blogs, podcasts, and other new technologies into an educational setting. The final activity is a social event within ISTE. All learners will attend, socialize with others, and take snapshots at the event for inclusion in the activity's team paper.

Activity's Objectives. Once the learning teams have progressed through the first three activities, their level of expertise using Second Life's software should enable them to ascertain more quickly the processes needed to use the new tools under investigation for this activity. Additionally, the depth of collaborative learning should enable each team to gain positive results at a higher cognitive level due to an improved ability to transform learning.

Activity's Timeline. This activity is started and completed in the tenth week of the course.

Activity's Process for Submission. For each step of this activity, the Second Life ISTE Island program will record each learner's entry and exit. Each team will compile relevant snapshots of each step for inclusion in the reflective paper, and provide a description of each. Each team will present a summary during a synchronous class in ISTE.

Assessment Tool for Activity. The instructor receives the four-page reflection paper, and scores each team's paper, and presentation to the class according to the rubric. Each learner is appraised by the degree of contribution to the team, and understanding related to the podcast, blog, and other technologies. Each team will also be able to indicate the manner in which each technology can be integrated and applied for promotion of new knowledge.

Conclusion

The course project presented a synopsis for an online course entitled "ED4010 Exploring Virtual World Technologies", and included its description, goals, objectives, and learners' descriptions. Additionally, the synopsis incorporated four online collaborative activities' designs, which provided elements such as the activities' directions, objectives, timelines, processes for students' submissions, and assessments. Although not required, the additional sections provided in this project such as Northcentral University's mission statements were relevant to the course's development because every segment of a program's curriculum must mirror a business' mission statement. Furthermore, the progression of the course's activities designed to scaffold learning for collaborative team-building follows current best practices.

References:

Butucea, D., & Cervinschi, C. (2011). Building robust e-learning software systems using web technologies. Informatica Economica, 15(2), 107-118. Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals.

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