Comments on: Class To Be Held…Inside a Facebook App???

By: Rusalka Writer

Rusalka Writer — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:22:48 +0000

What really hurts SL in this sort of setting is the Teen Grid. When I started college I was seventeen years old, so good luck with a freshman seminar that met in SL. And a high school class? Can’t be done unless the teacher is left behind. That is a killer limitation on SL’s role as an education platform.

By: Edna

Edna — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:13:58 +0000

Congratulations in even getting your freshman to come to class. I figured ALL 18 and 19 year-olds were too stoned or busy sexting to bother with going to class. Our younger generation is doomed. Doomed.

By: LunarRaid

LunarRaid — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 09:44:56 +0000

Interesting points. The MP staff is actually working on the chat issue; it’s high on their to-do list. They didn’t start with a decent chat system because they didn’t even know if the FB users would CARE about multiplayer support. Since it seems they do, better chat is on the way, especially with the addition of ‘Party Island’.

I’m not entirely sure why the idea is that IL is the new Metaplace, though. Island life is just ONE project they are working on and plan to make using MP as a platform. With the servers left over from the original MP and the already-built multiplayer backbone, they have a superior engine for FB games.

By: inous

inous — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 03:41:19 +0000

How is this relevant at all o.O ? Seriously a class inside this? What can you do? Chat and grow crops? Maybe for an agriculture class? Raph and metaplace dont have any credibility in my opinion anymore; and this is just lame. On a sidenote, I take it that the ‘reporter’ was present in this intimate non-event to be able to talk about it (with the screencaps, the chatlog); then why write about it in this way, in 3rd person? Is the reporter a student or the professor, and why not mention this at all? Not to forget that fb accounts cant be made for avatars. Yet you go around happily taking screencaps and giving names, but present yourself as invisible. I think there is an issue in there. You couldn’t be that professor and writing it up with an alt? tsk tsk.

By: Matt Faliszek

Matt Faliszek — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:52:43 +0000

Bah, so the freshman this year actually have class inside a virtual world? All we got to do last year was spend a little bit of laggy time inside the sims, without actually getting much done. and why the change in the name of the class? it is a bit more fitting though, now.

By: Pappy Enoch, B.S., M.S., PhD

Pappy Enoch, B.S., M.S., PhD — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:36:52 +0000

THIS AM THE FUTURE, as plain as the nose on the side of my head.

I done sinned up for ol’ Profusser Ludow’s klass over on that-there fake island.

Y’all kin see how good my ritin’ done got after I got my A++

(Doc, I’ll take that-there case of store likker any time, like you done promised me for ritin’ this up here at the fake newspaper).

By: coco

coco — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:24:42 +0000

Enough with the “Legend” Stuff. Metaplace was a huge FAIL, and all we got here is The PALACE from 1995 embeded in a FREE ID scraper app.

By: IMMACHARGINGMAHLAZER

IMMACHARGINGMAHLAZER — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:25:25 +0000

I’m bored let’s grief Island Life.

By: Bubblesort Triskaidekaphobia

Bubblesort Triskaidekaphobia — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:54:12 +0000

Ludlow is probably the first to hold class in Island Life, but he is definitely not the first to hold class in Facebook. There are a lot of professors who teach using Facebook. You can find one Facebook education group here:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=235257742206

This semester I have a library science class in Facebook, and 3 of my professors chat using FB chat during their office hours.

I love using new mediums in a classroom, but when I’m in a class like that I’m frequently unsure about who is doing the teaching and who is doing the learning. I guess I’m the one paying tuition, so that makes me the learner, right? It just doesn’t always feel like learning when I am explaining things like RSS or what IP addresses are to a comm media professor (true story). There’s a divide between those who have internet access and those who don’t, but among those who do have internet access there is a division between who are adept at manipulating new mediums and the unwashed masses who give us our traffic numbers. That division is more difficult to navigate. To paraphrase Marshall McLuhan: If you don’t work the medium it will work you over.

By: Melanie Aluveaux

Melanie Aluveaux — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:40:50 +0000

Thanks for this update! I have held classes in Second Life, and the students always have technical issues with the platform. I think I will try this new venue when its available. It sounds as if it will be easier for my students to navigate.