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FAS and the Learning Technologies Project

FAS and the Learning Technologies Project. FAS: 61 year-old, non-profit research group that works to apply practical solutions drawn from science and technology to some of the world’s most pressing issues.

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FAS and the Learning Technologies Project

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  1. FAS and the Learning Technologies Project FAS: 61 year-old, non-profit research group that works to apply practical solutions drawn from science and technology to some of the world’s most pressing issues. Learning Technologies: a project within FAS that aims to create a major national R&D program for using information technology to improve how we teach and learn

  2. $250K grant + Typical Model of an Instructional Technology Project Two years of Work

  3. Some Statistics • Average age of a web page is 75 days • 0.5% of web pages disappeared each week • 3% of the objects in digital libraries are no longer accessible after one year

  4. Goals: • Engage learners, ages 8 – 14, in challenges and mysteries that can only be solved by understanding • the origins of writing and the path from pictures to phonetics • Mesopotamian society, business practices, and trade • Demonstrate new ways to reassemble artifacts and knowledge about them now spread across many different museum and library collections • Features: • Accurate historical and scientific information • 3D photorealistic simulations of cities & temple complexes that allow open-ended exploration and discovery • Contextualization of museum artifacts used by characters in virtual environments • Question & answer management tools to stimulate learning • Compelling, age-appropriate challenges and assignments

  5. Our working definition of a VW • Online, [3D], shared environments that allow multiple users to create content and experiences, collaborate, and communicate with other users [through the use of an avatar]. • Can model elements from both the real and imagined worlds, including physically and historically accurate topography and natural phenomena such as gravity, motion, and climate.

  6. So…what’s there to harness?

  7. Virtual Worlds and Engines

  8. Raw Numbers Estimated VW population to reach 50 million (8 out of 10 Internet users) by 2011. Currently: • Second Life: • 10th most popular MMO • Estimated number of users: 9.6 million • Estimated monthly uniques: 187,000 • Target audience: 18+ yrs old • Neopets: • Estimated number of users: 147 million • Estimated monthly uniques: 4.2 million • Target audience: 5+ yrs old • Club Penguin: • Estimated number of users: 12 million • Estimated monthly uniques: 4.7 million • Target audience: 6-14 yrs old Data based on http://gigaom.com/2007/05/20/virtual-world-population-50-million-by-2011/ , Sentient Service, A Quick Guide to Virtual Worlds and online data

  9. User generated content: an important and economic phenomenon • Only the 10th largest MMO • Time spent in world for Aug 2007: 2.3 million hours • 100 terabytes of data have been created by “residents” since the world’s inception.* *about five times as large as the Library of Congress, with its 20 million books.

  10. Transformative Potential • A revolution in the way knowledge and expertise acquired and measured • A revolution in the way learning is delivered • A revolution in the way learning systems are created

  11. Functional requirements for creating & continuously improving worlds: • Project management tools • identifying team leaders, contributors, reviewers • scheduling and notification • managing payments for services as needed • commenting, rating, upgrading • APIs for object creation and adding metadata • 3D formats • Text, images, video, sound, textures, VOIP • Scripts, motion capture • Metadata (including SCORM) • Converters to push standard formats into virtual world viewers/platforms (Croquet, Wonderland, Active Worlds, Second Life) • Data-base structure • Input/Output • Searching • Version Control • Links to large digital repositories • Assessment modules • Managing payments for services as needed • Connecting to object repositories • APIs for scripts, AI, physics engines, simulations, character motion & emotion • Version control • Storing and rating experiences

  12. Functional Requirements for Using the Virtual Worlds to Learn • Design tools for projects, games, assignments, performance tests • Search capabilities • Storing and rating these experiences • identifying students and connecting to student records (including private records) • Identity and trust management (access, privacy) • instructors, tutors, counselors, guides, role players, scheduling and notification • students and connecting to student records (including private records) • Storing and rating experiences • Management of cash assets • Payments to instructors, counselors, others • Payments to IP holders • Payments from students • Management of abusive behavior

  13. Objectives • Open-to-all Contribution Model • Annotations • Intelligent & Autonomous Agents • Interactive Spoken Dialogs • Reusable Data & Metadata • Common Architecture for Multiple Worlds

  14. Extending concept of Discover Babylon to online collaborative and visualization spaces Create and integrating tools, frameworks and communication protocols to: • Support and display multiple types of sources and perspectives • Link and move easily between related texts, images, objects, sound and products of the mind (test predictions) • Serve interdisciplinary and international audiences • (Re)construct objects and spaces, layered to provide: • Interoperable and reusable content • Rigorous academic standards • New academic findings • Varying layers of complexity • Multiple interpretations • Lower the barrier for participation • Collaborative building • Production facilities for content creation • Peer Review • Communication facilities for meaningful conversation & debate

  15. Who Self-motivated Individuals (Casual Users) Library & Museum specialists University Depts.- Research & Teaching Publishing Houses What References 3D Objects Interactive Dialogs Behaviors Gameplay Curriculum Lower the barrier for participation

  16. Developers Reviewers Managers Contributors Roles Visitors Residents Admin Users WWW Virtual Worlds Simulation Environment Second Life Virtual World n.. Multiverse Custom Interface Reference Data & Metadata Creation Plug-ins Common Simulation Logic Information Common Architecture Interaction Logic Plug-ins Collaboration Framework Role Play Non-Player Mechanics Data Management Modules Non-Virtual World Databases Reference Data & Metadata Link/Relation to VW Assets User Data Data Store

  17. Reference Data

  18. Case: New User City Blue Print

  19. View References

  20. Ziggurat Item References Picture 1 Picture 2 Picture 3 Reference Link 1 Reference Link 2 Reference Link 3 Users view Reference material.

  21. Job Assignment Current Job Assignment Status Assigned To Contribute As Assigned Date Planed End Date How do you wish to Contribute? Chetan Luo Team Member 11-Oct-07 20-Oct-07 Ashleen Kamachi Team Member 12-Oct-07 25-Oct-07 Estimate End Date: Neel Corvale Team Member 15-Oct-07 20-Oct-07

  22. Annotation Federation of American Scientists www.FAS.org

  23. Technical Challenges • High Latency • Third Party Plug-ins (Server & Client Side) • Code-Behind Data Structures & Cache • Modular Architecture • Open Standards • Third-Party 3D File Formats • Inter-Database Connectivity • Survivability of Content • Multiple Avatars • Inter-Virtual World Communication & Content Synchronization • Jargon

  24. Policy Challenges • How much is Open Source, under what license? • How to link in proprietary systems • Financial models to ensure sustainability • Operating highly secure sites • Managing Change in educational institutions (experimenting with dramatically new approaches to curriculum design, assessment, role of humans in the loop, where & when learning takes place)

  25. Next Steps • Recruit additional federal, academic, philanthropic and corporate groups • Develop a set of performance criteria (system requirements) for a broadly interoperable platform • Charge a team of experts to begin to develop middleware tools that will allow the community to begin working together • Begin to build new instructional systems or convert existing instructional systems so that they operate on the selected platform or platforms.

  26. Open Questions • Is this technology on your radar? • What disciplines are most suited? • Who else should be included? • Successful models or suggestions for bringing the faculty to the promised land? • What evidence do we need to convince you/your cohort that this technology is important? • What kinds of benefits should VWs offer?

  27. Current Work • Virtual Worlds wiki: Vworld.fas.org • To tour our island and the Medulla framework, contact: mroper@fas.org

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