eLearn 2008 Part II

Ok, that was long enough between part I and II. I apologize for that.
One of the subjects that was most drawn on presentations was that of Online gaming as learning environments and that of course included Second Life.
It is to be understood that Physical gaming as opposed to virtual gaming requires at least a temporary portioning of the physical environment for the game or simulation to take place, the laws of physics apply to all players and people typically behave with socially construed rules and norms continuously maintained. Virtual games on the other hand are free of many of these restrictions or variables; however the minute you get into the augmented realm that is that of Second Life for example, the situation isn’t all imaginary and a temporary positioning of a physical (although virtual) environment is required as much as design laws apply to possible interaction. Likewise because of the virtually physical environment, socially construed norms and rules virtually permeate the interaction!
Having said the above, we find from the paper presented for a University Curriculum for Second Life Course (Calif. State University) that authentic context and activity are built in, there is access to expert modeling and performance, there are multiple roles and perspectives available, with collaborative construct of knowledge that allows scaffolding, reflection and coaching of individuals, including authentic assessment possibilities.
I also attended some good presentations on design and development of web-based formative peer assessment, on open models that addressed multilingual aspects of online participation and e-learning. However, the most outstanding discussions from my personal perspective are the ones I have mentioned in PartI and here.