A Field Trip Learning Activity ExperienceFacilitated by Rene Alvarez and V. Sheri Towne

Slide Presentation created by V. Sheri Towne, January 7, 2015

The first destination, Red Rock Amphitheater, demonstrates how a class is conducted

synchronously with a group "sitting” in the stadium seating and participating in either an

open forum lecture or presentation.

The main screen in front of the amphitheater is a free access internet portal.

Just like in face-to-face classrooms, presentation materials should be uploaded to SlideShare.net,

YouTube or other cloud platforms of choice and then pre-loaded on the SecondLife screen

resource before the learning activity.

For this in-world tour the presentation screen was loaded with a particular presentation from

SlideShare.net called Professional Learning in Virtual Worlds. The facilitator controls the

presentation.

Here is a snapshot taken at Red Rock Amphitheater from a group field trip.

Destination #2 is the RESEARCH PAVILION at HealthInfo Island. The purpose of visiting this

site is to explore a meeting place that includes immersive displays, an important teaching technique

in SecondLife.

Each room at this site has several displays of varying content. These types of displays add a visual

focus element to class sessions and allow for real time discussion of the content.

The third Destination is the International Learning Center. The previous sites demonstrated several

open-air venues for classes, meetings or other “virtual events” and educational tools to add

interaction and engagement.

This site illustrates that a self-motivated learner can visit sites like this one to select a “class” or

do research.

This small screening area is one of many where participants can watch training and self-help

videos. The floating red orbs on the right contain various content items. The participant “touches”

the orb to have a browser window open with the requested information.

In this same area, a display rack is available with various scholarly papers. We make sure in

advance of a field trip to have offerings on education pedagogy and research available for viewing.

In addition to the amphitheater shown to the left, there are small meeting group areas on the right

with presentation boards for viewing, but not for posting material. All the presentation boards and

screens on this site were reserved for Texas A&M student and faculty material.

For a more traditional classroom setting, Destination #4 is the Texas A&M University virtual campus facility.

The presentation on the amphitheater screens is controlled from the laptop podium. When the

presenter clicks on the laptop button a popup window not visible to participants allows the

facilitator to select a particular slide (by number) or by “next” and “previous”.

The sandbox has a functioning keyboard that makes sounds when touched. The first large poster

on the left contains written music that plays via the keyboard. The outer ring of posters have a

variety of subject matter content that includes reading, chemistry, language arts, math, geography

and instructional design.

The Texas A&M “sandbox” area, the name for a place of experimentation and building, is a short

“walk” from the amphitheater. The learning objects are created by Texas A&M students and faculty.

The last Destination was a classroom space available to the public for giving lectures in a very

untraditional setting. The site also provided access to a variety of other more traditional

classroom settings.

Unfortunately, this site is no longer available. Remember that you must verify before each field

trip whether or not the resource continues to exist.