Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
of different map projection families showed a
level of understanding beyond what the typical
textbook image inspires.
they can accurately position individual land uses
and calculate the area of each. The total land uses
must total 160,000 square meters… the size of the
study site. To perform this task the students must
use several of the GIS related tasks that they have
learned. They have to measure the sizes of parcels,
evaluate visibility (called a viewshed), determine
the appropriate positioning of landuses, and even
decide on where to place roads and pathways
for movement. Most importantly, the students
can immediately visualize the inherent difficulty
of managing spatial conflict when land uses are
incompatible as a park and a factory might be.
This project, unlike the previous examples is
collaborative -- requiring the students to work
as teams toward a common goal, and also forces
them to integrate multiple aspects of their learning
rather than one or two. They also learn the art of
negotiation and conflict resolution so important
in the real application of GIS for land planning.
This last example illustrates the continuum
from early efforts at lecture and discussion to
small learning objects to more complex learning
objects. It shows how, after time, small learning
objects can evolve into larger objects and those
can also grow to large fully developed simulations
that allow immersion, role-play, project-based
experiential learning environments resembling
Genome Island. Regardless of the subject mat-
ter, the slow, incremental evolution of Second
Life education is more likely to be adopted by
individual faculty or small teams of educators
than the quick development of an entire domain
related simulation.
FINAL THOUgHTS
Although I have developed ten exercises I
continue to build content as time allows. This
approach to content creation is relatively less
time and resource intensive that creating mas-
sive simulations. Moreover content can be built
incrementally as one's skills in Second Life, and
those of your students grow. A future project-
oriented experiential exercise that I am currently
working on involves a land use decision process.
Unlike the previous exercises this one requires a
large portion of geographic space. One common
use of GIS technology is planning, but before
planning can be incorporated into the software
the students need to be able to conceptualize how
the land will be used, how much will be allocated
for each of multiple purposes, and how the uses
will interact. I'm creating a portion of NMSU's
teaching island on which the students have the
rights to both build and to terraforming (essentially
create differences in terrain). The students will be
assigned the task of creating a plan on a portion
of the land… perhaps 400 meters on a side. I'm
developing a list of possible land uses including
a park with a scenic topographic outlook and a
pond, a factory that the students must hide from
the park, a portion of single family housing for
people that work at the factory, some row crops,
and a small shopping center. These four uses must
total 160,000 square meters.
To perform this task the students will be
working together in teams, where each team is
assigned to the development of a single land
use. The exercise box will include the usual
instructions, learning objectives, answer sheets,
textures, and possibly some pre-made objects
(e.g. factory buildings). I will also be including
a series of tools such as measuring devices so
CONCLUSION
Second Life building and scripting tools provide
plenty of opportunity for the digitally adaptive
instructor to translate course content to the vir-
tual environment. Moreover, it is a potentially
powerful online learning environment for the
neo-millennial student, particularly those who are
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