Guy Merchant strikes again, and instead of posting my reflection on his virtual world research (Merchant, 2009), I made a brief video that captures some of the points he raises, but also connects one of my projects from my Master of Educational Technology program from 2010 to 2012.
YouTube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcbKui_L39Q
And here is the venture pitch for the Virtual Globe 3.0 that I recorded a few years back, with a link to the UBC blog where it was posted. Now that I am inspired by Guy Merchant (again) I really want to start making this virtual project a reality.
UBC Blogs: ETEC 522: Virtual Globe 3.0
Since the dodgy website doesn’t always have the videos embedded, it looks like I will have to start over with a new model for performing Shakespeare in a virtual space. Look forward to more on this topic in the coming weeks.
3 Comments
From LC
Hi Kyle,
Thanks for the video. I have to admit, as much as I appreciate your cheery face, your video allowed me to do some extra research while listening to you!
I too appreciate Merchant’s acknowledgment of online research (from the perils to the triumph of finding something usable!) but I’m not all that familiar with his work. Why does he differentiate digital literacies from ICT use? And do you think its all that great of an idea to further distinguish areas of digital literacy when practitioners are just trying to access any form of it?
From MA
Can you give us more about what specifically Merchant’s article gave you about virtual worlds that you can now apply to your virtual globe project?
L, your question about the difference between ICT literacy and digital literacy should be one you can hypothesize now — go for it. others join in.
Fear of the internet with children is one of many barriers to embedding digital media and technologies in classrooms. It’s true and easy to use to quell any questions about the limited use of technologies particularly in early childhood. However, as many of you continue to point out it’s like keeping in our heads in the sand, avoiding reality, and not proactively finding professionally responsibile ways to keep literacy meaningful in classroom programs. We are starting to see exemplars in the literature and in the field – and right in our own course.
Kyle, what role would you take as researcher of virtual world(s)? This is a major ethical debate now as it becomes increasingly necessary for research to take place within virtual worlds to learn about what happens etc — outside data is limited on its own.
Thank you L and M for your comments,
During the reading break, I read two very enlightening dissertations that deal with questions you raise. As I am in the middle of writing up my thoughts on virtual ethnography and a pragmatic investigation of the very term in question, digital literacy. Merchant seems to be the one guy who so far has tied these seemingly related yet often misunderstood research practices. here is the link to my other class’ blog entry, where my Critical Review of Recent Dissertations for Natasha Boskic and Douglas Belshaw here: https://blogs.ubc.ca/literacytechnology/2014/02/24/lled-602-week-7/. I am also going to post a Belshaw “preview trailer” in the professional resources section of this Connect site. His TEDxWarwick presentation elegantly captures much of what his dissertation proclaims.
Finally, in answer to your last question, M, I strongly believe that researchers should be designing appropriate virtual world for early literacy and early childhood, rather than going with what’s available on most devices. Since I am more of a Shakespeare buff than Computer Science wizard, I need to connect to others with the right skills in order to make scenes from his plays as accessible as the ABCs. I know this sounds a bit like those Baby Einstein CDs that were misguidedly popular in the 1990’s, but it seems like a natural fit for a virtual world, especially with the sociocultural play-based theories of James Paul Gee in mind. What better than an actual (virtual) play? If this YouTube clip can be used as evidence, children of all ages can process “the question” of Shakespeare’s drama: Brian Cox Masterclass with Theo: “yeah, it is!”