MAPPING METAVERSE

Emerging technologies has had an impact on how GIS mapping courses are taught. The metaverse or digital universe provides innovative possibilities for building learning communities, enhancing social presence, and creating virtual training environments. One such world, called Second Life is already providing opportunities for student discussions, project collaboration, and even presentations inside the metaverse.

Second Life is a metaverse that has long been involved in applying its digital environments to education. Both free and paid accounts are available. To join you go to the website (www.secondlife.com), start up an account, choose a name for your avatar (your digital alter-ego), download the client software and enter the brave new digital world. You will be asked to decide what your avatar will look like – you can be male, female, or even a furry. Finally you will be taken to Orientation Island to learn how to get around and communicate in this metaverse.

This mapping metaverse will enable students to create maps for global ecosystems, have these converted to jpeg files so they could be uploaded to a functional display board inside second life. Then they will get together to study every week for an hour to an hour and a half. The students are forced to respond to their instructors’ questions by typing which will not only aid in learning the material, but also practicing the responses they would eventually use in their essay exams, which can potentially improve test scores.

Students will be using Second Life to collaborate on the project-based learning laboratories, to visit their instructor during virtual office hours, and optionally to build 3-D models and animations that demonstrate their understanding of mapping concepts. The instructor and the students all belong to a group that provides group chat environments, member lists and profiles.