Technical artifact
Use software and other tools appropriate to the task.
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“The essence of human life is the pulse,
or the rhythm of the heart.”
The Rhythm of Life Drum Circle was a collaborative project with Paul McManus, John Alexander and myself.
In this assignment we were asked to design an educational game or simulation which would be presented to the learner electronically.
After exploring several ideas, we chose to create an activity within the virtual game Second Life (SL). We felt that by offering newcomers an opportunity to participate in a Drum Circle , it might make them more comfortable in this simulated environment.
Although development of this project called for creativity and instructional design skills, I chose to use this artifact to satisfy the technical requirement. We had to master a few Second Life skills in order to capture pictures of ourselves and define the environment within this simulated environment.
The goal of the Drum Circle was to provide SL residents with an opportunity to build community and social ties. Our intention was that it be available for all SL residents who desired to expand their horizons, reduce stress, improve confidence, meet new people, learn something new, or to simply have fun.
One of the team members did some non-traditional research by interviewing a trained Ethnomusicologist, observations of an African interpretive dance class, and observation of several Drum Circle events.
One interesting note is that one of the motivational theories that we connected with this project was Csikszentmihalyi's Conditions of Flow. The Greek word for rhythm is flow, and Drum Circle participants often reach a state of flow, resulting in the experience of reaching a higher state of consciousness.
Inside Second Life, we maneuvered our three avatars to an area with existing drums and took several snap shots of our avatars playing the drums. We then created a WAV audio file and uploaded it to SL. We also added dance animation gestures to our avatars.
Here is where instructional design came into the process. I developed many note cards on Drum Circle benefits, practices, tips and techniques, interpretive dance tips and techniques, and percussion information. Creating these cards called for some skills in Photoshop and Dreamweaver.
Not being a “gamer”, this project really pushed my comfort zone. I asked for help from my teenage son in creating my avatar. I was neither intrinsically or extrinsically motivated to spend a great deal of time in Second Life like some of my peers did. I was busy enough in my First Life! What I did enjoy was conceptualizing the project and brainstorming ideas back and forth with John and Paul. I also enjoyed designing the informational cards. As with my Dressage web site , I had to determine what content might be interesting and valuable to a “ Drum Circle newby” and how I could make that information attractive and attention riveting (CLAM).
School in the Park (IMovie)
LMS Marketing Movie (Captivate)
MissionLink Simulation (Captivate)
