MT35101 Discovering Computer Graphics Finals: 2009

MT35101 Roll Calls SInce Midterms

In the classes represented by the following two snapshots we explored some other virtual worlds. Most intersting was the Virtual Campus. Not necessarily because of the details but because it was more of a classroom, with reference objects to explore. One of the main purposes was to provide a classroom for students who couldn't get o class or were not allowed in a school.

And I should be sure to mention the Immersive Education Summit in Boston in April!

We did a bit more in-depth exploring in Second Life. We discussed the different attributes of the virtual world, such as depth, angles, shading, and lack thereof, and other characteristics that try to make the virtual world 3D.

The sharpness of objects and areas as well as fine details, improve as you get closer. Again, an effort to add a sense of depth to the 3D virtual world.

Someone turn on the lights! We can control how SecondLife looks and sounds.

Efforts to 'camp' or dance or do something else proper to earn lindens was an interesting group activity. Can't say I was very successful, but trying had it's moments. Nothing good comes when someone tells you to dance on a pole to earn money!

This class was focussed on manipulating our avatars and sharing acquired attributes. We even ran a race to see who can navigate with their avatar the best. I wasn't the best.

The sometimes ugly problems that crop up. The virtual world and the tools we use are changing so fast that Boston College couldn't keep up with the updates in the computer lab. No problem. i found a workaround that got me to where I need to be...... or should I say got me pictures of where I was!

There are more detailed descritions of class work and additional snapshots in my blog;

MT35101 Discovering Computer Graphics

Here I was! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Immersiveducation.org

Final #3 - The Tour

Ahhh. The tour. For anyone with knowledge of Gillian's Island this was my 'three hour tour'. A total disaster......or pretty close. I tried, but probably too late.

I was not able to meet up with anyone from class, though Alex and I made an effort. The time just got away from me. So I tried to take a tour of the Ivory Tower land where I built my treehouse.

At first I had some luck. A guy who had helped me with building actually came over from the project he was doing to see what I was up to. He decided to show me one of the scultures he made and we chatted briefly about some of the crations around us. There were a bunch of gardens with scultures and mostly rounded buildings. But there were also some great bridges with details that were very ornate. Despite my attempts to convince my new friend to take a walk around to see what I had saw he was off to bed. I think England is five hours ahead. YAWN!!!

So I tried again. This time I ran into a nice gentlemanly figure and a young lady. She had built the picnic bench in front of me so I started by complimenting her. No luck. I got the newbie treatment!

SO finally I went back to the sandbox area and found some folks building some projects. Both were fairly new at the building themsleves. Once again I tried to get them to take a tour of the gardens and the bridges....no luck. So I totally blew this one. All the rest are on point and should make up for some of this goof-up. Call me Gilligan. Good night little buddy!

Immersive Education.org

Final #2 - Building in Second Life

What should have been a good start to this assignment got off as most others in Second Life. You know, there should be a standard where folks treat newbies with respect! Ignoring me was rude.

Now here is something important. There are always rules for the sandbox! I learned that in kindergarten. To bad the last guy forgot that.

At last! A nice guy who himself was just getting going with building in Second Life. Not much advice but did send me to the library to read some notecards/tutorials.

Hmm. Got turned around and missed the library. Some great looking projects around here though. CRossed some ornate bridges and passed a lot of round stuctures. In my snapshot it almost looks like someone is building a model of the Roman Coliseum. No small projects here! So I gave up on the library and decided to wing it. Hey, creating was pretty easy! All the tools are much like any of the others we have used in class for presentations and sketches. In fact using SketchUp helped me manipulate the objects pretty easily.

So I decided I wanted to build a treehouse. Only problem is I don't own the land so I can't plant trees! So I made a tree that has a tree-like structure instead. Hey! It's a virtual world!

ImmersiveEducation.org

Final #9 - SketchUp 3D Projects

This was a great exercise. Even my wife was intrigued by what I was doing. Now she wants me to redesin the deck so she can get an idea of how it would look when I build it. (sigh) Click on the pictures and they will bring you to the file online to take a 3D tour if you like. Click on the icon that looks like two rotating arrows immediately to the left of the hand icon in the toolbar to get some new perspectives!

Final #4 - Merry Christmas Gizmo

Final #5 - The Future of ImmersiveEducation

For today's students working their way toward becoming the leaders of the coming decade the tools of today, particularly the Internet and the various programs and software that enable us to better communicate and present our ideas, are a key to their success in a highly competitive world. From the standpoint of a student who is back to school after a delay of more than a decade I have the unique view of where education and computers have been and how far they have come. I think that if I had access to the Internet when I was out of high school my success in school would have been to much higher level. The convenience of the World Wide Web would have made finding information gathering so much easier and interaction with my fellow classmates better faciltated. Not to mention the time saved with research and reading. So what does the future hold?

Firstly, the continued expansion of the use of the Internet and the programs that enable users to manipulate it will continue to proliferate. As discussed in class the power of the entities in and surrounding the Internet are growing exponentially year to year. I remember a few years ago that someone said that said that the average home computer had as much power as NASA had in sending the first mission to the moon. Now computing power has risen to the point where we can explore other worlds, so to speak. And as the strength of these tools mounts that exploration will become more and more realistic. Some day experiences in Second Life will be very hard to distinguish between real life and virtual reality. Maybe the underlying themes of all of those sci-fi movies about the future aren't so far fetched.

There are a number of people who utilize programs such as Second Life to make a living. There are folks who communicate with their businesses from countries far away. There are students who cannot get to classrooms who are learning through online interactions. In ten years it is totally possible that, with the likely levels of computing power continuing their exponential climb, that entire corporations will be run from home PC's. And as for Immersive Education, I see this as the initialization of the growing power of learning. An opportunity for students to not only learn but experience the sights and sounds of the texts they are learning. A truly realistic visit to the Eiffel Tower, being chased by a T-Rex, a visit to a live battle during the Civil War. To a degree anything is possible and those possibilities make learning more interesting.

But don't take my word for it. Check out Immersive Education for yourself. Click on any of the pictures in this blog to go to various informative pages regarding this wonderful program or click the link below to see a glimpse of the future of computing and education.

ImmersiveEducation.org

Final #6 - Course Evaluation

Please click on the picture of Tux the penguin to see my official evaluation of MT35101 Discovering Computer Graphics at Boston College!

Please note that this is a MSWord document. If you want to read the full text in the survey boxes I suggest changing the format to 'landscape', clicking in the survey box you want to read, and expanding the text box by clicking and holding on the block on the right side of the frame and dragging to expand the box.

ImmersiveEducation.org