Grant to help BSU open cyber studio

University institute to begin Second Life program late March

Film students will soon have an easier time checking out cameras, microphones and cranes, but there is a catch - only an avatar can use them.

Blackboard Inc. announced Tuesday that Ball State University was the recipient of the $25,000 Blackboard Greenhouse Grant for Virtual Worlds, which will allow the university to merge class assignments, Blackboard's utilities and the virtual world Second Life.

John Fillwalk, director of Ball State Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts and Animation, said the institute is developing a film studio in the virtual world of Second Life. The cyber studio would allow students to complete class assignments online by using their avatars to film virtual movies, Fillwalk said.

"When you come into the virtual studio, essentially, you can watch something similar to a power-point presentation, but you would then get a chance to work on the virtualized equipment," he said. "It has all the necessary virtual equipment: cameras, lights, dollies, booms, mics, cranes. Essentially everything you would use in the real world for movies. It really is a pretty compelling virtual experience."

IDIAA has been working on the Second Life studio for about nine months, Fillwalk said, but the grant allowed the institute to step up development. Programs expect to open the studio to students by the end of March, he said.

Fillwalk said he would be the only faculty member using the Second Life studio once it opens, but it could expand to other courses.

"This is intended to be an introductory course, a film making 101 type experience," he said. "It's really a companion piece for something for what an instructor will do on campus."

Fillwalk's class would use the studio along with Blackboard's services as a complement, he said.

"What we're looking at is it is really kind of a bridging experience," he said. "Now, it is more common to see a CD-ROM included as a multimedia companion with a text. What we're doing is taking it a step further."

Brian Cooley, spokesman for Blackboard Inc., said a panel of judges selected Ball State for the grant out of a pool of 14.

John Fontaine, senior director of Engineering Services at Blackboard, said in a press statement the company gave Ball State the grant because it focused on using the money for educational purposes as well as technical purposes.

"There is something powerful about being able to provide learners with the immerse and contextual learning experience of a virtual world, but in the secure and structured environment of the Blackboard Academic Suite," Fontaine said. "The fact that the project helps to bridge those two worlds is quite significant to teaching and learning in general."

Cooley said funds for the grant came from Blackboard.

"Basically, it's a sponsorship we created for the sake of community; essentially, it's a Blackboard award," he said.

Blackboard has been issuing the grant since 2004, Cooley said, but Ball State was the inaugural recipient for its intended purpose.

"This particular flavor of it is new this year," he said. "Obviously, the emergence of the Second Life platform is feasible and much more relevant for learning."


More from The Daily






Loading Recent Classifieds...