A Ball State University associate art professor will receive a technology award this weekend for his work with Second Life technology.
John Fillwalk will receive the 2009 Institutional Excellence in Information Communications Technology Award from the Association for Information Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education at a conference in Atlanta.
Second Life is a virtual world used for entertainment and, for Ball State, educational purposes.
Ball State's Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts and Animation has been working to integrate Second Life with Blackboard for the past few years.
"We're providing a framework and road map that other instructors can follow and an infrastructure that other sciences and humanities can take advantage of," Fillwalk said.
Linking Second Life with Blackboard allows students to take a course through Second Life and utilize the services of Blackboard, such as course management, communication and assessment, he said.
IDIAA can assimilate almost any classroom environment to Second Life, including a lab environment or filmmaking, Fillwalk said. For the filmmaking course, avatar characters utilize a hands-on display. Characters change height, intensity of light and many other features, Fillwalk said.
"We have virtual equipment that the avatar characters use," Fillwalk said. "They actually shoot film within the world of Second Life."
Incorporating Second Life with Blackboard also allows online discussion with the use of "building blocks," he said. Students can chat with each other using Blackboard modules. Students who want to get ahead can use automatic mechanisms to advance to the next module.
Fillwalk said Ball State is ahead of the curve in using Second Life technology because it offers more distance learning opportunities.
"We're putting thought and energy into exploring the possibilities," Fillwalk said. "We're interested in how technology engages people and helping shape how it is used."
IDIAA is also adding new capabilities such as social software. Fillwalk said he wants to see integration with Flickr or Twitter. People could Tweet about a virtual experience they had with Second Life to their friends and classmates, he said. IDIAA is trying to incorporate all kinds of technology into virtual space.
IDIAA's work with Second Life and Blackboard is available for other facilities to test. This summer, Fillwalk will present IDIAA's ideas at the Blackboard World conference.
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