Computer Graphics World

42 October 2008 n n n n Knowledge & Career Platform Ecosystem. The Education Grid is a server-side resource that will offer the library of learning objects, digital media assets, games, and services, from which educators can obtain or assemble a variety of immersive education experiences. For the time being (there are more to come), the new Platform Ecosystem consists of three open-source platforms that will serve as clients: Croquet, Second Life, and Project Wonderland. For more about them, see "Platforms of Choice," page 43. The Case for Immersion There's no denying that students, especially those at the K–12 level, are energized and engaged by using computers at school. A well- designed immersive education application with the same level of high-resolution graphics featured in the latest video games would seem to be an obvious boon to educators. Through such an envi- ronment—a learning game that resembles those students play at home (though minus the occasional violence and sex)—schools may be able to reach pupils they haven't been able to before. That goes for students with special needs as well. A child who can't walk or run freely, for example, can do so in a virtual world. The benefits of the technology seem obvious in these cases. The students at Benjamin Banneker Charter Public School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, get excited just talking about immer- sive education, says executive director Marlon Davis. Benjamin Banneker, an urban K-6 science and technology school, is expected to be one of the early adopters of third-generation immersive edu- cation technology. Davis believes the technology will have a posi- tive effect on behavior, in that it will engage and motivate some students who haven't been as reachable in the past. Davis also sees the technology as a great supplementary learning tool for high achievers. Programs could provide in-depth instruc- tion for those students who are ready to move on in lessons more quickly than their classmates. "Immersive education allows those kids who do 'get it' not only to extend themselves, but to be chal- lenged," he says. Some experts, however, believe that kids' affinity for video games is no reason to give them more of the same at school. It all depends on how you use it, according to John Carfora, director of Sponsored Research at Amherst College in Massachusetts and a member of the Initiative's board of advisors. "Our job is to ask the tough questions," he says. "Students now want to play more of a role in their education. This technology is what they've grown up with, and how they think they learn better. My job as an educator is to ask, is that true?" Immersive education technology doesn't lend itself to every aca- demic discipline, Davis notes, but it does to most of them. "It's important to ask, are the students learning from it?" Carfora is currently working on a language/cultural curriculum for virtual visits to Rome and Paris. Such an application might have a student avatar arriving at the airport in Rome, for example, where his guide, "Giovanni," meets him. They take public trans- portation into the city together, head to a trattoria, and order food. All this can take place in English, Italian, or a mixture of both lan- guages, depending on the student's level and need. The program is designed to prepare a person for an upcoming visit to another country, give them a general sense of the language and/or culture there, or even provide a virtual visit for a student who can't afford to go abroad. Carfora says he has also been approached by a cou- ple of European universities about collaborating on a virtual space station application. "Students would be able to take off and land, and see what it's like to live and work in space," he points out. Carfora does observe that the immersive education concept makes a few teachers nervous about the pos- sibility of being replaced. Getting such educators to buy in is part of the mission. "Immersive education isn't meant to replace teachers," he says. "It's meant to complement what they're doing." The most skepti- cal group, he notes, are college and university profes- sors. "They need the most convincing." Among K–12 teachers, the most gung-ho are often special educa- tion teachers, who are eager to use the technology to engage their students at different levels. Immersive applications really do energize students, says Walsh. In 2003, he and his class created a 3D model of a ship boarded during the Boston Tea Party in 1773. Using the Unreal game edi- tor, Autodesk's Maya, and Adobe Systems' Photoshop, the students modeled the ship and the surrounding Boston Harbor as compo- n n n n Knowledge & Career In this first-generation environment, created in VRML, an avatar representing a student visits a re-creation of the Voting Hall of Doges Palace in Italy.

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