Audience

We will address the considerations raised in this schematic, mindful that parents and their children may have different expectations and experiences with virtual reality in their past.

Audience: multiple audiences with different abilities, age levels, and interest; governance issues will be different as well. Click the schematic below to be able to see the details.

TRAINING / GOVERNANCE – parents / adult visitors: it is expected that many of the adult visitors group will need to have training on using the virtual environment and moving around, but will not be a problem in terms of governance and behaviors. Some level of training can be embedded in the design of the island (pathways and changeable signposts for different event) and could be linked-to from websites within the island. A Facebook account will be created to announce upcoming meeting and events to parents and to students, and the basic training skills in using the platform and in speaking and texting can be linked from within the Facebook. The children, who will learn the environment more quickly, could serve as “docents” (guides who show around the adults) for events when there are expected to be many new parents or school level visitors.

TRAINING / GOVERNANCE – children / students: Experience and research shows that youth are quite comfortable in virtual and digital environments. Their practice with computer games and the like will mean that they will have little trouble learning how to navigate, dress, change avatars, and the like. However, these students will need guidance in the education experiences that will be designed into these spaces; that will come in more with the curriculum aspects of the simulations and events on the island. It is expected that there will be some level of governance needed to ensure that the students are respectful and appropriate. It may be necessary to work with the students to set up a self monitoring system and start by having the students policing the behavioral policies. It may be necessary to see if and how the virtual island could be made available/unavailable based on some external system or measures – such as they can use the building area only after assignments or projects are completed.

MONITORING PARTICIPATION – adults: It is expected that the parents will have a vested interest in the meetings and materials in the virtual location. However, some analytics will be developed to look at when parent avatars are present for meetings and the website materials associated with the curriculum can be monitored by the built in analytics. When there are official meetings then “attendance” could be taken.

MONITORING PARTICIPATION – children / students: It is expected that the informal aspects of the islands will be something that the students will be interested in naturally. Devices that track where avatars visit can be set around the island to see what aspects of the islands are actually being used – to optimize the usage of the space. The monitoring for participation in the activities can be done through the more formal assessment that would be associated with the different projects, assignments, and simulations within the island and the curricular events.