Rich Knight Depart. of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, University of the Western Cape Knight.rich[at]gmail.com

HERITAGE DAY: Iziko Museum, TH Barry Lecture Theatre, 25 September 2014 Story telling has been part of oral traditions that predate written language. It is central to our culture and our heritage and who we are. Story telling has been part of oral traditions that predate written language. It is central to our culture and our heritage and who we are. … but digital story-telling is new … it is seen to contribute to an Authentic Learning experience

HERITAGE DAY: Iziko Museum, TH Barry Lecture Theatre, 25 September 2014

Bloom’s taxonomy Digital storytelling

HERITAGE DAY: Iziko Museum, TH Barry Lecture Theatre, 25 September 2014 Digital storytelling  Part of Environment and Sustain- ability Studies as a core principle.  Environmental Curriculum Leadership (EL) is usually Post- Graduate and mid-career focused.  Infusion of Environmental Leadership needs to be introduced into under-graduate curriculum. Explicitly introducing Environmental Leadership contributes to UWC’s Charter of Graduate Attributes.

HERITAGE DAY: Iziko Museum, TH Barry Lecture Theatre, 25 September 2014 Digital Storytelling provides…  Provides students with increased choice, conveniences and personalities.  Provides for WHERE, WHEN and HOW Learning occurs.  Provides information access, leverages expertise, contributes to peer evaluation and correspondence with mentors. Internet Technology and Virtual Learning Environments are blended with face-to- face instruction.

HERITAGE DAY: Iziko Museum, TH Barry Lecture Theatre, 25 September 2014 Role-Playing as a Teaching Strategy  Encourages co-operative learning.  Increases student interest and involvement with course material.  Increases use of experiential (enquiry-based) learning.  Replaces Passive with Active Learning. Promotes empathy, an understanding of different perspectives and social responsibility within a safe environment.

HERITAGE DAY: Iziko Museum, TH Barry Lecture Theatre, 25 September 2014 Introducing Role-Play into courses Encourage creativity and allow mistakes to be made (adds experience)  Uses students back-ground knowledge (schema).  Complements this knowledge with new information.  Requires re-design of assess- ments that require role-play (conferences, plays, and newscasts)  Use Storyboards to act out different roles (e.g. government officials versus protestors)

HERITAGE DAY: Iziko Museum, TH Barry Lecture Theatre, 25 September 2014 Four steps to Role-Play  Preparation by the instructor to define the activity.  Preparation by the students to enact gained knowledge (draft or storyboard presentation).  Presentation of Role-Play.  Debriefing including analysis of mistakes and options on future presentations of the role- play. Role-Play requires an adaptive approach involving more than one iteration.

HERITAGE DAY: Iziko Museum, TH Barry Lecture Theatre, 25 September 2014 Role-Playing as a Teaching Strategy

HERITAGE DAY: Iziko Museum, TH Barry Lecture Theatre, 25 September 2014 Second Life for Role-Play  A “Cloud” 3D Virtual immersive and interactive environment.  Developed by Linden Labs and launched in  Users are called residents and interact using Avatars.  Interactions include to socialise, educate, role- play, trade and have “relationships”.  Uses 3D modeling composed of sculpted “prims”, scripts, currency and land transactions.

HERITAGE DAY: Iziko Museum, TH Barry Lecture Theatre, 25 September 2014 Role Play: Commercial Environment  Large Estates and Islands ( m 2 ) cost $1000 to purchase and $195 and $295 per month maintenance (=SIM).  One server is dedicated to 4 SIMS.  A maximum of “prims” can be supported.  Land is re-released through Property Agents through smaller land parcel rentals.  Open Source Scripting language and IP rights are owned by author to share/sell (Marketplace).  Own Currency 250 Linden = $1 (need big budgets)

HERITAGE DAY: Iziko Museum, TH Barry Lecture Theatre, 25 September 2014 Second Life: Research validation  Stanford Prison Experiment (Zimbardo 1971): Investigated psychological effects of prisoner- guard relationships.  A Mock Prison duplicated effects of enforced authoritarian measures (Students role-playing).  Excessive psychological torture prematurely terminated the “experiment”.  Highly controversial/Unethical (= un-validated)  SL Role-Play could validate these results.

HERITAGE DAY: Iziko Museum, TH Barry Lecture Theatre, 25 September 2014 Second Life eLearning Platform  Chat (online): Synchronous Communication Open channel (people nearby can receive it).  Instant Messaging: Synchronous (Online), Asynchronous (Offline) with stored communications (Closed channel).  Note Cards: (Offline) Operates similarly to using text-files and links (to graphical elements).  Groups and Group Notifications (with notification). Allows Note Cards to be filed under the necessary Group (Assignment Submission).