Activity: LearnWorld
Participants: Teachers, Deans, Principals, Administrative
- Just like in Sims, participants will have some kind of visual representation of what they do. ie: Teacher Avatars have an blue diamond over their heads. Deans may have orange.
Location: VIrtual
Objective: Network, Learn, Ask Questions
Groups: There are several club houses in the central town in LearnWorld. Each belonging to a profession or possibly by projects/initiatives or needs. Anybody is welcome into any club. This would be a great place to have virtual roundtables. Players can simply click on another player to read their short profile and then choose to interact with them via messaging.
Optional: Some players may choose to also use microphones and have live conversations with other players. This may be the best method for roundtables or interactions involving more than one person.
Extra: LearnWorld also provides customized environments where players can participate in simulations based on real life examples and potential problems they may run into.
The cognitive tool of play is the ability to unleash the mind allowing the freedom to explore and in engage in physical, social and emotional activities or topics.
Ever played Sims? What if there was a system like Sims, World of Warcraft or Second Life that pertained to your professional life? Where your Avatar could practice scenarios, problem solving, ask questions to your peers and collaborate. You could meet peers that work across the state, country or world.
The LearnWorld environment would be available year round but I would like to setup “Town Hall Meetings” or “Meet & Greets” several times a year virtually. Different sessions would have to be held to accommodate the different time zones. These sessions would be available to Deans, Principals, Teachers and some administrative positions such as Training, Curriculum and Ed Tech. This promotes cross department and cross position understanding and creates a community in which we help drive change and effectiveness.
I thought of this activity because it would fill a current gap I see in my own organization. My audience is teachers and yet I never get to meet them or learn about their processes and their needs. My job requires me to not only create consumable courses to train them but also to deliver that training in a way that meets their needs and availability. I think that nearly all of the administrative positions in my organization could really benefit from an experience like this. Also deans and principles.
I created this activity in the attempt to be different. Get out of the box. I was slightly inspired by my embodiment thinking assignment from a week or two ago. But I also really relate to the benefits in which this exercise/introduction/tool, whatever we want to call it, in that I am more confident online. When you give me a virtual environment it strips away all the social hangups that prevent me from networking, sharing and collaborating. I feel more free to ask questions and ask those questions to peers or positions I feel that I can’t normally. Teachers can ask questions to their supervisors that they normally feel they can’t, don’t have time for or do not have the appropriate situation in which to ask. This tool could truly open up the communication and community that many organizations are hungry for.
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