Reproducing the uOttawa Faculty of Law in Minecraft: From a Crazy Idea to the Official Opening (original) (raw)

Educational campuses in Second Life, 2007-2009: the development of a framework for campus builders.

2009

Academics are increasingly looking at using virtual worlds for educational purposes, but the guidance for establishing a virtual presence is limited. This paper presents the results of an exploratory observational study on 95 virtual campuses in Second Life which has produced a framework that may assist staff or students in building their own campuses. The investigation first took place in 2007 and was repeated in 2009, so the results have been updated and comparisons drawn between the two reviews, highlighting what has changed and what activities appear to have taken place. Recommendations have been made regarding the design of a campus, bringing attention to building practices that might obstruct navigation and impede activities.

Building Cuthbert Hall Virtual College As a Dramatically Engaging Environment

This paper outlines the interdisciplinary nature, collaborative work patterns and role of aesthetics in the Cuthbert Hall Virtual College research project at the Cambridge University Moving Image Studio (CUMIS) and the Centre for Applied Research in Education Technology (CARET). The project identifies key properties of dramatically engaging real-time three-dimensional virtual environments (RT 3D VE) and how the holistic experiential phenomenon of place is organised and mediated through spatial narrative patterns. Interdisciplinary by nature, the project requires a collaborative approach between science, engineering, media and architecture, and the results are revealing for all these areas. The Cuthbert Hall project invites discussion of the importance in the creation and use of RT 3D VE’s - under single and multi-user conditions - of articulate aesthetics (the quality of architectural, visual and audio design; the production and incorporation of dramatic properties) and of the conditions required for collaborative, communicative use of the environment. The full theoretical and technical discussions as well as the evaluation results are outside the scope of this submission.

The Reflexive Campus: A Study of Dynamic Architecture in a Virtual World (PDF)

2009

This paper describes the creative as well as computational processes involved in the creation of a generative, emergent architectural construct destined to become the virtual campus of a Real Life University on a dedicated island in the metaverse of Second Life. Designed around a core spiral structure the virtual building re-configures itself based upon user demand, adding classrooms, exhibition and meeting areas as well as conference halls and auditoriums, as and when required. Thus, a user-centric, emergent, dynamic construct has been implemented for the creation of a virtual campus, which evolves and changes over time and based upon usage. The ensuing design system also attempts to configure itself based upon the nature of activity undertaken within it: Thus spaces required for survey based learning spread themselves out over the “shallow” horizontal axis, whereas areas of research and deeper levels of inquiry utilize the “deeper” vertical axis in a visual representation of different strategies of learning and levels of epistemological inquiry.

The Bryn Celli Ddu Minecraft Experience

Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage, 2021

This article explores the technical and interpretative issues surrounding the creation of a Minecraft Education Edition world for use by primary age school children (5–11 years). The project team undertook to create a Minecraft version of the prehistoric landscape surrounding the Neolithic passage tomb of Bryn Celli Ddu, Anglesey, Wales, United Kingdom. The workflow described here details the process from the initial aims of the project, designed to integrate heritage and STEM education; through the processing of lidar data to create the topography of the world; through the archaeological reconstruction; and then final release. An understanding of the workflow is particularly important for researchers and educators because the successful delivery of our aims resulted in a number of technical obstacles inherent in creating a Minecraft world when a designer is required to navigate several versions of the program—Java architecture, C++ architecture, and the Education Edition—and explai...

This Will Change Everything; Virtual Worlds in Education

This paper explores the potential for supplementing or even replacing bricks and-mortar spaces with virtual spaces for teaching and learning. Global population changes are creating an ever-widening gap of access to higher education, and current building strategies are simply not sufficient to cope. There exists the potential to utilise 3D virtual worlds to provide space for lecturing, student projects and simulations, while at the same time reducing costs to a fraction of the costs for campus-based buildings. Additionally, these spaces can be used to give students safe experiences that might otherwise be completely impossible. The paper presents work at the University of Auckland toward these ends.

Inform, Entertain and Educate: Developing and Exploiting Virtual 3D Campus Models

Information Technology & Telecommunications Conference, 2006

In this paper we describe a suite of applications centered on a 3D virtual model of the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB) campus. Our motivation for creating this model is discussed, along with the practicalities of its implementation. We then present a number of applications that utilize the model. These include: a system for remotely exploring the campus over the Internet; a physics-based driving simulation situated on the campus; and an application that uses game engine technology for rapid rendering of, and interaction with, the 3D campus model. In each case we discuss the core technologies involved in the application. We conclude by describing our overall goal for this work, which is to develop a system for health and safety training using 3D and gaming technology.