Dr. Mary Stokrocki, Professor of Art Education at Arizona State, is another NMC educator using Second Life as a platform for education.
Dr. Stokrocki shares, “I use my Art Ark site on the NMC Campus in Second Life for teaching and research in several ways:”
A. I bring my undergrads here for a 3-hour class, like an introduction teaser in the educational possibilities of Second Life. My site shows sculptural forms of architecture.
B. I formulate my teaching as a series of art quests. I start at my Ark with its Turkish oriental rug where students describe, analyze, interpret, and judge the rug while searching for its treasures. My Art Ark Sign is linked to a blog so the students can click it and open the blog in their browser.
C. My graduate class is called Digital Ethnography and students meet in teams in a series of quests, one of which is to interview 2 avatars. They also record behaviors and analyze their chat. Their final project is a Powerpoint of their findings in stages.
D. I recently finished my Art Ark Mission that I will be putting on my whiteboard as a slide show in Second Life.
E. This all points to my research in Digital Ethnography and I completed 4 major related studies.
Interested in virtual space of your own? Check out the properties that the NMC Virtual Worlds Campus has to offer.