I’ve been inspired by Scott Lockman to head back into Second Life to do some recording (and he appreciated it!). Fact is, some days I don’t want to worry about fixing my hair and setting up my background for some talking head video, but I do want students to hear me in a not-so-disembodied way. Also, as I note the perpetuation of text communication on the web, I want to mitigate that in my own work despite text being my preferred form.
Or maybe I want to mitigate it because text is my preferred form, along the lines of using those non-preferred learning styles in order to strengthen them. And when I participate like I have been in the creative insanity of ds106, I start to think more in terms of visuals, video and audio.
I tried a Blabber for my first week of class. It was problematic in Moodle, and some people couldn’t see it when I posted it at my ds106 Posterous, but here goes (it’s here if it doesn’t embed properly):
http://blabberize.com/swf/blabberembedp.swf
Since it couldn’t be seen by all and seemed so hard to load, I won’t do it again.
But when I saw Scott in Second Life, I gave it a try for a couple of subjects, filming in his space in Corona Cay.
Note: both of these are rather unpopular takes on the subject.
| Hi and a defense of lecturing
Not popular to defend lecturing, I know, but it’s my preferred learning style, and the popularity of online lecture video attests to its appeal. [qt:https://lisahistory.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/DefenseLectureSLsm.mov 300 301] |
Into the Woods
This one relates to my previous post on how it’s scarier out there than we think.
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Now you know why I love teaching in Second Life, Lisa. Avatar is dressed to kill and I’m in jammies 😉 Everyone can raid the fridge, put a load in the washer, or ice a cake during break.
Long live Second Life!
Thanks for paying attention to and thinking about my recent explorations into the woods.
I love the way you’ve riffed on the idea of using one’s avatar to present “the lecture.” Machinima, it seems to me, offers such creative and engaging ways for the lecturer to present his/her message. But it does take work and imagination. Being able to communicate that message in a compelling and interesting manner doesn’t hurt either
And then one wonders what students will make of being lectured to by a cartoon character.
I’d like to encourage you to continue exploring this territory of avatar mediated lecture (it’s not unlike the original premise of The Summer of Oblivion, after all). Please, let me know if there’s anything I can to be a part of it or help make it happen.
In Fall of 2010 I saw Bryan Alexander lecture in Second Life for the NMC Symposium for the Future. Although the archive is here, they didn’t record the actual session on video. But his avatar was not at all static – the gestures and the way he looked around was engaging, and as you know the voice is very important. I was reminded of this watching your video in Second Life, because you also use gesture as well as voice to create a character that’s talking to you, not just talking. Tell me about the gestures. Are they natural to the avatar or are you creating them? I noticed mine had fewer when I sat down, but I didn’t add any manually — I’d need a tutorial some kind on how to create naturalistic gestures for an avatar to make it more animated.
Those are a couple of useful observations Lisa. As for the movement you see, it’s not something I’m consciously working on. I’ve fitted my avatar out with an Animation Override (AO) that I purchased through the SL Marketplace. These AOs usually come with a HUD (Heads Up Display) which allows you to shuffle through various sitting, standing and walking animations. The standing animation will shuffle through the several assigned animations (these are included with the AO you purchase).
The same occurs when I’m seated, there are four or five animations that get shuffled through.
There’s much more to it than that. There is also the ability for a user to carefully script out the sequence of movements. It really can become an elaborate form of puppeteering if one is so inclined.
The point you raise about the expressive use of voice is also crucial. Again, this is something I don’t give much though to. Over the years of working in radio and in doing a podcast, a style has emerged that has a conversational sound to it. At least that’s what I’m told from time to time by those who’ve taken the time to listen. When I think it about it and try to analyze it, I’d attribute this to the pauses and inflection that I use.
I certainly agree with the thrust of your point that one when one sounds to be talking in a conversational manner it has the potential to me more engaging than one is reading from a script or is does not sound relaxed.
As I mentioned on a recent Totally Fun and Good podcast, this is what blew me away the most when I watched Bryan Alexandar speak at UMW a few months back. This was my first time to watch or listen to him. Though he addressed a large audience, he gentle and relaxed delivery combined with the way he responded to audience members was at the same time both soothing and riveting. Soothing might be the most accurate descriptor but it’s the best my tired mind could come up with.
As for what you’re doing with your voice, you totally sold it as the princess on the blabber video you made. That was brilliant. Your students are fortunate to have a teacher so willing to explore these various forms of lecturing.
Wow, thanks. I have spent very little time in SL. I have no land, and have never gotten over some of my early embarrassing experiences. I have never built anything. I have only used audio once before making these clips, in Cris Crissman’s Bookhenge. I hope I can continue hanging at your place?
So this all has me thinking about things like Voki and Xtranormal and how I could somehow play historical characters, having shied away from doing so f2f.
And, as I shop for $0 animation overrides in SL Marketplace, I wonder why I can’t buy an AO for my RL self so I can remember to smile every few seconds…much food for thought….