Second class: first lecture

For our second class in SL we arranged chairs in a semi-circle upstairs, with two chairs for the lecturers in front. This tutorial style layout is sufficiently casual to encourage interaction and allows everyone to see each other. I found it more comfortable than the more scattered seating we had at the first class because I could see all the participants easily.

Some of this issues that arose are difficult to know how to address.

One of the participants seemed unable to sit down, either on a chair or the ground. As a result she spent much of the class moving around and I found it quite distracting. Perhaps it is because we are new to delivering class in SL but I find it is easy to become distracted and loose concentration. For instance, at one point an unknown avatar flew past the building and sent me an IM apologising for the interruption. Reading the IM distracted me somewhat but feeling the necessity to reply increased the feeling.

Another participant lost voice about ten minutes into the class and after trying to relog a few times decided there was no point in continuing. Arising from that Claudia suggested later that we have a contingency plan in place in the event that SL goes down altogether. So, perhaps we tell the class in advance that we will meet in a discussion board in Webcourses should that happen. At least that allows a structured closing of the session.

Many of the participants are still having trouble with their voice activation. Some are unable to speak although they can hear, while others seem restricted to a very low volume. Another participant was experiencing distortion in her sound reception. The advice we have been giving is for them to log in between class times and try to resolve these issues themselves.

The main part of the class consisted of a prepared lecture which I delivered to the group. Following the lecture Claudia facilitated a question and answer session. Firstly, I didn't enjoy the experience of delivering the lecture. Not being able to see the class's response makes the delivery feel sterile. It is impossible to adjust either the content or pace without that feedback. Listening to the lecture is probably not very stimulating either, at least on the evidence of the feedback, or lack of it. There were no questions following it and Claudia had to go around the class one by one asking for comment, which mostly consisted of general agreement with the content. It is a moot point as to whether this lack of participation was as a result of the poor content of the talk or due to the restraints of SL. In either case, a more participative approach seems to be called for in future. We will consider whether posting a podcast in advance and structuring the class around a discussion opportunity might not be more conducive to participation in the future.