One of my graduate courses required a group project as part of a block about the Learning Design Studio. Our project developed a Google Site for our work. This is a copy of my contributions to the group effort, reformatted for this website. The project starts here.
Activity flow for the Houston museum
This is a more detailed view of the storyboard for the Houston site.
| Sequence | Activity | Learner action | Reason for action | Flight plan | Virtual world | Virtual reality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Initiation | Enter learning room in (real) museum. Be given a "flight plan" and help with computer and virtual reality glasses. | Provide welcoming start, set expectations, address computer issues. | VR glasses provided | ||
| 2 | Review "flight plan" - physical paper book that outlines what's done in each block and how to use the hardware/software. | The "flight plan" is a booklet that they can take home. It is a give-away item that also helps share information with parents and others who are not computer-savvy, who are too young to participate online, or who are not present during the museum visit. | Welcome letter, anticipated reader, computer instructions, course overview | |||
| 3 | Enter Second Life. | Second Life is the virtual world that holds the three virtual museums and their virtual artifacts. | Property in virtual world with replicas of the 3 museums | |||
| 4 | Learn about consortia of aviation museums. | The brief overview provides context for the learner. They are physically sitting in Houston, but entering a virtual world that has virtual artifacts housed in three virtual museums. All museums have real, physical counterparts. | Museums are labelled and have other visual clues for the learner | |||
| 5 | Go to Houston museum in Second Life. | The real museum is in an older Art Deco building, and that underscores that the museum (and thus this course) is about the history of civil aviation, not military aviation. This is one of the museum's unique differences. | Very brief mention of historical importance of the museum building | |||
| 6 | Planes | Notice outside there are planespotters (like in real location). Learn about them. | This introduces the learner to a community of practice. It also provides a first link between the real physical world that they saw when entering the real building, and the virtual world. And it provides sources of information they can go to later for further learning opportunities. | Links to plane-spotters website; calendar with information about the monthly activities hosted by the museum. | Museum exterior should show people outside, watching planes take off and land from the airport next door. | |
| 7 | Enter inside the SL Houston museum. | navigation | The virtual-world museum should have 2 parts for these activities: A hanger for the planes, and a lobby area with displays to enter the other activities. | |||
| 8 | Go through the lobby to the hanger. | navigation | ||||
| 9 | Learn that there are types of planes for different purposes, and these types are in the sister museums, too. | This introduces the first learning objective. It provides a look at plane types: How they have evolved historically to solve different problems, and how (as types) they are linked to planes all over the world. This global perspective is important for one of the overall themes. | Booklet shows types of planes and gives a basic identification of the related principles (lift, gravity, thrust, and drag). There is an alternate (non-computer) activity for children who are not old enough to use the computer. | The hanger in the virtual world holds 4 planes: 1942 Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar; 1958 Sikorsky helicopter; the nose and fuselage of a 1950s-era Douglas DC-6; and a Hawker twin-engine business jet. Each plane is "clickable" so that the learner can enter a virtual reality experience for each clicked plane. | ||
| 10 | Click planes to view virtual reality videos of each plane. Notice that some information about the planes are in the "flight plan". | This is a learning by doing exercise. The virtual reality experience allows the learner to sit inside the planes, walk through them, and see the navigation panels. Information in the booklet provides further historical information and helps supplement/mitigate for computer issues. | Booklet contains information about the main parts of a plane and some of the items on the control panel. | There are 4 virtual reality experiences -- one for each plane. | ||
| 11 | Leave the hanger and go back to the lobby. | navigation | ||||
| 12 | Look at a display about time and communication. | navigation | Lobby has 3 displays (like bulletin boards). One is for the time zone module, one for the phonetic alphabet module, and one for more information. Each is "clickable" to navigate to the clicked topic. | |||
| 13 | Time | Click the display about time. | navigation | The time display holds three files: the virtual reality globe with voiceover; the 2D image of a time zone map; and a self-assessment. | ||
| 14 | Click to explore virtual globe while listening to information about time zones. | Virtual globe that you can hold in your hand, spin, and rotate; voiceover that provides information | ||||
| 15 | Return to 2D image of time zones. Listen to information about Zulu time. Notice that same info is in "flight plan" to help with figuring out differences in zones, along with math instructions. | Time zone map with addition and subtraction prompts and hints. | The time zone map has a voiceover describing the reasons for Zulu time. | |||
| 16 | Answer questions about time zones online. | This is to practice what has been learned and to apply new knowledge to situations. | The questions are also in the flight plan. | This is a self-assessment, with multiple-choice questons that provide additional information after each right or wrong answer. | ||
| 17 | After the last question, user is asked to see if the other museums are open. They are provided with a link that opens a webcam view of the real museums in Nagoya and London. | This emphasizes the global nature of the museum consortium, and also provides evidence of time zones. | This is a webpage that has 2 live streams from webcams in the sister museums, and a message board. | |||
| 18 | Type message on message board on that page. | This emphasizes the global nature of flight and of the museum consortium in Second Life. | ||||
| 19 | Click link back to lobby display about time and communication. | navigation | ||||
| 20 | Communication | Click the display about communication. | navigation | |||
| 21 | 1. Listen to a recording of someone talking with spelling letters. 2. Learn that this is a common problem, and the phonetic alphabet makes it easier. 3. Listen to recordings of pilots talking to each other, using the phonetic alphabet. | This lets the learner experience the problem first-hand, so they can better understand the solution. | The communication display holds three files: recording of spelling words; recording of pilots talking to each other using the phonetic alphabet; and a chart of the NATO phonetic alphabet. | |||
| 22 | View a chart of the NATO phonetic alphabet. Notice that the same chart is in the "flight plan". | NATO phonetic alphabet is in the flight plan as well. | ||||
| 23 | Tell someone next to you: How do you spell your name in the phonetic alphabet? | This is to give hands-on practice with new knowledge and to extend the boundaries of the virtual activities back out to the real world. | ||||
| 24 | When finished, be shown this for thought: The Japanese have a different phonetic alphabet. Can you guess why? | This activity encourages reflection and continues the theme of common global problems that have been solved in aviation history. | ||||
| 25 | Post-course | Click the display about more information. | navigation | |||
| 26 | Learn about other places in Houston and Texas for more aviation-related learning opportunities. Note that these are also in the "flight plan". | This continues to introduce the learner to communities of practice, and also expands the understanding of aviation to include military aviation, NASA, and more. | List of additional resources, places to visit, and communities. | |||
| 27 | Get a virtual badge. | This is a sign-up activity, with the badge or badge instructions sent by email. | Instructions about virtual badge in case this is needed once the learner returns home. | When the learner clicks a link to request a virtual badge, it opens a museum-identified email form that is outside the virtual world. The form is completed to get a badge. | ||
| 28 | Learn about related physical badges from the Girl Scouts of America. | This provides a venue for more in-depth learning, and also allows the learner to bring in her own peers into the community. | Additional information is in the flight plan. |
Next: Prototype