VWEC Second Life Student Challenge: Serious Simulations in the Metaverse

 

 

 

The Fall 2023 Student Challenge was a grand success and we now open:

 Spring 2024 VWEC Second Life Student Challenge

– Serious Simulations in the Metaverse!

 

 

Form to participate:  Click here

Similar to a programming challenge (aka Hack-a-thon), we hope this building challenge will give you one more Virtual World tool to engage your students with your content.

This event will be open-ended enough to let you fit it into your content, but will include a rubric to inform your students with best practices for building and teaching in Second Life.

It will run for 9 weeks, beginning on Feb 10th, will be judged on our rubric, require a presentation and it will have VW prizes!

Builder’s Brewery will be assisting with basic building lessons, and we have an area where students can build, if needed.

 

Key Dates:
  • February 10th– Kick-off event for instructors and student teams. Tour building site, get questions answered
  • February 11th – Challenge begins.
  • April 25th – Presentations
  • April 27th –Awards

 

The goal for this first Challenge is that students have a supportive opportunity to use a Virtual World to create a build while they find deeper understanding of the content they are learning.

 

We hope you will be a part of this exciting Second Life Student Challenge!

VWEC Second Life Student Challenge:

Serious Simulations in the Metaverse

 

Programming challenges (aka Hack-a-thons) are a popular way to quickly create content and applications in the fast-paced world of technology innovation. These events are typically run through academic institutions or high visibility technology companies like Google and Meta.

These events usually run between 36 hours and 1 week, with most around 36 or 48 continuous hours. The final products of these challenges are typically prototypes that the schools or companies can use as proof of concept which may be taken up for fleshing-out later on.

 VWEC was approached to sponsor such a challenge but instead of being a continuous number of hours, it will run for 2 months, which would allow participants who are new to Second Life enough time to gain proficiency with the Second Life interface, building, and scripting.

 This annual challenge itself will be centered around educational institutions that maintain a presence in Second Life. They can open space on their regions for students to build an educational experience or they can use the area that Linden Lab has given VWEC for the purpose of allowing student teams to build these experiences. It will be somewhat open ended to support any educational content as long it addresses the judging criteria.

The Spring Challenge will start Feb 10th, 2024 and continue until April 25th. On Feb 11th, there will be a kick-off event for instructors and student teams where the building site will be toured and questions can be addressed. On April 25th, there will be an inworld event where students present their entries addressing the criteria and qualified judges will grade each experience and rate them based on a preset rubric provided. The goal for this first Challenge is that students have a supportive opportunity to use a Virtual World to create a build while they find deeper understanding of the content they are learning.

 Each institution is encouraged to form teams of students, each of which will design and implement the educational experience for the competition. We are also working with Virtual Ability for courses and videos on how to address accessibility in Second Life and Builder’s Brewery for Absolute Beginner courses in February and an intermediate course on March 9th. We are working with both organizations to determine whether videos can be posted of the instructional events. In addition, a list of good examples of educational builds will be published so students/instructors can visit.

 

Who can participate:

  • Professors & Instructors with their class
  • Sponsor Professors/Instructors already in SL and interested students at their institutions. (Not necessary associated with a particular course at their institution)

 

The judging Criteria is based on a rubric where student teams can get between 1 and 5 points, 5 points being the highest.

  • VR Challenge RUBRIC:
  • Authenticity/ Accuracy of Content
  • Balanced Sides-without Bias
  • Accessible/ Aesthetic Appeal
  • Interaction and/or Immersion
  • Presentation

Awards/Prizes will be based on the points.

 

Prizes have been generously donated by New Media Arts and include:

  • 1st: 1 Year Premium Membership for school + $100.00 paid in Lindens:
  • 2nd: 1 Year Premium Membership for school + $50.00 paid in Lindens:
  • 3rd: 1 Year Premium Membership for school + $25.00 paid in Lindens
  • Most Authentic L$ 2,000 (Lindens)
  • Most Interactive L$ 2,000 (Lindens)
  • Best Presentation L$ 2,000 (Lindens)

 

Important Dates:
  • Registration: Opens January 22nd – Closes March 8th
  • Opening Event: February 10th
  • Closing Event: April 27th
  • Student Exhibits taken down: May 31, 2024

 

 Contact Information:

Discord Channel: VWEConsortium #vr-challenge: https://discord.gg/nvVdpCnC6E

Inworld Avatar Contacts:

Amvans lapis

Elli Pinion

Valibrarian Gregg

 

How to start

Please create a Second Life account by clicking the link provided by your teacher and following the instructions on the page.

Building platforms are 32 by 32 but may change depending on the number of registrations (prim limit is 500).

Check with your instructor about any missed events to view recordings, if available.

Dates

Landmarks

 

Good luck with the challenge!