Description of two Educational Tools for Second Life:
Memorize Categorize

Akemi MochizukiDraceina Pinion (S.L)

Memorize - Categorize

IntroductionHow does the tool look?How do they work?Conclusions

Introduction

These slides describe two educational tools designed to be used in Second Life and created by Akemi Mochizuki (avatar name: Draceina Pinion)Memorize and Categorize

How does the tool look?

Memorize is composed by boxes which display choices and a sphere which displays a question.

How does the tool look?

In this example Memorize is used to practice Spanish words.

Questions and answers can be written and edited by the user (teacher) in the notecard 'memory' in the content tab of Memorize.

(mother) is the answer and una madre is the question.

Click on the right side of the object (highlighted in pink in the picture). The dialog will appear in a blue window.

To reset the tool click on the left side of the object (highlighted in white in the picture).

The color of the floating text can be changed.

How do they work?

When Memorize is used in continuous mode, the user types the answer in local chat. In this case the question is una gata (above the circle on the right). The answer (the English translation) is "female cat"

How do they work?

How does the tool look?

Categorize is composed of a board with words (white, on the left) and a list of categories (floating text)

How does the tool look?

Categories and items can be written and edited in the notecard 'category' in the content tab of the Categorize Tool.

In this case, (fruit) is one category, and 'apple', 'lemon' and'orange' are items.

This is unique to Categorize.Click on the triangular prism in the middle and type the item, the @ sign and the category to which the item belongs. Example: 'apple@fruit'' r '

Categorize will answer: "Good job"Everyone can use this.

How do they work?

How do they work?

How do they work?

The teacher can edit some settings to adapt the tools to different situations: class, group exercise, homework, testing.The following settings are common to both tools.

Continuous:Only the owner can use the tool. Questions are continuously displayed.

not continuous:In this mode anyone can use the tool. To start, the user (student) must click on the sphere. A question will appear and only the avatar who touched the sphere can answer it. To make the tool show the next question, the student must touch it again.

all play: Anyone can answer the question. Questions are continuously displayed.

small letter: The tool will ignore case. (small or capital)

How do they work?

First three: The tool recognizes the right answer by the first three letters written in local chat. ("fem" for female cat. The complete answer appears.) This saves time.

No max:The owner can set the maximum number of attempts to answer the question and if the tool will display the correct answer or not.

How do they work?

Memorize and Categorize answer "Good job" when the answer is correct and "No!!!" if the answer is incorrect.

When the answer is incorrect and 'teach' mode is on, the tool answers:

Memorize Answer = female cat

Categorize Category = animal

How do they work?

Other settings:

data:This is unique to Memorize. The owner can make Memorize display all the items (questions and answers). The items will be shown in the same order in which they appear in the notecard. Students would see the words that have the same meaning in different languages.

data write:This is unique to Categorize. With this setting the tool can display the correct answer.

The student has to touch the center prism and type one of the items written on the panel like 'apple@3' or 'apple@fruit'. If it is correct the tool answers: 'good job' and otherwise the tool will show the correct category.

How do they work?

The owner (teacher) can change some parameters by editing the notecard reply that appears on the image. They can change: the answers that the tool gives to the users when he writes the correct answer or a wrong answer.

How long the tool will wait for an answer.

How do they work?

Conclusions

Memorize and Categorize are activities involved in the learning process. The tools here presented allow to practice both activities in Second Life. Memorize can be used for learning or teaching subjects where memorization is required (languages, history). Categorize is suitable for learning to group items or concepts into the categories proposed. These tools can be used by teachers in a classroom setting, or prepared as homework for the studentsBoth, Memorize and Categorize allow to test the student in an engaging way.

Conclusions

The most important advantage of these tools is that users can adapt the Memorize and Categorize to their needs. Users can easily and intuitively edit the content of the notecards thus changing the subject, difficulty, topic.To do this, they must edit the tool and select the content tab. There are 2 notecards in it. In Memorize there are 'memory' and 'reply'. In Category there are 'category' and 'reply'.In 'memory', answers are written in brackets and under them are written questions.In 'category', categories are written in brackets and under them questions are written.

If you are interested in these or other educational tools, please contact Draceina Pinion in Second Life. I will give you a document with instructions on how to use them and I will support you if you have any doubt.

Special Thanks

Gloria Gmez-Diago and Ramiro Serrano Garca.