vortiCISM - Recently Updated Pages

Course feedback 2009

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:32:26 CDT

I'd like to get your views on this course. This is important not only because the Faculty requires us to collect students' views on each module but also because your views are often pivotal in helping future cohorts of students decide whether they wish to take the module themselves. Did you enjoy the module? Do you feel you learned something useful from taking it? Would you recommend it as an option to next year's students? and did I do well enough in generating helpful documentation and resources for it on the module web sites? Many thanks for your feedback! Chris

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<--- enter your feedback below, anonymously if you wish, leaving a blank line between each entry --->
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Hello Chris,

I enjoyed the module very much. I did not have any previous experience of using Second Life, but now I feel confident of building objects. I would definitely recommend this module to next year's students, it is one of the best I have taken. Your documentation was extremely helpful and the resources on the web sites were excellent. Thank you very much for being a brilliant lecturer.

Mark Cleverley (K0507854)

FAQs

cshutchison — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 04:07:14 CST

How to use the FAQsPlease read the following before editing this page:

If you have a general question about this course or about the subject matter, and you think that posting the question and getting an answer would be helpful to your fellow students, post it below (see the example first question).
If someone has posted a question, and you believe that you have the answer, post your answer in response to the question (see the example answer below).
If someone has answered a question, but you believe that you have further helpful information that you'd wish to share with others, edit the answer or add it to the answer.
If you want to discuss either a question or its answer before posting it here, go to the bottom of this page and start a new discussion thread.
If you have a query relating to some specific page of this wiki or some very specific part of the course, and you're not sure whether it's significant enough to post here as a FAQ, first consider posting it as a new discussion thread on the relevant page.

Q:
A:

Reviews

cshutchison — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 04:05:03 CST

[This is a model of a resource review page. This page will be replaced by a directory page as soon as the number of reviews warrants it. In the meanwhile, this remains as a dummy page, exemplifying the format of reviews I'd expect to see in this section. To create your own resource review, click 'Add page' in the sidebar and from the 'Use template' menu select 'Resource review'.]
Name: The Palaeozoic Museum

Location (e.g. URL): Second Life, Babbage Square (199,178,112)

Description: Give a detailed description of the resource, adding any additional screenshots (see bottom of this page) that you consider helpful in illustrating this resource.

Related: Compile a list of related resources. E.g. similar museums in Second Life, and / or related web sites, etc.

Review: Your review / assessment will go here. Write a personal assessment of the resource (e.g. in the style of an Amazon review).

Rating (out of 10): 8

Guidance on editing this template. Use this template when you want to use photos and text to tell your story. Click EasyEdit, then highlight this text with your cursor and type over it with your own words: You can write as much as you want!

The above sample photo is easy to replace with one of your own: Click the EasyEdit button, highlight the placeholder image at left and hit "delete." Then click the "image" button in the toolbar and use the "browse" button to find the image you want to insert from your computer. It's that easy.

The text can be wrapped around your image, or you can have the text start below the photo. You can also move the photo to the right side of the page. See your choices for photo and text placement by clickin on the photo with your mouse and then clicking "image" on the toolbar.

You can also change the size of your photo by clicking on it once to highlight it, then by clicking the "plus" or "minus" sign in the "Edit Image" toolbox. When you're all done, save your page.

vortiCISM!

cshutchison — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:03:02 CST

Welcome to the vortiCISM wiki

What is 'vortiCISM'? a rather dreadful acronym for "virtual opportunities for research and teaching in (the faculty of) Computing, Information Systems, and Mathematics".

Notice to students: this wiki complements, and should be used in tandem with, the vortiCISM blog and the Desktop VR teaching hub for the Level 6 Virtual Reality module in Faculty of Computing, Information Systems, and Mathematics of Kingston University.

This is how we shall use the three web sites: the Desktop VR blog will contain all the core information, including the syllabus and non-SL learning materials, relating to the course; the vortiCISM blog documents the Faculty's and the university's endeavours in creating a teaching and learning environment in Second Life; and this wiki? this is YOUR area! We have here the opportunity for YOU to participate in the construction of an encyclopedic resource of valuable information relating to Second Life both in general and specifically as a platform for learning. I would ask you to add, in the categories below, your own reviews of locations of interest, of other university and college presences, of gadgets you have tried, etc.

Course feedback 2008

cshutchison — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:09:44 CST

I'd like to get your views on this course. This is important not only because the Faculty requires us to collect students' views on each module but also because your views are often pivotal in helping future cohorts of students decide whether they wish to take the module themselves.

Did you enjoy the module? Do you feel you learned something useful from taking it? Would you recommend it as an option to next year's students? and did I do well enough in generating helpful documentation and resources for it on the module web sites?

Many thanks for your feedback!

Chris

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<--- enter your feedback below, anonymously if you wish, leaving a blank line between each entry --->

I enjoyed this module, and I think it would appeal to anyone with an interest not just in Virtual Reality but in 3D modelling and the 'meta' use of computer technology and how it relates to the wider human experience. The classwork was varied and enjoyable, and it was great to have the freedom to devise an individual assignment.

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The whole module was enjoyable, it was one of my best modules in the uni 3 yrs. Its given me a key interest in modelling in SL. The only downside of the module was that documentation was not clear enough, which didnt help the students much in the Assignment documentation.

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Did you enjoy the module?

Yes, I found the module very enjoyable. I joined the module originally not really knowing what to expect, and I initiallypanickedwhen I saw what kind of things we were expected to do in Second Life (having no previous knowledge of how to use Second Life). By the end of the course I felt confident about using different kinds of VR (for example panoramic photo tours), including Second Life!

Do you feel you learned something useful from taking it?

I learnt a great deal about Second Life, starting from not knowing how to walk or fly to knowing how to construct and use all kinds of objects, such as skins, buildings, and vehicles! I also learnt how to construct virtual tours through the use of panoramic photos, and programs previously unknown to me like Hugin. I feel both are useful experiences and may be used in the future!

Would you recommend it as an option to next year's students?

I would. Not just because it has been a module marked entirely on coursework, but because it strongly encourages a lot ofcreativity from the students, which I feel is unique in a course such as Computing. It also opens peoples eyes to the various types or VR technologies out there (so don't panic if you take this module without knowing how to use second life! There are other technologies out there!!!)which was a fun experience!

Did I do well enough in generating helpful documentation and resources for it on the module web sites?

There was a lot of helpful documentation on the module websites which helped with areas like the theory behind using VR, down to some helpful Second Life tutorials and the use of Panoramic photos and how to display a tour on a webpage. All of these was amazing and very helpful! The onlycriticismI have for the documentation made of available on the module web sites, was the lack of a document outlining an example of how to present thecoursework'sdocumentation (for example what chapters would be recommended for being put in the coursework write up; Analysis? User Guide?) of course this couldn't really include how many marks will be allocated to each chapter since each project can be quite different, and the chapters used will be different depending on what the project is. However, such a document would be useful to those planning their coursework write up!

Thanks for delivering such an engaging module!

Faye Doherty (K0641046)

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Hello Chris,
The module was very interesting, i feel that ive learned and had fun the same time with SL. The structure of the module and lectures were very helpfull thats why i believe everyone enjoyed it as much as i did. I will definetly recommend this module to future students.

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Did you enjoy the module?

Yes! The virtual reality module was very exciting and useful to take. It showed me an overview of what could actually be done in the second life platform.

do you feel you've learned useful knowledge and skills from taking the module?

Yes ive learnt various new techniques on how to implmenet a model to make it look like a perfect 3D model. The skills developed during the module enabled me to design models which i thought may be impossible or very hard to do. The lecturer helped us to look at things from a different perspective.

Was the module well enough documented?

The module was outlined very well and documented perfectly.

would you recommend this module to future students?

Yes, diffenately! I would consider taking this module again only if i had the option to do so :)

do you have any negative or critical remarks about the module?

No.

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I chose the Virtual Reality course because it sounded interesting from reading the module specification and I felt it would be an enjoyable subject to learn. I found the lab sessions really interesting every week we would be learning something new so it kept me motivated. Before I had no experience with Second Life I had heard of it from people I know and from the Internet but I never actually used the program before. It was fascinating using the software and trying to get to grips with all the tools needed to do modelling in Second Life. The course isn't without it's drawbacks firstly I found the lab machines just wasn't capable of handling the Second Life program which more often than not would lead to the software crashing and then having to reboot the computer again. Secondly I found the software to be very unresponsive at times I would want to do a simple operation and all of a sudden my vehicle makes the change only for it to be the wrong one which can be fraustrating in my opinion. All in all I have really enjoyed the VR module and will be recommending this to people I know.

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From my experience on this module, i've found it both enjoyable and interesting. The concepts of Virtual Reality, and 3-Dimensional modelling was very fascinating, and provided me with lots of new interesting ideas and helped me to better understand the whole concept of Virtual Reality in greater detail. All the teaching sessions were interesting and varied, and provided good insight into the different aspects of virtual reality, from 3D panorama's to Virtual Worlds, and if I had the chance, I would repeat the module again. The only problem i found was that when using some of the software, the universities computers did not have the specifications to be able to run the software correctly, and found myself frustrated by this siginificantly small problem. However this having been said, the content and work was really enjoyable and the module was worth taking, and I would definately recommend it to others in the future.

Karel McGrail K0317211

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Hi Chris

I must say that I really enjoyed the module as i had absolutey no idea abot the second life and a little knowledge bout VR, this module really helped me out to learned new skills and improve my knowledge, %100 positive feedback about the module and thak you very much.

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Hello Chris

I found the VR module to be quite interesting and very enjoyable. As my other modules and FYP was based around virtual reality I believe taking this module was a great asset. I must agree with my fellow student by adding that the module and assignment documentation was not clear enough. Maybe this is something you can look for future reference. Once again, it was a pleasure being on that module.

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Hi Chris

I really enjoyd the module, it was a new learning experience as it was very different to other modules I have taken in the past. At the beginning of the course, I had no knowledge on Second life at all, and by the end of the moduleI had gained new skills and knowledge. The work in general was very interesting, tutorials were made easy and although I wasn't very good with the designing, it was a good learning experience.

I would definitely reccomend this module to those who have an eye for designing.

-K0410980

The Syllabus

cshutchison — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:09:28 CDT

You'll find the syllabus for this course at the end of this link:

» http://desktopvr.wordpress.com/about/course-structure/

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See also: Announcements | Assignments | Study Guides

Announcements

wetpaint — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 08:22:26 CST

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