Field experience so far

This is about the field experience we have had so far.

So far we have worked with two main groups. The first group was in the Western suburbs and consisted of kids who had dropped out of high school. When we told them we would be working in Second Life, a few of the kids were quite excited, mainly at the prospect of making money.

One pattern was immediately clear, most of the guys wanted to belt around shooting each other, whereas the girls in the class spent much of their time making their avatars look prettier. Most of the students responded very well to us being their, and appreciated it, but then started to lose interest due to the technical hitches we were having. It will be good to return there next year now we have the full mobile lab ready.

The second Northern school we have had a slightly more positive experience which is ongoing at the moment. Many of the kids there are well versed in games like World of Warcraft and Halo, and one had even been in Second Life before. The immediate level of skill shown by these kids (who are turning up voluntarily in their lunchtimes). A couple in particular, a girl and a buy(who have a temperamental relationship) have both shown a keen interest, they are both smart, but I believe they also possibly come because it gives them a way to socialise.

I am getting along very well with all of the students, the environment at the north school is fantastic, with supportive staff and a creative educational culture which has the kids wanting to learn. It has certainly changed my perception of public schools. The future projects we have planned for this Northern school included a machinima theatre and production studio, as well as working on the Future Melbourne project building what they would like to see as part of a Future Melbourne. The students are excited about this, and we will be doing a two week intensive shortly during which we will begin these activities. The kids attitude towards the research aspect of what we do seems to be fairly casual, I think most don’t really care how things get to them, just that they do, and a few consider us to be ‘the guys from Second Life’ which although inaccurate is not such a bad thing.

More to come shortly, I have a lot to catch up on now I can log in.