Maya Mythology Triathlon Playful Role-Play Learning in 3D VWs Presentation for the University of the West of England (UWE), MA in Education in Virtual Worlds

1. Maya Mythology Triathlon
Playful Role-Play Learning in 3D VWs
Stylianos Mystakidis
UWE MAEVW

2. UW Maya Island

3. Learning Needs
• Cross-generational education about historical and
traditional aspects of culture for Native
Americans
• Interconnectedness of cultures across the
Americas
• Revitalization of traditional cultures, including
languages
• Distributed community participation in language
revitalization (e.g. tribal council and decision-
making)
• Civic or linguistic engagement

4. Learning Outcomes
• Opportunity: final year of the 5126-year cycle
of the Maya Long Count (2012)
• Virtual location to visit to learn more about
this fascinating civilization
• Focus: Authenticity, Accessibility, Partnerships
• Value: Community, Events, Training, Academic
Collaboration, Research, OER production

5. Maya Mythology
Maya Medicine
Explorer’s Cove
Maya Science

6. Second Life Destination Guide

7. Best Educational Practice in VWs & Best
Educational Machinima Awards VWBPE 2012

9. Maya Highland Village

10. Maya Highland Village
• Cultural artifacts & traditional architecture
• Ancient Maya music instruments
• Pottery making
• Gardening
• Thunder throwing game (Maize Myth)

11. Maya Creation Cave

12. Maya Creation Cave
• Artistic visualization of Maya Poem
• Creation myth exhibits
– Animals
– Wooden men
– Mud men
• Information stations

13. Maya Glyph Game

14. Maya Ball Game

15. Maya Ball Game
• Learning focus:
– Maya Ball Game
– Hero Twins story
• Game Player Role Play
• Story-driven
• “The Call to Action”
• Surprise
• Levels

16. The Bump: Xibalba Challenge

17. Xibalba: Experiencing Mayan Hell

18. 3D Virtual Immersive Learning
Environments Instructional Strategies
• Socio-constructivist instructional methods
• Inquiry-based learning (Ketelhut & Nelson, 2010)
• Situated and experiential learning (Dawley &
Dede, 2013; Falconer, 2013)
• Simulated learning (Falconer & Frutos-Perez,
2009)
• Game-based learning experiences (Hill &
Mystakidis, 2012)
• Communities of Practice (Wenger, 1991)

19. Learning Strategy
• Learning to know (knowledge)
• Learning to be (appearance,
behavior)
• Learning to do (skills, action)
Aldridge, 2005

20. Flow Theory (Csikszentmihalyi)

21. Games vs Play vs Gamification

22. Alignment
Principles
Archetypes
Sensibilities
3DLE Architecture
Macrostructures

23. Kapp, O’Driscoll, 2010
The Sense of Self
The Death of Distance
The Power of Presence
The Sense of Space
The Capability to Co-Create
The Pervasiveness of Practice
The Enrichment of Experience
Virtual Worlds Sensibilities

24. Blended Taxonomy of Learning Domains

25. Storytelling Styles
Ann Cudworth, Virtual Worlds Design, 2014

26. Smart Learning in 3D
1 Analyze
Objectives
• Audience
• Domain
• Level
2 Design
Experience
• Activities
• Interactions
• Engagement
3 Develop
Environment
• Immersion
• Ambience
• Context
Mystakidis, 2012

27. Design Rationale
• Social Immersion in Maya Civilization
(Highland Village)
• Metaphors (Creation Cave)
• Simulation (Village, Ball Game Stadium)
• Game-based learning (Glyph Game)
• Role Play (Maya Ball Game)
• Environments Creation NPIRL (Xibalba)

28. Benefits of 3d Virtual Worlds
• Mythology Visualization, Metaphors
• Engagement through Story
• Immersion feedback: “I feel hot!”
• Multiple modes of experience/learning
• Global Open Educational Resource
• Virtual field trips (over 5,000 visits)
• Networking without Frontiers (Co-Presence)

29. Maya Island Society
http://uwmaya.wordpress.com/