Monday, December 18, 2006

Review #1: Cyber One: Law in the Court of Public Opinion, 5 Stars

Review #1: Cyber One: Law in the Court of Public Opinion, 5 Stars


We've all heard about the Second Life craze. Educators are running around sporting purple mohawks and Prada Bling...what IS this world coming to...?

When I signed up a few months back, I was frustrated because Second Life seemed like a huge money scam to me. Everyone charged for cool clothes, houses, land, and objects. I can't afford to buy that stuff in REAL life - I sure wasn't going to shell out precious clams for my avatar to buy it.

Then, in November, I stumbled upon the CyberOne: Law in the Court of Public Opinion project at the Harvard School of Law. Rebecca Nesson and her father, Professor Charles Nesson, and Gene Koo put together a dynamite semester of lectures, casts, and activities in Second Life. And...most importantly, anyone could access these materials...for free!!!!

They just finished the maiden voyage in early December, and I am dedicating my first post to them. So....how did they make out on the scale of proftitudinal justice? Well, by gosh...it's Harvard. They got 5 stars!

No, really. They deserved them, and here is why:

Is the website easy to navigate? Will students be able to work independently?

Yes! The main blog is easy to navigate. If you are a Harvard Law student, an Extension School student, or an At-Large participant (um, that's me), you know exactly where to go and what to do. I worked independently, and I didn't need help finding my way around.

Is the content easy to access? Is the content organized? Do the links work? Can I hear the podcasts and/or see the video podcasts?

The folks at Harvard put together a dynamite site. The videos are simply incredible! The trailer, for example, shows Charlie Nesson in Real Life (RL) and in Second Life (SL). In SL, he meets up with his daughter, Becca. She transforms into a butterfly to demonstrate that everything and anything is possible in SL. There is also a wonderful video tutorial put together by Rodica Buzescu. It is really easy to follow, and helps everyone get started in SL. I subscribed to the content through the free Democracy Player. The readings are all posted on the syllabus, as well. So, there is no need to dig out your library card. Finally, assignments, announcements, and everything you need is clearly posted.

Can a non-registered student or professor use the content without taking the course?

Yes. The whole point of the course is to share material through open access means. In fact, they write quite a bit about how others can share, modify, and distribute the materials. For example, I intend to use Rodica's tutorial for my class in the Spring. Everything is easy to find, and the links are easy to share. So, I added a whole CyberOne section to my wiki on Second Life.

Is there enough content, and, if not, are there links to more information?

I don't know if there is enough information to teach law. I am not qualified to assess that aspect, but, from my perspective, there are a lot of great reading assignments. For example, I will be asking my students to read John Perry Barlow's, A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace. I found that on the syllabus. The course seems content-rich; there are plenty of resources in RL and in SL. Furthermore, since both Charlie and Becca are Harvard educated lawyers, my guess is that the content is complete. Maybe someone with a background in law can comment?

Critic's Choice (this is where I get to be creative).

I am glad that I only allowed myself one star for this category. If I had more, I would give them 10 more for coolness and 15 more for simple brilliance. Really. When I think of Harvard Law school, I do not necessarily think of cool and innovative stuff like CyberOne. Perhaps we can expect it from the Extension School (leading the way in open access Ivy League educational goodness). In watching Charlie Nesson, I can sense his passion for teaching and learning. In one video podcast, he talks about reading student papers. He is kind, genuine, and, most importantly, he uses the paper as feedback for his lectures on argumentation (sorry, it had a special name...is there such a thing as empathic argument?). So, he revisits those points. I am impressed and captivated by this technique. How many professors blame students (entirely) for their inability to grasp a concept? He uses their work to assess their ability to grasp his presentation of the content. Very cool, indeed.

Further, Becca is just cool. If I lived in MA, I would soooooo want to be her best friend. Clearly, she inherited her father's passion, and she glows when she talks about this project (yeah; that is a cheesy description, but I don't know how else to say it...she really glows). I am motivated by her attitude. She is also very good about giving credit to the (many) people who helped put the class together. Those rumors about Harvard people being stuffy, competitive, and out of touch are wrong. If these two people are any reflection of the whole, Harvard is full of creative, energetic, fair, and passionate educators.

So, yeah, it got 5 stars.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the post it was informative, to me.

As a new Second Life user who is wondering if any 'real' teaching applications have been used yet, this Blog was very informative.

I can't wait to check out the links that you posted... I'm hoping that maybe some of the content is still up in Second life and I can see an example of it running.

thank you,

Wade / Zak Vacano.

Beth Ritter-Guth said...

Hi Wade:

I do believe they are keeping the materials up online. Also, check out the Second Life wiki (via College English), as I will be posting lots of other projects there, as well. If you let me know your discipline, I will be sure to hunt down some examples for you ;-)

Anonymous said...

Hi Beth,

Nice review - only thing is I don't think you really pick out what SL adds or brings to the mix! I'd be interested to hear what you think SL added to the cyberone class...

cheers
Daniel

Anonymous said...

Umbrellas and wet tissues would aswell add to the absolute weight of the louis vuitton handbag
. As with the things that would go into the louis bag
, the louis bags
would aswell accept some added weight.

Unknown said...

There is a trial period that you can try CALIFORNIA DREAMS out for before you decide to buy it. These CALIFORNIA DREAMS DVD to AVI converters are absolutely clean and have no spy ware or viruses to them. Therefore, you can be rest assured when you buy them that you are certainly getting the best possible CALIFORNIA DREAMS DVD COLLECTION to AVI converter ever.


lida can be put to use to reduce the effort that is required for reducing weight. You can easily reduce your body weight with the help of lida daidaihua that are available. There are slimming capsules that are making these products available. You can use the weight loss products with daidaihua for better and faster improvement in body weight. There are a number of ways of checking out the lida slimming that are available. You can take the help of the internet to check slimming capsule that are available.

aiya said...

Obama Is Lying<1>Office 2010When was the last time the MSM tookOutlook 2010 a Republican's side inMicrosoft outlook 2010a fight over credibility with a Democratic opponent? Well, it has been a while. Microsoft Office 2010However, Office 2007 downloadconservatives have little to grumble aboutMicrosoft outlook in the recent face-off between Barack Obama andWindows 7John McCain over McCain's statement that Microsoft wordtroops might have toOffice 2007 key remain for "100 years" in Iraq "as long as AmericansMicrosoft Office 2007 are not being injured or harmed Office 2007or wounded or killed" after Microsoft Office

Anonymous said...

徵信社
徵信