eduhub_project_notes

=Annie's EduHub Notes=

PROJECT STATEMENT
Create a central educational hub for the 17 active members of Second Life's OLN island. The purpose of this is to make the OLN Island a central hub and resource for Ohio institutions to learn about each others' efforts in Second Life. Make kiosks for the existing space that speak the same visual language, but are different in their treatment per the brands and needs of each member school.

**| Appearance |**

 * Kiosks should highlight what is unique about each location as well as what is common.
 * Make a general shape/container for information that is constant across each member school, but changes colors, textures, and information to adapt to each individual school's needs.
 * Keep the kiosks less than 30 prims, but preferably 15-20 prims.

**| Content |**

 * Prominent place for Logo/Branding.
 * Landmark givers.
 * Notecard givers.
 * Highlight special projects.
 * Picture displays that shuffle through random photos.
 * Links to web pages.
 * Displays of web pages.
 * Import RSS feeds.
 * Because of the way the building is set up, it won't be possible to incorporate separate audio or video streams into the kiosks, but you can link out to them with a prim.

**MEMBER SCHOOLS  WITH SL PRESENCE **

 * **Bowling Green State University**
 * Go to bgsu.edu/secondlife and go under "BG Second Life Island" to find a list of their attractions.
 * Waiting on an email back from the project organizer(s).
 * **College of Mount St. Joseph**
 * Robert Bodle emailed me back and told me that 1) they plan on having virtual mass in the chapel in the near future.
 * And 2) that they are planning on a lecture series. Here is a blurb for that series: //"The Second Life Faculty Learning Community hosted the lecture “Ethical Dialogue in the Classroom,” presented by Fr. John Father John Amankwah (Churchman Delicioso), Assistant Professor of Communication Studies (December 11, 2008) at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Second Life. The lecture launches “Revise and Consent,” a monthly series of academic talks planned and organized by the SL learning community designed to provide a venue and workshop environment for scholars to present and receive feedback on works being prepared for publication."//
 * I spoke to Robert in-world, and he told me that the college is subletting 3 plots, and that the rest of the island is a school in Vermont. Most of their campus is comprised of a handful of buildings in the northeast corner, including the chapel. The chapel is the most complete part of the campus because they used it for their first lecture.
 * Robert emailed me with a list of other professors I can contact for more information.
 * Assistant Professor of Graphic Design Michael_Kroeger@mail.msj.edu
 * Assistant Professor of Philosophy Michael_Sontage@mail.msj.edu
 * Assistant Professor of Business Administration Dave_Kroger@mail.msj.edu
 * Assistant Professor of Communication Studies John_Amankwah@mail.msj.edu
 * **Kent State University**
 * Their campus is currently private. Should I ask permission to enter?
 * **Ohio University**
 * Go to http://vital.cs.ohiou.edu/vitalwiki/index.php/Main_Page for specific information on their goals and projects.
 * Waiting on an email back from the project organizer(s).
 * **Owens Community College**
 * Waiting on an email back from the project organizer(s).
 * **University of Akron**
 * Waiting on an email back from the project organizer(s).
 * **University of Cincinnati**
 * **Wright State University**
 * Waiting on an email back from the project organizer(s).

STEPS TO TAKE (SO FAR)

 * **Research both in SL and on the web to find examples of successful, informational kiosks with a good design sense.**
 * **Begin making sketches of the container kiosk to form an idea of what it will look like.**
 * **Take pictures of each member institution's location in SL if they have one, and upload them to the OLN Flickr Group, then add to the OLN SL Directory on the UC wiki.**
 * **Tour each location's island, make note of special projects that should be highlighted, what is unique about that space compared to the others, and what is the same across multiple locations?**
 * **Start building experimental kiosks to get a more concrete idea of how the form will fit the content.**

**| Appearance |**

 * Could create something modular that is arranged to meet the needs of each member school?
 * Can't be walked around in full--need something immersive that can only show three sides at a time.
 * Make an immersive mini-space that can be walked into with unique flooring and different types of surfaces.
 * Sophisticated textures--wood paneling, lights, counters, rich colors, etc.
 * If there are walls on the sides, they have to be shallow to allow the person walking through to see all of the other displays as well.
 * Think about unique ways for the user to interact with different parts of the display.
 * Have clear titles above or around the kiosks to make it easy for people to find the school they are looking for.

**| Questions for Fleep |**

 * Will these kiosks ever be occupied (i.e, sat in), or should I treat them purely as displays?
 * Is there a place where I can work and leave prims and pictures laying around where they won't be disturbed?