Stepping Into Literature

Desideria Stockton (SL)Beth Ritter-Guth (RL)

CEO, Literature Alive!

I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence

Two roads diverged in a woodAnd I took the one less traveled by

And that has made all the difference

Robert Frost

Teaching Literature in Virtual Worlds

• Why?

• How?

• Standards?

• Assessment?

Why?

3D Literature is Captivating

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Students Learn Best by Doing

Projects

• Dante’s Inferno

• Spoon River Anthology

• The Feral Cat Project

• The American Project

• The Blithedale Romance

The Blithedale Romance

Margaret FullerThe Dial

A Final Product

How?

Teach Literature…not Building

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Provide Examples

Stick to the Course Outline

• Grade WRITING (communication, notecards, research, and other writing)

• Assess CITATIONS (promote ethical use of materials)

• Allow for non-technical users to participate (on a wiki, blog, or in a CMS)

Guided Tours

• Literature Alive! Projects

• Alumni/Student Leaders: Daliah Carter

• Other Sites:– International Spaceflight Museum– NOAA– Drexel Island/American Chemical Society– Genome Project– Tintern Abbey and Seven Gables

Standards and Assessment

• Use the SAME grading standards you have ALWAYS used…– Grade the WRITING– Grade the RESEARCH– Grade the ANALYSIS– Grade the CITATIONS

The Lonely Road

Teaching Literature in Virtual Worlds is NOT widely popular in the academy

EXPECT RESISTANCE

Is it Worth It?

Listen to Students…

• “I thought this was crazy at first, but it is really cool, and I learned a lot about Dante.” – Dante’s Inferno

• “This was a lot of work. But, it was better than just doing a paper.” – Blithedale Romance

• “It was cool to see all those people at our presentation from all over the world. I really felt important.” Feral Cat Project

• “This project challenged my ideas of being an American.” The American Project

Literature Alive!

• Desideria Stockton, CEO

• Eloise Pasteur, Educational Designer

• Daliah Carter, Executive Assistant

• LauraMaria Onomatopoeia, Content Consultant

Resources

• Literature Alive! Wiki– http://literaturealive.wikispaces.com

• Literature Alive! Blog– http://literaturealive.blogspot.com

• The College English Wiki– http://collegeenglish.wikispaces.com

Resources

• Hotchkiss Educational Technology Blog– http://hotchkissedtech.blogspot.com

• Beth’s Second Life Blog– http://bethssecondlife.blogspot.com

• Eloise’s Thoughts and Fancies Blog– http://eloisepasteur.net/blog

Thank You!

BethRitterGuth@gmail.com

britterguth@hotchkiss.org