Who by: Soulla Stylianou, Client Director, Daden Date: 12th May 2010 Where: Safety & Health Expo, NEC, Birmingham Description: how virtual worlds can be used for learning, training and instruction.

1. BACK TO THE
FUTURE - TRAINING
Soulla Stylianou
Client Director
Daden Limited
© 2010 www.daden.co.uk

2. Who are we?
©2010 www.daden.co.uk
 Virtualworlds & character solutions provider
 In industry since late 1990s
 In Second Life since 2004
 World-class expertise and innovation in
Integration, AI and virtual worlds
 Member, Serious Games Institute
 Based in Birmingham UK, and Second Life

3. Clients
©2010 www.daden.co.uk

4. What is a virtual world?
©2010 www.daden.co.uk
 Real life but digital
 Computer generated
3D environment
 Use for learning,
building, visualising
and collaboration
 You set own goals –
not a “game”

5. What is an avatar?
©2010 www.daden.co.uk
 You!
 Or (sometimes)
computer controlled
chatbot

6. What We Do….
©2010 www.daden.co.uk
Training & Instruction Collaboration Design & Build

7. Key Products & Services
©2010 www.daden.co.uk
VIRTUAL VIRTUAL VIRTUAL
DISCOURSE
TRAINING COLLABORATION BUILDING
Creating education and Links systems and data A chatbot engine
Helps organisations use
training exercises and between the physical developed by Daden
virtual spaces to visualise
environments within a world, the web and Allows the creation of
real-world builds and
virtual world to support virtual worlds supporting avatars with natural
support consultation
training collaboration, virtual language capability,
processes
meetings and data emotion and access to
A key element is visualisation and web services such as
Allows users to walk
Daden's PIVOTE - an analysis Amazon, Wikipedia and
through a 3D space and
open-source training corporate systems etc.
leave virtual “post-it”
authoring system which Provides access to live notes with comments
allows training exercises Google Maps, RSS, Uses: virtual guides,
about the space, which
to be written on the web, Twitter feeds, 3D real- receptionists, actor.
others can add to and
but then played in time object tracking, 3D For role-playing,
vote on. All data is
multiple virtual worlds, on graph plotting, slide training, customer
exported to the web
the web and even on shows, video & web service both in virtual
mobile phones access worlds or on the web

8. Learning – Issues
©2010 www.daden.co.uk
 Time
 Money
 Distance
 Availability
 Safety
 Not possible in real life
 Risk

9. Learning – Why Virtual Worlds?
©2010 www.daden.co.uk
 More immersive than most e-Learning
 Increases engagement
 Increases retention
 Better support for distance learning
through better social bonds
 Ideal e-Learning environment for
Problem Based Learning and similar
pedagogies
 At own pace
 Allows simulation training “without
risk”
 Allows more iterations - practice
makes perfect

10. PIVOTE
©2010 www.daden.co.uk
An exercise authoring system for virtual worlds which:
 Lets you write an exercise once, but play it in
multiple virtual worlds, and on the web
 Clearly separates content, structure and
appearance
 Allows you to create different experiences for the
same content based on expertise and/or objectives
 Captures performance data and allows export to a
VLE
 Based on an open XML standard (MVP) and is
open-source - www.daden.co.uk/pivote.html

11. Training & Instruction
©2010 www.daden.co.uk
ST George's University U.S. Federal Virtual
Learn Direct Coventry University
London World Challenge
JISCfunded “PRIEVIEW” Customer Service skills Simulation to disarm a
JISC funded “PREVIEW”
project Speaking & listening roadside Improvised
project
skills Explosive Device (IED)
Uses Daden's PIVOTE & tend to injured
Uses Daden's PIVOTE
open source software NVQ Level 1 students open source software
Scenario set in
Training Paramedics Pilot projects Afghanistan
Scenarios in a care home
Increased retention & Positive outcomes Risk to do in real life
Chatbots used for role
learning
play simulation
Won 1st prize in the
Won Times Higher
Better care decisions skills building category
Education Award 2009
Outstanding ICT initiative

12. Birmingham City University
©2010 www.daden.co.uk
 Create duplicate of campus building to
support Health & Safety eLearning in SL
 part of their BSc (Hons) Film Production and
Technology degree course
 determines the resources and risks involved
in shooting on location
 A virtual environment enables camera angles,
scenery alignment, actor positions and other
items to be planned and experimented in
advance
 crucial health and safety considerations of
location filming can also be tested and
assessed without risk

13. Email: soulla.stylianou@daden.co.uk
Second Life: ImmortalitySou Ballinger
Web: www.daden.co.uk
YouTube: www.youtube.com/dadenmedia
Twitter: Soulla Stylianou
Second Life sim: Daden Prime
© 2010 www.daden.co.uk