Source: Elizabeth Barrett, 785-532-2208, ebb@k-state.edu
Image available. Contact media@k-state.edu or 785-532-6415
Note to editor: Candice Nelson is a 2005 graduate of Hiawatha High School.
News release prepared by: Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, 785-532-6415, ebarcomb@k-state.edu
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Elizabeth Barrett's classroom in Second 1xbet best casino website . (Image courtesty of K-State department of hospitality management and dietetics)
PLANNING AN EVENT IN SECOND 1xbet best casino website NOT ALL THAT DIFFERENT FROM REAL 1xbet best casino website , SAY STUDENTS, K-STATE PROFESSOR WHO USED SECOND 1xbet best casino website FOR COURSE
MANHATTAN -- Students in Elizabeth Barrett's convention and event management course put together a launch party for Kansas State University's recently renamed department of hospitality management and dietetics.
They procured a location, catering, flowers and promotional fliers -- all in Second 1xbet best casino website .
Barrett used the virtual world to not only teach the class, but also to teach students how to plan events in Second 1xbet best casino website .
"With events getting more expensive, Second 1xbet best casino website is going to be utilized more," said Candice Nelson, senior in hotel and restaurant management, Manhattan, who took the course in the fall. &1xbet best casino website ;Unlike other forms of teleconferencing, this gives people a face. They can virtually sit in a boardroom and see other faces.&1xbet best casino website ;
Barrett said using Second 1xbet best casino website for meetings, conferences and other events is still somewhat of an experiment.
&1xbet best casino website ;This is probably the most out-there way to do it right now,&1xbet best casino website ; she said.
At the launch party, the students gave a PowerPoint presentation in Second 1xbet best casino website , and they had displays of the department's faculty members in which avatars could pick up note cards with information about each professor. All the while, avatars could swing over to the bar for a virtual cocktail and hors d'oeuvres.
&1xbet best casino website ;We had to have food, catering, flowers -- you really want to make it feel that it's a realistic experience,&1xbet best casino website ; Nelson said.
Class members built their own meeting space in Second 1xbet best casino website , but Barrett said the future of meetings and events in Second 1xbet best casino website might be to rent a virtual ballroom from a hotel, for instance, just as event planners would in real 1xbet best casino website .
Planning and attending an event in Second 1xbet best casino website has some challenges, Nelson said.
"I think you plan for failure a lot more in Second 1xbet best casino website ," she said. "There are so many technical problems that can come up."
Barrett, who also taught part of the class through Second 1xbet best casino website , said she had a hard time finding a professional outfit for her avatar among the fun and eccentric outfits available in Second 1xbet best casino website . Barrett said she eventually let out the hem of her virtual skirt.
One class session in which Barrett taught entirely through Second 1xbet best casino website allowed the participants to dress more casually than their avatars.
&1xbet best casino website ;It was a cold, rainy day and the students all got to sit at home in their pajamas,&1xbet best casino website ; she said.
That doesn't mean students can slack off easily in a Second 1xbet best casino website classroom. Nellie Feehan, junior in hotel restaurant management, Olathe, helped Barrett put together the Second 1xbet best casino website classroom and helped her generate assignments for the class.
&1xbet best casino website ;You can see who's in class. If their avatar is not active, they 'fall asleep,'&1xbet best casino website ; said Feehan, who plans to take the convention and event management course herself next fall.
Barrett said that Second 1xbet best casino website proved to be a great teaching tool and would be particularly useful for distance education.
"I think students ask more questions in Second 1xbet best casino website than if they were sitting in the classroom," Barrett said.
She said that the biggest barriers to teaching in Second 1xbet best casino website were the differing technical capabilities of each student's computer and getting them excited about using Second 1xbet best casino website .
"Just getting students used to it was the hardest part," Barrett said. "The students are not as technology-savvy as I thought they would be. Second 1xbet best casino website can be difficult to understand and explain. But once they got used to it, they liked it."
