Learning to Program Collaborativelyin Open Wonderland

Jonathan KaplanOpen Wonderland Foundationjonathan@wonderbuilders.com

Nicole YankelovichOpen Wonderland Foundationnicole@openwonderland.org

Kathryn AtenNaval Postgraduate Institutekjaten@nps.edu

Nina Nussbaum-JonesLockheed Martinnina.nussbaum-jones@lmco.com

2Copyright 2011, Open Wonderland Foundation

What is Open Wonderland (OWL)?100% Java, free, open-source toolkit for

creating 3D immersive virtual worlds

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Wonderland Wednesdays

• Weekly in-world meetings> Began in February 2010 when

Sun Microsystems sponsorship ended

> Community organized based ondesire to help keep project going

• Main purpose> Help educate developers so more could contribute to

project, help fix bugs, and add new features

• Group decided best way to learn was to jointly develop a new Open Wonderland “module”

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What is a Module?

• Modules are akin to “plug-ins”• Mechanism for packaging & sharing

Wonderland extensions written in Java> Can contain code, artwork, audio,

scripts, web management and web services> Also used for sharing whole worlds

• Almost all new Wonderland features and enhancements are created as modules, e.g.:> 2D apps (whiteboard, sticky notes, presentation viewer)> 3D apps (cone of silence, video recorder, piano)> Capabilities (portal, clickable link, security, etc.)

ModuleModule

CodeArtworkScripts

Assembled worldsOther resources

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SubSnapshot Project

• Group decided on “SubSnapshots”> Useful feature for many users

• Snapshot> A saved version of an entire OWL world> Limitations of snapshots

• Difficult to share• No provision for saving a single space or

a collection of objects

• SubSnapshot> A saved version of a portion of an OWL world> Reusable on same or different server

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SubSnapshot Sessions• Logistics

> Meets during Wonderland Wednesdays

> 2-3 times per month; 1 hour> Averages 8-12 participants> September 2010 – present

• Learning Community> No formal instructor> OWL architect defacto leader> Participants take turns driving> Focus on understanding, good

coding practices, not speed

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Project Space Setup

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Activities & Tools• Between sessions

> Asynchronous collaboration using Google Wave

> Setting up the environment

> Installing new code on community server

> Testing

• During the live sessions> Synchronous collaboration with high fidelity audio> Suite of collaboration tools support variety of activities

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Activity: Organizing WorkTool: Card Wall

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Activity: Planning & DesignTool: Multi-user Whiteboard

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Activity: Collaborative CodingTool: NetBeans

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Activity: DocumentationTool: PDF Viewer

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Activity: Note TakingTool: Sticky Notes

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Activity: Consulting the WebTool: Firefox

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Activity: Unit TestingTools: NetBeans, Image Viewer

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Activity: Testing the CodeTool: SubSnapshot Module

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March 16, 2011: It Works!

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Who Attends and Why?

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Interaction, Collaboration, Learning

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Impact of Tools on Collaboration

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Best View Feature Added

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Unique Aspects

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Using OWL for Teaching & Learning

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Thanks!

Special thanks to the SubSnapshot participants!

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Open Wonderland Resources• Open Source Project Site

> http://OpenWonderland.org> FAQ, download code, find documentation and discussion forum

• WonderBlog - Ofcial Wonderland Blog> http://blogs.openwonderland.org

• Facebook and Twitter> http://facebook.com/openwonderland> http://twitter.com/openwonderland - use hashtag: #openwonderland

• Workshops> “Learn to Build an Open Wonderland Virtual World”

http://www.eventbrite.com/s/3sUB> “Basics of Open Wonderland Development”

http://www.eventbrite.com/s/3sXd