Second Life - Networking Education and Technology
“Notes from the Field Trip” – EduIsland Walking Tour (August 22, 2007)
Pia Klaar and other EduIsland II residents, including Sloan-C members KJ Hax and Meg Writer, ran an informative, if not sprawling, walking tour that highlighted six projects on the island. There were at least six Sloan-C members in attendance, including (SL names): KJ Hax, Claird Loon, Ilene Pratt, Naiad Remblai, Roshana Rives, and Meg Writer. Although many of the projects are geared toward k-12, I believe that the concepts behind them and the resources that they are using have implications for higher education as well.
Below is a summary of the different projects as presented on the tour, based on the session transcript:
Meg Writer’s Curriculum Center for Change – Meg is developing a space that will focus on how educators need to change curriculum. The space includes a multimedia center that features student and teacher work. It also features an area for educators to talk about differentiating instruction for all learners in the classroom. The space is a work in progress. Educators are welcome to come in, explore, and meet there anytime.
Math Playground – Kristy Flanagan demonstrated some of the tools she has developed for Math Playground, specifically the Bumble Bee project, 3-D LOGO programming (see my photos for some snappies). Students can program the Bumble Bee to create 2-D and 3-D shapes using simple commands. Visitors are invited to drop in and try out the math and science resources at the playground. Kristy encourages educators to make an appointment with her for guided tours and demonstrations.
DEN in SL (Discovery Educator Network) – Laelia Laval and Lor Fredriksson, assisted by the DEN in SL leadership council, provided an orientation to the home base of the Discovery Educator Network in Second Life. DEN in SL hosts events for educators, including trivia nights, scavenger hunts, socials, movie nights (to preview some unitedstreaming and Discovery videos), and workshops. DEN is a network of teachers helping teachers that is sponsored by Discovery Education. The building is also open for collaborations and educators are welcome to join the DEN in SL google group (http://groups.google.com/group/den-in-sl)
SLolar Central – KJ Hax and Laelia Laval developed SLolar Central to provide educators with a space to call home as they experiment with SL for education. SLolar Central is currently housing its second cohort of residents. The downstairs commons area is used for socializing and events. Upstairs, there are two floors for SLolar residents to set up shop. SLolar stands for “Second Life Scholar.” Educators are welcome to join the SLolar Central google group (http://groups.google.com/group/slolar-central) and to apply for residency at SLolar Central, an application for which is found at the google group site and at SLolar in SL. IM KJ Hax or Laelia Laval for more information.
Literature Alive Headquarters – Desi Stockton provided an overview of her project’s headquarters. The plants around the room provide teleports to various LitAlive! classrooms throughout SL. The star board is a collection of recommended websites, to which educators are invited to contribute. Resources in LitAlive! are open access, meaning anyone can acquire free copies. Desi suggested that educators use their copies of the board and stars with their students by asking students to create resource boards for their class projects. A listing of LitAlive! projects is available online at http://literaturealive.wikispaces.com, as are Desi’s syllabi at http://collegeenglish.wikispaces.com. LitAlive! is a non-profit project, which is primarily supported by Desi herself and through donated land. It does not receive funding from Desi’s college. She views it as a community-sponsored organization. Popular LitAlive!-related SL sites include the following immersive environments: Edgar Allan Poe House, Camelot, Grendel's Lair, and Dante's Inferno, which is in search of a new home.
The School Store – Desi Stockton introduced the group to the store. The School Store contains goodies for students and educators and most everything there is free. Visitors can find educational resources as well as fun items like clothing and furniture. Vendors who choose to sell their wares at the store can opt to keep their profits or donate them to LitAlive!
Carl F. Spackler Hall – The hall is a member of the Center for Advanced Virtual Education (C.A.V.E.). KJ Hax explained how he, Existential Paine, and Hodjazz Edman came up with the idea to help spread the word about SL in education. They invited a number of popular edubloggers to live at Spackler Hall rent-free. Residents include (RL names): Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Andy Carvin, Hall Davidson, Doug Johnson, Ian Jukes (invited), Annette Lamb, Sylvia Martinez, Brian Mull, Alan November, Howard Rheingold, Will Richardson, Jeff Utrecht, and David Warlick. Additional information can be found on KJ’s blog: http://www.storyofmysecondlife.com/?p=116.
The field trip concluded with fireworks, courtesy of Macsmom Alcott.
Reflection
Overall, the idea of a walking tour of this type is terrific – and ambitious. It lead me to reflect on the challenges involved with implementing this type of event in SL. In this case, there was one lead guide and several volunteers who helped to move the group along consecutively to all seven stops. I didn’t get a count, but there were a lot of fellow trekkers on this tour. Perhaps another, slightly less chaotic approach might be to run simultaneous sessions for each project site and have participants move to a different station every 15 minutes or so (a possible downside for the presenters is that they would have to do their thing multiple times. And a presenter might be involved with several projects. I suspect there are “work arounds,” however.). Some sort of scavenger hunt might help encourage visitors move through all of the projects. Also, it would be great to have an internal teleporter to facilitate moving from place to place, or an interactive “yellow brick road” to follow. Any other ideas, anyone?
This was a great experiment and I wonder if other islands offer similar opportunities. Which brings me to another question – can someone fill me in on Sloan-C space in Second Life?
Cheers!
Below is a summary of the different projects as presented on the tour, based on the session transcript:
Meg Writer’s Curriculum Center for Change – Meg is developing a space that will focus on how educators need to change curriculum. The space includes a multimedia center that features student and teacher work. It also features an area for educators to talk about differentiating instruction for all learners in the classroom. The space is a work in progress. Educators are welcome to come in, explore, and meet there anytime.
Math Playground – Kristy Flanagan demonstrated some of the tools she has developed for Math Playground, specifically the Bumble Bee project, 3-D LOGO programming (see my photos for some snappies). Students can program the Bumble Bee to create 2-D and 3-D shapes using simple commands. Visitors are invited to drop in and try out the math and science resources at the playground. Kristy encourages educators to make an appointment with her for guided tours and demonstrations.
DEN in SL (Discovery Educator Network) – Laelia Laval and Lor Fredriksson, assisted by the DEN in SL leadership council, provided an orientation to the home base of the Discovery Educator Network in Second Life. DEN in SL hosts events for educators, including trivia nights, scavenger hunts, socials, movie nights (to preview some unitedstreaming and Discovery videos), and workshops. DEN is a network of teachers helping teachers that is sponsored by Discovery Education. The building is also open for collaborations and educators are welcome to join the DEN in SL google group (http://groups.google.com/group/den-in-sl)
SLolar Central – KJ Hax and Laelia Laval developed SLolar Central to provide educators with a space to call home as they experiment with SL for education. SLolar Central is currently housing its second cohort of residents. The downstairs commons area is used for socializing and events. Upstairs, there are two floors for SLolar residents to set up shop. SLolar stands for “Second Life Scholar.” Educators are welcome to join the SLolar Central google group (http://groups.google.com/group/slolar-central) and to apply for residency at SLolar Central, an application for which is found at the google group site and at SLolar in SL. IM KJ Hax or Laelia Laval for more information.
Literature Alive Headquarters – Desi Stockton provided an overview of her project’s headquarters. The plants around the room provide teleports to various LitAlive! classrooms throughout SL. The star board is a collection of recommended websites, to which educators are invited to contribute. Resources in LitAlive! are open access, meaning anyone can acquire free copies. Desi suggested that educators use their copies of the board and stars with their students by asking students to create resource boards for their class projects. A listing of LitAlive! projects is available online at http://literaturealive.wikispaces.com, as are Desi’s syllabi at http://collegeenglish.wikispaces.com. LitAlive! is a non-profit project, which is primarily supported by Desi herself and through donated land. It does not receive funding from Desi’s college. She views it as a community-sponsored organization. Popular LitAlive!-related SL sites include the following immersive environments: Edgar Allan Poe House, Camelot, Grendel's Lair, and Dante's Inferno, which is in search of a new home.
The School Store – Desi Stockton introduced the group to the store. The School Store contains goodies for students and educators and most everything there is free. Visitors can find educational resources as well as fun items like clothing and furniture. Vendors who choose to sell their wares at the store can opt to keep their profits or donate them to LitAlive!
Carl F. Spackler Hall – The hall is a member of the Center for Advanced Virtual Education (C.A.V.E.). KJ Hax explained how he, Existential Paine, and Hodjazz Edman came up with the idea to help spread the word about SL in education. They invited a number of popular edubloggers to live at Spackler Hall rent-free. Residents include (RL names): Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Andy Carvin, Hall Davidson, Doug Johnson, Ian Jukes (invited), Annette Lamb, Sylvia Martinez, Brian Mull, Alan November, Howard Rheingold, Will Richardson, Jeff Utrecht, and David Warlick. Additional information can be found on KJ’s blog: http://www.storyofmysecondlife.com/?p=116.
The field trip concluded with fireworks, courtesy of Macsmom Alcott.
Reflection
Overall, the idea of a walking tour of this type is terrific – and ambitious. It lead me to reflect on the challenges involved with implementing this type of event in SL. In this case, there was one lead guide and several volunteers who helped to move the group along consecutively to all seven stops. I didn’t get a count, but there were a lot of fellow trekkers on this tour. Perhaps another, slightly less chaotic approach might be to run simultaneous sessions for each project site and have participants move to a different station every 15 minutes or so (a possible downside for the presenters is that they would have to do their thing multiple times. And a presenter might be involved with several projects. I suspect there are “work arounds,” however.). Some sort of scavenger hunt might help encourage visitors move through all of the projects. Also, it would be great to have an internal teleporter to facilitate moving from place to place, or an interactive “yellow brick road” to follow. Any other ideas, anyone?
This was a great experiment and I wonder if other islands offer similar opportunities. Which brings me to another question – can someone fill me in on Sloan-C space in Second Life?
Cheers!
Comment
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Comment by Mary Anne Carletta on August 30, 2007 at 4:39pm
- This sounds like it was a great tour - I'm sorry I missed it. I've seen some of Desideria's work, but it was a while back, and I'm sure she's added much more. I haven't seen any of the rest.
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