Techno Tools and the TNC

The second Teacher Networking Center meeting was held on Wednesday, August 1st at 11:00am SLT. Tek and I wanted to have the meeting at that time so that European educators would have a chance to attend. Really not sure how many of the people who came to that meeting were European for we ended up with quite a crowd.

The meeting began on the front walk of the building. Tek and I were out there finishing up a few last minute details when our neighbor, KJ Hax, from SLolar Central came by. As the three of us were talking, more and more people began arriving. Tek took the group on a tour of the building, while I stayed outside to welcome any new arrivals.

Inside, we have set up displays of various SL tools and resources for people to use, practice and try out. Notecards giving instructions on use and where to aquire the tools are also available. I had been collecting tools and resources for some time now.

Here is a sampling of some the tools and resources available.

Communal Whiteboard by AngryBeth Shortbread
FreeView 1.2 by CrystalShard Foo
Powerpoint Presenter
SL Survey 1.1 by Eloise Pasteur and Jeremy Kemp
Various laptops (Squirrel, Pear, Den, and more)

There are also a few Powerpoint presentations on topics such a Professional Developemnt in Sl, Freebie Places in Sl and Sl Classes. Boxes containing items such as HUDs, textures, scripts, clothing, and teaching resources can also be found in the rooms upstairs and downstairs.

The August 1st meeting was an informal gathering. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 13 at 6:00pm SLT. This time the meeting will focus on the theme" First Days of School".

Please come.
And please join

Teacher Networking Center
A place on Eduisland II for educators to meet, share, collaboarate and explore all of the many educational possibilities available.

Networking Across the World

Tek Zeno and I have been busy setting up a Teacher Networking Center at Eduisland II. Our hope is for the center to be a place for educators from around the world to meet, share, collaborate, and work together. We opened on July 24th with an informal meeting.

Tools have been set up in various parts of the building so that educators could take a look at what types of SL tools there are, try them out and practice using them. Also available are free teaching resources for people to take.

The first meeting was a huge success with about 30 people showing up. The next meeting is planned for the 1st of August and hopefully as many people will be able to attend this one as well. This meeting will be held at an earlier time in the day so that educators from around the world will be able to come.

The Teacher Networking Center will schedule informal as well as formal meetings throughout the year where educators of subject area and grade levels can get together in order to discuss real life issues in education as well as SL issues in education.

Come and join us for a collaboration of teachers.
Trade lesson plans
Discuss common classroom issues
Meet other educators in your area of expertise
Exchange best practices in education
Form friendships
Use SL tools and resources
View the many slide shows on SL topics



Tek and I are very excited about the possibilities that the TNC offers to educators in Second Life. Social networking is such a large part of what works in SL . Being able to meet, and come together in one place, to share, discuss, and collaborate in educational topics, can only add onto these possiblities.

What's New in My Second Life Adventure

I haven't had much time to spend at either my rental on Eduisland II or at my place on Montbard. I've been so busy taking classes in the SL environment, learning the fundamentals of prims, scripting, animation, photography, as well as creating prim clothes, hair and shoes. I cannot believe all of the incredible classes that are offered here in SL.

I've also joined a number of education-related groups in Second Life:

• Best Practices for Education


• SLolar Central


• NMC Guest


• ISTE: Education Technology Association


• Academy of Second Learning


• ELVEN Institute


• K-12 Educators


• Library Services for Teens


• Lighthouse Learning Island


• Real Life Education in Second Life


• Rockcliffe University


• Eduisland II


• Discovery Education Network

Being involved in these many groups tends to keep me busy. For instance, I attend meetings at the ELVEN Institute on how to include SL into the K-12 teaching environment. This is still my main focus for using Second Life; how to have my students be able to use the SL virtual world as a teaching and learning tool.

I am also continuing to try to have access to the SL Teen grid. I have been pursuing this avenue through The Eye4You Alliance group which is a program that offers library services within the space of Teen Second Life. So far I have passed the background check and created an alternate avator to take over to the Teen grid.

Hoping to soon be able to explore the possibilities of this Teen grid for my students to use in the future.

But not all the time spent here in Second Life has been work. My neighbour in Montbard had a fire-works display for the 4th of July. Here is a photo of us watching the display: Andromeda, Victoria and I.

New to Second Life

Where do you start once you have left Orientation Island and entered the world of Second Life. It can be very confusing and strange. Here are a few tips and Sl places that you might want to take a look at.

For more newbie and How-To information, check out the Second Life wiki:
http://secondlife.com/knowledgebase/?page=How-Tos


Second Life Beginner’s Checklist
http://sliki.info/wiki/Blueman%27s_Starter_Checklist


New to Second Life
http://sliki.info/wiki/Main_Page


New Citizens Plaza is one of the first places to visit as a newcomer to Second Life.Here is the SLURL for "New Citizens Plaza":
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kuula%20/54/175/29/
New Citizen's is a place designed to help new users in SL. All services and classes here are offered for free. There is even a small collection of freebies, including avatar skins, clothing, hair, shoes, and gadgets. There are "notecards" available all over with information on everything from adjusting your appearance to getting money in SL. There are also “NCI Helpers” available if you had any questions or need some extra help.

The Shelter is another place (besides the official Help and Welcome areas) that you may want to visit.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Isabel/38/231/80/
Here you will find freebies, a dance floor with residents dancing in-sync, a second floor where many events and games are held , and most importantly, newbie-friendly residents who love nothing better than to help you get started on your Second Life.

Free Dove is a place to go if one of your first priorities is getting your appearance in order. That means getting together items to wear, preferably for free. Click on the Search button at the bottom of your screen, select the "Places" tab, enter "free dove" in the "Find:" box, and click the "Teleport" button.
Here is the SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gallii/113/53/33/
Free Dove has rows of tables covered with boxes from various SL vendors. To get the contents of most boxes, Right-click on the box, click "Buy...", and click the "Buy" button when it appears. Most of the items are free.

Touring With Macsmom

I attended the ISTE Social last night. Had not been at an ISTE social for a few weeks and thought that I should see who was there and what was going on. Macsmom was organizing a tour to take a group of SL educators to see some of the SL sites.

Our first stop was at the Science Center on Info Island. Here we saw an assortment of science displays and exhibits on the history of science. We could have stayed here much longer for there was so much to see, but Macsmom whistled for us to join her on to the next place on the tour.
Next stop was the Guided Tour Company on the island of Mocha. A place where you can take a tour in vehicles such as hot air balloons, boats, aircrafts, and more. Neat place.

Next was Commonwealth Island which borders Info Island. Commonwealth is a project of the EnviroLink Network and includes several meeting places and US Forest Service-like buildings used to host participating organizations.
The Welcome Notecard reads:
“Commonwealth Island is about building a community in Second Life focused around organizations working for social equity and environmental sustainability. Commonwealth will provide a starting place for organizations who wish to try out spreading their mission/message in Second Life without making a big financial and time commitment.”

We spent some time at this island visiting some of its many environments. The first place that we experienced was GeoGlobe. It was designed in the way of a virtual map or globe. This is the kind of place where you have to see it to be able to understand it. I really urge you to take a tour here. We were all astonished at this site.
Google Earth has launched GeoGlobe, a tool meant to bring Google Earth into SL. The GeoGlobe takes feeds (currently KML, GeoRSS and RSS) as input and displays them as properly geolocated prims onto the GeoGlobe. So “RL" data can be visualized in SL. Users can interact with feeds of data available on the web by bringing them into SL in the context of a Google Earth-like experience. Truly amazing.

The next place on the tour had a board displayed with pictures of various topics. Touching the pictures gives you a virtual creation of that place. We were able to “see” such places as Seattle, New York City and other virtual places. Again, strange and wonderful. Need to be there to understand it.
Finally we teleported to a meeting area in the island. Here we sat around on logs as Macmom explained the last adventure on the tour: hang gliding

The final stop on the tour teleported us to the top of a mountain pass. Here was the launching area for a hang gliding experience. Of course we all tried it.


Science Center
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/178/202/25/secondlife://Info Island II/97/206/24

Guided Tour Company
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Mocha%20Island/238/72/32

Commonwealth Island: Commonspace for Progressive Organizations
GeoGlobe
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Commonwealth%20Island/193/83/314/?x=500&y=500&title=Google/SL

Commonwealth Island: Commonspace for Progressive Organizations
Virtual Places
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Commonwealth%20Island/122/55/441

Commonwealth Island: Commonspace for Progressive Organizations
Large Meeting Area
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Commonwealth%20Island/134/103/25

Commonwealth Island: Commonspace for Progressive Organizations
Hang Gliding
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Commonwealth%20Island/241/115/106

Collaboration

I have been very busy in SL these past few weeks. Much learning has taken place for me as I wander from place to place in this new and strange world. I don't think it would have been as rich and rewarding if it had not been for the constant support and help that I have had from people that I have encountered in SL.




Thanks to Beth , Kathy Dryburg, Victoria Gloucester, Fleet Goldenberg, KJ Hax, Dewey Jung and many, many others who gave me a helping hand along the way as I struggled with the many new experiences and features of SL.





And I have also discovered that one of the main benefits for educators to spend time in SL is the social networking with others of similar interest that takes place constantly. Places such as ISTE , Eduisland II, the ELVEN Institute, Info Island, Terra Incognita, Angel Island, SLolar, and the NMC Campus are only a few of the ones available where you can meet with others who are interested in the educational opportunites of SL. These sites offer seminars, discussions, exhibits, teaching tools, classes, and various social activites. All in the pursuit of teaching and learning in SL.

First Experiences

Pia Klaar was born in Second Life in April of 2007. I had heard of Second Life at school. Kathy Schrock had asked me if I had gone to Sl. That night I signed on and Pia was born. Since that first night, I have spent countless hours exploring the endless possibilities of SL as a tool for the teaching and learning community.

I teach middle school computer classes, as well as history classes to advanced and gifted students. My classroom is in a lab with every student having the use of a laptop.

I knew that I wanted to explore the use of SL as a tool for teaching and learning, but didn't quite know how to go about using it at that time. Also, as a newbie, I had a difficult time just getting around and being able to do the most simple of tasks.

One of the first places that I visited was ISTE. I attended the "Thursday Night SkyPark Social". There, I felt lost and out-of-place in the crowd. Those attending seemed experienced and highly academic . Few teachers of K-12.

Yet, I continued to explore the use of Sl as a teaching and learning tool for K-12 teachers. I felt that SL had a place in the world of education. Now, though, I realised that if it was difficult for me to find a place in this strange and new world, then it would be most likely feel the same for others.

Comfort

My first step was to find a home where I could feel comfortable in SL. I rented a building on Eduisland II. Here, other educators had begun to find roots. People such as Alan November, Hall Davidson, Annette Lamb, Kathy Schrock and many others.

I welcome you to Pia's Place. I hope to eventually have it used as a center for teachers to use. A place where they can begin to put down roots, to fell comforatbale in SL. A place where they can collaborate with others, and eventually create learning and teaching experiences.


Comfort, Collaboration, Content, Creation

These can from a meeting I attended at ELVEN on Professional Development. It is rather strange to note that in Sl a person can be involved in many different activities or events where people from all over the globe meet to discuss ideas and issues related to teaching and learning in SL and RL.