The SLED Picayune

SL Land Mass Data

2008-01-22T23:32:00.000-05:00

Just a few facts for everyone to enjoy:

Avatars walk about about 6 mph (9.65 km/h). Assuming no lag, an avatar can walk from one side of a sim to the other side in about 1 minute, 35 seconds.
Each sim measures 256m x 256m (65,536 sqm). From north to south, a sim is about .159 miles.
The slmaps.com site states that there are currently 3,952 sims on the main grid
If we stacked all those sims in a tight square (approx 63 sims on each side), the distance north to south would be 16,128m, or 16 km, or about 10 miles.
That means it'd take almost 1.5 hours of continually pressing down the "up" arrow on your keyboard for your avatar to get all the way across the fictitious packed-square grid.
The SL main grid map available at Wikipedia is not perfect (it's the one on display at the ICT Library), BUT it shows that the 3,952 sims are not a neat little square. Instead, they are spread out over a vast "ocean."
How big is that ocean? How many sims *could* it hold? According to my measurements, if every piece of SL ocean were covered by a sim, there'd be close to 190,280 sims in SL(see note). IF this ever existed, it would instead take the average avatar (walking) almost 10 hours to go from north to south, and 14 hours to go east to west.

Wow... that's big!!

NOTE: This was arrived at by looking at the map in scale. It measures 53.5 cm x 80 cm. Each sim is about .15 cm x. 1.5 cm. > NS = 356 sims x EW 533 sims.

Where is everyone in SL??

2008-01-22T23:24:00.000-05:00

A friend recently suggested that every time he's in SL, there is no one around (despite the fact that LL records approx. 444,000 logins per week, which is an average of 63,500 or so per day).
Whenever I log in, there always seems to be between 30K and 55K in-world at the same time (this is up from what... 14K in spring 2006?). Anyway, it seems like a ton of people... so where is everyone??? For those of us who have to on occasion explain things to newcomers and/or naysayers, I did simple math, and it explains things a bit.

Currently, there are 3,952 sims on SL's main grid (http://www.slmaps.com/). This means that if evenly distributed, 50,000 users would result in about 13 users per sim. There are sims/areas that attract many times that number, so the likelihood of finding more than a few green dots in any one location is small. Education builds tend not to attract 'hoi polloi.' Hence, lots of emptiness.

I am not SL's biggest apologist (there are certainly things as an educator that I wish a competitor would come along and fix), but when folks tell me, "SL is boring, " I tell them (with a smile), "So is your course website." Maybe I'm not right 100% of the time, but I've seen a lot of course sites, and looking through them is about as exciting as watching KillDisk zero out a 300GB HDD.

SL MAP: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cd/Second_Life_map.jpg

The claim of "no one is there" was put forth by Wired magazine, and a lot of journalists have continued stories along this line because it's easy to replicate the results: Go to Second Life, find no one... and find a bunch of companies pulling out en masse (as reported on APM's MarketPlace on 22JAN08). Their criticism is likely valid for the business world, which wants to put product/service ads & content in front of users. If users are mere vapors, then money spent by companies to use SL (which, all things considered, really doesn't chew up their ad budget too much I suspect) might be better used elsewhere.

Anyway - it's easy to be a critic. As an educator, I'm interested in SL not for the bazillion people I can bring to my plot of land, but what it means for the couple dozen students in my class.

Shameless Plug for Community Colleges in SL

2008-01-01T20:52:00.000-05:00

A new group has formed to support community college faculty, staff and students in Second Life. Are you a community college person? Search for the group "Community Colleges in Second Life" in-world and join us!

This group meets about once a month and will very soon have three in-world locations for our members to find each other and to use for meetings. Walk into the CCSL light! All are welcome!

Contact Pipsqueak Fiddlesticks in-world for more information!

Oh, and Happy New Year!

Second Metaverse Meetup

2007-12-13T08:43:00.000-05:00

The Stanford Humanities lab held their second "Metaverse Meetup," this time featuring Jamais Cascio. Cascio discussed "The Metaverse -- what does it include, where is it going, and how will it change our lives?" See the video here.

Howard Rheingold Rocks the NMC House!

2007-12-10T23:43:00.000-05:00

Among other excellent presentations, the NMC Symposium hosted Howard Rheingold who spoke on "Co-Evolution of Technology, Media and Collective Action." Check out the excellent presentation here:

http://sl.nmc.org/2007/12/10/co-evolution-keynote/

You can find other session resources as they are posted at:
http://www.nmc.org/2007-fall-virtual-symposium/resources

Enjoy!

Land of Lincoln Events Scheduled!

2007-12-05T10:14:00.000-05:00

The Alliance Library System and the SL Librarians have announced several events in conjunction with the Land of Lincoln experience. Contact Lorelei Junot or Maxito Ricardo in-world for details and LM's.

*The Land of Lincoln planning group will meet Tuesday December 11 at 5 pm SLT on Land of Lincoln at the new London punch exhibit and book club room.

*Join the Land of Lincoln Book Club facilitated by Maxito Ricardo.
Each month, this group will read a book about an aspect of Lincoln's life, his family, and his work.

Each session will start at 6 pm SLT and will be held at the London Punch exhibit and Lincoln reading room.

*The first book group session will be held January 15. "One Man Great Enough: Abraham Lincoln's Road to Civil War" by John Waugh will be discussed.

* The February discussion will be held February 12 (Lincoln's birthday). The book to be discussed is "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

*On March 12, "The Madness of Mary Lincoln" by James Emerson will be discussed.

*On April 10, the book for discussion is "Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer" by James Swanson.

*On May 12, the book for discussion is "The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln." by James Oakes.

*"The Case of Abraham Lincoln" by Julie Fenster is the book for June 12.

Contact Maxito Ricardo (SL) with any questions.

Video Lecture on Augmented Reality

2007-11-24T07:55:00.000-05:00

The Stanford Humanities Lab recently hosted another "Metaverse Meetup" featuring Mike Liebhold, a researcher at The Institute for the Future, who discussed Augmented Reality. Video

This lecture was part of the "Metaverse Meetup" series. The next Meetup discussion is on November 29, 2007 and will feature Jamais Cascio on the "Metaverse Roadmap" (pdf here.)

Want to attend in-world?

When: Thursday, November 29th 2007 from 6pm to 7:30pm PST/SLT

Where: Wallenberg Hall, Stanford University and at Spaceport Bravo in Second Life.

RSVP, please, to: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=7507931740

"Professor Avatar"article (A. Foster, CHE) in-world

2007-09-19T15:45:00.000-05:00

I have received express written consent from the Chronicle of Higher Education to distribute the latest piece on education in SL by Andrea Foster. Simply find a kiosk and touch it - and the article will be delivered to you!

Request for test users please!

2007-08-11T10:36:00.001-05:00

by Jennifer Young

My name is Jennifer Young (SL jmy Writer), and I'm a lecturer in Creative Writing at the
University of Hertfordshire in the UK. I've been using SL to create an
online student magazine which is hosted inside a virtual literary festival.
The magazine, Orb, is staffed by UH students. The publishing remit is to
publish the best creative writing by UK university students.

The magazine will launch on October 23 with a streaming performance by UK
performance poet Patience Agbabi.

We are in the final stages of design, and we're looking for users to
provide feedback. Would you be willing to spend a few minutes walking
around our site and giving us some feedback? There are post boxes on the
site, or you can email me at j.m.young - at- herts (dot) ac (dot) uk. The SL address is:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/SMIRKworld/128/128/0

Just to make you aware, the pieces of creative writing that are up are
still in draft mode and are acting as place holders. Before the magazine
launch in October, the authors will record audio and provide visuals to
accompany their work. At the moment it's just text with the student
editors' voiceovers.

Thank you for your assistance

CITASA Mini-Conference in SL

2007-08-11T10:18:00.001-05:00

by T. Kennedy

Hi Folks!

The American Sociology Association Conference kick off time is only hours away - and the Communication & Information Technology Section of the ASA (CITASA) Mini-Conference 3.0 is almost here.

This year we are having our Mini-Conference in the virtual world - Second Life - and this years Conference Title is "Web 2.0 and Beyond: The Sociological Significance of Virtual Worlds Supplanting Cyberspace"

We have a great line up of presenters who will share their research and we will discuss what Web 2.0 - 3.0 means to us as Sociologists in the ICT field and the interdisciplinary aspects of this area of study.

Whether you are enroute to NYC and attending the ASA in person or not - please join us in Second Life for the Mini-Conference on Sunday, August 12th 2pm (PDT/SLT) or 5pm (EDT). We will have voice enabled presentations (so bring your headset/mic to NYC), complimented with Powerpoint Slides (these will posted to Slideshare after the conference).

http://www.slideshare.net/citasa
(Program is posted now)

For those of you (and your avatars) who plan to attend the CITASA MC 3.0 in SL - please send me your name and your Second Life avatar's name so we can put you on the Guest List. We have T-Shirts for your avatar and a gift bag of goodies, including a tech-treat from Telus - and of course stimulating conversations!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Tracy Kennedy
Second Life - Professor Tracy

Web 2.0 and Beyond: The Sociological Significance of Virtual Worlds Supplanting Cyberspace Event: CITASA third Mini-Conference to be held in the Metaverse – Second Life
Date of Event: Sunday, August 12th, 2007
Time: 5:00pm – 8:00pm (EDT) 2-5pm (SLT/PDT)
Location Details: The GNWC Virtual Centre for Digital Media in Second Life
University Project (150, 84, 23)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/University%20Project/150/84/23

Timetable & Session Details

2:00 pm (PDT/SLT) 5:00pm (EDT):
Welcome Address

Jim Witte - Clemson University & CITASA Chair

2:15 -2:50 pm (PDT/SLT) 5:15 -5:50 pm (EDT):
Session 1: Social Networking Sites

Dan Trottier
Queen's University - Kingston, Ontario

"Social Networking Sites: A Surveillance Studies Primer"
In recognizing social networking sites as sites of sociological concern, this presentation will offer a surveillance studies perspective to this topic. Using Facebook as a case study, a review of key surveillance material as well as preliminary findings will underscore directions for future research. In particular, the popularized and controversial practice of 'Facebook stalking' will serve to illustrate how lateral (or peer-to-peer) surveillance not only supplements, but may also amplify conventional forms of monitoring.
Questions:
1) Can practices such as deception or dissimulation on social networking sites be regarded as ways of resisting surveillance?
2) What kind of connections does Facebook enable between peer-based forms of surveillance, and practices such as employee screening?

Peter Timusk
University of Ottawa - Ottawa, Ontario

"Exposed Edges and Tighter Nodes: A Suggested Social Networking Hypothesis For Web 2.0 As Seen Through A User Of Facebook A Web 2.0 Social Networking Site".
The author explores previous studies of social networking by pioneers such as Barry Wellman to develop a hypothesis for further empirical studies of the networking properties of websites such as Facebook. It seems to the author, that there is more privacy exposure between persons, and at the same time these same persons are brought closer together by networking on Facebook. Thus edges between nodes in this network structure are exposed revealing these edges to other nodes, while nodes themselves potentially learn more about each other as nodes only not just as edges. It is hoped that this hypothesis and other various hypotheses will help either social network analysts, or those who will be data mining websites such as Facebook, to understand the implications of a network's social structure. Legal and ethical considerations resulting from these hypotheses will also be considered in this presentation.

2:55 – 3:30 pm (PDT/SLT) 5:55 – 6:30 (EDT):
Session 2: Videogames & Gaming

Tracy Kennedy
Communities & Technologies Research Group, Microsoft – Redmond, Washington

"Women's Online Gaming Communities: Don't Hate the Game, Hate the Players"
Pervasive stereotypes such as 'women don't game', 'women don't know how to game' and 'women don't play violent videogames' have long saturated the media as an explanation of why there are not more women gaming. The purpose of this presentation is to address these stereotypes and examine the online gaming experiences of women in Xbox Live that may explain why women appear absent in online gaming spaces. Using data from the GamerchiX Forum, I will discuss issues of harassment that women experience, and how the GamerchiX community (consisting of 2700 female gamers) offers different types of social support to address and overcome these negative gaming experiences, and how GamerchiX creates a safe, secure and encouraging community of female gamers. Moreover, I will explore the role GamerchiX plays in the lives of these women outside of gaming, which often encompass forum discussions that are not related to gaming at all, face-to-face meetings and associations in such spaces as Facebook.

Jeff Preston
The University of Western Ontario - London, Ontario

"Disabilities and Gaming Environments"
Children are encouraged to start playing sports from a young age as competition help build confidence, social skills and physical ability. For a child with a physical disability, there are few opportunities to play
competitive sport, as children are often not strong enough to physically compete or the sport is simply too dangerous, forcing many individuals to begin playing adapted sports with other disabled athletes. Recently, a new solution has emerged that is rarely considered as a source of competitive sporting; video games. For years, computer/console systems have given users the opportunity to take control of computer-generated avatars, the virtual bodies used to interact and manipulate synthetic worlds, and play out excited simulated experiences from the comfort of their own homes. With faster Internet speeds, individuals who play video games are now capable of competing in synthetic worlds with friends across the Internet or on Local Area Networks, leading to the manifestation of competitive leagues like the Cyberathlete Professional League. Online video games, like Counter-Strike, offer youth with disabilities a viable solution to transcend their physical limitations to gain important social skills that most children develop through physically competitive sports, but in a safe and integrated digital environment. This paper considers the possibility of video games as legitimate substitutes for, or complements to, sports currently available to the so-called "disabled" and the benefits of these synthetic experiences.

3:35 – 4:35pm (PDT/SLT) 6:35 – 7:35 (EDT):
Session 3: Virtual Worlds

Michael Reese
Johns Hopkins University – Baltimore, Maryland

"The Potential for Digital Field Assignments in Second Life"
Digital field assignments are course activities in which students collect and analyze data from the field using digital technologies. However, what happens when the field is a virtual, 3-D environment? This presentation will explore the possibility of using Second Life to conduct course research assignments. Case studies being explored at Johns Hopkins and other institutions will be described.
Questions:
1) What is the value of teaching qualitative research skills in Second Life instead of the Real Life?
2) What are students' perspectives on using Second Life as a situated learning experience?
3) How does identity formation operate in Second Life (and how does it transfer to Real Life)?

Michael Roberts
North Harris College – Houston, Texas

"A Scanner Darkly: the death of authenticity under conditions of media-saturation"
A Scanner Darkly, the movie, is a cartoon created by filming live actors and then drawing over them. This is not a new technique. Snow White was Gene Tierney. Bela Lugosi was the Devil in the Night on Bald Mountain segment of Fantasia. I will use Philip K. Dick's fiction and the popular films based on those fictions as a template for reading the motives behind mass migration into SL in quest of escape from limitations imposed on the identities such migrants can perform with validation in RL. I will focus on the idea of virtual space as rehearsal space for identities which, while initially constructed in virtual spaces and initially only possible to construct based on virtual resources, might, after construction, migrate into RL. This potential for identities to form in virtual worlds and then migrate to RL renders ambiguous the distinction between role-play and identity, between lives and representations of life, to the point of making the value of the distinction itself dubious.

Leslie Jarmon
The University of Texas - Austin, Texas
Co-Presenter: Joe Sanchez
The University of Texas - Austin, Texas

"The Educators Coop Experience in Second Life"
This presentation discusses the pedagogical value of the teaching and research experience in Second Life based on one case: the Educators Coop Experience in Second Life (SL). The goal of the Educators Coop Residential Community is to provide educators and researchers with a unique residential environment from which to begin exploring, collaborating, teaching, and conducting research more easily and seamlessly. The coop in SL is designed to cultivate new cross-disciplinary relationships and collaborations. Residents are also participants in research exploring the emergence of this kind of experimental SL residential community.
Effective communication requires developing skillful mental flexibility and an understanding of diverse communities of practice, their underlying worldviews, and their material artifacts, including technology and virtual space in particular. In SL, residents can quickly access and interact with educators and researchers from multiple disciplines and countries, without traveling. As Latour noted, "[I]f you want to understand what draws things together, then look at what draws things together" (60; original emphasis). The SL sim "draws things together" in powerful new ways, and its convergence of mediated forms of social interaction offers opportunities for enhanced collaboration in the construction of new knowledge. The ways we are trained to think, talk, read, and write about knowledge are behaviors that affect the kinds of knowledge we construct. Ways of thinking about how knowledge emerges enhances students' ways of thinking about their own disciplines. This presentation poses the question around which the Second Life community is centered: "Are you ready to imagine knowledge differently?" (Fox, 136).

Geoffrey Edwards
Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Geomatics - Université Laval

"Embodiment, Identity and Presence in Second Life – New Wine or New Bottles?"
Nick Yee has written "our insistence on embodiment in virtual environments structures social interactions in these worlds in ways that we may not consciously be aware of… this implies that virtual worlds may be useful platforms for studying things even as visceral as the rules of physical interaction". Identity has been defined as the set of strategies, beliefs, values and representations that are organized for the survival of the entity concerned (Dornic and Edwards, 2007). Presence has a variety of meanings, but here I am concerned with the sense of someone being present, even though their actual physical body may be absent. These three concepts are interdependent on each other, and each of them manifests within the world of Second Life.
Within the field of education, a form of learning called "transformative learning" has gained interest. Ashe et al. (2005) have stated that "transformative learning involves a change in personal feelings, beliefs, and values known as meaning perspectives". This concept of meaning perspectives, introduced by Mezirow in 1990, is very close to current definitions of identity – indeed, the transformation of meaning perspectives
seems to involve change in personal identity. It is proposed that the concept of transformative learning provides a framework for understanding how our conceptualizations of the self, our bodies and our interaction with others are changed in Second Life. The process of transformation ensures that what emerges is, indeed, new wine not just "old wine in new bottles". Within Second Life, identity is multiple, body is performative and presence is determined by the quality of our interactions with others. These ideas are illustrated by drawing on work with scientist and artist collaborators within Second Life.

Joanna Robinson
Great Northern Way Campus – Vancouver, BC
Co-Author: Tracy Kennedy
Communities & Technologies Research Group, Microsoft – Redmond, Washington

"Participatory Pedagogy: Challenging 'Real Life' Practices of Educational Institutions in Virtual Worlds"
This presentation discusses virtual spaces as participatory pedagogy in which student learning is formulated through exploration, reflection and collaboration (Hobbs et al 2006) both individually and as a group. Importantly, we argue that virtual environments such as Second Life have shown educators that we need to rethink existing learning strategies and enhance them with innovative tools that encourage creative thinking and promote technical skills that foster communities of knowledge and practice.
Questions:
1) How can virtual worlds effectively challenge the ways we sociologically frame education and educational practices?
2) What are some of the obstacles educators face when converging real life and virtual worlds into their pedagogical style, and in the classroom?

4:40 – 4:55 (PDT/SLT) 7:40 – 7:55 (EDT):
Closing Remarks

Sarah "Intellagirl" Robbins
Ball State University - Muncie, IN

5:00pm (PDT/SLT) 8:00pm (EDT):
Participants and Presenters are welcome to stay and discuss their interests further at the conclusion of the presentations.

TakingITGlobal.org seeks volunteer SL coordinator

2007-08-11T10:14:00.001-05:00

by Dan Winckler

Just passing this on...

http://about.takingitglobal.org/d/getinvolved?view=201

Second Life Coordinator (Volunteer Positions)

Description

About TakingITGlobal

TakingITGlobal is an international organization led by youth, empowered by technology that connects youth from around the world to find inspiration, information and get involved in improving their local, regional and global communities.

About TIG in Second Life

TIG is in the process of developing two spaces within Second Life: an island recently donated by Starwood Hotel and Resorts (SURL) and an office in the Non-Profit Commons (SURL). Once they are up and running, both spaces will provide our members with new and innovative ways to interact with each other, will showcase youth projects and youth-created artwork and will help us draw new audiences to TakingITGlobal's work.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Help TakingITGlobal staff design and implement their presence in on both the Aloft Island and in the Non-Profit Commons office.

• Coordinate live events include open discussions and featured speakers on the Aloft Island.

• Maintain regular office hours within the TIG office in Second Life.

Experience Sought

Qualifications

• Advanced knowledge of the Second Life platform

• Basic design skills

• Interest in global issues and youth engagement

• Detail oriented and well organized

• Good communications skills (both written and oral)

• Ability to work both collaboratively and independently, including within virtual teams

• Significant interest in youth-related issues and experience working with young people from a wide variety of cultures

• Fluency in Spanish, French, Arabic, Portuguese, Chinese, Russian or Italian an asset

Additional Information

This is a virtual volunteer position(s), and as such is not tied to a specific geographic location.

Why work at TIG? Working at TIG is an opportunity to improve professional skills, and gain work experience in a positive environment with dedicated young people who want to make a difference. Alumni have gone on to work for leading global NGOs and community organizations, as well as to pursue advanced degrees at top universities around the world.

Contact

Human Resources - jobs -at- takingitglobal (dot) org

The application period for this position will be closing on Aug 17, 2007.

Archeology in virtual environments

2007-08-11T10:04:00.001-05:00

by Rolig Loon

UC Berkeley. Info from their campus web site …………….

Two UC Berkeley undergraduate research apprentices are recreating an archaeological excavation site in Second Life as part of the Remixing Catalhoyuk project. Come visit Okapi Island in Second Life. I'm pleased to announce [3/6/2007] the purchase of Okapi Island in Second Life (coordinates forthcoming). We will use our 65,000 square feet of virtual property to

Advance OKAPI's overall mission to pioneer new tools and practices for learning and sharing information,
Capitalize on several months of exploratory work last semester,
Apply the research of UC Berkeley Anthropology professor Ruth Tringham in remediating places
Contribute an innovative remix of archeological data as part of the Remixing Çatalhöyük project, and
Provide a venue for future research, learning and public outreach.

Program Manager for Open Knowledge and the Public Interest, Noah Wittman is an award-winning interactive media producer with ten years of experience developing multimedia websites, exhibits and curricula. Noah is currently managing the FIPSE Scholar's Box project, developing a new Center for Digital Scholarship, and other projects relating to public scholarship, outreach, and K-12 education.

Second Life metrics for the masses

2007-08-07T08:40:00.001-05:00

by Eric Hackathorn

Hopefully this doesn't come across sounding too much like a sales pitch, but for those willing to splurge a whole Linden consider picking up a proximity sensor. It keeps track of the number of unique avatars visiting a land parcel, total time spent on a land parcel, and average time spent by an avatar over the last hour, day, week, and month. More information can be found here:
http://hackshaven.com/2007/08/05/second-life-metrics-for-the-masses/

Upcoming SLED events

2007-08-07T08:31:00.001-05:00

by Bruce Sommerville

1) Open House: Marlboro College Graduate Center, August 10.

2) Educators Coop Open House, August 8.

3) NMC Symposium on Creativity in Second Life, August 12-18, updated.

The above events have been added to the "SLEDevents in SL" public Google calendar, which may be viewed in your web browser at:

http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=f3b7ubjteso0776u83v4i38qm8%40group.calendar.google.com

This site shows the event times in SL time.

Google subscribers who add the SLEDevents in SL calendar to their calendar list will see the event times converted automatically to their own local time zone.

NRHM Call for Papers

2007-08-02T08:44:00.001-05:00

Fwd from Ed Lamoureux

Call for Papers
New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia

Editor: Doug Tudhope
Associate Editor: Daniel Cunliffe
Faculty of Advanced Technology, University of Glamorgan, UK
Submission deadline: January 16, 2008
Acceptance notification: February 27, 2008
Final manuscripts due: April 9, 2008
NRHM covers hypermedia, hypertext, interactive multimedia and related
technologies.
We invite papers on the following topics and related issues:
- Conceptual basis of hypertext systems
cognitive aspects
design strategies
- Intelligent and adaptive hypermedia
knowledge representation
knowledge organisation systems and services
the semantic web
- Multimedia issues
time and synchronisation; link dynamics
audio/image/video processing and compression
content-based retrieval
- Interaction
navigation and browsing; search systems;
studies of information seeking and navigation behaviour; testing and
evaluation
user interfaces; multi-modal interaction
- Tools for hypermedia
(automatic) authoring systems
- Applications in business, commerce, digital libraries, e-learning,
information management, the professions, publishing, and public
administration, etc.
The New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia (NRHM) is published by
Taylor & Francis and appears in both print and digital formats. For more
details and indicative topics, see the journal website:
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/13614568.asp
Submissions may take the form of research papers or shorter technical
notes and should be sent by email to the editors, preferably in pdf
format. Questions and enquiries are welcome.

Call for Expressions of Interest - International Virtual Reality Teaching and Learning Research Inst

2007-08-02T08:41:00.003-05:00

by Ole Brudvik

Title: Call for Expressions of Interest to contribute to a proposed International Virtual Reality Teaching and Learning Research Institute

This is a general call for academics and practitioners involved or interested in the field of Virtual Reality Teaching and Learning (using environments such as Second Life) to express their interest in contributing to or being associated with an International Virtual Reality Teaching and Learning Research Institute. The range of research and development that the proposed Institute would support is intentionally left open, but could include projects such as investigating the efficacy of various virtual reality learning designs, researching the sociological and psychological aspects of learning in virtual reality environments, and the success with which tools and scripts can be applied across different curricula.

Interested parties can nominate roles that they would like to perform, which may include

* advice on the policies of the Institute and the services it provides
* research and development in conjunction with the Institute (utilising support services that would be provided by the Institute)
* evaluation of Institute performance.

If you are interested in becoming involved with the proposed Institute, please provide an Expression of Interest (of no longer than one page) outlining your experience with VREs or related technology based learning applications, any research experience, the reasons for your interest in becoming associated, and the ways in which you would like to be involved. Please return all Expressions of Interest no later than 9th August 2007.

Prospective contributors would form part of a Carrick Grant Application to establish the Institute. This initiative is being lead by Professor John Hedberg, Macquarie University Australia.

Fwd: [Slrl] Social capital in Second Life

2007-08-02T08:41:00.001-05:00

by Kim Holmberg

We are researching social capital in Second life and we want to invite
you to take part of our survey. The purpose of the survey is to gather
information on the users of Second Life and their perceptions on the
social dimensions of the service. We are grateful for your commitment
and appreciate highly the time you spend answering this survey. The
survey is accessible at https://survey.istohuvila.fi/index.php?sid=5

Introduction—Music Academy Online (In-world)

2007-08-02T08:40:00.001-05:00

by Dave Schwartz

Dear Fellow SL Educators,

Music Academy Online, http://www.musicacademyonline.com/, is a real world entity. Our goal is to stimulate interest in Western art music. Accordingly, Music Academy Online will bring together musicians, scholars, educators, orchestras and ensembles, academic and other institutions, and vendors in order to provide music lovers with a completely unique online environment in which to foster and cultivate their appreciation and passion for music.

We are very excited about the possibilities Second Life provides for merging commerce and education. Our facilities in Second Life will include classrooms with audio/video capabilities, screening rooms, museum displays, interactive exhibits, a lecture and recital hall, open air concert space, holodecks and an in-world staff. Our desire is to also make our facilities available to third party educators.

While our specialty is music, we would also look forward to working with diverse disciplines in order to explore the cultural and social contexts for Western art music.

We are located at Nowee (108, 127, 3). We welcome your visit and any feedback you may have. If interested, we would love to give you an in-world tour. Feel free to contact me at your convenience for any reason.

Sincerely,

David Thomas Schwartz, Ph.D. (SL: Benton Wunderlich)

CEO, Music Academy Online, Inc.

Music Academy Online, Inc.

Santa Barbara, CA

ANNOUNCING: SLCC '07 Education Workshop schedule

2007-08-02T08:39:00.002-05:00

by Jeremy Kemp

We are very pleased to formally announce the schedule
for this year's Second Life Education Workshop at the
Chicago Hilton, Friday August 24th through Sunday
August 26th, 2007.

http://simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=SLCC_2007_Schedule

Lead Sponsor: NMC Virtual Worlds

Over 30 academics from four countries will speak. We
are estimating attendance for the education track to
be 200+, up from 80 in 2006. See:
http://tinyurl.com/2b9nqj

We are still finalizing the in-world event locations.
The entire program is being streamed into SL, and we
should have several hosting locations set up. There
will also be a few events happening in-world only.

For information on the Second Life Community
Convention itself, see: http://slcc2007.wordpress.com/

See you in Chicago!

SLCC Fellowship Awardees announced by NMC

2007-08-02T08:39:00.001-05:00

by Alan Levine

We've just announced the winners of NMC's sponsorship for 3 educators to attend the Second Life Community Convention later this month. Congrats go to:

** AJ Brooks -- Montclair State University

** Johnmac Maverick -- Monroe College

** GrandMasterFoo Woodget -- Minneapolis Public Schools

These fellowships are part of the NMC's planned presence at SLCC in Chicago later this month, where the New Media Consortium and its Second Life unit NMC Virtual Worlds have agreed to serve as the lead sponsor for the Education Track at the conference.

More details

http://sl.nmc.org/2007/08/01/slcc-fellowships/

Design on eLearning - 2nd International Conference, London...

2007-08-02T08:36:00.001-05:00

by Anna Robinson

Designs on eLearning
2nd International Conference
Teaching and Learning with Technology in Art, Design and Communication.

hosted by the University of the Arts, London on the 12th - 14th September 2007.

Charles Saumarez Smith , the Director of the National Gallery will open the conference and Gráinne ConoleProfessor of e-Learning at the Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University will deliver the Keynote address.

The conference aims to cast light on established practice in the field, on innovations in teaching and learning with technology, on the challenges and successes presented by the visual nature of our discipline, and on the benefits of online and blended learning.

It aims to build on the success of Designs on eLearning 2005 and on the subsequent Online Conference and Symposium in disseminating and promoting good practice, primarily but not exclusively, in art, design and communication.

http://www.arts.ac.uk/itrdu/conference

3695 SLED list subscribers

2007-08-02T08:35:00.000-05:00

by Jeff Hiles

FYI:

There are currently 3695 members of this email list, according to Claudia Linden. I find such numbers useful when talking with faculty and administrators about education in Second Life.

Universities use of SL

2007-07-27T14:44:00.001-05:00

by Karine Joly

I wrote a piece for University Business including some examples in June:
http://www.universitybusiness.com/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=797
Hope this helps.

SL + Wii remote

2007-07-27T10:41:00.001-05:00

by Jeremy Kemp

See a Wired write-up today about an MIT prof talking
about connecting the Wiimote with SL for low-cost
training sims:
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/2007/07/wiimote

---

Wii + Second Life = New Training Simulator
Steve Mollman Email 07.27.07 2:00 AM

Nintendo games have made the Wii controller a
satisfyingly realistic controller for pretend tennis,
golf and baseball. But how about using it to practice
doing surgery, applying pesticides or operating a
nuclear power plant?

Real-world simulations like these are perfectly suited
to Nintendo's Wiimote, says MIT research fellow David
E. Stone. In fact, he claims the motion-sensitive
controller is "one of the most significant technology
breakthroughs in the history of computer science." Say
what?

For Stone, the Wiimote is the key to building
realistic training simulators within the virtual world
of Second Life. He is helping companies and
universities do that through his WorldWired
consultancy. Clients include a company interested in
training workers for its power plants, a manufacturer
of medical devices and pest-control firm Orkin.

Videos/Slide Shows about SL and Education

2007-07-26T12:33:00.000-05:00

by Alan and Phil

In response to a request for videos about SL...

There have been a number of presentations explaining Second Life posted to various places on the web. However, the specifics of what is going to make a compelling case for Charles Darwin University to enter this community are at least in part dependent on the local issues that address the goals and initiatives that your institution has already set forth in its strategic planning agenda.

Second Life for Education - Slides used in a short presentation for University of Alaska Fairbanks IT Day highlighting how 3D virtual worlds and SL specifically are being used in education
http://www.slideshare.net/iconolith/second-life-for-education

Second Life in 3600 Seconds - An overview of the strengths and weaknesses of Second Life, with particular reference to its use in education.
http://www.slideshare.net/eduservfoundation/second-life-in-3600-seconds

and of course, your Australian colleagues at Wollongong
An Introduction to Second Life - An Introduction to Second Life, it's basic characteristics and the educational possibilities it presents
http://www.slideshare.net/jokay/introduction-to-second-life/

These are just a few of those on the Slideshare.net site (search term = Second life) I'm sure others on the list have some suggestions for you but this might get you started, or get you through as source from which you can modify things to suit your local needs.

ALSO...

http://www.slideshare.net/nmc/second-life-at-mit/

and others from NMC 2007:
A View From Second Life Trenches: Are You A Pioneer or Settler (Cynthia Calongne)
http://www.slideshare.net/nmc/a-view-from-second-lifes-trenches-are-you-a-pioneer-or-a-settler

Building OneCleveland in Second Life
http://www.slideshare.net/shick06/building-onecleveland-in-second-life/

I'm not so sure a presenter-less presentation always gets the message- videos get the message across better - we've recently lobbed about 70 Sl related education videos into a YouTube playlist and others we track at:
http://sl.nmc.org/wiki/Intro_videos

NMC Sponsors SLCC edu track, registrations for 3 teachers

2007-07-26T12:28:00.001-05:00

by Alan Levine

The NMC is sponsoring the Education track at the Second Life Community Convention conference next month in Chicago. As part of our sponsorship, we plan to support three registrations from educators active in Second Life who would like to attend the conference by covering their registration fee with an NMC Fellowship.

To take advantage of this — $185 value — send Larry Pixel a notecard in world explaining how attending SLCC will help you further your professional goals in the coming year, along with your institutional affiliation. Any practicing educator is eligible.

We will select the entries August 1 and announce the fellowships here. Come to SLCC in Chicago!

http://virtualworlds.nmc.org/2007/07/25/slcc07/

Instituto Cervantes in Second Life

2007-07-25T13:18:00.001-05:00

by Giulio Prisco

The virtual headquarters of Instituto Cervantes in Second Life
recreate the representative building of calle Alcalá in Madrid. With
this initiative, Instituto Cervantes places itself at the forefront of
Spanish cultural institutions with own presence in Second Life, in
line with other prestigious international institutions and
organizations. The Cervantes Island has been designed and produced by
Metafuturing, S.L., a company based in Madrid and specialized in
Second Life, Virtual Reality and Internet services.

http://tendencias21.net/metaverso/index.php?action=article&numero=11

Instituto Cervantes is a worldwide non-profit organization created by
the Spanish government in 1991. It is the largest organization in the
world concerned with the teaching of Spanish, and it maintains a
presence in over twenty different countries throughout 54 centers
devoted to the Spanish and Hispanic American culture and Spanish
Language. The mission of Instituto Cervantes is to promote the
teaching, study, and use of Spanish as a second language and to
contribute to the advancement of the Spanish and Hispanic American
cultures throughout non-Spanish speaking countries. The Institute is
named after Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616), the most important figure
in the history of Spanish literature.

Fwd: [SLED] NMC Conference Posters - On the Screen At the Gonick

2007-07-25T13:16:00.005-05:00

by Alan Levine

The poster presentations from the NMC 2007 Summer Conference will continue to be available this week on the Green at the Gonick Amphitheater on NMC Campus (NMC Campus 113,100,26 or http://tinyurl.com/nraap )

For a recap, see: http://sl.nmc.org/2007/07/20/2007-posters/ and listen to an audio interview we did using the voice client:

http://sl.nmc.org/2007/07/20/interview-with-umuc-on-simulations-for-online-learning/

Also, we are trying to rotate the content on the Gonick Amphitheater. Playing now is:

* Center Screen -University of British Columbia's Center of Excellence Video from the conference

* Audio channel and right screen- audio and slides from Anya Ixchel's presentation at the conference on "Please, Play, Participation, Promise"

A New and Improved SL Video Jukebox

2007-07-25T13:13:00.001-05:00

by Alan Levine

I've tossed my YouTube playlist in lieu of a new web video collection of education oriented clips (now at 84) at:

http://nmc.vodpod.com/

Vodpod provides a browser tool that allows you to add new clips from almost any flash format web video site. It provides a slick embedded player:

http://sl.nmc.org/2007/07/24/vodpod/

But what I really like is others can "join" this pod and help add to the collection. Add yours today!

NMC Buzz Article

2007-07-25T13:11:00.001-05:00

by Zak Carter

Hot off the press!

http://www.slnn.com/index.php/article/about/teachers-say/page/1.html

Virtual campus could aid in emergency

2007-07-19T16:52:00.001-05:00

by Pathfinder Linden

The University of New Orleans has a plan for keeping instruction going and holding onto its students in the event of another Hurricane Katrina-like disaster, and it involves holding classes in the online virtual world "Second Life."

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=7171

Diversity Role Play

2007-07-18T16:38:00.001-05:00

by Alan Levine

I did a little activity with colleagues at Johns Hopkins as a demo for a university diversity committee-- I played the part of a candidate for a position, and the rather conservative hiring committee has an adverse reaction to me being "furry" ;-)

The voice feature in the FirstLook client helped a lot to play this out-- audio issues prevented a recording, but we have pictures and the script:

http://sl.nmc.org/2007/07/18/role-play/

Avatar as Communication

2007-07-18T16:37:00.001-05:00

by Orion Pozo

The Avatar as Communication by Dr. Angela Thomas (Anya Ixchel) is a slide set
http://www.slideshare.net/anya/the-avatar-as-communication

I found quite interesting on the topic of avatar creation. The quote that caught me up is in slide 12: "The avatar is a direct telephone line to the soul."

Phila Inquirer

2007-07-18T16:35:00.001-05:00

by Beth Ritter-Guth

Literature Alive! and inworld librarians had a nice write up in the Philadelphia Inquirer:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20070715_Second_Life_literati_create_book_world.html

German language introduction to learning in virtual worlds

2007-07-18T16:33:00.001-05:00

by Willy Hegel

one of my (german language) presentations about learning in virtual
worlds has been recorded by the friendly techies from Technical
University of Munich using Lecturnity. It's available at:

http://www.lrr.in.tum.de/~electum/videos/elf_secondlife_060629/

...thought it might be useful for some of the german speaking members
of this list.

P.S.: Realplayer required

Invite (event on 19 July, 12 pm SLT)

2007-07-18T16:09:00.005-05:00

by Mark Mullis

Join other educators and friends for a gathering on MCLC 1 and 2 on Thursday
19th July:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/MCLC2/127/167/28

We hope the evening to pan out as follows:

(But we dont like structure so be warned:)

12pm pst (8pm UK time) gathering at MCLC2 for networking and sharing - take a look at the bits and pieces the Middlesbrough city learning centre have been putting together for teacher courses.

12.45pm pst (8.45pm) Discussion at 'The pit' follow the yellow brick road.(Our project focus is on Learning and not education - looking at re-imagining education in light of what we now know about learning and using the new emerging tools and technologies. This will steer our discussion)

1.30 pst (9.30pm) Party on MCLC1 - you need to be there!

(IM Marc Nomura)

Sl Problem-basedlearning (24 July at 2 pm UK time)

2007-07-18T16:09:00.003-05:00

by Maggi Savin-Baden

Some of us in the UK are interested in developing innovative learning in
Second Life, particularly Problem-based learning

If any of you want to join us we are meeting on Coventry University at
2pm (UK time) Tuesday 24th July on Coventry University Island
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Coventry%20University/147/34/37/

Library developments in Second Life (survey)

2007-07-18T16:09:00.001-05:00

by John Kirriemuir

My name is John Kirriemuir -www.silversprite.com - or in SL, I'm Silversprite Helsinki.

I'm doing a survey on real-world libraries (public, academic, specalist, private) that have been recreated, or branched out, into Second Life. Some of the results will get presented at the 2007 ALA TechSource Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium next week (come to Chicago!), others will be summarised into an open publication that will link from this list.

Are you involved in developing or running such a library in SL? If so, I'd appreciate the answers to a few questions. Please be aware that answers may end up in a presentation or open summary, so please don't put in anything you don't want made public:

- What was the reason for making a library in SL? Why was it set up? Who is, or was, the target audience?
- What functionality is in the library i.e. what kind of interactive "stuff" have you put into it?
- What resources (person hours) were needed to develop it, and was this official work time or self/hobby time?
- Do you have a funding source, or official sanction?
- How "busy" has the structure or facility been, e.g. for a meeting space, how many meetings have taken place and how many people have attended?
- Have there been real-world impacts, e.g. a person started using a library in the real world because they encountered it in SL?

Any response would be much appreciated.

Please send responses to [john -at- silversprite (dot) com] - I'll collate and link to a summary from here in a while.

NMC Conference Posters on the Green July 20-27

2007-07-18T16:08:00.001-05:00

by Alan Levine

For the second year we are bringing to Second Life the poster presentations from the 2007 NMC Summer Conference, held this year in Indianapolis.

We hope to have all 23 posters represented, including "Blueprint For an Integrated Learning and Portfolio System", "Can You Hear Me Now? Pilot Study of Classroom Recording Technologies", "Digital Asset Management: Beyond the Repository", "OpenCourseWare: It's Not Just MIT Anymore", "Using VRML and Flash to Teach Three Dimensional Coordinate Space", "You Don't Know Meningitis: Injecting Interactivity Into Health Education", and much more. Each poster will have information available on notecards, as well as links to relevant web sites

The posters will be on display July 20-27 on the main NMC Campus sim, on the grassy areas surrounding the Gonick Amphitheater (NMC Campus 113,100,26, http://tinyurl.com/nraap), If you have not joined one of the NMC Campus groups, you must do so ahead of time at http://sl.nmc.org/join/ (necessary for teleporting to many of our sims).

We invite you to join us this Friday July 20, for the opening, 1:00-3:00 PM SLT/PDT (check local time http://timeanddate.com/s/f79) to meet the presenters in world. Strap on your headsets and the FirstLook client, and you can talk via in world audio- NMC Campus is audio enabled.

During the week, we will also provide audio, video, and slideshows form the conference on the screens at the Gonick. Full info at http://sl.nmc.org/2007/07/12/posters-2/

The word is there will be a version of the People's Choice award winner "Seeing Sideways" poster which in Indy was displayed as an actual, RL refrigerator (psss http://flickr.com/photos/nmc-campus/831829353/)

Any questions about this event IM myself or Ninmah Ash. We hope you can join us Friday or any time next week "on the green".

Avastar.com Article

2007-07-18T14:52:00.001-05:00

by Douglas Danforth

The July 6 issue (Issue 29) of The Avastar (www.the-avastar.com) has a nice piece on Princeton's SL University initiative as well as a brief blurb on other Universities in SL.

A must watch new machinima from Robbie Dingo

2007-07-18T14:03:00.001-05:00

by Nick Noakes

Watch the Worlds - you have to watch this!

http://tinyurl.com/2n7rr4

Download from Robbie's blog in high, medium and low quality version, and
also on YouTube

Rent a lecture hall

2007-07-18T13:28:00.001-05:00

by Jeremy Hunsinger

i'm not sure why anyone would need a lecture hall unless you have an
outside speaker and expect a huge audience... but even then most
'lecture halls' will only sit 40 or less. some lecture halls will
sit up to 140-160 if they are built correctly and the corresponding
sims are managed well.

however, if you are thinking of lecturing to your students or having
your students sit in a lecture hall..... you are pretty much missing
the point of sl.

in sl... you have instant messenger to groups

in sl, your students can put a video on a prim anywhere they have
permissions

these two things negate any need the professor might have to have
them copresent.

other than that, you can check out the lecture halls in kula, there
are 2 of those, then there is the rubyist meeting location which is
one of the best 'unclassrooms' around, i think. everything in kula
is free to use, just let us know that you are using it and when, so
we can avoid scheduling conflicts.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/kula%201/249/8/28/ is the slurl of the main ampitheater seats 160 or so, needs to be scheduled through me

http://slurl.com/secondlife/kula%204/199/53/21/ is the slurl of the creative commons small ampitheater should be scheduled

http://slurl.com/secondlife/kula%203/86/125/21/ the rccosmos mini hall, great for panel discussions

http://slurl.com/secondlife/kula%203/212/204/27/ the rubyists 'unclassroom'

http://slurl.com/secondlife/kula%203/224/60/68/ where i meet with my students

if you want to know more about what we do in kula....
http://movies.tmttlt.com/kula_video.mov

Holodecks

2007-07-18T13:23:00.001-05:00

by Nick Noakes

Concerning a question about Holodecks in SL..

I've been using the Drifting Thoughts (DT) rezzer since last December on
Boracay for group access, so students and teachers can have the learning
arrangements (seating and tools) they need, when they need them. The DT
rezzer works really well (although I think it cost a lot less than 2000
back then). I've used Rex-Faux for backing up and packing up permanent
builds on the island. The DT rezzer uses absolute coordinates on the
sim, whereas Res-Faux uses coordinates relative to the position of the
rezzer. I've found both to be easy to use.

The main Holodeck 'scene' rezzers, most of which have been mentioned,
are the Paradise Blanket, Stephane's Virtual Reality Room (although that
is a little different but I think is great), Production Holodeck (you
can pick up a demo but the menu system is a bit complicated),
Hyperstring.net (simple to use), Horizons (good customer support). I
noticed that the Horizon's demo holodeck also had a different VRR inside
it as one of the modules, which is neat. Search for Holodeck on SLX and
you will no doubt get more.

The main advantage I see of the scene ones is that they give you a menu
system. The disadvantages though are that they are relative and you
don't see what it is in advance, but only get a menu button with a max
of 11 or so characters. I've found both Rez-Faux and DT Rezzer also to
be very easy to use and have each rezzible item separately with a pic of
each, so people can decide what to rez (but then these aren't scenes).
I've just created a couple of rezzible 'exhibition' tours for teachers
(e.g. an educational spaces tour and, thanks to Farley Scarborough, a
large corporations in SL tour). The next exhibition I will work on is a
student project exhibition.

I'll hopefully be showcasing some of this at the upcoming NMC Building &
Creativity conference next month in SL.

AT LAST! 15 Videos up from James Paul Gee in Secnd Life

2007-07-13T10:39:00.001-05:00

by Barry Joseph

In May of 2007, an avatar contest was held on Global Kids island in Teen Second Life. James Paul Gee, the noted professor, came to Global Kids to try on the various avatars -- such as a chicken, a cyberninja and a dragon -- while reflecting on a variety of issues related to games, learning, avatars and online identity.

The following sixteen videos show brief excerpts from his visit:

1. Introduction

2. On Games and Learning

3. On Having a Body in a Virtual world

4. On Modding and Thinking Like a Designer

5. On Being a 59-year Old Balding White Man

6. On Choosing Identity as a Strategy

7. On Video Games as Art

8. On Avatars as a Surrogate Body

9. On Politicians, Second Life, and the Freedom to Offend

10. On Second Life and Youth Entrepreneurship

11. On the Flattening World

12. On Doing versus Knowing

13. On Game Addiction

14. On the Value of Fantasy
15. Farewells

http://www.holymeatballs.org/2007/07/sl_videos_from_james_paul_gees.html

Dante's Inferno

2007-07-12T12:24:00.003-05:00

by Beth Ritter-Guth

Literature Alive! is happy to announce the launch of Dante's Inferno and Gloria Naylor's Linden Hills at http://slurl.com/secondlife/NMC%20Campus%205/224/14/55

Many thanks to Larry Pixel at NMC for donating the temporary space, and to Eloise Pasteur for volunteering her time and efforts in building.and scripting.

Globe Theatre Grand Opening

2007-07-12T12:24:00.001-05:00

Globe Theatre Grand Opening

Renaissance Island (204, 45, 27).

Sunday, July 22, 2007

1 PM-6PM

The original Globe Theatre opened a few years back in the Autumn of 1599 in Southwark on the River Thames. Join our scholar and builder as they discuss the history of this remarkable Elizabethan theatre.

There will be two discussions/Q & A sessions, fireworks, and a dance, too! Not to worry--William Prynne will not be reading from his loathsome Histriomastix against theatre and dancing. Do feel free to wear your favorite Renaissance/Tudor period attire! (Visitors will find free attire in the welcome center located at 69, 183, 150).

Here is the schedule:

1-2PM Discussion by Dolgoruky Umarov (in RL Dolgo has a PhD in English and Theatre Arts and has performed in 4 major Shakespearean roles; he has also researched the Globe Theatre extensively). Dolgo will be joined by Globe builder extraordinaire Charlene Trudeau. A Q & A Session will follow.

2-5PM Globe(al) Dance Party with Fireworks around 3.

5-6PM Dolgoruky and Charlene will repeat their earlier program

Copyright and Intellectual Property

2007-07-12T09:18:00.001-05:00

FWD by Beth Ritter-Guth

This is an interesting clip!

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=419962477

Summer Of Love Music Festival

2007-07-11T15:11:00.001-05:00

by Chris Hambly

I'm putting this early email out to inform you of the Summer Of love Music Festival, taking place on the sim of AUDIO August 3&4.

The wiki has only just gone up but I want to share this with you guys very early so you can book a space/slot for yourself, either performing, or reading or some such activity. As well as the main events I can see potential for you to place posters with info about your services etc.

Do get in touch off list.

The wiki is here:
http://audiocourses.pbwiki.com/summer-love

SCI FI technology article

2007-07-11T14:50:00.001-05:00

FWD by Carol H. Tucker

"Why SL will never go mainstream"

http://blog.scifi.com/tech/archives/2007/06/28/shift_why_secon.html

Exhibition in SL

2007-07-11T14:48:00.003-05:00

by Julia Gaimster

I always enjoy reading this list and thought I would reciprocate by inviting you all to our Graduate Showcase. http://slurl.com/secondlife/London%20College%20of%20Fashion/137/194/25

This is a selection of images from the showcase we recently held in the London College of Fashion. I have tried to incorporate some innovative ways of displaying images but would be really grateful for any ideas on how to improve this. It is my first build so there are some glitches if you look too closely. It has been a very educational experience and I have to thank Ripple Savard for help with the scripting. The rest of the island is yet to be developed and we are going to involve staff and students in decisions about what we create and how we use it. We are not aiming to replicate the college but to create areas that enable creative thinking and activities and we are keen to develop collaborative projects using the space.

On another topic I am conducting some research about emotions and interactions in virtual environments and would love to hear from anyone who would like to share their experiences with me.

Monroe College grand opening

2007-07-11T14:48:00.001-05:00

by Barbara E. McMullen

MONROE COLLEGE OFFICE OF ONLINE LEARNING INTERNSHIPS

INVITATION

A WESTERN HOE DOWN!

SPREAD THE WORD, ALL ARE INVITED!

The Monroe College Second Life campus is hosting its grand opening and open house on Sunday, July 22, 2007 from noon to 8 pm. We invite you to celebrate with us the ongoing work of the Monroe Office of Online Learning Internships.

• Enjoy an old fashioned hayride.

The Monroe College hay wagon and horse will start around NMC's Teaching Island starting at Monroe College every hour on the hour, starting at noon with the last ride beginning at 7 pm. It will make stops at the following locations on the island where you can disembark or embark before returning to the Monroe SL campus.

Start: Monroe College
Stop 1: New York University
Stop 2: Harper College
Stop 3: Sloan Consortium
Stop 4: Darton College
Stop 5: Williams College
Stop 6: Wright State University
Stop 7: Clemson University
Stop 8: UW Bothell
Stop 9: Cochise College
Stop 10: Global Kids
Stop 11: Monroe College Hoe Down
Stop 12: University of Wisconsin – Madison
Last stop: Monroe College Office of Online Learning Internships

• Dance all day.

Grab your partner and dosado! Square dance to the music and calls of the Monroe College Country Band.

Come dressed for a hoe down. Ladies and gents, we will have dance dresses and other western outfits for you to use if you don't know what to wear.

• Eat until you burst.

A Texas barbeque will be cookin up all the ribs, dogs, and burgers you can eat. The barbecue is next to the tent that is covering the dance floor. When you can't eat any more, join the dancers on the floor and burn off all those calories.

• Ride our merry-go-round and lots more!

• Hang out with Monroe College interns, faculty, and staff

Go into the Monroe College Online Learning Internship office and be greeted by our interns, who will give you lots of information about Monroe and the Online Learning Internship program.

Sit around in the Student Union or the Interns' Lounge (upstairs) and chat all day.

Visit the Office of the Internship Director and leave your calling card.

Read welcome notes from:
Internship Director, Ms. Jennifer Friary (Jennyfer Flanagan, SL)
Dean of the Monroe College School of IT, Janice Girardi (Janeanne Capalini, SL)
Dean of the Monroe College School of Business, Tiloki Depoo
Professor of IS at Monroe College, John McMullen (Johnmac Maverick, SL)
Dean of Online Learning at Monroe, Barbara McMullen (Bobbee Allen, SL).

Bring your friends! There will be fun for all.

PLEASE GIVE THIS INVITATION TO YOUR FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES. ALL ARE WELCOME!

RSVP
Bobbee Allen

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Teaching/149/186/21
Search Places or Groups for Monroe College and teleport.
We are at 149, 186, 21

Barbara E. McMullen
Dean of Online Learning
Monroe College

Global Kids' CRC Machinima Summer Camp - Now open!

2007-07-11T14:45:00.001-05:00

by Tabitha Tsai

=====GK'S CRC MACHINIMA CAMP, SUMMER 2007=====

Global Kids will be hosting a Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) Machinima Camp within Teen Second Life in the summer of 2007. The CRC Machinima Camp will involve exciting leadership-development activities and fun workshops that will deal with important children's rights issues related to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a document produced by the United Nations.

The CRC Machinima Camp will last for 5 weeks, beginning July 23 to August 23, 2007.

Participants will be expected to attend the program Monday to Friday during the 5 weeks, from 11am to 1pm Second Life Time. Each session will last for 2 hours, with an extra optional hour to stay for additional help and troubleshooting.

This program is expected to have 20 participants from all walks of life, if you are interested in making machinima videos and have a desire to learn more about children's rights, this is something you would not want to miss out on.

So what is CRC Machinima Camp?

CRC Machinima Camp is a summer program for teens in SL who want to make socially-conscious machinima videos on issues that deals with children's rights, specifically raised in the Convention on the Rights of a Child.

This is the first ever machinima camp hosted by Global kids, in collaboration with UNICEF. The final machinima videos will be showcased at the Second Life Community Convention in Chicago, USA on August 25, 2007, and later this fall by UNICEF. Participants will be learning the how-tos and fundamental techniques of making a machinima, taught by none other but Machinima Guru herself, otherwise known as Moo Money on the main grid, and be able to understand the significant role that the CRC plays in the life of a child all around the world.

A little background on what CRC is:

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, often referred to as "CRC", is an international convention setting out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of children. It is monitored by the United Nations' Committee on the Rights of the Child, which is composed of members from countries around the world. Governments of countries that have ratified the "CRC" are required to report to, and appear before, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child periodically to be examined on their progress with regards to the advancement of the implementation of the "CRC" and the status of child rights in their country. ( http://www.wikipedia.com/)

What will you be doing?

Through fun activities and workshops, this program will be a chance to learn about how the CRC works, and what role teens can play by making social-conscious machinima videos in TSL. Teens who take part in the CRC Machinima Camp will identify rights declared in the CRC, create a storyboard as a film maker, and collaborate with other campers to create a 1-minute machinima that will be showcased in the teen grid, and also at the Second Life Community Convention in Chicago, USA.

Who should apply to CRC Machinma Camp?

There is no age requirement, so as long as you can roam around in TSL, you are eligible to apply! CRC Machinima Camp will be a lot of fun, but it will also include a lot of serious discussion about important issues related to children's rights around the world. Participants should be motivated and enthusiastic, enjoy watching films and have a desire to make their own films in TSL. You should be interested in raising awareness and making a difference in the world by using digital media technology available in TSL.

At the CRC Machinima Camp you will be encouraged to think freely and openly about all kinds of global issues and form your own opinions about these issues. You should apply if you are interested in taking part in lively discussion with a diverse group of individuals who offer a variety of perspectives. You must be able to work well with others, showing respect for people who come from different backgrounds and people who have opinions that differ from yours.

What kind of commitment does Global Kids expect from the participants?

Participants will be expected to give their full attention to CRC Machinima Camp activities while camp is in session. Part of being a participant will include contributing your point of view and taking an active part in the camp's activities.

Participants will also be expected to support an atmosphere of respect. This includes treating each other with respect and also showing respect for other people's opinions.

Global Kids will not tolerate disruptive behavior like PVPing, excessive gesturing, or the use of unacceptable language. All participants are expected to respect the Global Kids guidelines and offer each other support through the 5 weeks session.

What can you expect from Global Kids?

In exchange for your participation, here is what you can expect to find:
o We will offer participants a safe space where individuals treat one another with respect.
o We will provide a chance to learn a lot, and have fun at the same time.
o You will have the opportunity to learn about important issues, formulate your own opinion and learn how you can make a difference in the world.
o You will get the chance to take on a leadership role in Teen Second Life, as the participants of Camp GK spearhead a project in the teen grid.
o We will provide a place where each person's voice is heard.
o A $50.00 USD stipend for all participants who complete the program.

How can you apply?

To apply to the CRC Machinima Camp, you will need to fill out the online application form at:

http://globalkids.org/?id=64

Any questions?

Please IM Tabitha Gkid in-world, or email her at Tabitha - at - globalkids.org for questions or more details.

Watch an example?

If you want to see an example of a teen-made machinima produced by past GK youth leaders, please go to: http://tinyurl.com/3x2l8o

cfp: Learning and Research in Second Life

2007-07-11T14:42:00.001-05:00

by Jeremy Hunsinger

Call for Papers/Participation

Please join us in a workshop on learning and research in Second Life on October 17, 2007 in Vancouver at Internet Research 8.0 (http://wiki.aoir.org/index.php?title=About_IR8.0 )

Paper Deadline August 15th.

Second Life(R) is a 3d virtual environment created by Linden Lab which has captured the attentions of researchers and teachers from around the world from a variety of disciplines.

This workshop aims to improve the understanding of Second Life as a Learning and Research environment. It will bring 35 researchers together to collaborate, discuss and workshop diverse topics related to research and learning in Second Life. We will pursue a full-day schedule in which participants will discuss their work and interests on four different topics: learning in Second Life, integrated learning, the contributions of research to the community and ethical
research methods. How can we better enable learning in this sphere? How can we better enable research?

As a highlight, Robin Linden will give a talk to the group, and members of Linden Lab will participate throughout the day.

We encourage researchers to submit papers and short biography to slworkshop@tmttlt.com which will be selected and distributed amongst participants before the workshop. First invitations will be offered to those who provide full papers for consideration.

These papers have two purposes: first is to provide a common platform for understanding our research and teaching and second submitted papers may be considered for publication in an edited volume being produced in relation to the workshop, or possibly in peer reviewed
publication derived from the workshop (these are currently under discussion).

Subsequent invitation will be made based upon research/teaching statement and biography. If you are interested in participating, please send an email containing your information to
slworkshop - at - tmttlt.com.

Decisions will be made by September 1st, barring incident. There is a limit of 35 participants at the physical meeting; the event will be simulcast into Second Life.

We welcome professionals, faculty and graduate students to participate.

This workshop is sponsored by Linden Lab creators of Second Life and is organized by Jeremy Hunsinger and Aleks Krotoski. Free lunch, coffee breaks and the room is included in participation.

Short article on the open metaverse

2007-07-11T14:36:00.001-05:00

by Giulio Prisco

http://transumanar.com/index.php/site/the_open_distributed_metaverse/

It has been a pleasant surprise seeing the progress made by libsecondlife, opensim etc. Opensim may become a serious contender if they manage to achieve the critical mass that an open source software development project needs.

Interview with AjaxLife creator Katharine Berry

2007-07-11T14:27:00.001-05:00

FWD by Ed Lamoureux

Interview with AjaxLife creator Katharine Berry

Mon Jul 9, 2007 12:07pm PDT

The Second Life blogosphere was aflutter on Monday with news that a talented young Teen Grid resident named Katharine Berry had created a prototype Second Life viewer that works within a Web browser.

http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2007/07/09/interview-with-ajaxlife-creator-katharine-berry/

Access SecondLife Via Firefox!

2007-07-11T14:25:00.001-05:00

by Lindy McKeown

From this comment that has some screen shots...

http://greydawning.net/jackson/?p=45

that led to the maker's site

http://blog.katharineberry.co.uk/2007/07/02/ajaxlife/

From THE BLOG of Katharine Berry

...an AJAX based SL client.

It's still under heavy development, but the result so far is an application/page/site called AjaxLife.

Features

Basic map
Teleports
Accepting/declining teleport offers
Local chat, instant messages (partially - you can't start them except with online friends)
Inventory received notifications
Friend on/offline notifications
Balance change notifications, etc.

It also correctly logs you in and out, and notifies you if you were disconnected for any reason.

Known issues

It will not work correctly on the MG (well, the map won't anyway) - in the unlikely event anyone cares, sorry.
IE7 refuses to register double clicks on the map, making it impossible to teleport using it. IE6 works fine here.
There's no interface to start IMs implemented, although you can respond to those sent to you.
Sometimes SL sends the teleport messages in the wrong order, resulting in the modal teleport wait dialog never leaving.
Teleports sometimes complete without notification that they ever started.
IE tends to screw up with dragging the map

Global Kids and the Macarthur announce a non-profit thread at this year's SLCC

2007-07-11T13:14:00.001-05:00

FWD by Joyce Bettencourt

For Immediate Release:

Jonah Kokodyniak, Global Kids

Global Kids and Partners to Launch Non-Profit Focus at Top Convention on Virtual Worlds

Global Kids and the MacArthur Foundation have partnered to announce a new nonprofit and philanthropic theme for the third annual Second Life Community Convention (SLCC), to be held August 24-26 in Chicago. In conjunction with the event, a series of research and how-to papers will be published this fall.

"With inhabitants skyrocketing into the millions, it is only natural that some of the million-odd nonprofits in the US might ask questions about their new role" noted organizer Barry Joseph of Global Kids. SLCC is currently the largest gathering of people interested in one the most rapidly growing online worlds – Second Life. The funder behind the effort is the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which views the new SLCC work as one of the next steps in the Foundation's year-long exploration of the role of philanthropy in virtual worlds. The new focus for SLCC builds on Global Kids' path-breaking educational programming in that environment.

For the conference portion, a new event thread will weave between all four tracks: business, education, social and machinima (digital animation created in gaming environments). For each track, a panel will be developed that focuses on how non-profit organizations are utilizing virtual worlds to extend their mission and reach. The panels will feature:

Education keynote Connie Yowell, Director of Education at the MacArthur Foundation, will address the importance of virtual worlds for informal learning and its nonprofits.

Philanthropy funders, including foundation, corporate and government organizations who are supporting work in virtual worlds, such as the MacArthur Foundation and Learn and Serve America, will discuss the role of philanthropy in virtual worlds.

A panel on Best Practices in Bringing Non-profits into Second Life including such organizations as the University of Southern California, UNICEF, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Idealist.org and TechSoup.

A teen-led mini-machinima festival, in which teens from two non-profit programs will showcase their work using Second Life to make animated movies about social and global issues.

An Educational Non-profit's History of the Teen Grid: Global Kids' Adventure in Best Practices .

Following SLCC, two papers will be developed by Global Kids. The first will analyze the education track and be titled The Virtual Worlds for Learning Roadmap , while the second will analyze the non-profit thread.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private, independent grant making institution dedicated to helping groups and individuals foster lasting improvement in the human condition. MacArthur's $50 million digital media and learning initiative aims to help determine how digital technologies are changing the way young people learn, play, socialize, and participate in civic life. More information is available at http://www.macfound.org/ or http://www.digitallearning.macfound.org/.

Global Kids (globalkids.org) is a world leader in using virtual worlds for education. Over the past year and a half, with the generous support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Global Kids has received national recognition for its innovative use of virtual worlds for education about global issues and civic engagement. In February 2006, Global Kids launched GK Island, becoming the first non-profit to build land within the Teen Second Life grid. Since then, Global Kids has used Teen Second Life to solicit essays on young people's relationship with digital media; conducted an intensive summer camp in which youth learned about and took action on critical global issues; organized a collaborative program with UNICEF to educate youth about an international agreement, A World Fit for Children; brought in guest speakers, such as Mia Farrow discussing the genocide in Darfur; and involved youth in ongoing leadership development programming. This work is detailed on the blog HolyMeatballs.org .

Global Kids work in Second Life builds upon its more than 15 years of experience in youth leadership development and international affairs education, as well as its role as a national leader in using serious online games for educational purposes.

"Global Kids' Second Life programs offer young people a world in which their characters can take part in myriad workshops and games that educate them about major world issues and events, from the International Criminal Court to global warming and child labor," says Carole Artigiani, Global Kids Executive Director. "Players learn how to communicate, collaborate, negotiate, and mobilize their peers for social change. We are excited to organize this component of the conference and bring greater attention to the potential that virtual worlds hold for the nonprofit community as a whole."

About Global Kids, Inc.

Founded in 1989, Global Kids' mission is to transform urban youth into successful students and global and community leaders by engaging them in socially dynamic, content-rich learning experiences. Through its leadership development and academic enrichment programs, Global Kids educates youth about critical international and domestic issues and promotes their engagement in civic life and the democratic process. Through professional development initiatives, Global Kids provides educators with strategies for integrating experiential learning methods and international issues into urban classrooms. Over ninety percent of the high school seniors who participate in Global Kids' leadership program graduate from high school.

About Global Kids' Online Leadership Program (OLP)

Global Kids' Online Leadership Program, now in its sixth year, integrates the use of the Internet into GK's leadership development and international affairs programming. The OLP equips youth with the skills necessary to use the Internet as a tool for research and social change and develops online resources for educators and young people to promote civic engagement and global literacy. Currently, the OLP is accomplishing these goals through initiatives within two broad areas: youth-led online dialogues and the development of socially-conscious games. The OLP has built strong collaborative relationships with Microsoft, the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and the game design company gameLab, among others.

UK University and College developments in SL

2007-07-11T13:13:00.001-05:00

by John Kirriemuir

I'm carrying out a small study looking at UK academics and organisations who are developing educational services in Second Life.

Consequently, I am tracking down academics, colleges and universities in the UK who are providing, or intending to provide, such services within the SL environment.

This work is for the Eduserv Foundation, who organise events in SL/RL and have their own island. It's rather funky and worth a visit. Their website:
http://www.eduserv.org.uk/foundation

Their associated blogs:
http://efoundations.typepad.com/efoundations/second_life
http://artfossett.blogspot.com/

In SL I'm Silversprite Helsinki. In real life I'm John Kirriemuir and live on the Outer Hebrides (currently suffering a drought!) off the west of Scotland. Details here:
http://www.silversprite.com/

If you are in UK HE or FE and have built or provided an "education service" (am cool and flexible about how that is defined) in SL, then I'd like to please chat and ask a few questions. The report will be made public later in the summer on the Eduserv Foundation website, so it's a chance for you to advertise what you've done / achieved. Some findings will also get presented
at the Gaming, Learning and Libraries symposium in July:
http://gaming.techsource.ala.org/

Avatars for educators: contact info

2007-07-11T13:00:00.001-05:00

by David Simmons

From the simteach wiki it lists Hereteic Linden as the contact.
http://tinyurl.com/2xtd68

What does it cost to bring my students and faculty into Second Life?

All basic accounts in Second Life are now free to everyone. This means that students can sign up on their own for a basic account for no charge whatsoever. If you'd like us to set up student accounts for you and assign a unique last name for everyone, we will need: 1) the full real name of each student, 2) their email address, and 3) the unique last name you'd like for everyone. Each Second Life account will then have the student's real-life first name and the last name you requested. The fee for setting this up is $150 for up to 25 accounts (if you'd like more than 25 accounts, an additional fee of $150/25 accounts will be charged). Please contact Hereteic Linden for details on setting up these accounts.

Virtual Worlds Trends Analysis for Program Builders

2007-07-11T12:54:00.001-05:00

by Jennifer Jones

Bellevue Community College just published a Virtual Worlds Trends Analysis for Program Builders. http://bellevuecollege.edu/informatics/VWTAFinal.pdf It is directed at Community College program builders, but is very general and could be applied to all levels of education. The paper focuses on SL, but mentions other products as well. It is available in print by contacting informatics -at- bcc.ctc.edu, but functions best as an electronic document, due to the many links to resources. Our other Program Building resources can be found at http://bellevuecollege.edu/informatics/lsicresources.htm

SL Seal of Excellence?

2007-07-07T16:59:00.001-05:00

by Allan Sturm

Editor's note: this post follows a very spirited and lengthy discussion on the SLED listserv about a suggested "stamp of approval" on SL-based educational materials.

There appears to be three camps of thought in this discussion about seals of excellence.

Just for fun, I thought I'd share what I have been reading "between the lines"... and I threw in a few perspectives just to help liven it up.

UniDiversity of Second Life

1) You can't tell me I'm the same as everyone else. (don't label me
or my efforts)
2) I promote diversity over similarity.
3) [Pretty much] toss out the old for the new. (anti-regime)
4) Don't tell me what to do or how to behave when [my vision of] the
future is so bright. (risk favorable)
5) Everyone is a peer. (the ladder of success is a pipe dream)
6) Everyone can excel if just given the opportunity or proper
[individual] setting.
7) Once a thief, not a thief forever. (if we could just 'reach' them)

UniVeristy of Second Life

1) I am more similar to others than I am different than everyone
else. (my labels define me and my efforts)
2) I tend to group over tending to separate.
3) The old works [well enough] so why reinvent it? (if it ain't
broke, don't fix it)
4) Give me guidelines or rules so that I know what to do and how to
behave. (Risk adverse)
5) I have inferiors, peers, and superiors. (ladder of success is a
reality)
6) Not everyone can or wants to excel regardless of opportunity or
setting.
7) Once a thief, always a thief. (odds are high that they won't change)

UniReality of Second Life

1) I am similar and different than others. (Labels only define me or
others as much as I allow them)
2) I am in groups and not in groups.
3) I learn from the old ways and adapt them to the new ways. ("If the
dog don't hunt, don't take him hunting anymore.")
4) Growth isn't risk averse, yet being risky most of the time will
kill me or my efforts.
5) Everyone is a peer and everyone has a purpose or a role. (play
well with others)
6) Provide opportunity and setting - some will excel, others will
fall to the wayside.
7) Once bitten, twice shy.

Think about baseball:

Team UniDiversity gets us the movie "Bad News Bears".

Team UniVersity gets us established and hard to modify Major League Baseball.

Team UniReality would be able to see that the Japanese are better baseball players than Americans, so why not examine how they do it and adapt? (adapt is the key word - keep what's working and update what's not working)

Seals of Excellence:

UniDiversity supports either no labeling at all or waiting a long time before anyone could possibly label our efforts in Second Life.

UniVersity wants approval of their efforts and authority to act in Second Life - asap.

UniReality would suggest a blend of UniDiversity and UniVersity - the time will come that labels will be appropriate and that these labels won't necessarily describe worthiness....

I was once told a disturbing fact(oid) about the military's doctors (in the past or present, I don't remember). Doctors must have an equivalent "seal of excellence" yet as the story goes, most military doctors were "C" students in college - apparently their medical classes??. If this is true, being given their version of a 'seal of excellence" (in the form of being allowed to practice medicine) doesn't mean Jack.

For those of you in UniDiversity, have a great (whatever you would feel comfortable describing it as)!

For those of you in UniVersity, have a great weekend!

For those of you in UniReality, have a great (well, it is the weekend so why not call it that?)

Guidelines for SL Etiquette?

2007-07-05T14:42:00.001-05:00

by oliver audina

The French NGO/Association "Les Humains Associés" (The Associated Humans -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Associated_Humans) have developped a
special Netiquette Charter for their Île Verte island and Second Life.

http://wiki.nethique.info/wiki/Netiquette_Charter_for_the_island_of_%C3%8Ele_Verte_in_Second_Life

It's a development and adaptation of their Nethic Charter for bloggers :
http://wiki.nethique.info/wiki/Nethic_Charter_for_blogs

French version here :
http://wiki.nethique.info/wiki/Charte_n%C3%A9thique_pour_Second_Life

As you can see, everything is on a Wiki, so that everyone is welcome to
participate and cooperate in the evolution of those Charters. ;-)

Architectural Education Conference

2007-07-03T21:12:00.001-05:00

by Kurt Rehder

You can now watch CtrlShift07, streaming live on our island "Lebenswelt" Please see our Website www.ctrlshift07.com for information about the conference.

Goreans

2007-07-03T21:11:00.001-05:00

by Jeffrey Bardzell

Shaowen Bardzell and I have both published on Gor from the point of view of
HCI, aesthetics, and experience. We have a full paper accepted at HCI2007,
but the conference hasn¹t happened yet and so the proceedings are not yet
online. Here is the reference:

Bardzell, S., and Bardzell, J. (2007, accepted). Docile Avatars: Aesthetics,
Experience, and Sexual Interaction in Second Life. HCI 2007, Lancaster, UK.

Incidentally, Shaowen also presented a paper of SL BDSM visuality at the
Sandbox Symposium (SGGRAPH) last year.

There's also a short version of the Docile Avatars paper we did 18 months
ago available, but it was very much a first effort. It's better to read the
2007 full version. More work is forthcoming.

As others have noted, Goreans tend to arouse low quality commentary, much
like politics and other hot-button topics. Better to see for yourself,
because while there is lots to like/dislike about Gor, you won't see much of
it if you just read polarizing attacks/defenses.

Symposium on Creativity in Second Life

2007-07-03T21:05:00.003-05:00

by Alan Levine

Below is info on the NMC's upcoming (August 12-18) "Symposium on
Creativity in Second Life" -- we are experimenting with running a
full fledged conference entirely in SL, with everything except the
airline hassles and tacky hotel buffets with the dreaded conference
chicken ;-)

What we are NOT seeking are lectures or PowerPoints to passive
audiences. We are setting up sessions in studio form, and are looking
for people that are interested in setting either guided or
independent learning activities, or active participatory sessions
that can help someone learn how to do, build, or create in Second
Life. We are working with some of the top builders, artists, and
performers in Second Life to share their craft as well. And for those
that just want to share some objects, tools, etc, there will be an
expo hall as well.

--------------------
Proposals for presentations for the Symposium on Creativity in
Second Life, the first in a series of NMC conferences and events
exploring virtual worlds of all kinds, are being solicited through
Friday, July 20, 2007. This live online event will be held August
12-18, 2007, and all events will be held in the virtual world of
Second Life.

For full details, see http://www.nmc.org/symposium-on-creativity

Please add to TSL History Wiki

2007-07-03T21:05:00.001-05:00

by Barry Joseph

We are working to finalize the educator's component of the history of the teen grid, which we hope to use at an upcoming presentation. Please review and make sure your work is properly represented. Thanks!

http://www.slhistory.org/index.php/Teen_Grid

Give Education a Second LIfe

2007-07-03T21:04:00.001-05:00

by R. Kowaney

Help us create a vision for CHOICE in education… And WIN AN iPOD!

We are a group of graduate students from Pepperdine University composed of K12, Higher Ed and Corporate educators who want to make a difference in learning. We want to empower educators of all ages to give learners meaningful experiences through CHOICE.

Please join us in Second Life at the NMC Campus on the "Quad" at Teaching 2 on Sunday, July 8 at 5:00 pm (SLT/PST) or Monday, July 9 at 8:00 pm (SLT/PST) for a dynamic session of discussion and reflection on CHOICE in learning – "Give Education a Second Life". The event will feature an interview between renowned ed tech blogger Steve Hargadon and ed tech provocateur Dr. Gary Stager.

Link to site: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Teaching%202/135/124/22
For event details, go to http://secondlife4education.org/

You could also WIN AN iPOD...
We want you to help us create a vision for CHOICE in education. Share your idea of best practices that you have used with learners in your environment to empower learners with CHOICE… Or create something...
You could change someone's perspective of learning forever!
For contest details, go to http://secondlife4education.org/

The NMC Campus Teachers Buzz will convene at the Monday session (8pm SLT/PDT) so we would like to invite regular Buzz attendees to stick around for some follow-up discussion.

Help us create a vision for CHOICE in education.
We hope to see you on the NMC Campus on July 8 or 9!

Qualitative survey of didactical approaches in SL

2007-07-03T21:02:00.002-05:00

by Martin Leidl

We are currently holding a seminar ³Exploration of the virtual 3-D learning-space Second Life² as part of the curriculum of the division General pedagogics (focussing on "Bildung" and technology) at the Technical University Darmstadt (Germany). In the context of this seminar we want to analyze collaboratively the different pedagogical approaches and concepts within SL. Different techniques of qualitative research like interviews and visual methods shall be applied. Our results will be published under the terms of the creative commons license (data-anonymization if required).

We would kindly like to ask you for participation in the role of an interview-partner. The duration of the interview will take approximately 25-60 minutes, depending on you. There will be no strict list of questions, only some central questions will be asked. In preparation of this interview, we would like to ask you to take a sl-snapshot of a situation of your educational
offer. The image will than be a basis for discussion in-world.

Are there any questions left? Please email us!
For further Information please visit:
http://www.gkel.tu-darmstadt.de/sl-english
http://www.gkel.tu-darmstadt.de/Seminar_SecondLife .

Let us introduce ourselves:
We, the heads of the seminar are Antje Müller (SL: Antje Vilotta) and Martin
Leidl (SL: Toney Maloney). We both are members of the Research Training
Group E-Learning ( http://www.gkel.tu-darmstadt.de/home). The participants of the seminar are Magister and Master students with different major fields of study.

SL + LAMS = SLAMS ?

2007-07-03T21:02:00.001-05:00

by Art Fossett

I'm giving a talk later this week at the European LAMS Conference in London about the use of IMS Learning Design to manage learning activities in Second Life.

When worlds collide: learning activity management for avatars
http://lams2007.lamsfoundation.org/program.htm

(LAMS = Learning Activity Management System - an open source system from Australia).
I'm happy to talk from a purely theoretical perspective (err... that's all I can do actually!), but if there is anyone out there actually doing anything like this for real, then I'd be happy to mention your work.

ELVEN Institute's New HQ - Opening Ceremony!

2007-07-03T21:01:00.001-05:00

by Craig Cunningham

You are cordially invited to attend the official ribbon cutting ceremony
and celebration of ELVEN Institute's new headquarters in Cybrary City
II. Music, champaigne, dancing under the stars.

Welcome: Puglet Dancer and Dewey Jung

Date: July 15
Time: 6:00 SLT
Map coordinates: Cybrary City II 217, 200, 38
Dress: semi-formal "elven" attire
Everyone welcome!

Metaverse Roadmap

2007-07-03T20:59:00.003-05:00

by Theodore Ubhaus

Looking for holistic foresight into the future of 3-D Internet?

I recommend reading the Metaverse Roadmap...

http://www.metaverseroadmap.org/MetaverseRoadmapOverview.pdf

Mirror Worlds & Second Earth

2007-07-03T20:59:00.001-05:00

by Theodore Ubhaus

This article presents the aspect of Mirror Worlds in regards to the Metaverse...

http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/18888/
Published by MIT

Investigation of the merge of technologies such as Second Life with Google Earth have been moving forward.

Materials and videos - Massively Multi-Learner

2007-06-28T12:34:00.001-05:00

by Daniel Livingstone

Finally the videos from the March HEA-ICS workshop 'Massively Multi-Learner' are available.

7 of the 8 videos present work in or about Second Life, and all are available from
the workshop page here:
http://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/events/displayevent.php?id=142

or from blip.tv here:
http://dlivingstone.blip.tv/

I'd recommend using the first site if you want to download the slides themselves, but
blip.tv for viewing

Alliance Second Life Library Wins Two Awards at ALA Conference in Washington DC

2007-06-28T10:18:00.001-05:00

From: Lori Bell

Alliance Second Life Library, its libraries and volunteers are pleased to announce that they have won two prizes at the American Library Association in Washington DC this week. Both prizes were presented to Alliance Library System Executive Director Kitty Pope on behalf of the library and the libraries and volunteers working with the library.

The Library won one of six Sirsi-Dynix Building Better Community Awards http://www.sirsidynix.com/Newsevents/Releases/2007/20070624_bbcwinners.pdf-- Six library organizations were honored for enterprising uses of technology at the ceremony.

The Library also won the 2007 American Library Association Information Today Library of the Future Award for 2007 - http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/april2007/04172007.htm
The international collaborative group of librarians working on the Alliance Second Life Library were recognized for their ground breaking work in the development of the 3D virtual world library, for forging new partnerships within the virtual world and for providing programs, services, and materials to the more than 7 million residents who inhabit Second Life.

"We are very pleased to receive these awards on behalf of a wonderful group of international volunteers and libraries providing high quality library information and program services that promote books and community," stated Kitty Pope, executive Director of the Alliance Library System.

[ImmersiveEducation.org]

2007-06-28T10:16:00.001-05:00

From: Aaron E. Walsh

(building virtual worlds specifically for education and students) is precisely what the recently announced Immersive Education initiative is doing:

http://ImmersiveEducation.org

Following are a few recent announcements that provide some background and
context, including an open call for participation:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Media Consortium (NMC) joins Immersive Education initiative to advance
virtual learning
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Announcement: http://mediagrid.org/news/2007-06_nmc.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary:

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - June 07, 2007 - During the NMC Summer Conference today the
New Media Consortium (NMC) announced that it has joined the Media Grid's
Immersive Education initiative to participate in the development of best
practices and standards for virtual learning and game-based learning platforms.
NMC is an international consortium of over 250 learning-focused organizations
dedicated to the exploration and use of new media and new technologies. NMC
member institutions are found in almost every state in the United States, across
Canada, and in Europe, Asia and Australia. Among the consortium's membership are
an elite list of the most highly regarded colleges and universities in the
world, innovative museums, research centers, foundations, and forward-thinking
companies. The consortium's collective wealth of experience in building virtual
learning environments in Second Life will be applied directly to the Immersive
Education initiative... <http://mediagrid.org/news/2007-06_nmc.html>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Call for participation: Immersive Education and Virtual Learning Environments
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Announcement: http://mediagrid.org/news/2007-06_immersive_education.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary:

BOSTON, MA - June 04, 2007 - MediaGrid.org launches the Immersive Education
initiative with an open call to educators, students, and professionals who have
experience using virtual learning environments or video game technologies (such
as Second Life, Croquet, Extensible 3D [X3D], Panda3D, Quake, Unreal, Torque
Game Engine, and so forth). Individuals and organizations can visit
ImmersiveEducation.org to select the next-generation Immersive Education
platform, contribute to best practices, and establish standards for virtual
learning environments and game-based learning platforms...

http://mediagrid.org/news/2007-06_immersive_education.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Places to visit

2007-06-28T10:14:00.001-05:00

Developing your own virtual world?

2007-06-28T10:12:00.001-05:00

From: Sean FitzGerald

... there are plenty of products out there (and up-coming) that you can use to build virtual worlds with. Or maybe you didn't actually mean build the software from scratch... that is a huge undertaking.

We have done a lot of research on virtual worlds lately, including DIY products. Check out the resources I've compiled here - http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/virtualworlds

I'd be happy to talk about what I've found out about the pros and cons of these products, but if it's anything other than a SL-related product - OpenSim or the upcoming official open source server - then we should probably have that conversation off-list.

I'm starting to wonder whether we should start a group in world to look at alternative virtual world platforms for education.

Self-Esteem Seminar for Teachers 6-29-07

2007-06-28T10:11:00.001-05:00

From: LYNEL LUTHER

Self-Esteem and Empowerment Seminar
HealthInfo Island 130, 140, 22
Friday June 29th at 1pm and 3pm FREE
Designed for all SL and TSL educators, and helping professionals
Zotarah Shepherd

This is a free and interactive class, about components of self-esteem and how those may be used to empower others and ourselves to create win-win situations. I will use a variety of SL tools to illustrate ideas. We will have opportunities to build connections and share our wisdom. Life is a good teacher, but the consequences can be harsh. If we learn from each other's experience, we can move through our lives with greater ease.

When you teleport to HealthInfo Island you will arrive at the Hub Pavilion. Follow the directions or IM me and I will teleport you to the class site in the NW mountains. The location may change to accommodate a greater number of participants. I can use Babler to translate into different languages too.

Please IM me for more information about the class and my background. I will be glad to answer your questions. You may arrange other classes through the HealthInfo Island Library. I hope you will join us.

World of Borecraft: Never play a video game that's trying to teach you something.

2007-06-28T10:08:00.005-05:00

From: Nik Peachey

Interesting article here attacking the use of games in learning.

World of BorecraftNever play a video game that's trying to teach you
something.

http://editor.slate.com/default.aspx?id=2169019&displaymode=6&workarea=3

Health-related locations in SL

2007-06-28T10:08:00.003-05:00

From: Sean FitzGerald

Avatar Knoh Oh (SL Healthcare Tourist) is doing a great job of documenting health-related locations in SL here:

http://www.sluniverse.com/pics/Default.aspx?Name=Knoh+Oh

NMC Teachers Buzz: Visit to Desi's Lit Class Recap

2007-06-28T10:08:00.001-05:00

From: Alan Levine

A big Sl thanks go to Desideria Stockton (Beth Ritter-Guth) for inviting the NMC Campus Teachers Buzz to partake as students in one of her actual Sl classes. It was, to say the least, very active!

Summary: http://sl.nmc.org/2007/06/27/active/

Chat: http://sl.nmc.org/wiki/Teachers_Buzz_Jun_25_Transcript

Assessment: http://sl.nmc.org/wiki/Teachers_Buzz_Jun_25_Assessment

Pictures: http://flickr.com/photos/nmc-campus/

Post-Doc Researcher Position from the VITAL Lab at Ohio University

2007-06-28T10:04:00.001-05:00

From: Chang Liu

==Post-Doc Researcher Position from the VITAL Lab at Ohio University ==

The VITAL (Virtual Immersive Technologies and Arts for Learning) Laboratory at Ohio University is seeking a qualified candidate to fill a post-doc researcher position, available immediately.

The VITAL Lab ( http://vital.cs.ohiou.edu) excels in research and development of immersive, engaging, and interactive learning tools in 3-D online virtual worlds and other immersive learning environments.

This researcher will engage in the following activities:
-Grant proposal development for federal, state, and private sponsors;
-Project implementation on several ongoing projects funded by National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency, and other sponsors; and
-Collaboration on several internal projects with other Ohio University faculty members and graduate students.

Preference will be given to candidates with experience in the following areas:
software engineering, computer graphics, 3-D virtual environment design, game development, 3-D simulations, or educational technologies.

Salary is competitive and will be determined based on candidate qualification and experience. Two-year funding for this position has been secured.

Application should consist of a curriculum vitae, a statement of research interests, a sample publication, and one to three references (email addresses and phone numbers). Applications should be sent directly to Chang Liu (find email at the OU site).

Sciences education

2007-06-28T10:01:00.001-05:00

From: Anthony Dominic-Paul Cipolone

You might want to check out the Science School, which I believe is by
the University of Denver.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Science%20School/180/158/28/

Here's a link to the article (which is a fine article, I might add!)
where I heard about it.

http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/18911/page1/

Australasian SL Educational Projects Showcase event documentation

2007-06-28T10:00:00.005-05:00

From: Sean FitzGerald

The Australasian SL Educational Projects Showcase was a great success.

Event documentation - including slides, videos, presenters' notes, chat transcripts, photos and blog posts - is now available on the Event Documentation page: http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/enetworksjune07documentation

Great article about science in SL

2007-06-28T10:00:00.003-05:00

From: Pathfinder Linden

Short and sweet with specific examples, it sums things up perfectly.

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/science/85/8526sci3.html

Published in the American Chemical Society's "Chemical and Engineering News" weekly magazine.

Graduate Students Request

2007-06-28T10:00:00.001-05:00

From: Beth Ritter-Guth

Please help Topher (Chris) with his graduate work by doing this survey at http://muveforward.blogspot.com/2007/06/invitation-to-participate-survey.html

New Article : Second Life: Do You Need One?

2007-06-28T09:58:00.001-05:00

From: Brett Bixler

http://www.thejournal.com/articles/20871_1

Who Teaches What in SL

2007-06-28T09:57:00.001-05:00

From: AJ Brooks

A number of times the question has come up about who teaches what. So
I thought that this would be a perfect use of a wiki. I created a
wiki called "Who Teaches What in SL" and it is located at:
http://whoteacheswhatinsl.wikispaces.com/

There is a grid for you to enter your own information, it can be
updated as frequently as you want or need, and it will (hopefully) be
a great resource for people as well as a networking opportunity.

Sistine Chapel in Second Life (Vassar College)

2007-06-28T09:41:00.001-05:00

From: Steve Taylor Date: Jun 27, 2007 11:08 AM

Vassar College has recreated the Sistine Chapel in Second Life.

The Sistine Chapel was built in the 15th century and is decorated with
frescoes by Michelangelo and other great painters of the Italian
Renaissance.

In this Second Life recreation, the interior is depicted in great detail,
while the exterior is an approximation. Unlike in the real-life chapel, here
you can fly up to the top of a wall for a close inspection, look down at the
inlaid floor, or even sit on a window ledge!

The lower tier of the chapel normally displays panels with painted
draperies. On special occasions, these panels are covered with tapestries
designed by Raphael. Here, you can click to show or hide the tapestries
whenever you want.

The purpose of this recreation is to explore the use of virtual reality for
teaching and learning about art and architecture, by experiencing the
context, the scale, and the social aspects of the original.

Please visit the Sistine Chapel, on the Vassar Island sim, at
http://slurl.com/secondlife/vassar/165/91/24

Protoshere

2007-06-28T09:22:00.001-05:00

by Lindy McKeown

This is sort of NetMeeting meets Second Life

http://www.protonmedia.com/

3D + Application sharing + simulation + courses

Fwd: [Slrl] Definition of an Avatar and their existence outside cyberspace!

2007-06-28T09:16:00.001-05:00

From: HVX Silverstar

Paul Marino (founder of the Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences -
www.machinima.org) had a posting about Virtual NBC and their hiring of
Pierce Portocarrero for a new machinima series involving a family who
frequently connect to SL.
Very cool...
http://blog.machinima.org/2007/05/nbc-taps-sl-machinima-guru-for-new.html#links

sl presentation

2007-06-28T09:05:00.001-05:00

From: Romolo Pranzetti

A short presentation about SL and educational uses:

http://www.slideshare.net/romolo

Open Textbooks

2007-06-28T09:00:00.001-05:00

From: Beth Ritter-Guth

Here is a GREAT resource for those interested in the open textbook movement!

http://blog.opentextbook.org/

Also, remember that course content can be made free and accessible to others by loading it into SL Boutique ( http://slboutique.com/) and tagging it OpenSledware. We also have movies and MP3 running as open access on SLGuide ( http://slguide.com/).

Back again...

2007-06-28T08:47:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lull in postings for the past few days. I was as NECC, and had no time during the day to do this, and the wireless connection at the Amerisuites Downtown was total crap. Now I just have to read through nearly 100 new SLED posts and goodness knows how many blogs to see what should be shared. I'm giving myself an hour only... we'll see what shakes out. -Ross

By the way, NECC was interesting as always...I'll have to do a short posting on my experiences there related to SL.

Training Simulation That Works - In Second Life

2007-06-28T08:47:00.001-05:00

From: John F. McMullen

http://www.pr.com/press-release/42923

Training Simulation That Works - In Second Life

How many times have you seen a project hit a brick wall of teams'
inability to work together: from mild cases of overblown ego and
tug-of-war to vicious in-fighting? New training simulation, created by
Delta L in Second Life reveals team compatibility problems in advance,
and helps team members to learn by working together on a task. The
working demo of the simulation is available in Second Life on
Education Island.

State College, PA, June 23, 2007 --(PR.com)-- How many times have you
seen a project hit a brick wall of teams' inability to work together:
from mild cases of overblown ego and tug-of-war to vicious
in-fighting? Some folks think these problems can be fixed with just a
little bit of extra communication and explanation. Dr. Alex Heiphetz,
President of Delta L sees it differently. "Building a team from people
who likes working with each other is obviously the best scenario,"
says Dr. Heiphetz. "If it is unavailable, serious teamwork training is
in order."

These concepts were the foundation of Delta L designing Teamwork
Tester available now in Second Life on the Education Island
(http://slurl.com/secondlife/Education%20Island). The simulation is
based on the following ideas:

• Observing a group of people performing a simple task that requires
group effort, provides data allowing to draw conclusions on their
teamwork abilities and attitudes (that is you will find if it's a
group of quarreling individuals or a team).
• Observations are important, but metrics is what validates
conclusions. While subjects are working on the team task, each step is
recorded and processed.
• At the end of the session you receive measurable results of the
performance of the team as a whole, as well as metrics of a variety of
characteristics of individual members. The results are saved in the
database and are accessible via the web for review, analysis and
comparison of different teams / team compositions.

"Few months ago business looked at Second Life platform from a mostly
public relations or marketing point of view," added Heiphetz. "Our
work proves that it is a viable business training and educational
tool."

K-12 Teachers Summer Discussion

2007-06-24T15:12:00.001-05:00

by tshankle

Tuesday, June 26 at 4:30 SL time for 30 minutes.
The place is Sibine 244, 214, 73

K-12 teachers meet for a discussion about a proposal for an in-world SL
project MK Snowdrop is wondering might be of interest to teachers.

We can chat about the project, your SL adventures and the answer to that
traditional question: what are you doing on your summer vacation?

When you get to the Aretao headquarters, take the ramp to the left of the
mailbox, past the gallery and into the presentation room. If you can't
make it, drop in anytime and leave a note. We will tell you all about it.

The address is Sibine 244, 214, 73 for the presentation room at Aretao and
Moodlerooms NH.

Hope you can come!

NYTimes.com: A Brave New World for TV? Virtually

2007-06-24T15:11:00.001-05:00

by Ed L.

Television: A Brave New World for TV? Virtually
By DAVE ITZKOFF
Virtual reality might finally be the medium that unites the passive experience of watching television with the interactive potential of the Web.

Fwd: [SLED] SL Tutorial: Videos and PowerPoints

2007-06-24T15:10:00.001-05:00

by Chris Rowe

In response to a question about where to find videos for SL Noobs...

This is a very beginner video tutorial about how to set up an account: http://cm.dce.harvard.edu/2006/01/82002/P11/index.html

Also, Torley Linden has some good video tutorials on YouTube

How to change your appearance http://youtube.com/watch?v=GqbuMi5N97c

How to fill in your Profile http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZCgQRrdtgQc

How to manage your inventory http://youtube.com/watch?v=AULw9Oa_1Bw

How to use HUDs http://youtube.com/watch?v=D3rsGO2Wqho

How to send and create a notecard http://youtube.com/watch?v=PwSIYGhZbT4

How to use gestures http://youtube.com/watch?v=6WKo4G8aQBc

It looks like there is some stuff here http://www.sltutorials.net/mtree/General_%10_First_Steps/

OpenSim Server Open-Sourcing & LibSL

2007-06-24T15:09:00.001-05:00

by "Fleet Goldberg"

I visited the Open Source section of SL's 4th birthday celebration sim today and had the opportunity to speak in detail with Baba Yamamoto, who is the chief of the open-source server project LibSecondLife and is also involved in the unofficial open-source SL project OpenSim. To recap things as they currently stand:: LibSecondLife's reverse-engineered open source server code is Linden Lab-approved. The use of that code to create an actual sim running ouside of Linden Lab servers is a bit more of a grey area as far as possible violation of the Terms of Service agreement goes.

Here's what Baba had to say

*********************************
Fleet: Hi Baba! I was wondering what the current 'legal' status of OpenSim is. I know libsecondlife is Linden-approved, but some people believe that using OpenSim would get your SL account canned. I just wanted to find out the facts
Baba Yamamoto: I was told by Linden Lab they they were not worried about OpenSim. Eventually they will be releasing their own server code anyway. That's the word. Hopefully by the end of the
year.
Fleet: Cool. Yeah, I wish they would release some kind of official-word document on OpenSim, because I don't want to encourage the professional organizations I work with to use OpenSim if it was going to damage their relationships with Linden Lab.
Baba Yamamoto: It might be coming soon. I'm going to be talking to Linden Lab about all of this in the coming months.
Fleet: So yes, official verification of OpenSim's approval (preferably in an official blog post) would be awesome if you could encourage LL to do that
Baba Yamamoto: Well OpenSim needs a lot of work to be comparable to SL now, but the more people who want to use it the more likely it is to receive the attention it needs.
Fleet: I haven't tried the latest build of OpenSim yet. I played with the earlier versions, which were somewhat difficult to set up to say the least. I think I heard that it's easier to compile now, isn't it?
Baba Yamamoto: There is a branch that is about to hit the main trunk that fixes a lot of bugs. It's still in testing though. Lots of changes coming ... its got a lot of features so it will be a big
improvement when it is ready
Fleet: I'll pass this info on to the people I talk to about open-source and hopefully it'll give them some encouragement to check the system about. Thanks for all your help!
Baba Yamamoto: I hope to see the new code in beta within a few weeks

NMC Campus Roundup

2007-06-23T15:03:00.001-05:00

by Alan Levine

The schedule at NMC Campus is ramping up after a slight lull following the exhaustive schedule of our recent conference in Indianapolis (see below for presentation/audio links). Some things coming up in the next weeks at NMC include:

----------------- ----------------- ----------------- -----------------

June 25, 6:00 PM SLT/PDT ( http://timeanddate.com/s/epg): Take part on a literature class with Desideria Stockton.

Desi has invited the buzz to her class, where you can engage in the activities from a student perspective. Join her at the Women of Brewster Place classroom Quiricosta (219,41,502) http://slurl.com/secondlife/Quiricosta/219/41/502

More details: http://sl.nmc.org/2007/06/22/buzz-literature/

We are looking for your ideas for future meetings of the NMC Campus Teachers Buzz:

http://sl.nmc.org/wiki/Teachers_Buzz_Planning

----------------- ----------------- ----------------- -----------------

Next Week: Call for Proposals: Building and Creating in Virtual Worlds

NMC is planning an in-world conference August 14-17 that is designed to provide hands on workshops in skills of building, scripting, avatar design, creating media in Second Life-- no lectures/presentations, but more like a studio class. Details are still being planned, but look for next week a call for proposals for sessions.

----------------- ----------------- ----------------- -----------------

July 13-20 2007 NMC Summer Conference Poster Sessions Reprise

Like we did successfully last year, we will bring into Second Life the poster presentations from the recent summer conference, and schedule times when the presenters will be present to talk about their projects.

From last year:

http://sl.nmc.org/2006/06/29/posters/

http://sl.nmc.org/2006/07/13/poster-bash/

----------------- ----------------- ----------------- -----------------

Presentations, Audio, Photos from the 2007 NMC Summer Conference

Well over 25% of the attendees of the 2007 NMC Summer Conference wore their Second Life avatar names on their badges, and many of us met up in RL for the first time. We apologize for some of the challenges in trying to stream the live audio (a future blog post!), but all of the ones we planned to stream were recorded and are available as well as the presentation files.

Hit the Ground Running: Making the Most of Your Second Life preconference workshop by Nick Noakes / Corwin Carillon and Heidi Trotta / Heidi Teecee

wiki resources: http://sl.nmc.org/wiki/NMC2007_Hit_The_Ground_Running

presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/trottahe/hit-the-ground-running-in-second-life/

Leveraging the Affordances, Minimizing the Barriers of Virtual Worlds (panel discussion)

Slides and audio: http://www.nmc.org/podcast/leveraging-affordances

View From Second Life Trenches: Are You a Pioneer or a Settler? (Cynthia Calongne / Lyr Lobo)

Slides and audio: http://www.nmc.org/podcast/view-from-sl-trenches

Pleasure, Play, Participation and Promise: Socio-emotional Dimensions of Digital Culture Which are Transforming the Shape of New Media Literacies (Angela Thomas / Anya Ixchel)

Slides and audio: http://www.nmc.org/podcast/pleasure-play-participation-and-promise

Building OneCleveland in Second Life presentation by Case Western Reserve University

http://www.slideshare.net/shick06/building-onecleveland-in-second-life

Second Life at MIT presentation by Phil Long/Radar Radio

http://www.slideshare.net/nmc/second-life-at-mit/

Recap From Second Life: 2007 NMC Summer Conference (late night discussion):

Audio: http://www.nmc.org/podcast/sl-chat

Fantasy Regnant Opening Keynote by Edward Castronova

Audio: http://www.nmc.org/podcast/fantasy-regnant

All Conference Photos

http://flickr.com/photos/tags/nmc2007