Just an update that the venue for Wednesday’s Workshop on Quest Atlantis has been changed to Project Theater @  Eduisland 2 (219, 45, 22).

SLurl is HERE.

This is going to be AWESOME!!!  Come into a virtual world to learn about a virtual world!  If you’re like me, you’ve heard about Quest Atlantis, but have not had an opportunity to explore it further (at least that’s my excuse!).  I am very excited to have Sholi Oh share her experiences about a free (did I say *FREE*?) virtual world for students.

So join us at 2DP on Wednesday, February 10, where Sholi Oh (Sarah Rolle in RL) will talk about her experience with Quest Atlantis. Quest Atlantis is a free, engaging 3D virtual world developed and supported by a team at Indiana University. This is a very safe setting for students from different countries to interact. It also has a wonderful focus on both academics and social commitments in the form of quests. Our students love it! Come and learn about its engaging power in the classroom.

Sarah is the Director of Technology at The Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, New Jersey.

As always, 5 p.m. SLT (7 p.m. CST, 8 p.m. EST).  See ya there!

And here’s the SLurl:  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%20II/132/131/22

On Wednesday, March 3rd and 10th, at 5 p.m. SLT (7 p.m. CST, 8 p.m. EST) the New York DEN and the DEN in Second Life will be co-hosting a book talk on Dr. Ken Robinson’s book, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything.

I first heard (and heard of) Sir Robinson at the 2009 Celebration of Teaching and Learning in New York City.  He also keynoted at the 2009 NYSCATE in Rochester, New York.  And now I’ll have another opportunity to listen to this engaging, enlightening, and entertaining individual at the upcoming 2010 PETE&C on February 21 - 24th in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

So, NO EXCUSES!  You’ve got PLENTY of time to go out and purchase or borrow the book, read it, and join us on March 3rd and 10th for an engaging discussion.  Need help getting into Second Life?  Just post a comment below, and we’ll make sure to hook you up with someone that will have you teleporting around inworld in no time!

Dialogue, Data, Direction - Second Life
The Discovery Educator Network and ISTE in SL are trying to figure out how to revitalize Second Life for education. Please help us decide on a direction. The results of this data will be discussed at an ISTE/DEN SL Event on Thursday, January 28th from 6 p.m. -7 p.m. SLT at the ISTE Fire Circle.
But before you join us (or even if you can’t get inworld then), please fill out the following form.

This week’s Wednesday Workshop will focus on Gender Equity: Recruitment and Retention of Girls in STEM and will be presented by Celestia Cazalet (Elaine Plybon RL). 

Enrollment of girls in higher level science, technology, engineering, and math programs is traditionally much lower than that of boys. Is there something we, as teachers, can do to turn this trend around and increase the number of girls who pursue careers in STEM areas? This workshop will use interactive technologies and discussion groups to brainstorm ideas of how to address this issue in our schools. Come with an open mind and be prepared to think, evaluate, and share.

SLT TIME:  5 p.m. SLT ( 7 p.m. CST, 8 p.m. EST)

Location: 2 Discovery Place HD Theater

I know that some of you have upgraded your computers so that your experiences in virtual worlds are enhanced.  (I know that was my ‘excuse’ when I decided to upgrade my laptop.)  I ‘needed’ more RAM, I ‘needed’ a better graphics card, I ‘needed’ those bells and whistles — well, maybe not the bells and whistles, but I figured if I was going for it, I was going for the whole kit and kaboodle.

I own a netbook (which I absolutely LOVE) and have been reluctant to install the Second Life client on it.  I don’t know about you, but not only when I want something do I want it now, but I don’t want to wait for it.  And let’s face it, netbooks aren’t known for their speed ‘under the hood’ or their stunning graphics capability.

And then in Twitter today, @kanor74 retweeted a post about ‘9 Ways to Make Second Life Run Faster on Your Low Performance Computer’.  Check it out for yourself and decide if you can make your desktop, laptop, netbook, and who knows, but maybe even a future Google Android run your Second Life faster.

Want to know how to create signs for your SL organization? Do you want to deck your virtual halls with some holiday wreaths? Do you know what an alpha texture is? (The correct answers are: Yes, Yes, and “The one before Beta?”). Or are you new, unsure, and just want to feel more at ease with manipulating objects?

Join us in the Eduisland 2 sandbox on Wednesday, November 18, for a “make and take”. This is not your Grandmother’s “prim”. You will flip – horizontally and vertically - and become a “full bright” scholar! Textures will be provided.

Time: 5 p.m. SLT (8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Central)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%202/57/67/21/

See you in-world!

Did you do your homework?  Join us for part 2 of our discussion on Tony Wagner’s book, The Global Achievement Gap”.  Bring a notecard with your favorite PBL sims and sites and your imagination!  We’ll be doing a little building and exploring along with our discussing.

SLT TIME:  5 p.m. SLT ( 7 p.m. CST, 8 p.m. EST)

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%20II/132/131/22

Please join us this Wednesday around the campfire as Telos String moderates a book discussion on the book mentioned by Scott McLeod during the August DEN Leadership webinar series — The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need—And What We Can do About It by Tony Wagner.

Tony Wagner has served as Co-Director of the Change Leadership Group (CLG) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education since its inception in 2000. His publications include numerous articles and four books:  Change Leadership: A Practical Guide to Transforming Our Schools, Making the Grade: Reinventing America’s Schools, and How Schools Change: Lessons from Three Communities Revisited.

SLT TIME:  5 p.m. SLT ( 7 p.m. CST, 8 p.m. EST)

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%20II/132/131/22

I logged in at 7:47 p.m. (EST) and the next time I looked at my clock it was already 9 p.m. (EST)!!!  The time just flew as Knowclue Kidd shared her experiences in using machinima with her students.  The clips she shared were those in which her students played a central role.

For those of you who are not familiar with ‘machinima’, it is quite simply making videos in three-D worlds.  For those who would like a little more info, check out the Wikipedia entry.  And if you want to know about the tools and tips used by Knowclue Kidd, please be sure to check out her wiki (which she set up just for the DEN workshop!).

She was able to share videos on an inworld media player that I was not familiar with (and therefore had to immediately access Second Life Shopping as soon as I logged off).  If you want to find out more about the Damani Media player, click here.  

Regardless of the virtual world used as a backdrop for the machinima, regardless of the tools used to created the machinima, Knowclue said it succinctly – ‘It’s always about the story.’

Thanks Knowclue for sharing with us.  And would you please thank your students for sharing their work with us!