Second Life ™

Thank you. 

Each and every one of you who have made and continue to make the DEN in SL possible.

First, thank you to all the DEN members - both inworld and in real life.  Without you NONE of this is possible.

Next, thank you Steve Dembo for be willing to take a chance and letting us ‘run with it’.

Thank you Lance Rougeux and all the DEN leaders who have walked through the ‘looking glass’ and into the virtual world to share resources and presentations (and for those of you who have yet to walk in a noobie’s shoes, don’t worry!  2009 will be your year! LOL).

Thank you to the DEN Guides who have given so generously of their time to ensure that presentations flow smoothly and to greet visitors to the DEN in SL HQs.

Finally, a HUGE thanks to the DEN in SL LC.  Riptide, for your fearless and persuasive leadership style; you’ve helped us all to push our limits and you’ve been there to rein us in when we’ve gone overboard.  Lor, for your unrelenting pursuit of presenters; you’ve kept us on task, made sure our Wednesdays were always filled, and helped more than one presenter new at the task of presenting inworld.  Beth, for developing wonderful hardcopy resources, for heading up the DEN Guide program,  for presenting, and for being on hand to assist at workshops and events.  JessieMarie, for facilitating some of our major events such as Shark Week and the Winter Carnival and for helping our DEN in SL HQs build evolve.  Celestia, for thinking not ‘outside the box’, but ‘inworld’ and envisioning a new building for the DEN in SL; you’ve made the seasons and holidays take on a new meaning inworld.

Laelia Laval

‘….and the weather outside is frightful, but inside it’s so delightful….’  OK, imagine that (if those indeed are the words) being sung terribly off-key.  That’s basically what I was humming as I was gearing up to join the rest of the party at the Winter Carnival last Wednesday.  Luckily I had dressed the day before, as I was participating in Discovery Network’s Webinar featuring Jason Ohler.  I headed inworld as the last of the real world clapping died down.  I landed at DEN in Sl HQs where I was greeted by Beth who was giving out landmarks to the event.  I quickly teleported on over and then I had to stand there and stare in awe.  What a beautiful place!  JessieMarie Flanagan, with her outgoing nature had made contact with a sled maker and one thing led to another and before we knew it the DEN in SL Winter Carnival was in development (thanks JM for getting the ball rolling on this one).

Anyways……there I was at dAlliez Estates looking over some tracks at the frozen pond where ’some’ people were obviously having a ‘little’ too much fun! LOL  I skipped putting on my skates as I was offered a ride in Santa’s sled to take a tour of the Sim.  One of the stops was at the igloo — which later was the site of the live music and dancing.  I decided to head up the hill and try my hand at sledding down — I didn’t know what to do — manuever with my arrows or type ‘LOOK OUT!!!’ into the chat window (I opted to warn everyone in my path with ‘LOOK OUT!!!’ LOL).  Luckily the sleds were scripted so they didn’t go crashing into the skaters on the pond — PHEW!  That was close!  After all that physical exercise I did what any normal female avi would do — SHOP!!! LOL  Yup, this sim had it all!  Skating, hot chocolate, sledding, Santa,  and SHOPPING!!!  At one point I had a moment of panic (I even IM.ed Riptide Furse) as I found a picture of myself hanging in a shop (actually I had a ‘freak out’ moment! LOL).  After composing myself I explored a little further and found that I was looking at a Magic Mirror object created by Cory Weston — the picture becomes an image of the avatar that is nearby.  By then I was ready for a little D&D (DJing & Dancing) so I headed up to the igloo, and was serenaded by the music of Trowzer Boa.  Not only did he entertain us with his Bot Band at the beginning, but then we were swaying to sax tunes he was playing in RL.  If you’re a saxophone fan, you might want to check out where Trowzer will be playing next inworld — his voice was like velvet and the melodies coming out of his sax will have you swaying both inworld and out!

Image Sources: Flickr - Krossbow and Flickr - DiscoveryEducation

Remember today is the Edublog Award Ceremony. So put on your best clothes and come for the awards show and stay for the party after!

The event is scheduled for:

* GMT/UTC: 11pm, Saturday 20 Dec 2008

* AEST: 10am, Sunday 21 Dec 2008

* SLT: 3pm, Saturday 20 Dec 2008

Find out more info here:
http://edublogawards.com/the-200-eddies-awards-ceremony-and-results-this- weekend/

And if you have a second please click here and vote for Discovery Education Second Life

http://edublogawards.com/2008/best-educational-use-of-a-virtual-world-2008/

posted by Riptide Furse on jokaydia using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]

Technorati Tags:
SL, Second Life, Education, edublogs, awards, Discovery Education, Discovery Educator Network

The weather outside is frightful, but at the DEN in SL it’s so delightful….Please join us at 4:30 SLT for our Winter Carnival!
posted by Laelia Laval on Eduisland II using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]

» Best Educational Tech Support Edublog 2008 The Edublog Awards

I’ll admit that this category, Best Education Tech Support Edublog 2008, LOADED with great blogs. But just in case any of the nominees in this category actually read anything that I write, I owe literally my entire experience with my professional and personal learning network to Steve Dembo at Teach42. If it wasn’t for his blogs here in the DEN and at Teach42 I would not have a PLN. Without him and his blogs we wouldn’t have a DEN in Second Life (also up for an Edublog Award by the way). So head over there and vote!

Technorati Tags: awards, edublogs, blogs, education

Crossposted from AKA Riptide Furse

» Best Teacher Edublog 2008 The Edublog Awards

It is with pleasure that I encourage you to to head over to the Edublog Awards and place a vote for DEN member Vicki Davis’ blog “The Cool Cat Teacher” in the category of Best Teacher Edublog 2008. This list is massive and it randomizes for each person who clicks the link. Scan the list and look for The Cool Cat Teacher. Also share this list with your colleagues that might not read blogs. It’s a great list to learn from.

Technorati Tags: awards, edublogs, blogs, education

This is crossposted from AKA Riptide Furse.

Last night was filled with information. So much so it was hard to fit it in to just 1 hour. Clio Jacobus , Jennifer Dorman in real life, gave us an evening of lots of great information that was helpful to people just starting out in building their network and also some great management  tools for people who have a learning network. Take a look at some of the pictures from the event and then head over to her wiki.

Meanwhile I am heading over to one of the sites she shared with us, AtomKeep, to create a universal profile. Don’t forget to head over to http://edublogawards.com and vote for both the DEN in Second Life and Cliotech for awards.

» Best Class Edublog 2008 The Edublog Awards

It is with pleasure that I encourage you to to head over to the Edublog Awards and place a vote for Dave Kootman’s blog “Mr. Kootman’s Class” in the category of Best Class Edublog 2008. Also share this list with your colleagues that might not read blogs. It’s a great list to learn from.

Technorati Tags: awards, edublogs, blogs, education

Crossposted from AKA Riptide Furse

» Best Individual Edublog 2008 The Edublog Awards

It is with pleasure that I encourage you to to head over to the Edublog Awards and place a vote for Jennifer Dorman’s blog Cliotech in the category of Best Individual Edublog 2008. It’s quite a list and the names randomize with each click so search through the list for Cliotech. Also share this list with your colleagues that might not read blogs. It’s a great list to learn from.

Technorati Tags: awards, edublogs, blogs, education

This has been crossposted from AKA Riptide Furse