Second Life ™

Do you wonder how you can keep your avatar from slumping over mid-conversation (not polite) or use your camera tool to view what’s on the second floor without going actually going up there? Do you know how close someone needs to be to hear “chat” conversation? Or when to “whisper” or “shout”? Do you want to put on a new outfit without worrying about an essential piece not “showing up” and feeling like the Emperor in his “new clothes”?

Join us on Wednesday, October 21, at the DEN (2DP) to brush up your SL skills. Bring questions on these or any topics you need help with, and we will be glad to smooth out the rough spots in your SL experience.

Sessions begins at 5 p.m. SLT (8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Central)

See you in-world!

On Wednesday evening, Sept. 30, we had an in-depth look at the how-to’s of making Discovery Streaming accessible to our students. Smellslike Magic (rl Mike Bryant) went through the steps of setting up classes and adding students to those classes, whether you do a mass upload as an admin or add students individually. He also showed how this student access would be of great benefit for differentiated learning.

In addition, he gave a heads up regarding some upcoming changes when a student logs on, due to compliance with COPPA (Childrens’ Online Privacy Protection Act) and FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) There will be a one-time different log in scenario for over 13 and under 13 years of age. More info will be sent out in the next few weeks regarding this procedure.

Those in attendance at 2DP also heard about the new DEN Guru program. Check out the blog for application requirements.

Thanks for the info, Mike!

Join us next week, October 7, when Shamblesguru Voom, aka Chris Smith in RL, leads us on a journey through SL Networking, Data Mining, Survival Skills…and Other Ramblings (Subtitle: Personal Learning Networks and Second Life) at 5 p.m. SLT (7 p.m. Central, 8 p.m. Eastern)

See you in world!

Because of the Discovery Streamathon the DEN in Second Life is taking a break from weekly workshops tonight.  But don’t go far, because the next few weeks are jam packed with a variety of events:

 Sept. 30 - Get up to speed on Student Access to Discovery Education services with Smellslike Magic (RL Mike Bryant) as we dive into the Classroom Manager. The many ways you can easily assign Discovery resources to your students will be showcased. Come with questions, comments, or ideas on how you’d like to see students utilize all of our digital resources.

Oct. 14 - Get your ‘Og’ on with Cleo Jacobus (RL Jen Dorman) with Blogs, Glogs, and Vlogs, and learn how a little widget can be a means of global collaboration.

Oct. 21 - Feeling a little unsure in SL? Need a hand? Or even a face? Then our Newbie help session is for you with some “practical magic” for your avatar.

And can October be complete without a Halloween party and dance? Not at DEN in SL! Watch for further info on gallivanting ghost tales and costume craziness all at 2 DP. Whooooo knows what may be in store!

See you in-world!

DATE: Aug 26

WORKSHOP: Pack your Curiosity and GO! Part 2

PRESENTER: Demb Oh

DESCRIPTION:  3 trips, 9 teachers, 36 students, and the adventure of a
lifetime! From Cape Town to Johannesburg, and then on to the African
bush, come see what happened to STAR Discovery Educators as they
journeyed around the world and used technology to share their
experiences in real time.  And then learn how you can begin your own
Discovery Student Adventure!

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

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

cc licensed flickr photo by teach42: http://flickr.com/photos/teach42/3628824474/

The IDiscover SLeuthing game was a big success, and we want to do it again! There will be a planning meeting next Monday, August 10, in meeting room 202 at the DEN in SL headquarters at 5:00 SLT. Anyone who is interested in being a part of the committee to plan IDiscover SLeuthing II is invited to join us for this preliminary discussion.

If you have any questions, email Celestia Cazalet/Elaine Plybon.

It is time once again for the Discovery Channel Shark Week (August 2-8), and we are celebrating it in grand style! Yes, the very popular shark dive that took place last year is coming back even bigger and better on PADI’s new, larger sim called Dive World. Join us for the excitement as we dive through the fantastic ocean ecosystem PADI has created and learn more about the ocean environment.

Wednesday, August 5, at 5:00 p.m. SLT, there will be an orientation session to assist those who have never dived before. You will learn how to wear a dive suit and swim effectively. We’ll start at 2DP and give you landmarks to the session.

In order to attend the dive on Saturday, you will need to sign up. Registration is limited to the first 60, so be sure to get your registration in early. We will accumulate a wait list, also, so if you aren’t one of the first 60, you might still be able to attend. To register, visit the Dive wiki.

Coming up on Wednesday, July 29, the DEN in SL will have special guest speakers, Dr. Bryan Setser, Chief Executive Officer of the North Carolina Virtual Public School, and Jennifer Nobles, who is the Modular Learning Specialist and Virtual Worlds Coordinator for the school. They will be presenting a workshop entitled: A Blended Virtual Ecosytem: North Carolina Virtual Public School’s Great Discovery in Second Life.

Setser and Nobles will discuss how they discovered a blended virtual ecosystem in Second Life this past year. Their session will focus on sandbox approaches, lessons learned, and new clients that resemble Second Life for the purpose of advancing virtual learning among all p-20 stakeholders in education. Moreover, this session will include interactive participation and an integrated piece on discoveryeducation.com to showcase the power of blended virtual ecosystems with other web 2.0 platforms.

The session will be an interactive one, with breakouts and discussion, so come prepared to participate and learn about the exciting discoveries they’ve made in Second Life!

Image by krossbow via Flickr

Last night we gave an introduction to hunts in Second Life. These hunts are great for several reasons:

• Gives you a reason to explore more of the creative sims and builds in Second Life.
• You get free things from different designers. These can include clothing, hair, shapes, skin, furniture and more.
• Meet new people and help each other.
• Learn new skills and problem solve. The hunts can be difficult and using the hints to find things can take some thought. Also different designers use different ways to package some of their wares so you learn more about what is possible in Second Life as you find more objects.

Hunts usually work this way. You are given a starting point or slurl. There you find an information or notecard giver to get more info on the hunt. There may also be a group to join. This is where updates, changes and errors are posted so join it if you can. The group sometimes has a lot of chatter. This can either be helpful or annoying.

You will usually be looking for a particular shaped object. You will need to hunt and look around for that particular object till you find it. This can take a long time by yourself if the store or place is large. Best to team up and divide and conquer.

When you find the object click it or right click and buy it. They should be FREE. If it wants to charge you money then you have the wrong object. In the object will be the freebie(s) and a landmark to the next stop on the hunt. Some hunts are small with 5 or 6 freebies and others go well into the hundreds of freebies.

We looked primarily at the Just For The Guys Hunt that is going on right now across the grid from July 1 – July 31. We started with this page on the SLHunts blog http://slhunts.wordpress.com/2009/06/18/just-for-the-guys-hunt/ This tells us basic information about the hunt. What dates is it running. Where do we start. How many items are we looking for. What are you looking for.

We headed off to the KMadd Sim http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kmadd%20Enterprise/190/88/26 where the hunt is to start. We joined the group. Then started looking for the first fedora. The store was huge and we were running out of time. I searched for Just For The Guys Hunt hints and found this blog and found this http://huntlocations.blogspot.com/2009/06/just-for-men-hunt.html

Be sure not give away locations of the objects. You can give hints and if you are working with someone or a team use personal IM to tell but don’t use open chat as it ruins the fun for others.

A couple of other hunts we mentioned going on right now is the Cinderella’s Lost Slipper Hunt http://cinderellalostslipper.blogspot.com/

And the Slice Of Summer Hunt http://crystal.chiisana.net/SoS/index.php?instructions

You can keep track of all the hunts going on or upcoming on the SL Hunts blog.

Got a tip for hunting or have you found something good on a hunt? Share a picture on Flickr and then include a link in the comments.

Image via Wikipedia

You become the predator, the hunter/huntress. You’re goal is to stalk your prey by using your eyes and your wits. You follow your prey clue after clue with each one comes a little reward but you want more. Team up to make it easier and more fun or go the hunt alone and rely on your own skills.

Join us on Wed., July 22 at 5 PM SLT (8PM Eastern) for the Predator/Prey workshop where you will learn about 3 hunts that are happening right now in Second Life. One hunt is just for the guys. Another hunt is for the ladies that fancy themselves a princess. The third hunt is for that perfect slice of summer.

Unfortunately this workshop will need to be rescheduled. Please watch for it being offered at a date coming up soon. Please join us for Predator/Prey The Hunt for Freebies at the same time.
Join us as we ‘Get Our Ogs On!’ as Clio Jacobus (Jennifer Dorman - RL) shares about blogs, glogs and vlogs.  And don’t worry if you don’t know what these are.  Stop on by to find out more and get your own ‘og on!  At the end of this session you’ll learn how you can plant a little widget code and have it grow into a global collaboration.
SLT TIME:  5 p.m. SLT ( 7 p.m. CST, 8 p.m. EST)