Welcome to NCS-Tech!

Hi everyone, FYI, I’ll be giving a brief (30 minute) online presentation tonight, July 31st, at 7:30 pm EDT, as part of the 2010 Reform Symposium, a free, three-day, online conference for educators, administrators, parents and students. My session is called entitled “Second Life in Education … an introduction.” You can check out the full schedule of other presentations here.  This post contains linked resources (videos, documents, websites, etc.) from my presentation that I wanted everyone to have easy access to. Thanks!

For whatever they’re worth … here are my slides.

K12Online Conference Voicethread Presentation:
http://voicethread.com/share/8878/

Skoolaborate: Jidaimatsuri (Part 1): [YouTube Video]
http://tinyurl.com/dn8gmf

Skoolaborate: Jidaimatsuri (Part 2): [YouTube Video]
http://tinyurl.com/db7oph

Second Life Teen Grid Clearance Procedure: [website]
http://tslclear.blogspot.com/

7 Things You Should Know About Second Life [EDUCAUSE .PDF]
http://tinyurl.com/5tkskh

Ohio University Second Life Campus [YouTube Video]
http://tinyurl.com/ywxze4

Ants in Second Life: a Simulation [YouTube Video]
http://tinyurl.com/2oope3

Introduction to Second Life [YouTube Video]
http://tinyurl.com/2bdckz

Global Kids Social Issue Machinima (Teen SL) [YouTube Video]
http://tinyurl.com/2jbgxc

Suffern Middle School Ramapo Islands: [website]
http://ramapoislands.edublogs.org/

Peggy Sheehy’s Metaversed Ltd. Consultancy: [website]
http://www.metaversedltd.com/

Jokaydia (http://jokaydia.com/):
SLURL – http://slurl.com/secondlife/jokaydia/114/158/23/

ISTE (http://iste.org/secondlife):
SLURL – http://slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/164/32/29 (Second Life URL)

OpenSimulator Worlds
http://reactiongrid.com/ [website]
http://jokaydiagrid.com/ [website]

Other Virtual Worlds

Quest Atlantis
http://atlantis.crlt.indiana.edu/ [website]

Blue Mars
http://bluemars.com/ [website]

ISTE’s Virtual Environments Special Interest Group:
http://sigve.iste.wikispaces.net/ [website]

Good morning all!

Chances are you are already familiar with the PBS | Frontline project, Digital Nation. I met the producer, Rachel Dretzin, at NECC in 2009, and have since then had the pleasure of interacting with Rachel, her team, and many others in the PBS family (notably Malinda McCormick of KLRN-TV of San Antonio, Texas) in a variety of ways including working together in Second Life.

Well, Rachel’s DIGITAL NATION project, the follow up to her acclaimed 2008 report, GROWING UP ONLINE, launches TONIGHT at 9:00 pm EDT (check your local PBS listings).

What’s this all about? Read the press release or just push play below.

This is important work exploring the impact of technology on youth, youth culture and society in general should be required viewing for EVERYONE but most especially educators, school administrators, parents, politicians / policy makers, and business people.

Best, kj

(p.s. Those of you who know me personally are probably wondering … the answer is yes, I’m going to DVR the show or have to catch a rebroadcast – no way I’m staying up until 10:30 on a school night!)

Good morning all!

I *JUST* heard about this terrific *FREE* event to be held at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Check it out – this event, sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, is happening LIVE at the Academy of Natural Sciences, AND in Second Life, AND is being broadcast as a webinar! Best of all, it is FREE!

I am absolutely *CRUSHED* that I cannot be there, I am TRIPLE BOOKED after school on Wednesday night, including a K12 Online LAN Party presentation with Sylvia Martinez of Generation Yes that we committed to months ago. I can’t even join in via Second Life or watch the webinar! No fair! :(

Anyway, I am writing to let you know so that *YOU* CAN ATTEND! Enjoy!

Hope this helps!

-kj-

So you’re ready to dive into Second Life? Great! Thanks to Linden Lab and a partnership with ISTE, educators coming inworld for the first time have a streamlined, educationally-focused starting point to guide them along the way. Those of us currently in Second Life all remember the day we ‘rezzed’ for the first time and what it was like during those initial few minutes of virtual life. That process can be overwhelming simply from an experiential point of view, but sometimes, it can be made even worse by ne’er-do-wells who enjoy harassing new avatars as they appear on Orientation Island. I don’t have statistics, and my sense is that’s rare, but it does happen. Worse, new avatars are left to their own devices to find and teleport to educationally-related sims, a process that, for the uninitiated, can be daunting.

The New Educators Pilot Program (sometimes referred to in ISTE circles as the Educator’s Experience Pathway) changes all that. The NEPP begins with a dedicated sign-up form (http://secondlifegrid.net/programs/education) that guides a new user through the registration process:

Once complete, the newly-minted avatar rezzes at the NEPP landing zone on ISTE Island (http://slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/169/30/29):

I had the pleasure of attending a kickoff meeting this past Thursday night run by Corrine Fleury and George Linden. About 40 people got a firsthand look at the completed product, which has been coming together over the past few weeks at ISTE Island.

You can check out the entire series of photos from the event here, or, if you are already in Second Life, just visit this SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/169/30/29. Once there, you’ll find a series of small billboards with helpful information, a short machinima video introducing ISTE Island, expertly produced by our very own Knowclue Kidd, another board offering free membership in ISTE’s Second Life group as well as a couple of others, but most of all … TONS OF FREE STUFF!

You can also click on the easel stand next to the desk in the center of the building to review the Docent calendar, and get an idea when you can expect a volunteer to be inworld for support. After all, REAL PEOPLE make Second Life such a rich environment! I’ve also embedded the calendar below:

What do you think? As good as it is, I think it could be made even better by adding dedicated content areas for “educators working with teens” – that is, in my view, the most often misunderstood aspect pertaining to Second Life’s use in the classroom. Overall, I think the NEPP is terrific. Hats off to Kittygloom Cassady, Claudia Linden, Corinne Fluery, George Linden, and everyone involved with making this happen. It should be an enormous help for new educators getting up to speed in Second Life. See you inworld!

-kj-

Technorati Tags: ISTE

Good morning all,

The PBS documentary “WHERE WE STAND: America’s Schools in the 21st Century” will be broadcast on Monday, September 15th, at 10:00 pm (check your local listings).  It features in interviews with students, parents, teachers and administrators at several Ohio schools. Here’s a quick snippet (Source: PBS):

In 1995, America’s college graduation rate was second in the world. Ten years later, it ranked 15th. As so many nations around the world continue to improve their systems of education, America can no longer afford to maintain the status quo. In an ever-changing, increasingly competitive global economy, is the U.S. doing all it can to prepare its students to win jobs and maintain a robust economy?  WHERE WE STAND: America’s Schools in the 21st Century, premiering Monday, September 15, 2008 at 10 p.m. (check your local listings) on PBS, presents a frank evaluation of our educational system’s strengths and weaknesses. Hosted by Judy Woodruff, Senior Correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, the documentary will visit schools throughout Ohio, an important swing state that represents a range of socioeconomic and geographic school districts. The program will feature schools in urban Cincinnati, suburban Columbus, and rural Belpre.

Here is a brief trailer that I found on WNET’s website:

As a fitting follow-up activity, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) will be hosting a free “Educator’s Social” in Second Life on Thursday, September 18th at 9:00 pm Eastern (6:00 pm Pacific).  Educators from around the country (and the world) will gather at  ISTE’s Second Life Island “Campfire Area” (http://slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/213/150/22) to discuss the documentary. I’ll be moderating one of the discussion groups but there will be several others. If you have a Second Life avatar, please consider joining us!

If you don’t have a Second Life avatar, go to SecondLife.com and create one (it’s free), then click this link to teleport to ISTE’s brand-new “Experience Pathway,” a gathering of resources and tips designed to ease your entry into Second Life. You can also click here for a calendar listing days and times when ISTE “Docents” (real people … like me!) will be available to assist you personally!

Hope this helps,

-kj-