Go Vote! It's CLOSE!

Hey, Ya'll!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and a Happy Happy New Year!

I've been a bit lame on promoting the vote for January's Blog-o-the-Month at the ISTE Island Blogger's Hut, despite which lameness there's a close race for the top spot. The competitors this month are all non-US, so it's interesting that there are a goodly number of votes and the 1st place is currently tied, with 2nd and 3rd only separated from that tie by a vote or two. NEAT! COMPETITION!

Did I say that? :O

GO VOTE! And whilst you're there, wear your skates (free ones and inexpensive nicely scripted Skoopf Skates available at the rink), grab a hot choco, and show off your skating skills at the ISTE skate rink!

This month's roster looks very promising, and no matter whose blog wins, there'll be something interesting to check out at the Blogger's Hut RSS feed all through January. Here's who's up:

This month we're going all-international (as a resident Tennessean in good standing, that's pretty cool for me!) , mostly UK, and voting on:

e-learning Stuff--James Clay
http://elearningstuff.wordpress.com/

Learning with 'e's--Steve Wheeler
http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com

Learning Games--Daniel Livingston
http://learninggames.wordpress.com/

"HeyJude"--Judy O'Connell
http://heyjude.wordpress.com/

and
OUseful.Info, the blog…--Tony Hirst
http://ouseful.wordpress.com/

Third Place Award at Edublogs 2008!

Thank you to the Edublogs Awards folks and to all those who took the time to vote for this li'l shareout! I've just come from the awards ceremony at Jokaydia and was pleased to hear that Jokaydia pulled in number 2 slot and DEN in Second Life raked in the Eddie award in the "Best Educational Use of Virtual Worlds" category.

Yay! Now off to enjoy the family for the holidays! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Scott

Edublog Awards--Gala Ceremony Saturday!!!

(pic from http://jokaydia.com/2008/12/18/edublogs-gala-awards-ceremony/)

Join us at Jokaydia this Saturday at SL 3 pm for the 2008 Edublog Awards! Whether this li'l bloggie prevails or one of the other stellar competitors takes home the "Best Educational Use of a Virtual World" award, I've felt privileged to be amongst such splendid company during the voting process and I'll certainly be there to applaud and cheer. Visit Jo Kay's website for the details!

See you there!!!

"Discover Wonderland" Series Begins Today!

The first session in today's "Discover Wonderland" event is today (see
schedule and links below). The Web3D Book for today's event is online at:

http://Web3DBooks.com/wonderland/discovering/index.xhtml

For technical assistance with Wonderland send an email to the Wonderland
Users Community Group. For details on how to join visit the Education Grid at:

http://TheEducationGrid.org

For details on today's Wonderland Wednesday event see below:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
WONDERLAND WEDNESDAYS: Discover Project Wonderland In-World This Wednesday!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This week's event is the first in a series of "Wonderland Wednesdays" hosted
by the Immersive Education Initiative in collaboration with the Sun Immersion
Special Interest Group (Immersive SIG), Saint Paul College, and the Project
Wonderland community.


WHAT: Discover Project Wonderland In-World This Wednesday! New to Wonderland?
Join Immersive Education expert Dr. H. Nicholas Nagel inside of Wonderland
this Wednesday to explore unique features of this official Immersive
Education technology platform. Discover what makes Wonderland tick:
Placemarks, avatar customization, voice chat, shared applications,
and more!

WHEN: Wednesday Dec 17th at 10am ET, 4pm ET, 5pm ET and 6pm ET
(time zone converter: http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/tzc.tzc)

WHERE: Sun Microsystems node on the Education Grid (http://TheEducationGrid.org)
Enter via the Education Grid or jump directly into the Sun node at:
http://sunlabs.mediagrid.org:58080/Wonderland/app/Wonderland.jnlp

Second Life at NECC2009!!!

Cross-posted at scottmerrick.net!

I'll be heading to Washington DC the last week in June of next year to do some challenging work!

I received emails from the NECC2009 programs committee yesterday announcing that two of my proposals have been accepted, both for 3 hour hands-on workshops relating to Second Life. Presentation proposers--Don't panic if you haven't heard about your own proposals yet: These came early since they required a change in venue from PC to Mac labs due to NECC logistics.

Here are the titles and session descriptions:

	Introduction to Education in Second Life: n00bs UNITE!
		Session Description	Highly experienced ISTE Second Lifers will help interested but "skills-challenged" educators explore this rich virtual platform for its value in teaching and learning.

and

	Educators' Toolbox and Skill Set: Instruction and Presentation in Second Life
		Session Description	Become a skillful user of the most exciting immersive environment available. Acquire skills and tools that will serve you well in any education setting.

I'm very excited! Especially since, following the implementation design that served us so well last year at NECC2008 in San Antonio, I have enlisted seven co-presenters for the beginners' session and three for the advanced one. There's likely to be some jostling around between now and the end of June 2009, as travel plans and funding and such come into play, but between the two sessions there is an impressive group of presentation talent lined up. Of course my MUVErs partners, John Miller and Cathy Walker, will help with both. I'll announce the others just as soon as I get clear throw-in from all of them (don't want to announce prematurely).

Yippeeee! And thanks to my directors at both University School of Nashville and the Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach for ongoing support as I reach out to other educators through conference presentations and collaboration!!!

200th Post!

When I logged on today I noted that there are as I type 199 posts on Oh! Virtual Learning! Here's post number 200 in what I hope will be a lifelong legacy of sharing. Speaking of sharing, here's a holiday card I put together for inworld and in world:

I was going to reference some recent news items about people divorcing, personal drama, and the dangers of virtual environments in general and Second Life in particular. I'm not up to it though. Suffice it to say that I firmly believe that one can't be led by the name of the platform "Second Life" to pretend that one has "another life."

The possible exception to that might be the rich and diverse roleplay opportunities the platform offers. I have to admit that I'm fascinated by the castles, the whole civilizations, and of course the costumes, that Gorean roleplay provides the imagination. Though the whole slave thing turns me off, I can see how some are drawn to the fantasy. But there are other roleplays as well: How about Lonesome City (pic at left--SLurl here) for living in the American West, or Starbase Alpha (SLurl) for experiencing how it would be to live on a starship in the future? Lots of potential.

Back to my original argument, though, I'll sum it up succinctly: One cannot be two. There's no such thing as a "second life," ya'll. One's avatar's life and personality is enterwined with one's real life an personality. To think otherwise is to court disaster.

So, let's lighten up. My Google Alert for Second Life came in rich today. Check out some of these stories! The Air Force? What's next!!!!!!

Google News Alert for: SecondLife

Two Second Life plays begin finals week, virtual performances ... Daily Kent Stater - Kent,OH,USA The Kent State Second Life Ensemble is set to perform its first play, which will run Dec. 9-12. &bull Dec. 10, 7 pm Live and virtual performances with ... See all stories on this topic
Virtual Air Force base opens doors to public Maxwell Gunter Dispatch - Montgomery,AL,USA With more than 15 million worldwide accounts registered to Second Life, the Air Force hopes MyBase will attract people interested in learning more about the ... See all stories on this topic
Goodfellow briefs, 12/06 San Angelo Standard Times - san angelo,tx,USA Avatars can access MyBase by logging onto secondlife.com and typing MyBase in the keyword search. RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE - If you want to play a part in ... See all stories on this topic
WebAlive: A Virtual World that Means Business ZDNet Blogs - USA Other virtual world platforms, such as Forterra, ProtonMedia and Qwaq not to mention SecondLIfe target training and business collaboration. ... See all stories on this topic
Community Service in a Virtual World on Second Life PR Web (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA The winning project will be the most innovative way for students to serve the community online in the virtual world Second Life. ... See all stories on this topic
The gender dragon San Diego CityBEAT - CA,USA It’s quite possible that the performance Cárdenas is preparing to do in Second Life, the Internet-based virtual world that’s been sucking people in by the ... See all stories on this topic
AETC opens virtual doors to MyBase Arctic Sentry - Fairbanks,AK,USA Avatars can access MyBase by logging onto www.secondlife.com and typing MyBase in the keyword search. Additional information about AETC's commitment to ... See all stories on this topic

Google Blogs Alert for: SecondLife

Mike Oldfield Night to be Held in Second Life (-: www.secondlife.com to get started. If you get inworld and need help, look for Morrighan Heron or Zanny Wirefly. It would be a good thing to spend some time on Orientation Island and Help Island, first. To find the Subterranea, ... Mike Oldfield - Tubular.net - http://tubular.net/

";La Performance" - An Interview with Artistic Director Jie Loon By SLHerald Austrian-based avatar Jie Loon founded the "La Performance" dance troupe on Second Life out of a love for performance and dance in real life. "La Performance", in Jie Loon's own words, tries to "interpret songs and transport mood of ... Second Life Herald - http://foo.secondlifeherald.com/slh/

Get into the spirit of snow with ~flirt~ jewellery By Peter Stindberg And all this while maintaining a very low Avatar Rendering Cost. The new set consists of a bracelet, a choker, earrings and a ring and is available in the http://slurl.com/secondlife/Juicy/22/220/28″>~flirt~ mainstore. ... iheartsl.com Second Life's largest... - http://iheartsl.com/

Caterina Davinio's video on Second Life Caterina Davinio on Second Life Event details: Time: December 5, 2008 at 10pm to December 7, 2008 at 10pm Location: ARENA MdM http://slurl.com/secondlife/Uqbar/48/190/30 Website or Map: http://uqbararena.blogspot.com Event Type: video ... Rhizome.org Announcements - http://rhizome.org/announce/

Libraries in Second Life this week By Lorelei The Amatsu Library is a small community library serving Amatsu, Shima, Okiya, and all interested residents of Second Life. Amatsu Shima (Heavenly Island) is a Japanese themed island sim. The Okiya is a school for geisha. ... Second Life Library Project - http://infoisland.org/

TED Talk by Philip Rosedale! Second Life, Where Anything is Possible

I've been a fan of TEDs for a long time and I don't get to them as regularly as I should. When my twitter network (thanks @AngelaMaiers!) "tweeted" in a moment ago, I knew I had to go watch Rosedale, the creator of Second Life, talk about his inspiration for creating it. "If you think about it, virtual worlds, and where we're going with more and more computing technology represent essentially the likely, really tactically possible, version of space exploration."

Second life is about 20,000 connected computers today, and expanding exponentially (around 5% per month currently, as measured by the number of CPUs).

Here 'tis, ya'll:

Please Vote!

I'm so very buzzed that this li'l blog has been nominated in the category "Best Use of a Virtual World" in the 2008 Edublogger Awards race. I've been plugging away at it for years now, and I'm moved that the effort's been noticed. Whether the blog takes the "Eddie" or not is irrelevant. Errrm. Not.

I'd love to take home the award. I'll even build a mantel at my little 512 hovel to put it on. Not the least of my motivations is that my dear older brother, Eddie, would be pleased. Get it? Well, it's not often you see that name anymore! I've been teaching for 13 years and only one Ed has attended my K12 school as a student, and his name was really Ted!

So PLEASE! Go vote! I'm up against some big organizations that figure to give out tee-shirts and other bribes in exchange for your vote. Don't fall for it!

And while you're there, please check out the other categories and vote for ones that move your fancy. There's some GREAT stuff there! I wonder if I've put enough vote buttons here. Hmmmmmm...Better add another:

Fantastic "Case Study" Features "Teen Perspectives on Second Life"

I'm going to cross-post this to "scottmerrick.net" just because it's so cool. Seldom do I find extremely detailed treatments of education in Virtual Environments, and this one is nothing short of extraordinary.

Steve Collis is "a French/English teacher, and 'Head of Innovation' at Northern Beaches Christian School and its innovation arm, the Sydney Centre for Innovation in Learning" in Sydney, Australia. He recently visited my good friend and colleague Peggy Sheehy at her school in Ramapo, New York, to examine how she has become the nation's premier "virtual pioneer" in using VE to facilitate teaching and learning for her young students. He reported out a week ago at his blog, "HappySteve" (a great name for a blog!, subtitled "Teachers, Technology, Learning"), and I want to urgently suggest (is that subtle enough) that you go visit the particular blogpost (permalink) to view his video documentation. Bookmark it, share it, shout it to the world(s).

Steve, who doesn't know it yet but soon will be roped into my own Professional Learning Network, says of his travels,

"If there is one thing that has stood out to me from her observations on the educational value of a 3D virtual world, it's the notion of a "Psychosocial Moratorium" - a term coined by Erik Erikson. The idea is that the social space of a 3D virtual online world is particularly 'safe', and therefore particularly beneficial for nurturing the confidence of adolescents trying to figure out who they are, what they are good at, what they stand for and what they are are known for. As someone who has spent countless hours in the safety of online environments, I know exactly what she means. As of November 2008 I am seeking to set up Teen Second Life for my school, and can't wait to see how the students respond. Peggy has many anecdotes of students who have 'found themselves' through what is essentially a scaffold to constructing social identity (my wording there)."

When I first met Peggy, at NECC2007 in Atlanta, Georgia (if memory serves me correctly), I was struck by the same sort of impression. This is a passionately visionary educator, a librarian by training, who has struck out virtually (sorry) on her own and gathered legions of followers to create a productive, successful model of how teaching and learning can differ--now, in the early 21st century--from the stale, tried-but-no-longer-true, instructor-centered pedagogies of our great-great grandparents' schools.

Go visit "Happy Steve" and see what I mean. Literally!

To warm you up, here's an embed of the first in the series of no less than 7 short videos: