What Happened to SIGVE?

Here on September 10, I'm musing about that. What happened? We came off of a faboo experience in Denver last early July with renewed energy and commitment to learning and teaching, fueled by an intense three days of sharing and celebrating at the ISTE2010 Virtual Environments Playground. At the SIG Leadership meeting that week, SIGVE's creation of ISTE Islands 1 and 2 in ReactionGrid was singled out as one of the SIG's accomplishments in 2009-10.

The ISTE SIGVE 3rd Tuesday Speaker Series was also mentioned, and our own Catherine Parsons, aka Victoria Gloucester, proved the praise on target by sharing a very personal history of virtual worlds exploration and her own perspective on the value of the 3D internet at the July Session.In  August we took a Fall Break from the series, as did Kevin Jarrett's excellent broader-themed Speaker Series and the ISTE Thursday Socials. Now it sort of feels like we need to rez some animated tumbleweeds blowing through ISTE Island in Second Life in order to reflect the mood of the place.

What happened? Well, clearly, SIGVE members, like educators everywhere, rightly turned their attention to the start of a new academic school year. First and foremost we owe attention to our new students, the children for whom we serve in loco parentis for so many of their waking hours. For me, my students are not in a classroom anymore. I guess that makes me in loco loginquitas. Did I mention that I left my K-4 Independent School Technology Coordinator position of 11 years for a new one as Metro Nashville Public Schools' "Virtual Learning Coordinator?" But I still owe my students all my attention. And that is what, like so many of us, I have been paying them.

My feeling with respect to our avocation as innovators in virtual learning environments is that it's been a good break. Now, let's not lose our focus on our students, but let's roll up our sleeves again and continue to explore how virtual environments can best serve the students of the future.

[assumes Rod Serling voice] Item number 1, for your consideration: Next Tuesday, September 21, at 4 pm Second Life Time (SLT), I'll be at the campground at ISTE Island to chat with any and all. There's a lot to talk about. The agenda is open.

Item number 2, for your consideration: Following that meeting, join us for a one hour ISTE SIGVE Speaker Session, 5 pm to 6 pm SLT. This will be a "speed chatting" session akin to the original one-minute-per-panelist experience we had early on, on the topic of Educators in "ReactionGrid." This time each speaker will get two whole minutes a turn. Our stalwart Spiff Whitfield will moderate. On the panel will be (hopefully) Marianne Malmstrom, Noreen Streyhow, Mary Miner, Kelly Irish, Kyle Gomboy, and moi, with the addition of others who wish to join, to a maximum limit of 10 participants. We'll start at 5:05 and end at 5:45 so that others in attendance have a chance to ask and answer.

Item number 3, for your consideration: Following that session, we'll be hosting an Educators Evening in ReactionGrid, where our clever subcommittee has put together some "best-of" sites in RG to visit, and dancing and socializing will prevail. We hope that you can join us for that event, and if you can't, plans are in swing for sharing a desktop at the auditorium in SL so you can just hang out and watch there!

Item number Infinity: Let's keep having fun with this, ya'll. Come play with us.

See http://sigve.iste.wikispaces.net for everything and to add to it! Questions for the panel? Visit http://typewith.me/XSsHPeGKjW and add them. See you there.