EDUCEDGE,

The latest discussion on the SLEd attracted my attention since I’ve been particularly cautious about that specific web2.0 info management tool: fear of getting addicted to information in general, fear of losing control over my productive time, fear of possible info overdose. But MUVEnation has re-ignited the decision process since RSSfeeds are tools that we’ll have to use. I created a netvibe page 2 days ago, but have not touched it yet….until this SLED post today. Need I mention the fact that it was Fire Centaur’s discussion with ShamblesGuru Voom about netvibes.com being outstanding in managing rssfeeds and ning.

RSSFeed readers that are mentioned:

SAGE news reader
http://www.feedreader.com/
Bloglines
PageFlakes (very similar to netvibes.com)

So since I can’t resist resources, I figured that this would be a great way to get my netvibes page started with SL-related blog on/for Education.

Fire Centaur lists some great blogs:

Fire (me) http://englishvillage.asia/blog/
Blog Hud: http://feeds.bloghud.com/
esl-secondlife http://esl-secondlife.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
secondlifeinsider http://www.secondlifeinsider.com/category/business/rss.xml
Sloodle Coffee Shop http://www.sloodle.org/moodle/rss/file.php/3/589/forum/25/rss.xml
Beth’s Blog: http://feeds.feedburner.com/bethblog
RezEd Blogs: http://www.rezed.org/profiles/blog/feed?xn_auth=no
Digital Strawberry Girl: http://blogs.ipona.com/chris/Rss.aspx
In a Strange Land with Joe Essid http://slbeat.mytimesdispatch.com/index.php/slbeat/rss_2.0/

Open Sim: Naked Imagination: http://robsmart.co.uk/feed/
Hatters Island Blog (Teen Grid): http://hattersisland.blogspot.com/
Ramapo Islands (Teen Grid): http://ramapoislands.edublogs.org/
PacificRim Exchange –Stan Trevena (Modesto): http://pacificrimx.wordpress.com/
AJ: http://sorry-afk.blogspot.com/
Cathy Arreguin: http://instructionalmuse.com/blog/
Ruth M: http://educasecondlife.blogspot.com
Elizabeth Clarke: http://4rxt.wordpress.com/
Aldon Hynes: http://www.orient-lodge.com
Ina Centaur: http://blog.SLshakespeare.com
sLENZ Project: slenz.wordpress.com
Clare Atkins: http://arwennastardust.wordpress.com

Other places to look for info and providing RSS services:

EBSCO
Science Direct

Post, in participant’s blog, about Commonalities and differences of newbies learning centre, orientation islands, and didactical approaches to introduce newbies in SL
coming soon

[original post 11/11/08]

• Select two orientation spaces that you will analyze, from the list below:
  • Orientation partly interactive, Virtual Ability (135, 124, 23)
  • NMC Orientation (107, 114, 39)
  1. I choose NMC Orientation island because I know it already and decided that it was important for me to be clear as to why I like this orientation place so much for educators.
  2. I choose Orientation partly interactive because I do not know it. Therefore it is one of those becoming rare instances (right now) for which I have the time to explore something new and reflect on it. I also chose it because I am intrigued at the ‘partly interactive’ claim in the name. This is an SL location. Why should it not be interactive? or why should it be only partly interactive? Also, I am assuming that this is a space for orientation for students more than for educators. Possibly a wrong assumption, but that’s what I will learn as I go and visit the place.

• Explore these spaces:
  

NMC Orientation:

MUVEnation Flickr gallery

How does it organize the orientation process?

Upon landing, we are given general info as to how the island is organized. Give a feeling of support and empathy toward newcomers. Other pics showing organization on the lick above (Flickr)

What kind of support is provided?

When I noticed that the draw distance panel had not been updated to the new SL client, then the suggested locations notecard “to learn more” only had 1 location, I did not find a post, a prim or something that I could ring up to IM the owner or manager to let them know about this. OR even a possible option to be added as ‘editor’ and provide a correction as part of a collective knowledge suppport….or something.

What sort of activities are proposed?

All types of activities are offered which is nice: videos, info cards, visual maps, etc.

Talk to the people you encounter, particularly, teachers and learners. What they like about it? What is boring, tedious?

Besides the local fauna and I, there was not much company to talk to. Will try again at another time.

Orientation Partly Interactive:

How does it organize the orientation process?
What kind of support is provided?
What sort of activities are proposed?
Talk to the people you encounter, particularly, teachers and learners. What they like about it? What is boring, tedious?

• Think about what you have observed, perhaps there are activities you find especially interesting , or comparisons to make between the spaces you have looked at. Post your reflections in your personal blog, Have a look at the work of others in the group, and comment in the forum.

coming soon. After I answer the questions above.

• Working together in your group in the wiki, make a list of good induction practices that you have identified.

11/10/08 PST: 1 comment on group 3 wiki

[original post 11/10/08]

What was orientation island like? Could you find help as needed? Where did you go? Did you speak to other avatars? What would improve the experience, if anything? What previous knowledge and skills helped you?

When I first went to the LL Orientation Island, I thought that I should dutifully go through all the steps for fear of missing out on an important information or skill activity. It turned out that I learned about SL on my own and by getting some perspectives of other aspects of SL that I have not known (still now) by reading Meadows “I Avatar: The Culture and Consequences of Having a Second Life” which was less about the consequences than a narrative of what is out there in the outerlimits of SL experiences. No judgments. Just stating what is there. In my turn, I discovered what was there by reading wihtout judging, but knowing what I want and what I don’t want to experience. Like in any cities or at the mall, I guess. I won’t gravitate toward what I might perceive a potential trouble or something too much out of my comfort zone.

I found the orientation island limited and limiting. I have been directing people toward the NMC island instead. It does require to join the group, but it is free and there is a lot to gain when one is new to SL (or even not so new) and an educator. Orientation Island was also not very conducive to meeting others….although it was probably me not feeling comfortable enough to chat with strangers.
In fact in the course of my SL evolution, I have to admit that like most, I spent a good portion of my pixelated development as a lurker. I would listen, watch, and discreetly withdraw if participation was asked from an audience. Maybe as a comparison to Spore, we could develop developmental stages similar to spore>individual>community>space.
In SL, I was a lurker first. Then I developed into a fearful toodler: my playdoh being this prim thing that apparently I could create, modify, etc. I actually started modifying what I could get my hands on, and then I figured out how to create from scratch. I guess this could be compared to trying my dudding teeth on the prim toy and then graduating to glue those sticks into some sort of creative activity.
After a few crashes, I realized that there was really nothing to worry about. Yes, I got griefed once, But I simply teleported to my home and went about my business. And no matter what, I would simply relog….Although I did recently discovered that lag can be an element of misunderstanding: I though that I had turned an entire sim in black when in fact, it was the lag that I was experiencing that showed me something 2 stages behind what I had done. I relogged, and guess what? yep….everything was fine. Well, I had IMed a couple of colleagues with a desperate plea, asking them to stop by and tell me if indeed what I saw was what they saw too. I really thought that my landowner would have killed me by then.

Improving my experience has been accomplished and continue to happen through my many interactions with colleagues in SL. I can’t emphasize enough the generosity of the SL educator community. I am simply blown away by the standing quality of exchange, feedback and mentorship that is going on. In fact, I have never seen this level of trust as part of a system. Yes, there is discussion of academic ethics and copyright issues….but these discussions have come along as Academia decided that ‘possibly’ SL could be of interest.

Today newbies have great resources that really enhance their experiences compared to the earlier days. Personally, I subscribe to the ever so prolific SLED listserv (’prolific’ you are warned!) and my inworld groups changed as my skills, interests, and demands evolve.

Prior knowledge and skills: Personally, I was never a loyal gamer –as the assumption goes for social platforms such as SL. What has helped me in SL is my insatiable interest in gadgets, puzzles, and boxes. I have to know how things work and if I can do this while enjoying the process…..then i’ve got myself a few years under the belt as a convinced SL user (for education).
However, in the discussions that my RezEd-based group “Social Presence in Virtual Worlds” has hosted (particularly the Social Presence Effects thread), some educators have mentioned that gaming experiences might help with the familiarty of the keyboard short cuts, and the orientation inside the platform. But we have all agreed that the USE of the platform for education is more efficiently done by instructors who’ve had a training or experience in distance learning, rather than the gamers’ skills set. (also as a summary in an article in the first RezEd Report, p15)

[original post 1/10/08]

I decided on my avatar knowing that I was interested in using SL as a research and work place. Consequently, I immediately tuned in the reputation system in SL. I do not care about anonymity in SL although I do respect colleagues who prefer not to reveal their RL id while in SL. I do not reveal my RL name when exploring places. But when in conferences, or other educational related activities, I do not mind mentioning my RL id or contacts.

And so, my avatar is female, although I do like switching avatar skins often for fun and depending on the context. For example, when I hosted the inworld Met@Morph, my avatar looked like the long-haired sister of the X-Men’s nemesis Mystique. I’ve been Darth Vader and other robot looking avatars. I’ve been a green alien and a floating humanoid jelly fish. Again, it all depends on the context as some audiences are not comfortable with ‘wierd’ looking personae.

I take care of my avatar as my representation of myself inworld. And so I am quite pleased to change her hair and clothes by my fancy. It’s probably reminiscent of playing dolls, although I never like playing dolls when I was a little one. In fact, I am now more interested in designing an avatar that is professional looking with appropriate gestures for listening and presenting. (although, apparently, the bosoom-ness of my avatar — although appropriately dressed– was a brief topic of conversation. Although it is possible to modify the size of all areas of the body, certain skins are not full perms….as the one I was using when the comment came about. And so I could not ‘deflate’ the bosom However, she was dressed professionally. I guessed she was still too pretty.

I wonder: would RL assumptions about beauty and brain carry over inworld? Based on my earlier comment, it’s easy to answer. But what do other think?

[original post 11/10/08]

Technical Issues: When I first went on SL, I had no technical issues. But when I wanted to update my laptop to Vista, I could not run SL. My laptop has a ATI integrated video card that I could not update to satisfy Vista’s requirements. So I forgot about Vista and reinstalled Microsoft Office XP, and I am back to flying inworld.
The technical issues of consequence that I ran across appeared at the most annoying moment: My New Orleans MERLOT conference in 2007. I was preparing my mixed reality presentation: me in f2f with my audience, starting with my power point. Then introducing them to SL with my inworld guest speakers: Dr. Brock Allen, MVUE isntructor Cathy Arreguin, and guest visitor, Jeremy Kemp of SFSU.
The problem began when I plugged my laptop to the screen projector, while keeping my screen on my laptop working, with ppt open in the background. Also, I was on wireless connection. That was just too much. My laptop crashed.Well….first, my avatar jumped in the air and hovered in the most ridiculous swimming pose above ground, then frightully crashed on her face. In RL, I made a face as if I has hurt myself. Then the audience heard my professor Brock Allen asked “Oh my god, are you alright Sabine?” Interesting, isn’t it? that one immediately associate the avatar with the RL person behind it. Of course, I was alright. my face and nose were quite fine. This was actually a great opportunity to introduce my RL audience to certain realities of SL and parallels with RL.

So, now I know. Don’t overload your laptop unecessarily. I also reflected on the fact that “why using ppt when you can SHOW what SL is?” One can always provide the audience with a ppt handout. This does not mean that the presentation must SHOW the ppt onscreen. After all, the audience knows how to read. If slides must be shown inworld, then it is quite possible to do so inworld (great tools for free or 5Linden dollars, a pitance). Consequently, the technical issues I encountered were a blessing in disguise. I learned quite a bit by reflecting on my presentation skills and rethinking this new medium’s potentials in light of the old conventions.

[original blog posted 11/10/08]

My blog: this will be this space. I will copy and paste what I posted on my Educedge blog back here so that I can keep the MUVEnation program related activities in one place. My EducEdge blog will remain a place of general discovery of cyberspace and tools. [11/11/08: not anymore obviously.]

My personal work space:

1. A Flickr account:http://www.flickr.com/photos/sreljic/ in which my screen name is Little Green Dragon. I choose this screen name because one of my first exciting manipulation in SL was to have a pet dragon following me around. It was a little green dragon -bot which reacted to text and audio based prompt. So when someone touched it, it would giggle and in chat, would say “hee hee hee, it tickles”. When someone would say or chat “oh, this is cool”, dragon would interject in the conversation and ask if one was cold Very cute. [problem with adding a picture from my computer. what on earth am i doing wrong? It seems so obviously simple!!!]
2. del.icio.us account: http://delicious.com/sreljic Now, if only I could remember my login and password, I should be able to get back into bookmarking my stuff.
3. PBwiki: I already have a wiki but I’l create a new one for this MVUEnation program on PBwiki. I’ve heard a lot about this wiki space that this is the opportunity to try it without being redundant in my multiple social web2.0 accounts (oh, the passwords and logins. If you have 5 minutes, enjoy this Internet Overdose Song spoof) [minutes later:http://sreljic.pbwiki.com/] –ok, what do we use the wiki for in this program? Goodness…..how do i feel quite dense right now….]
   
4. Twitter Feed: I am following the mvn08 twitter channel since yesterday. So that’s done. I’ve been a bit annoyed at noticing different tags such as mvn08 and mvno8 on different places on the MUVEnation spaces, so I”ve been tagging everything with those 2. to make sure. I did not know that there was a difference between subscribing to a certain twitter channel by simply following the twitterer (here mvn08) and checking out the twemes services about MUVEnation. Will do so after this blog post. [minutes later: "MUVEnation" is not a tweme, but mvn08 is. and to answer my question earlier, the tweme search provides a probably more reader friendly version of the twitter.com/mvn08]
5. To do: Add an RSSfeed reader to follow the program’s activities: must figure out the benefit of an rssfeed over a daily digest email + the twitterfeed.
6. As an additional resource, I also list here my YouTube account where I’ve been posting my experimentations with machinima: http://www.youtube.com/user/WillowShenlin

[Original post 11/10/08]

My first steps in SL? mmmm…, hesitant, awkward, fearful, paranoid, slightly annoyed at my inaptitude. Then, once I got over myself, it got quite fun. Let me put it this way: Have you taken any TaiKuan Do classes during your ‘adult’ life? well, i have. And as a white belt, I started with the beginners. Well, the beginners were about 25 years younger than me. Some even more. ayuh. That tends to teach someone a good dose of humility. Well, my first steps in SL were similar to this, although I felt somewhat better behind a pretense of anonymity (yeah….will get back to that one later).

As most beginners in late 2006, I started my account via secondlife.com, my avatar was a Rita (got to go back and check how they name the SL Eve) with a catastrophic hairdo, and my first experience inworld was at the orientation island provided by LL. I so envy the beginners today: wow! Take a look at those new “default” avatars. Now a newbie can be detected only through his profile (less via looks)…and for SLers with a sharp eye, it’s actually the combination of the profile (BDay and whatever info) and the actual familiarity of the platform demonstrated by the av. (a few SLers have several accounts, so called alt-av. –alternate avatars).

My avatar has since ‘evolved’ (which reminds me that I should update my “Willow: The Evolution” gallery), with a face, body, hair and gestures that I find more familiar (i.e., closer to my sense of ID inworld). Indeed, I do understand my avatar as my double in SL. She is the incarnation of my reputation in SL. So …however I use her, reflects on my reputation in world. SL is a reputation world. One gets known by actions. Reputation by skills, presentation, knowledge sharing, etc. But I am also attracted to this SL environment for its potentials for education. I’ll also check art galleries out of curiosity, looking for evidence of incredible creativity. But other than that, I really could care less about the socializing that would require my RL self to just sit and watch. I’ve got a first life for that. I better stop the psychological recollection here, and go back to focusing on the technicalities of SL for beginners.

[original post 11/10/08. Answers to Activity 6: http://www.muvenation.org/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=118 ]

Summary

• Technical demands of 3D virtual environments: As Linden Labs keeps on adding to the affordances of SL, old technology is left behind. SL does require a solid computer with video card, lots of memory and good boradband access. [i'll search the SLED archives to provide a list of technical requirements here]. My laptop is 2 years old and although I can’t run SL on Vista (my laptop has an integrated video card that no longer is supported by ATI so I can’t update it), it has been doing just fine on Microsoft Office XL. My experience in SL is more stable when hooked up, but I am usually on wireless connection with very little lag to deal with.
• Raise awareness of and reflect on issues relating to the induction of learners into a MUVE environment: The MUVE is less an environment to discover as a medium for the instructor to deliver learning experiences. My belief is that if the students are let to believe that this environment is not compulsery to attend to, attrition will be high and motivation will be minimal. Also adult learners have certain assumptions about the MUVE enviornmetns that are different in needs and answers than younger learners (not to assume that all younger learners automatically know MUVE and/or make the difference between gaming platforms versus social platforms such as SL)

(transferred blog. Original post date 11/09/08)

About first steps in SL, as i just replied in the forum, I am a true believer of touching to everything. Click on all that you see on your screen, collect all the freebies you can find (Yadni’s Junkyard is well known, but it’s not the only one), try all those buttons on the UI (bottom and top) -especially since the SL client is new every so often, there are usually some new added affordances), and join a few groups (for beginning educators, i highly recommend ISTE and NMC (NMC even offers free spaces for educators to use for teaching + tools + events) also everyone should at least visit the ICT Library on Info Island to get an idea of tools used in inworld classes –most are free to copy.

Also add the SLED event calendar to your google calendar, then you can see quickly what events or classes are being offered (there is a SL 101 class for example every Tuesday I think. ISTE also posted their weekly meetings there).
And go through the Global Kids curriculum –free when you join the RezEd community (free to join too). It provides some absolutely awesome tips, tricks and activities for all (the curriculum is based on skills not age, so it is quite appropriate for educators learning SL skills)

Incidentally, touching to everything achieves a few things for ‘noobs’: it gives them reassurance that they can’t break anything (both inworld and on their computer), it provides familiarity with the location of tools on the UI –which will eventually lead to learning personal shortcuts–(my favorite is to do inventory > Files > Close all Folders. My current inventory has over 8700 items in it (not much in SL terms, but still a lot to go through when you try to locate something), so when i need to see my ‘root directory’ I clear the window by closing all the folders. Also, I recommend Torley’s Tutorials. Great short tutorials for everyone.

My orientation island experiences are limited. My first Orientation Island experience was 2 years ago…so many things have probably changed, starting with new orientation islands and orientation programs. I think I would recommend educators to head straight to the NMC website. It will help them go through an account and avatar set up, to skills build up, and freebies. A lot easier and more friendly than the LL Orientation Island I did a while back (and left rather quickly.) I then built my skills by attending events, observing, listening and playing around in sandboxes with my UI.

I am now transferring my post from the Moodle-based blog to my blog so that this really is managed a 100% by me. So here are my earlier posts:

from Sunday, November 9, 2008 : “Cyberspace is Cyberspeed”

ok, so I just logged back in after my proposal defense in SL on Monday and a trip from Raleigh to Singapore on Wednesday. We are already Saturday (time differences are killers) and I feel as though I have already dropped the shoe on the MUVEnation program.

I changed my email digest to the daily digest in order to manage my MUVEnation email better. However, I feel as overwhelmed by the amount of activity happening in the programme. …must focus and dedicate my attention to selected items. Wow….could not have predicted such volume of activity. well…maybe I should. AFterall we are now a global community. This might sound trite, but this is the global village. This is it.

Today’s blog will just be a catch up blog post. Cyberspace has speed up communication: it’s easy, it’s free (well relative to your internet account), and it’s global. So the volume is astronomical. So today, I am designing a strategy to avoid getting killed by too much information. and no offense to rss-feed believers: these just add to the killing. I’ll have to figure out something else. Thank goodness for the groups.

I also emailed Margarita suggesting that SL expertise could be posted on a dedicated forum. Those in need can them ask their questions to the designated volunteer(s) and read their answers on the SL expertise post….or whereever it is decided to aggregate those resources. OF course, I could not help but suggest my blog EducEdge since this was why I had started this blog in the first place a few years back.

ok, RL demanding attention again. Back in a while.