Aggiornamento II

Reminder about your invitation from Joop van Schie

2012-01-16T10:29:00.000+01:00

This is a reminder that on January 6, Joop van Schie sent you an invitation to become part of their professional network at LinkedIn.

Accept Joop van Schie's Invitation

On January 6, Joop van Schie wrote:

> To: [jpvanschie.aggiornamento@blogger.com]

> From: Joop van Schie [j.vanschie@cocon.com]

> Subject: Invitation to connect on LinkedIn

> I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.
>
> - Joop

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Reminder about your invitation from Joop van Schie

2012-01-10T10:19:00.001+01:00

This is a reminder that on January 6, Joop van Schie sent you an invitation to become part of their professional network at LinkedIn.

Accept Joop van Schie's Invitation

On January 6, Joop van Schie wrote:

> To: [jpvanschie.aggiornamento@blogger.com]

> From: Joop van Schie [j.vanschie@cocon.com]

> Subject: Invitation to connect on LinkedIn

> I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.
>
> - Joop

You are receiving Reminder emails for pending invitations. Unsubscribe.

Invitation to connect on LinkedIn

2012-01-06T20:51:00.001+01:00

From Joop van Schie

Peer Reviewer at International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning

Rotterdam Area, Netherlands

I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

- Joop

Confirm that you know Joop

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My network

2011-03-19T18:07:00.002+01:00

I love visualisers!! They make me happy, it is a thrill to see large quantities of data in a cloud, stats turning into images, and so on, so on, so on. This LinkedIn cloud shows my network connections. Zooming in I meet my own history and the people I enjoyed working with. I feel honoured with the interest of all these people in me and and all the others. I makes me happy to know that we are not alone

Mininstructs: Where has it gone?

2011-02-27T15:00:00.000+01:00

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Animals do get extinct. Not a nice thought for a species it considers to be on earth for ever. What happened to this bird can happen to us. How did it go, and why?

Mininstructs: How to feed the world?

2011-02-27T14:29:00.000+01:00

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

How will we feed our coming generations? This mini-instruction gives the basic facts on the consumption of eggs and poultry world wide. What will it take to produce No 1 protein resource worldwide?

Mininstructs: Limitations breaking borders

2011-02-26T19:59:00.001+01:00

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Sometimes the limitations of a tool brings you on your knees to make something. Animoto is free and gives you the opportunity to deliver a 30 second - video. Yes, you read it right: 30 secs and not more than 12 sequences within that timeline. So I ve put in 3 images and 6 textframes and produced a 30 second introduction on a result to be delivered by High School students on contempory history. What do you think? Will this work?

Angel in Immersiva

2011-01-14T16:31:00.001+01:00

This beautiful angel towers above a scattered landscape. Nothing refers to real life in a sense that there is an idea that everything is logically conneted. I am sure it is and that makes it exciting and me curious.

Open Wonderland

2011-01-12T11:27:00.002+01:00

Many institutes migrate from SL (commercial) to a full blown alternative OpenWonderland. Money is the issue here, as there are drawbacks too. SL services all and in a professional way. If you move to DIY open source environment you get all the Sh.. that the entrepreneurs encounter on a daily basis and learning process towards 99.999% uptime. I have not seen examples of calculating the cost of DIY in education and probably they will not come as we are not used to calculate our costs in our 'business'. Still a good thing we have a choice.

Merlot

2011-01-12T11:04:00.003+01:00

I walked the web since 1994, professionally and with great pleasure. Still amazed by its richness and development so far. Stumbled upon Merlot, the University of Oregons' virtual campus through a new connection on LinkedIn. The campus shows a magnificent learning model around virtual safaris in nicely visualized settings. They also show some awesome 'cutting edge' designs on blended learning environments on linked webpages The development since early days in 1994 in integrating materials and means is immense and unexpected, as this one on Geoscience shows you.

The granularity of solutions

2010-06-18T10:13:00.007+02:00

He is British and a fast, and funny speaker, click '' view subtitles'' to show them! Opportunity knocks here for staffmembers in Colleges, Universities, Ministries of Education and E-Quango's.

Ze Frank

2010-03-27T12:27:00.006+01:00

Ze Frank develops interactive web toys. Loads of them are published on his main website www.zefrank.com. First of all most of them are funny, hilarious and also makes you think about what really amuses us or keeps us sane. He pushes the borders of sanity with his atheist, buddhist and christian game. Not rude in any way, in my view and well made. One of my favourites is ''Meditation - flowers", which responses to your own voice. A very relaxing experience that allows you to make any sound you want and see it turn it into a majectic flower. Have a go, you will be amazed.

Chatroulette

2010-03-22T15:45:00.003+01:00

The web started is an one-to-many informative medium, 7/24 accessible and owned by those that published. Today everybody can publish, ... for every individual. The latest gadget is the chatroulette. Two screencams and a head and/or an object. Sometimes people need to show what always was in the dark. Others are more creative. This guy plays for you, and you, and you, and yes!! You too. F2F- web, it is there, now and for you.

Farmville as an example for learning environments

2010-03-16T09:04:00.007+01:00

Farmville is addictive and a fast way to develop RSI in a matter of weeks. So far the bad news. Zynga cashed 60 million $ from its users. No one I speak to ever spent a buck, so......some of us do in a major way. The good news is that I think we can learn a lot from the people that developed FV. We might consider to use their model of interaction in the way we organise and stimulate learning and teaching. How do they succeed in keeping us coming back to plow, to seed and to harvest, as a individual farmer and as a neighbour. What happens if we relate these activities to the learning process? Isn't that plowing, seeding and harvesting too? Take a look at the interaction - model I developed lately, maybe it gets you going!

Farmville and learning

2010-02-24T11:02:00.007+01:00

3 weeks I am playing FarmVille now! It is fun, interesting and a challenge to stop. One can think of thousands of reasons not to play it! It is also a learning experience. Its a combination of a boardgame, a playfull virtual community and a complex and ongoing mathematical problem. It is also about making money and see things grow. The game-team found a brilliant set of tools to stimulate the players. I think this, relatively cheap way of making games has great and immediate potential for young learners. Why? I was hooked me in the first minute.

The Challenge

2010-02-04T16:55:00.026+01:00

has moved to another blog.

Go to 21st Century Teaching and Learning

Final results Second Life - interviews in presentation

2009-11-20T10:25:00.002+01:00

Currambena Primary School

2009-03-22T15:32:00.003+01:00

I first look at the pictures on a school-website. First impression is always dominant in further reasoning. Spinoza considers intuition being the highest order in thinking, above logic. Spinoza's intuition is somewhat different to our present connotation, but still. Currrambena has an appealing philosophy and makes an effort to offer something different in the educational system. What more evidence do you need?

Village School and Fitzroy Community School

2009-03-21T21:02:00.006+01:00

They started in 1982, so The Village School is well established in Melbourne, Australia. Between 55 and 80 children attend the school each year, guided by 5 permanent teachers, a part-time language teacher, an equestrian instructor (riding horses!!) and various coaches, mentors and parents sharing their specialist skills with the students. On of their principles is learning by making mistakes. They 'encourage children to take risks in a non-threatening, caring environment in order to develop realistic, problem-solving skills.' and also ' that some common sense rules are necessary to ensure physical and emotional safety.' Read it all in their philosophy - document on line. Must be in the air down under!! In the same city another alternative school, Fitzroy Community School. Some international connections in Asia too.

The Alternative School

2009-03-21T20:36:00.009+01:00

The Alternative School (aka TAS) ' was set up in May 2007 to offer a new and exciting alternative KS4 curriculum (age 14 to 19) for all those young people who are not engaging with main stream education.' It is not clear what status this initiative has or how many young people participate. They all strive to get a Duke of Edingburgh Award, which also gives them discounts on outdoor equipment. They ' strive to engage young people in a wide range of positive activities and to develop them as young adults, at a pace that is suited to that young person and with subjects and experiences that means they are interested and therefore willing to partake.' An interesting and innovative approach. Too early to call it a success, however. They maintain a blog that shows a professional video on the project.

Sudbury Valley School

2009-03-21T16:07:00.005+01:00

The SVS was founded in 1968 and at the moment there are 39 schools or initiatives on 2 continents that are listed as Sudbury - education schools. They must do something right.

Students are fully responsible for their own learning. In practice this means that students initiate all their own activities and create their own environments. The physical plant, the staff, and the equipment are there for the students to use as the need arises. The Netherlands hosts 2 Sudbury Schools and there are a number of initiatives that are very similar in approach and pedagogy, but find it difficult to survive. The existence of an international community around this initiative and the solid mission statement might explain its success. And the use of villa's like the one pictured of course.

Hole in the wall

2009-03-21T13:42:00.007+01:00

Cut a hole in the wall that separates you from the slums around you. Mount an interactive computerscreen, make some adjustments on the other side for a keyboard and make sure its weather resistent. Then WAIT!! It didn't take long before children, that very likely never touched a computer before found out how it worked and started playing with it, teaching each other. Sugata Mitra did and he didn't stop there. You can read all about it from the website they also made. A beautiful initiative, got me by the ankles, anyway.

SFETT

2009-03-21T13:31:00.003+01:00

The San Fernando Education Technology Team, better known as SFETT, is an exceptional team of creative and talented individuals who continuously strive to engage and captivate students while providing them an avenue of expression through the use of digital media. That is what they say themselves, have a look at their productions to decide for yourself if this initiative has got some potential. They also created a blog called Flickschool with ideas that helped them over the years.

NotSchool

2009-03-21T13:04:00.004+01:00

School is out!! Is it really? If we look around we see schools, much alike those I visited. Not bad schools, certainly not, but what if your finished with it and still have to go. To some of these youngsters Notschool is an answer. It provides tuition, in a way that it helps them in their learning path, without the school - agenda. Numbers are small compared to the system, but they proved themselves already. In my country there is a similar project using the same paradigm. NotSchool makes me ask why the educational system itsself does not succeed in serving this type of children.

Wondertree - SelfDesign

2009-03-21T12:56:00.007+01:00

I visited Wondertree in 1995 and met Brent Cameron, the founding father of an initiative that celebrates its 25th year of existence this year. I stayed in an old villa, in the centre of Vancouver, crowded with teenagers, eager to learn, much less eager to go to school. They went out for payed work as entrepreneurs, were asked on conferences to show the latest developments of Adobe apps. A vibrant community guided by 'experts'. Nobody even dared to call them teachers, as these kids 'designed themselves. The image is the non-verbal icon of their learning path. Visit them here.

826 Valencia

2009-03-21T10:47:00.003+01:00

Are you an active pirat? If so rush to 826 Valencia to obtain all you need to become the best equiped and best dressed pirat in the 21st Century. Another reason to go might be that you are somebody who needs some professional assistance on your writing. The place is one of the finest under - cover remedial 'teaching units' I have ever heard of. Find more yourself, you rascal, here! No doubt you will be able to find the other, more or less similar shops in the US yourself!

Kaospilots

2009-03-16T14:53:00.004+01:00

Does this look like a school to you? It probably does not. And they do not intend to either! It is Kaospilot, a thrilling and succesful initiative in Aarhus sometime ago already. There is a location in my country too. It is all about learning and new ways to do so. The first core principle is playfulness! Read more about other principles on their pages, but start here. Lots of people talk about 21st century learning. They make serious business of it. I would love to see them start using 3d virtual worlds to work in, as you can imagine.

Robin (very) Good

2009-03-16T10:58:00.004+01:00

Every now and then somebody makes something that really pleases me. I am very fond of using mindmaps, as it helps me to think: it helps me to order my thoughts, to communicate them, to organize my file resources and its a joy to continuously improve them. There is always a way to make 'm better. Almost perfect, this Mindmeister map Robin Good made on online collaborative tools. Its rich, its balanced, it looks strong and its incomplete. But Robin makes an effort to keep ahead of all those new tools that are developed now, at this moment, everywhere.... and the Chinese haven't even started yet. You 'll find it here

Montclair State CHSS 74/180/22

2009-02-19T21:46:00.006+01:00

AJ brooks took us around his university and showed us what his students do in SL. It was grand to see how students made presentations in their rooms on the subjects they studied on and how they use SL as a mean to meet and discuss. Another interesting experience was the way we were toured around. We were tailing AJ as a bundle of young ducks. We never ever were more than a few feet away and followed every one of his movements. Good show, have a glimpse yourself.

Augmented Reality 38/84/37

2009-02-08T13:55:00.004+01:00

First sign of Spring in Augmented Reality Island. Augmented Reality is one of the 4 types of virtual worlds, according to Metaverse.org's model. It is an interesting domain with lots of astonishing possibilities. Recently I spotted a video on Youtube in which a SL Avatar appeared in a real-world room. Filled to the roof with ICT - equipment, just to mark the development-status at the moment. With a pair of dedicated glassed on your nose you can expect me to walk in any moment. Or the guys from StarTrek.

Pot au feu

2009-02-08T13:45:00.005+01:00

These guys were having fun when I passed them. Sitting behind their own desk at home or anywhere else with some privacy they enjoyed their smoke. By the sound of their voices it was a European lot that used SL to meet and socialise. Not a bad idea at all, allthough many would not approve this use of a public sandbox.

CNWL 118/182/77

2009-02-08T13:33:00.003+01:00

MJB Hax, from College of North West London is working on the development of tools for learning in SL. He constructed a ruler that allows student to read out and report on their progress in measuring correctly. This may seem trivial, but remember that the skill to use a ruler is fundamental to many technical competencies. He has many more ideas on adressing other basic skills in numeracy and literacy in SL. He is btw also the first person I met that had his avatar name on his business - card in RL. Good show all together.

Could not resist it.

2009-02-01T20:22:00.003+01:00

Allthough I recently said that flying a plane, heli, or driving a car or any other vehicle is silly, I could not resist a try of the heli I keep in my inventory. This storage of notecards, landmarks, contacts and innumereous object is a troublesome partner in SL. It is not easy to maintain some form of organisation apart from the one LLab provides. Every now and then I start organising and filling the bin, but overtime I see the need for a rehearsal of that unpleasant work. Still, its almost impossible to throw this beauty away.

Tintable Suspenders!!!

2009-02-01T17:50:00.005+01:00

Wearing suspenders has been my 'trademark' since the early Eighties.There is hardly a day I do not have them clipped to my trousers, be it short, long, jeans or tailormade. All my theatersuits have braces too. So you can imagine that my first transaction in XStreet has been, ..........yes! A pair of braces, and Tintable. L$20,- maybe a bargain or not, I am very pleased them and I hope you like them too. I wonder how much the sixpack will be?

XStreet Exchange/107/85/27

2009-02-01T16:57:00.008+01:00

XStreet is a partner or part of LindenLab. The sitebanner says it is an official part of Second Life. You will find terminals validate your Xstreet account everywhere in-world. The combination enables you to buy stuff when logged in SL as well as on the webbased marketplace. I stayed with a terminal for quite a while and saw many people integrate both accounts. I just bought myself a set of suspenders in XStreet. I can change them in any colour I like. Seems to me that the economies of SL and RL are almost one system. The system is robust and solid. It would be a fine thing if other marketplaces make this merge too.

Skinningrove Jetty Halve Maen /32/48/21

2009-01-31T13:43:00.007+01:00

Steve Thompson, Teeside University in the UK is doing some fine work in SL and RL by showing a replica of the Skinningrove Jetty in-world. He was assisted by a lot of friends in SL to get this done and the result is great. The project was also recorded in a 7 minute animation, taken in-world. On YouTube you will find a preview of the final version, presented in RL next thursday. This article will tell the reasons behind this wonderful project. If you want to know more I suggest you use Google Earth, or Wiki on Skinningrove and Jetty. The in-world jetty can be found here.

BETT2009 Best Practice Seminar

2009-01-18T13:49:00.006+01:00

I can finally present the results of my in-world research to you. All my results are published on Kennisnet, the Dutch national educational portal. In Dutch! You can view and download the pdf you from the url below. It will give you access to my slides and the complementary text of my presentation. I hope you enjoy it and that it meets your expectations. Feel free to contact me if you would like more information or some knowledge on the matter.

http://issuu.com/jpvanschie/docs/bett_2009_for_issuu_1.0

This Second 201/28/22

2009-01-05T20:37:00.003+01:00

One would expect a crowd at noon in the World Bank in SL. I met Joni and that was a nice surprise, au contraire the empty chairs all over the sim. According to the map doing business in 2009 is not all that fun, especially when you go below the equator. Even Russia is not green, allthough I know a few dutch millionaires doing business there. Crisis? Yes, certainly in terms of numbers of interested avatars.

Happy New Year

2009-01-03T18:03:00.002+01:00

I wish you all a very Happy New Year. In good health and happiness, in Real - and Second Life, or in any other world. May 2009 bring you peace, love and maybe some luck in matters that are important to you.

Learning in Second Life

2008-11-27T18:18:00.004+01:00

Leren in Second Life, summarising the results of my research among early adopters in using SL as a tool for learning and teaching. In Dutch, but I will produce an English summary after Xmas. Hopefully you like the pictures if you cannot read dutch. If you have any questions or would like to receive the conclusions from the transcript in english, please send me an email.

Architecture Island 32/97/23

2008-11-24T21:05:00.002+01:00

Amazing island with lots of buildings that express creative thinking and showin g on designing and building modern places to work and live in. Sustainable and some of great interest and beauty. I did not find a modern school building yet, but no doubt, soon to come.

Romeno 8/11/22

2008-11-24T20:49:00.003+01:00

This office shows some understanding on how Avatars would like to design their own office in-world. You might dislike the colours, the absence of abundant decorating or even the structure. But its certainly built to use and has a wonderfull navigation format. Strolling is easy and the structure is transparant. You always know where you are in this building and visible from all sides.

Stillman 143/236/26

2008-11-24T19:26:00.004+01:00

In search of examples of innovative and inspiring architecture I started to wander around in the creative tub called Second Life. So far the only place I stumbled upon is this one. Nice place, looks well, different and maybe worth another call later.

Swedish Institute 176/164/29

2008-10-15T21:07:00.004+02:00

The contrast could not be more fantastic. Just left a place that wants us to feel the 17th Century in Holland. Next a painting in the Swedish Institute: The Cloud. Timeless, not related to a place and as real as anything beyond your proverbial backyard. One of the best things to do in SL is visiting cultural events like this. Widen your horizon! Have a go!

Spinoza Wetlands 230/47/22

2008-10-15T20:34:00.004+02:00

I have plans to continue my little tours in Second Life. What better to start nearby. Spinoza aims to replicate the Dutch cultural climate of the 17th Century. Good idea and well supported by the buildings and atmosphere here. This image could well have been painted in that era. A painters' view, but what about about real life: the wars, the political murders, the tulip bulb mania. Does this remind you of something?

Long time, no see!

2008-05-30T19:09:00.004+02:00

I haven't been in Second Life for a while due to personal reasons. Today I revisited Cedar Island. A community of people that share interests, passions, knowledge and the ambition to meet in a virtual world. It was good to be back and to see that everything still was the way I left it. Coming home. The coming weeks my report on my research project will be published on line on www.kennisnet.nl.

Sea Turtle Island 192/154/0

2008-04-03T21:23:00.003+02:00

I never knew I had it in me. I sometimes 'play' the table when listening to energizing music and think I am quite good. Till you here a pro and creative musician. We can get near this skill on Sea Turtle Island where a set of drums enables us to play while writing a report. Relaxing and nice to your ego.

Small man, great ambition

2008-03-26T10:30:00.001+01:00

Easter on Cedar Island

2008-03-24T15:52:00.005+01:00

Easter Monday is cold and it snows in the garden in RL when we collect our Easter eggs. I ve created an egg in SL as well, to surprise my fellow members. It might turn into a tradition, who knows. The weather in Sl is always nice, you can illuminate your eggs and make them fly, sail or into a vehicle, wear them, give them all sizes and colours just by moving your mouse. I like them egg-shaped, lying quietly and waiting to be found.

Strength Movement

2008-03-01T15:41:00.006+01:00

I just did some reading on the Strength Movement on their blog. Interesting development that promotes another way of looking at your child. Always take the bright side of life: look at strength, rather than weaknesses. My kids went to a an innovative school, that looked at all aspects of development: emotional, cognitive, social and cultural but also could have done with this spirit. They have developed into fine kids and still learning. A promising trend that has an equivalent in my country: New Learning. A buzzword that nevertheless holds an excellent ideal, similar to the Strength movement.

Strengthen Movement Island 193/98/23

2008-03-01T15:24:00.003+01:00

This beautiful dome is the result of the activities of the people on Strength Movement Island. Later today at 12.00 noon SLT there will be a Q&A with Jennifer Fox, the author of "Your Child's Strengths" and the curriculum behind The Island's design. Some of the promises do not work, I had loved to take the balloon tour but it didn't work for me.

3D Internet for Learning Summit

2008-02-19T14:25:00.007+01:00

IBM and some partners organize a summit on the potential of 3d Internet for Learning. A nice venue in Active Worlds. It does not take long to get used to the client. It might be interesting to compare these two VW - clients for teaching and learning. VW is much easier to use but also misses a lot of the functionality of SL. Best news is that one has the choice! In two hours the summit will start. I spoke with some of the early visitors, they shared my high expectations. Some of it can be witnessed on the blog. They also provide a Wiki on this event and the ongoing discussion.

Benito Flores on piano in Cedar Island

2008-02-16T21:18:00.004+01:00

Benito Flores plays the piano quite well and it is a joy listening to his performance in-world. The 3-d element strengthens the illusion of attending in a live concert in the open air. The music is live, synchronous and of excellent quality. For those who want to make an audio capture it is a pity the camera's are not silenced. Kate did a great job organizing this on Cedar Island at a convenient time.

Virtual Worlds Matrix

2008-02-16T20:38:00.005+01:00

An amazing spreadsheet, available via Google Docs&Spreadsheets with an excellent overview of almost 50 different Virtual Worlds. The document gives details such as: target audience, owner, website, currency, ad-support, etc. The overview was developed by VirtualWorldNews.com. The image shows a picture taken in HiPiHi, a Chinese VW.

Mini-Conference on the results of my interviews

2008-02-15T13:33:00.005+01:00

What is so compelling about Second Life that we would miss a RL meeting for? Why are we drawn back time and time again? Is there really an educational payoff for our explorations in-world? This event is for all those avatars who were interviewed on the perceived added value of Second Life for learning and teaching. The event will take place on Wednesday the 5th of March 2008, opening at 12.00 pm (noon) CST (Chicago) on Cedar Island, The Lodge. It will take, social venue included not more than 90 minutes.The meeting will present the summarized results of 50 interviews held with in-world educators, researchers, educational technologist and others involved in using Second Life for learning and teaching. During this conference we will also ask you to reflect on the research results and give recommendations for best practice educational activities. The plenary and the discussion group conversations will be recorded and will be made available to you shortly after the conference. The event is open to all, but as there is limited space avatars inteviewed come first.

Community of Inquiry

2008-02-09T21:22:00.001+01:00

To label the transcripts we are using the COI model developed by Garrison and Anderson. This model is meant to describe the critical aspects of learning communities: social, cognitive and teaching presence. To be able to understand and use this model I did two things. First of all I read relevant articles available on the web, preferably by both authors. I also bought their book and am reading it carefully. To be able to keep an overview I created this concept-map. The idea is that the different presences are described in a more concrete way when moving away from the kernel. Feel free to comment.

OpenSim Project

2008-02-09T17:31:00.000+01:00

The OpenSim Project maintains four grids: DeepGrid, OSGrid, OpenLifeGrid (see previous post) and CentralGrid. The last grid was established december last year and the DeepGrid opened in June 2007. All together there are over 700 regions in these 4 grids. It seems problematic to maintain them without loss of items, but apparently these 10.000 avatars carry that burden with pleasure. Read more here

OpenLifeGrid

2008-02-09T17:19:00.000+01:00

An alternative for those who would like to be able to make a choice in 2d life too. Of course there are more options, but this one seems promising: The OpenlifeGrid is a 3D virtual world built on technology with Open Source Technology from the opensimulator project and is the largest GRID available today. Starting your Openlife is Free and easy and begins with registration and choosing a name for your new Openlife Avatar. To Connect to the Openlife Grid you will need a Second life or Compatible Browser. Due to some instabilities I have not been able to go in yet. More information on their website.

Presentation Added Value of Second Life

2008-02-08T13:37:00.000+01:00

Some people gave me the opportunity(!) to present a concise overview of the research project. In not a second more than 5 minutes I showed them 18 slides with information, while I read a carefully prepared text to them. I timed myself with a stopwatch and trained several hours in using the exact lines of the script. An ordeal, I can tell you as it is not a problem for me at all to elaborate on this subject for several minutes longer. The English presentation can be viewed here.

Global Kids Reports

2008-01-27T19:29:00.000+01:00

Global Kids produced two interesting reports on the 24th of this month on one of their sites. They deliver an overview of the SL Community Convention Fall 2007 in Second Life. The reports are concise, an illustration of actual use of SL and give a nice number of points to ponder about. The summary gives a good overview, the examples are best of breed. I 'd have liked more examples, not only the best, but others too, good to follow. We have TeenNews every day at prime time on our TV-network. Would we send teens to Darfur? Of course not, but I would support all initiatives to copy paste GK's Childs' War in my country! The recommendations are well worth reading for newbies and experienced educational users of SL as a tool for learning and teaching.

The Metaverse Roadmap

2008-01-25T19:47:00.001+01:00

Completely in line with the widespread belief that at least a part of the present web will transform into a 3d environment John Smart et al have developed a Metaverse Roadmap. This initiative delivered a vast amount of ideas, beliefs and scenario's about virtual worlds and its impact on a wide variety of industries. Opinion leaders of all sorts contributed to this. I only missed Bill G, Steve J. , Tim O', Tim B. and myself, of course. A must read, whatever ideas you might have yourself about this. Oh, and the invitation to contribute is still open: mail all your input to roadmap@accelerating.org

Interim results interviews

2008-01-19T20:36:00.000+01:00

90 Avatars were invited to participate in an in-world interview. 2 refused and 22 did not respond to my invitation. I stopped pursuit of 30 potential candidates after I finished the 50st interview.
The approach of the interviews was based on the notion of 'likely effectiveness' and led by the assumption that educational users of SL will judge its likely effectiveness expertly in terms of a combination of (a) SL’s potential to be effective, (b) the perceived costs of achieving that potential, and the (c) perceived rewards or fringe benefits in applying that effort to achieve the potential. The interviewees were invited to meet 'physically' in-world at a chosen place. We used Instant Messaging (IM) for privacy reasons and sat down in a comfortable way to illustrate the illusion of a Real Life(RL) interview. The questions were presented as Notecards.
The questions of the 30 to 45 minute interview were based on Bernie Dodges' equation Power = Attention * Depth * Efficiency. First respondents were asked to score the different variables in 'an intuitive way, without too much reasoning'. Sometimes this lead to discussion about the approach and questions, overall almost all interviewees agreed to the method.
Then participants were asked to elaborate on the reasoning behind their scores and stimulated to 'write what they thought as in thinking aloud' about the beliefs, assumptions, experiences and expectations about SL as an environment for learning and teaching. The average scores for the variables Attention, Depth and Efficiency were respectively 7.58 , 6.75 and 5.98, which give a total score of 30.59 for Power. The table shows quite a gap between the lowest and highest score.
The standard deviation between the scores is considerable.I acknowledge that the numbers are not large enough to give a sound statistical result and from start rated the qualitative outcome more important than the quantitative.
Most participants praised the attention value of Sl, but also warned that there is much distraction. One responded that it had taken considerable effort to create a classroom atmosphere, whereas some appreciated the freedom and open environment as stimulating for learning. Creating your own avatar, making decisions about looks and personality was regarded as trivial as well as very important. I feel that this aspect is very much underestimated. Many pointed out that depth strongly depends on a sound educational concept and the use of SL without it is without meaning, where others stressed the importance of playful exploration and labelled this as extremely meaningful.
Efficiency strongly relates to age, both in real life ( younger than 18 or older) as in Second Life (time spent since birth). Many felt that the learning curve for mastering the SL - client was steep. Reading the transcriptsmy impression is that it is considered much more valuable to explore the possibilities of Sl from a perspective of playful, explorative and natural learning than to try to establish a real life school atmosphere. More detailed information from the 250 pages transcript will be published here the coming months.

Introducing Alter Albatros

2008-01-08T22:29:00.000+01:00

A very interesting line of inquiry that came up in the interviews was 'working on your appearance'. Reckoned to be one of the SL - skills to be dealt with I gave myself a try. Working on your Avatar makes you think about who you are, how you want to express yourself, what you like others to make of you, what you would like if you had a chance to take it in your own hand or improve your own 'You'. Give him a chance when you meet him.

Alpine Meadow 247/104/97

2008-01-08T13:50:00.000+01:00

SL is place that keeps amazing me!! The contrast with my previous visit could not be bigger. I visited this exhibition of medieval panels on Epiphany, the visit of the Kings to Bethlehem. Magnificent images in a appropriate environment. The image itself has not the quality of the web based copies to be found elsewhere on the Web. In this way this exposition leads us to more elaborate portraits of work and artists. Good job and what a joy.

PowerMatch 143/166/27

2008-01-08T10:18:00.000+01:00

It is a lonely walk. It is a narrow road that leads to these rotating circles. I am not sure about its meaning, its purpose, but it is a powerful experience. This futuristic sim is an intriguing place to visit and must have been a joy to build.

SeaTurtle Island 46/26/22

2008-01-08T09:24:00.000+01:00

January the 12th, 2008 at 12:00 pm noon SLT on Music Island, Sea Turtle Island Akito Kuramoto will perform Romance in F Major Op. 50 for violin and orchestra by Ludwig Van Beethoven and Partita II in D Minor BWV 1004 for solo violin by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is his fifth performance in SL, apparently. More about musicians in SL can be found here. And what a beautiful spot to listen to Bach and Beethoven, my favourite composer.

OnRez

2008-01-07T16:36:00.001+01:00

Some of the educators I interviewed complain about the complexity of the present software that is needed to get into SL. One of them called it appalling, others praise it. Anyway there is always room for improvement. OnRez claims to be more user friendly. It is, in my view, in a certain way. The look and feel is a bit more elegant, the back and history button for teleport is handy and the embedded browser to view web pages is convenient, especially when you do not have two flatbed screens next to each other as I have. The browser does not support all plugins. The Loop informs you on events in-world, commercial and non-commercial. The button Shops opens all opportunities to spend your L$'s!

Cedar Island 130/84/24

2008-01-07T15:21:00.000+01:00

I enjoy looking at works of art. Not necessarily in a museum, although I appreciate the efficiency. A selection of works from one artists is more to my liking. This young man makes beautiful watercolours and combined with a 'sunny disposition' the result enlightens the heart. To be seen at the Cedar Island Docks. More of his work can be viewed here

Virtual Parks and Recreation Service

2008-01-04T16:09:00.001+01:00

The VPRS has a website, click on the image and you will get there. The search engine enables you to find intriguing spots in-world. New members of this network of parks, gardens, theme-sims, etc. can register online and place an information kiosk in their sim. So far, so good, bon voyages, mes amis!! Btw: I am in Africa when I write this.

This site is closed

Discovering the World

2008-01-04T14:16:00.000+01:00

Fernandez Armesto published two books recently on the activities of discoverers, explorers of the Unknown. He calls them: fanatics, romantics, losers, adventurers, visionaries and sometimes genuine scientists. They seemed to have two things in common: bad food and living conditions all the way and! ... never knowing where you are. I recognize the last bit, and some of the epitaphs. Isn't that what we ask the first few moments when teleported to a place whe have never been before InWorld?

CNN

2008-01-04T11:28:00.000+01:00

A dream for developing journalists, it must be. Isn't that what you want to become: a CNN reporter? Well, if not it is at least an opportunity to learn some of the skills needed, and in a realistic setting too. Many contributions over the past days: on skating, parties, art, and many other items. No in-world politics yet, but who knows. The editor in control keeps the CNN - site alive and kicking. Have a look now!

Lighthouse Learning Island 86/36/24

2008-01-04T11:16:00.000+01:00

Tidy place!! A handful of open spaced, open aired school buildings. Tables, chairs, couches: the works. Kathy provides teacher training for several schools in their own building in SL. The training is on SL - teaching skills. which will not be a dramatic change on what they know or are able to already. But the environment is new, with other challenges as well. And that is a major step to take. I decided to become a CNN reporter for a while. I got the press card and the kiosk. I ll keep you posted on my progress.

Just a framework of wires

2008-01-03T19:49:00.001+01:00

A lot of you new this already. There is nobody home upstairs. It is just wires!! People that work with AutoCad, or played with Google Sketchup will not be surprised by this image. As you can see all you see in Sl is built like this and then the surface of all these facets gets a texture and a colour. The rest is ether, empty space, nothing, does exist but cannot be seen by the eye. The bigger elements in this framwork make handy objects like sand, sea, sky and sometimes a little star. The keys ctrl-alt-D in the client will open this option for you.

Among fish

2008-01-03T19:21:00.001+01:00

The documentaries of Cousteau made a great impression on me when I was a child and when I get the opportunity to watch one again, they still do. Underwater life is a mystery world to us, the people that do not dive, I mean. I would not mind doing it a bit, in a warmer climate anyway. Sl takes all these barriers away. It s not reality, but does it come near or not?

Education UK 21, 142, 136

2008-01-03T19:11:00.000+01:00

Some educators complain about the thin layer of attention when addressing their students. There is a lot of distraction, and much more interesting too, in SL when you are teaching. The University of Derby was not afraid of that but decided to build this sandbox to make sure not much distraction came from the neighbouring parcels. It is a neat place, focused on its purpose: constructing knowledge.

Minerva 64, 82, 30

2008-01-03T18:57:00.001+01:00

A perfect blue sky, a tree weathered by the wind, a few pillows and an equivalent number of sitballs. That is all you need to create a group meeting point, a meditation area or a ground for play, discours, a lecture, silence. Ellie did well building this space. Less is more in SL, I think. Her new course starts this month in SL. Students will attend online classes twice a week, and complete coursework on an accompanying website.

Second Life Skills 3

2007-12-30T22:12:00.000+01:00

Building in SL is exciting and always a challenge. Being a perfectionist I want it to look right. Sometimes I give up. Lack of time or necessity to be precise. I stayed away from scripting as I did from programming in RL. That 's a job for another type of expert. 3Greeneggs however provides a very simple tool for making very simple scripts. A good start to begin to understand its syntax.

Second Life Skills 2

2007-12-29T22:15:00.001+01:00

Very young children do not seem to worry about top or bottom of a page in a picturebook. They 'read' upside down if necessary. They start copying our way of doing when they start to recognise the meaning of text. Teens in Second Life can listen to somebody while floating in the air, focus on building and chat to peers. All at the same time. There seems to be no need to confine them to a room for learning SL skills.

Second Life Skills 1

2007-12-29T22:09:00.000+01:00

Flying is fun, it has speed, you travel fast and you meet the birds. It is also very practical in navigation. Much easier than walking. But the ability to fly does not automatically brings the skill of recognizing buildings from its rooftops, as you would expect. We are used to store data on the fronts. Windows, doors, colour of wood or stone. Trees, porches, size of the bell, and so on. How long will it take me to master the skill to spot the right rooftop to land?

Mad Hatter?

2007-12-24T19:00:00.000+01:00

I like wearing a hat. It is comfortable, has a certain style, is distinct and also shows a bit of extravaganza. In short: it is an expression of myself. I want this world to see my hat. So do I in RL. I only just really thought about it writing this little article and thinking about one of the most interesting outcomes of my interviews. SL as an expression of ourselves.

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

2007-12-21T16:00:00.000+01:00

My second Christmas in - world. This tree can be found in Second Russia and you can sit in it, anywhere you like. I met a lot of people in Second Life this past year during my survey and in my interviews. Great people, great projects, great expectations. My best wishes to all of you and I hope to meet you again in 2008.

(Second) Life Skills learned in SL

2007-12-20T20:43:00.000+01:00

Sometimes work is a burden but accompanied by Zotarah it becomes a feast for the mind and the eye. Snowfire was there too, a fine horse and very quiet. We talked about her experiences with students and teens about life - skills. What is learned in Second Life can be transfered to real life as they are emotional - and cognitive experiences. We sometimes express ourselves in other, may be more open ways in SL than we would in RL. What do we learn by doing that, and how can it help us teaching about identity and self esteem?

Second Home: historic game on line

2007-12-17T12:03:00.000+01:00

Being who I am I had to google: second home and look what I found! A German organisation facilitates the use of a web-enabled game called Second Home. It is a historic game, set in the 16th century about trade, church and kings in three languages: English, French and German. It's free and fun for all, allthough I doubt if the interface will satisfy game-wise kids in Europe or the rest of the world.

My cottage in SL

2007-12-17T11:45:00.001+01:00

I have spot in RL where I relax by cutting wood and making a campfire whenever I am there. Since last week I 'own' a Second Home in SL, 100 footsteps from the Pacific on a beautiful island. It is a joy to meet people, make new friends and share thoughts with them and I strongly believe SL enables that. It was fun decorating it and shop for furniture and other stuff. Sl allows you to set one Home in the landmarks, so I have to make a decision which of the too will be home or office.

Missed an interview

2007-12-11T20:42:00.001+01:00

Missed an appointment because the grid was down, longer than expected. Finding Avatars, outside SL is not always an easy task but the effort is almost always worth the try. Accidentily I stumbled upon this site. Islab, a search engine in RL that searches the in-world databases. Comes in handy when you do not want or can enter SL.

Quite Early One Morning

2007-12-10T14:49:00.001+01:00

Meeting people is always fun. Fleet helped me to find people to complete the interviews in my research. Almost finished this part but I need some more K12 teachers to balance with all those from HE and University. Fleet enjoys an early morning rest and beautiful view on one of the many peaks in the SL landscape.

Fatimas Blush 27/48/77

2007-12-10T14:18:00.000+01:00

Twenty years ago I took my oldest daughter to Stonehenge. Afterwards we spent a whole half term to make a model of it in 3d, we studied the drawings, the measurements and learnt about lots of others things too. Fatima built her Stonehenge in her own back garden and its beautiful. I manipulated the sun to get it pictured in its peak moment.

New Hat @ Bruin 164/213/23

2007-12-10T10:57:00.000+01:00

I felt like buying a new hat, and bought three. I like wearing a hat in both worlds. I had a pleasant message this morning. I passed a ballot to become a member of a close community in Second Life. A group of people with all sorts of interests and disciplines of work, inclined to share and discuss. I am very pleased, as you can imagine. And my hat is a beauty, don't you think. The hatter has a lot of choice too.

SaaS: School as a Service

2007-12-06T21:52:00.000+01:00

School as a Service. Saas is a relatively new concept. It means Software as a Service. Nice idea, growing interest and a challenging concept. I prefer using this term, rather than Web 2.0. The idea is brilliant, the concept is all right, but the discussion about 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 or even 4.0 is useless. Now all of a sudden I realized that SaaS also could mean: School as a Service. Makes a change in thinking doesn't it?

Time flies

2007-12-05T20:05:00.000+01:00

Planning my interviews in SL is a difficult, confusing and a time consuming business. Avatars rarely know other than their own timezone and so do I. The web offers many timezone converters and most of them work properly. This new gadget however will be installed on your desktop, can be personalized as much as you like, looks decent and comes as a bargain. As you can set one clock to PST and change the text to SLT you have your indication of time in-world. It's also possible to set a little red marker to your own clock and any other clock. A must have!!

One to three, an ordeal

2007-12-04T20:09:00.000+01:00

By the time all my Lovely Ladies were at the same place, sitting in the right position we were a good 15 minutes later, laughing, getting things right, sitting down and trying to decide to use chat, IM or even mail. I lost track of who was doing what in a few seconds, went in automatic, dumb mode in a few minutes and lost all control in detail in less than half an hour. But we managed and they were great and such good company. A rich experience, I got my results and must reconsider my method for groups.

Sprott Shaw College 169/ 203/66

2007-12-04T14:25:00.000+01:00

Sprott Shaw College based in BC, Canada since 1903 has locations in China, Jordania AND in Second Life. The complex shows several buildings including a medical centre. Well built in the local style in a combination of glass, steel and wood. They also installed a Xmas- tree, a tall one, but what do you expect in Beautiful BC!! With a population distributed all over the world a virtual complex cannot be a luxury.

Teaching 203/128/48/0

2007-12-04T13:57:00.000+01:00

Nice athmosphere, beautiful carpet, brick walls and a wise looking owl under the roof. What more do you want for your teachers and students in-world. A good place for teaching, especially when they cannot or will not come to the institute in Pennsylvania. Many colleges have found their way to second life for an extension of their presence in RL, but what else could be the purpose for this?

Relaxed

2007-12-03T22:06:00.001+01:00

My job is nice, it is interesting, it stimulates thinking about learning, you meet wonderful and very bright people and it can be done in a relaxed way too. I usually meet in my office or in a chair at their place. Ellie served me tea a while ago. Laelia offered me a comfortable couch to sit on. It was a good and very informative interview. Thanx!!

MS Island VUmc 224/154/21

2007-12-03T16:55:00.000+01:00

The Medical Centre of the VU University of Amsterdam and several partners opened a location for people that have multiple sclerosis. A disease that has a serious impact on your life and will limit your possibilities a lot. The site is meant as a place to meet and to obtain information about the disease and its consequences. A great initiative and a nice building.

Music

2007-12-02T19:22:00.000+01:00

Music in Second Life. It was an unexpected surprise in my interview with Kate. She enjoys listening music in Second Life. Concerto's and all. Why? She says it is like attending a concert with very young children. People 'talk' using IM: 'Is this Mozart?' Walk away from their keyboard for a glass of wine. Dance to the music. Chat with each other about other things than music. Enjoy themselves as a listener and still not tied to a chair and hushed to shut up! Listening in SL lowers the threshold to the concert hall.

Major grant during session

2007-11-27T16:28:00.001+01:00

My interviews go smooth, little problems. Sometimes a technical hiccup before or during a session, but not many or often. During my interview here however I was disturbed by a very happy occasion for a researcher. My contact heard that a major grant passed. There was no way to continue the conversation as the person must have danced through the room in real life. We 'll get in touch later, cooled down, the two of us.

Jeremy and I

2007-11-27T14:59:00.000+01:00

He opened our meet saying: Shoot, my friend. I didn't as I am not a hunter. Maybe he is not aware of the risks he is taking. A nice guy to meet too. We sat down for an interview, Jeremy and I. As you can see in SL it doesn't matter what you look like. You could be a white male or an animal of any kind. What counts is where the mind meets. And they did.

University Ulster Magee 229/110/38

2007-11-20T20:41:00.000+01:00

HarmonyHill and I sat down 'as students in learning' in the auditorium. He showed me around in what students had developed as an assignment. Replica's of the Ulster University, built in small groups, evaluated on quality, collaboration and result. SL has some means to show what each student contributed to a group result. We discussed to what extent 'play' in construction maybe a part of the successful use of SL for learning. Nice guy, good session.

First results

2007-11-12T14:18:00.001+01:00

The first results on the interviews I held. So far I ve interviewed 20 SL - residents, a third of the number I target to question the coming weeks. When I put the results in Bernie Dodges' equation the spreadsheet gives a score of 24. Now this may seem very low to you at first sight, but if you test the equation in a spreadsheet, you might conclude otherwise. I will keep you posted!!