Tuesday, June 30, 2020

2020 VIRTUAL: SL17B: Second Life Seventeenth Birthday. Nonprofit Commons, Phoenix Artists Collaboration, Inspiration Island


SL17B: 
Second Life Seventeenth Birthday.  
Nonprofit Commons, Phoenix Artists Collaboration, Inspiration Island

A look at some exhibits in celebration of the 17th birthday of Second Life.  

Earlier birthdays

Monday, June 29, 2020

2020 : #VWEDU: #DTA: WW: Onbording plan from web-worlds to installed virtual worlds


Onbording plans
from web-worlds to 
installed virtual worlds

Installed virtual worlds can offer elaborate places, but they are not easy to get to.  Web-worlds are easy to get to, but can't offer elaborate places.  They could work together, with web-worlds as a transition path to installed virtual worlds.
Web-world for nonprofits 
and public service organizations
  • People can have meetings in a web-world--talk, offer web links, show slides.
  • And do pretty much everything we used to do in meetings--except for the doughnuts.
  • People can come and go as needed--no special actions to bring them in.
  • No travel time, no travel costs. Just something that runs a browser with mic.
  • Meeting for a conference, presentation, or class can work well
  • And a meeting in a web-world can show people why they want to install a viewer. 
  • Bringing OpenSim and web-worlds together: Web-world on the landing page

The registration/download/install barrier

  • When you go to a web page you expect to start using immediately. 
  • You don't expect to be asked to give your name, email address, and password.
  • Do they want your email address so they can spam you?
  • Will they sell your email address?
  • You never reuse a password, so you have to make up one and store it.
  • But it gets worse.  You have to download and install a viewer on your computer.
  • What fraction of web users will feel comfortable installing software? 
  • Can they know it does not contain malware?  Shouldn't they worry about that?
  • If they are just curious, they don't even know whether they want an account.
  • But if they don't get an account, they never know whether they will like it or not.
  • Unless they try a web-world
  • Web-worlds are easy to get to. Here are a couple of examples.

Sunday, June 28, 2020

2020 #VWEDU: Not your granddad's literacy. Digital literacy: a presentation in a digital world. So not your grandad's presentation either.


Not your granddad's literacy.  
Digital literacy: a presentation in a digital world.  
So not your grandad's presentation either.
Literacy has changed in the digital age as illustrated by changes in how presentations are done.
Where is the slide projector?
  • Where is the podium
  • Where is the front of the auditorium?
  • Where is the auditorium?
  • How can this be a presentation?
  • We digitals have a answer.

Topic: Not Your Grandad's Literacy!

Saturday, June 27, 2020

2020 #VWEDU: Virtual Laboratory Training and Career Center: Virus model


Virtual Laboratory Training and Career Center:
Virus model 


Sally Cherry talks about the virus and cell model she has built for use in her online training center.  The model shows a coronavirus starting its attack on a human cell.

The overall mission of the VLTC Project

Go there

Creator

  • Sally Cherry (45 years as ASCP-certified Medical Technologist)

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

2020 TKR: How to Rewrite the Rules with Sam Conniff Allende


How to Rewrite the Rules 
with Sam Conniff Allende

'Pirates didn't just break free from society, they rewrote the rules'. Founder and former CEO of award-winning marketing agency Livity, Sam Conniff Allende unveils the innovative strategies of Golden Age pirates, drawing parallels between the tactics and teachings of legends like Henry Morgan and Blackbeard with modern rebels, like Steve Jobs, Malala and Elon Musk."

Monday, June 22, 2020

2020 #VWEDU: The coming digital campus. Not just an online class. All the campus resources in managed access Teaching the skills of the new century with the tools of the new century


The coming digital campus.   Not just an online class.  
All the campus resources in managed access
Teaching the skills of the new century 
with the tools of the new century


The coming digital campus.  We are the digital generation.  This is the digital century.  Can you prepare for digital work without a digital campus?
Universal campus (Kitely)

Why not virtual campus?

  • Virtual: first and older definition (Merriam-Webster):
  • Being such in essence or effect though not formally recognized or admitted.
  • If a school has a digital campus it can be formally recognized.
  • The entry to the digital campus should be right there on the school's web site.
  • And the school should be providing the services expected on a school campus:
  • Library, career counselling, school news media, etc.
  • -
  • Besides, virtual is strongly associated with games.
  • And even with some unsavory publicity:
  • Can you put a high school next to a porno place? Not even in a virtual world. But there are solutions
  • -
  • Then, too, everyone knows that we are in the digital century.  
  • 21st century skills are digital skills to fill digital jobs.
  • Any forward-looking school needs to prepare students for digital jobs.
  • Every school needs a digital focus, even if it still has an old brick campus.
  • A digital campus better expresses the digital focus than do old buildings.

  • Finally, digital includes more than virtual.  
  • 3D worlds can serve many educator needs, but not all. 
  • And there is a large body of digital content available on the flat web.
  • There is no reason to abandon existing content that still serves education. 
  • Colleges closing 

Sunday, June 21, 2020

2020 #VWEDU: "The Superhero's Journey Digital Storytelling: Project with Zinnia Zauber/Professor Renne Emiko Brock at Peninsula College Field Trip Part 1"


The Superhero's Journey: Digital Storytelling Project 
with Zinnia Zauber/Professor Renne Emiko Brock 
at Peninsula College Field Trip Part 1

The hero myth retold in the context of entering college. A more realistic instance of the coming of age story.  
 The story begins
  • What do you see on the ground?
  • Hero's journey
  • Welcome Onboard! 
  • The Superhero's Journey Digital Storytelling Project 
  • with Zinnia Zauber / Professor Renne Emiko Brock 
  • at Peninsula College Field Trip Part 1

Saturday, June 20, 2020

2020 #WVEDU: WW: DIG: Online whiteboards for your students to draw on. Yes, draw as on a physical whiteboard. Teachers of art and mathematics note .


Online whiteboards for your students to draw on. 
Yes, draw as on a physical whiteboard.  
Teachers of art and mathematics note.  

The day of the digitals.  Digitals talking to digitals.  But there are lots of us now.   Especially with the growing number of teaching digitals.  This is not just about whiteboards.  It is about the developing ecology and economy of the digitals.    


After the break

  • How would this work in a web-world?
  • Can I record the whiteboards for later use elsewhere?
  • Do digitals work online?

Friday, June 19, 2020

2920 #VWEDU: #DTA: Get and use pictures in SceneGate: A DTA content page.


Get and use pictures in SceneGate: 
A DTA content page.


Simple user instructions to help beginners get and use pictures in Scenegate. License: public domain.
Scenegate full screen

Contents below

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

2020 #WVEDU: Sex on Fire The Belles 6/9/2020 How is this educational? Who might use something like this in their portfolio?


Sex on Fire The Belles 6/9/2020  
How is this educational? 
Who might use something like this in their portfolio?


An animated video to accompany a musical performance.  Discussion about educational uses for the capability to produce such videos.


How is this educational?

  • Do you know any schools or colleges that offer music instruction?
  • Do they teach music students how to do online performances?
  • This video illustrates a low-cost way to create online performances.
  • Such a video would be an addition to the relevant portfolios.
  • The portfolios of the student performers, of course.
  • But also the portfolio of the instructor.  
  • And the portfolio of the school.  

Monday, June 15, 2020

2020 WW: Educator group visits CybaLOUNGE for a presentation by the developer. CybaLOUNGE: user-managed digital world in a browser.


Educator group visits CybaLOUNGE 
for a presentation by the developer.  
CybaLOUNGE: user-managed digital world in a browser. 

Video of part of a presentation in a browser-based virtual world.  A walk-in web page where they can go to school on a Chromebook.

Advantages for schools

  • CybaLOUNGE:user-managed digital world in a browser. Nothing to install.
  • Can run in a Chromebook or tablet, as well as in a bigger computer.
  • The digital environment can duplicate familiar classroom surroundings.
  • Or teach in places relevant to the instructional objectives.
  • A school can have its own digital campus, with full control over who can enter.
  • Web-worlds, 3D virtual worlds running in a browser. Summary

See for yourself


Sunday, June 14, 2020

2020 #VWEDU: #DTA: The DTA can teach "how to read for study." Did you understand what you read? Self-test. Stimulate reflection on study skills


The DTA can teach "how to read for study."   
Did you understand what you read?  
Self-test. Stimulate reflection on study skills 

The skill of studying.  The content changes, but the skill transfers and develops with new content.  It is actually learning how to learn (unrecognized).  If it were recognized as a learning objective, the teaching would be more effective and more efficient.  This article is explicitly licensed Public Domain (CC0).
  • "Your task is to read chapter 10."
  • What does to read mean in this context?
  • In the old, knowledge-based learning it means be able to answer questions on it.
  • That calls for more effort than just reading it.
  • In the new, project-based learning, the task is "be able to use the information in your project."
  • Learning how to learn.

Contents

  • Warm up
  • Self test questions
  • DTA Challenge
  • Did you understand what you read?
  • Self-test questions
  • Will the student use these self-test questions?
  • Stimulate reflection

Saturday, June 13, 2020

2019 BIZ: Promo: MUVE: Use-cases for marketing user-managed virtual worlds. Think product differentiation. Think multiple markets. The Kitely model


Use-cases for marketing user-managed virtual worlds.  
Think product differentiation.  
Think multiple markets.    
The Kitely model

User-managed digital worlds have many potential uses, but "potential means you haven't done it yet."  Not all those uses will be comfortable under the same brand.  A bit of Design Thinking suggests  a reinvention.
A bit of design thinking

  • What business are you in?
  • Where is there a demand you can meet?
  • What is a user-built world from the user perspective?
  • The Proctor and Gamble model
  • The Kitely model

Friday, June 12, 2020

2020 #VWEDU: WRITE: Resources for teaching copyright and fair use. And maybe a few other things


Resources for teaching copyright and fair use.   
And maybe a few other things.

Free online educational resources.  Offered by groups with an interest in promoting knowledge about a specific subject. Students can study these.  What else could they do with them?

"This video explains why copyright matters, as we are all both creators and consumers of media online--music, movies, images, books and other writing, etc." 
  • What could students do with this material besides watch videos?
  • Make something that has their very own copyright.


Tuesday, June 9, 2020

2019 #DTA: #VWEDU: What do you do with class time in a digital campus? Surely not live lectures: You can replace those with polished videos. And so can your management


What do you do with class time in a digital campus?  
Surely not live lectures:
You can replace lectures with polished videos.
And so can your management


Modern education, new century education: The task is not tell students things, but to create conditions that cause them to learn.  And not just to learn to take tests, but to learn how to learn without a teacher telling them what to do.  In case they don't know everything when they get out of school. This article is explicitly licensed Public Domain (CC0).
ACRL Virtual World interest group

Class time versus homework time

  • You have designated class hours. 
  • You do not have to stand there and tell them things.  They can read.  
  • They probably need practice in reading more than practice in listening.
  • But they can read on homework time.  
  • You don't need to show them videos. They can watch videos on homework time.
  • You could have them in groups developing answers to questions on the reading.
  • That gives them practice in working with others towards a goal.
  • And practice in communicating.
  • And practice in thinking about what they read.  
  • You may want them to organize information into a coherent presentation.
  • That is inquiry-based learning.
  • That begins to take them toward learning how to learn.
  • Why You Should Create a Collaborative Classroom This Year
  • But what would you do? 

Monday, June 8, 2020

2020 #VWEDU An interview with Heike Philp about digital HMKW University in Kitely


An interview with Heike Philp 
about digital HMKW University in Kitely

Heike Phlip, of HMKW University (Germany) has built a digital HMKW campus in Kitely.  Here I interview her about her plans for using the campus in light of virus restrictions.  (Those of us in the digital worlds travel and meet freely in a pandemic) 

  • Update 6/4/2020 Firestorm update for OpenSim. Metamodernism and Changing Literacy

Sunday, June 7, 2020

2020 #VWEDU: Teacher visit to CybaLOUNGE, a 3D world in a browser. Just like a web page except you walk into it. Notes and teacher's tools


Teacher visit to CybaLOUNGE, 
a 3D world in a browser. 
Just like a web page except you walk into it.  
Notes and teacher's tools

Basic information for showing teachers how to teach an online in CybaLOUNGE
Web-world for nonprofits 

Online teaching advantages of CybaLOUNGE

  • Easy access: Runs in a browser; nothing to download/install.
  • Guest mode: students need not register unless you want them to.
  • Runs on tablets, Chromebooks, laptops, and desktops. 
  • Has voice as good as other conference sites.
  • Can provide network security matching a bank.
  • You can set any age restrictions for your place.
  • You can limit entry to registered students and your guests
  • Supports display and use of Google Docs (by students too).
  • You bring in images, objects, or videos by drag and drop.
  • Multimedia presenter gets content by web links.

How to get into CybaLOUNGE   

  • Click this link
  • Login as guest, pick an avatar, enter a nickname
  • You will arrive at the main office. 

Below: Teacher's tools and office hours

  • Update 6/4/2020 Firestorm update for OpenSim. Metamodernism and Changing Literacy

Saturday, June 6, 2020

2020 #VWEDU: WW: GM: A gamified learning plan for starting students and teachers in web-worlds. A strawman version.


A gamified learning plan for starting 
students and teachers in web-worlds. 
A strawman version.

Strawman version of a learning plan for teaching students and teachers how to start in and online class based in a web-world.  Of course you can see ways to improve it.  
Web-world for nonprofits 
and public service organizations

Gamification can support independent learning.

  • It tells learners what skills are needed and how to know when they are developed.
  • The kind of gamification plan here is designed to work with any web-world.
  • The web-world instructions may vary, but should lead to the needed skills.
  • The ease of finding the instructions might be an element in evaluation.

Gamified and asset-based (skills as assets)

From Games

  • Update 6/4/2020 Firestorm update for OpenSim. Metamodernism and Changing Literacy

Friday, June 5, 2020

2020 #DTA: #VWEDU: A web-based 3D view of the Virginia Museum of Natural History Visit 3DWebWorldz in your browser.


A web-based 3D view of the
Virginia Museum of Natural History
Visit 3DWebWorldz in your browser.

A Virginia high school teacher builds a digital  museum for one of his classes.  Other  schools could use it, too. This article is explicitly licensed Public Domain (CC0).

Tuesday, June 2, 2020

2020 #VWEDU: BIZ: CybaLOUNGE introduces the multimedia presenter. If you have the link you can get the display. That is almost any link on the web: Web page, google docs page, video.


CybaLOUNGE introduces the multimedia presenter.  
If you have the link you can get the display. 
That is almost any link on the web: 
web page, google docs page, video.

A brief description of the multimedia presenter in CybaLOUNGE and how to use it.
The presenter HUD

Monday, June 1, 2020

2020 #VWEDU: Digital teamwork. Real work in virtual environments. Project-based learning needs project reporting. Here are the videos.


Digital teamwork.   
Real work in virtual environments.
Project-based learning needs project reporting.   
Here are the videos.

The end of a project-based class can be: present and preserve the results for the students to keep in their portfolios.  In a digital environment, video capture is easy.  

Twelve weeks after we began the module it is now time to see your Team Project presentations. Sitearm Madonna joined us to record the presentations, along with Locks Aichi and Wisdomseeker who came to support you. Each team presented their project which was followed by some comments from the floor. 

After the break: 

  • Closing remarks
  • Project background
  • About John O'Connor
  • Student blogs