Presentation about the Teen Grid with Pia Klaar.

Christmas is over and I am finally writing to the blog!

Last Saturday the TNC has a wonderful presentation by Pia Klaar about the teen grid. There were many good questions and Pia talked about her experiences working on the teen grid. She started by providing us with some background on the teen grid explain that SL was developed by Linden Research Inc. and opened in 2003. It was followed by the Teen Second Life grid in 2005. The teen grid is open to teens ages 13 - 18

Pia explained that “Until February 2006, Teen Second Life was populated entirely by teens.
In response to requests from educators and non-profit organizations, Linden Lab agreed to allow for the first educator and non-profit owned private islands. In addition, Linden Lab went on to launch the Campus program which gives qualified educators the use of a free parcel of land for a semester. Since then, educator and non-profit run islands, owned and inhabited by non-Linden, background checked, "Approved Adults" have become a major part of the TSL landscape.”


Pia explained that there are two types of islands. These are open and closed island. According to Pia “On the closed estate model, educators need to work with a TG-approved developer to set up the accounts. Adult and teen accounts are able to communicate. They can form groups. They can IM. They can exchange objects. All teens and adults are confined to that particular estate - This is an advantage for groups who want to control the student experience. This is a disadvantage for groups who would like teens to be able to roam freely in TSL. The avatars are created when you set up the accounts. They are set up for that estate only. They do not begin on the Main Grid and then transfer to the TG. The other type of estate that I will mention is the Open island model. Teens from the mainland of Teen Second Life can come to their island and participate in activities. Teens from the mainland of TSL can visit. Adults cannot IM or form groups with mainland TSL teens. Teens who have created their own TSL accounts are technically on a different estate. Avatars on different estates cannot form groups, IM or exchange objects. They will not be able to see each other in Search. The adults are locked onto these islands. The teens can come and go.”


Pia went on to explain that she “created an avatar on the Main Grid, then had a background check which was approved by Claudia Linden. The Lindens then transferred that avatar onto the teen grid to the Eye4You Island. I created a different avatar for Globalkids. Again this was created on the Main Grid. Again, I had to ask Claudia Linden to transfer that avatar to GlobalKids island. Some adult-owned projects are willing to sponsor guests and volunteers from time to time. Join the SLEDT list and announce that you are seeking a sponsor. You need a sponsor. Explain your purpose. The estate owner will be responsible for adding you to their staff list. I contacted the people on eye4you and on Globalkids many times before I finally got on them. You will be required to provide an Ascertain background check to the sponsor. The sponsor will send that to Linden Lab with their updated staff list.

You will make a new avatar at secondlife.com. When Linden Lab receives the updated staff list and a copy of the background check from your sponsor, your avatar will be moved from Second Life to Teen Second Life to your sponsor's estate. The avatar you are creating to be moved to the teen grid will be on the main grid until it is moved over to the teen grid.
After clearance has been obtained (an email is received by Ascertain indicating you have passed your background check) you are ready to be moved. Make sure you have PG supplies with you (textures, clothes, etc.-check your freebies so that they are PG) as your avatar does not get to move back and forth from the main grid to the teen grid. You will know that you have been moved if the next time you log in, you are on the teen grid estate you requested to be moved to. You will be confined to the island(s) of your sponsor. Make sure you bring stuff with you. You will not be able to get anymore items once you are there.”

We will be posting the slideshare of the presentation shortly. This was a very informative presentation and we plan on continuing our presentations after the first of the year. If you have something you would like to present at the TNC please let us know!

Interactive Builds: Part II

We had the follow up to last week’s interactive build presentation this week. It was fun to see the different items everyone shared:

Calms Xue showed us a Tuingo game. This is a networked matching game that Calms built for fun.

Shamblesguru Voom brought the Manbo dance. This works by making everyone who has is holding the maraca dance when the word “manbo!” is typed in the screen. This can be used as a reward for answering questioning, an icebreaker, or for teaching second life skills.

Shambles also brought an image changing cube. This puts pictures from the cube in everyone’s cache. If you put the pictures for your presentation in the cube and rezz a small version of it in the area in which you will be presenting this will put the pictures in everyones cache and will make your presentation slides rezz for everyone. Also, you can use it to give out your slides.


Cae Sands showed us a color changing box that helps the viewers to learn colors in German
Gruen = Green
Rot = Red
Blau = Blue
Schwarz = Black
Weiss = White
Gelb = Yellow

We also discussed other areas that have tools to use in SL. One of these was Salamander project by Wainbrave Bernal. A search of the Salamander project tells you that:

The Salamander Project aims to develop a collaboratively determined portfolio of Education Projects in Second Life. Simulations, models, scaffolds, tools, communications, journals, etc. will be exemplified and "tagged" within SL for the purposes of surveying and expanding the developments and discussions taking place between teachers and students in Multi-User Virtual Environments.

Shamblesguru Voom mentioned that he has some tools on his website. http://www.shambles.net/pages/learning/ict/sltools/

We then received a notice about the Aldrich Chemistry Game Launch and ended our session there. This may be something of interested to others in SL. Here is a copy of the notice in case you want to check it out:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Aldrich%20Chemistry/24/148/23
Aldrich Chemistry is launching an interesting educational game about chemistry where players create chemical reactions at stations as they progress from lesson to lesson. Educators have an opportunity to come and learn how Second Life can be applied to make learning more fun and engaging.

We think Zotarah for a wonderful presentation on Interactive Builds that sparked each of us to think about the way information is presented in SL.

We are still looking for presenters at the TNC.

If you have an idea for a presentation IM Tek Zeno or Pia Klaar or post a comment here!

Interactive Builds Presentation

Zotarah Shepherd, a student at Sonoma State University, gave a wonderful presentation on Saturday on interactive builds. She gave 6 aspects of interactive builds:

1. Visualization of the subject


2. Sounds about the subject


3. Manipulate it: Relevant clickable animations, editable or physical moveable parts or building


4. Literacy: Reading and/or writing. Questions to answer


5. Notecard or signage explaining the education a purpose and goals of the build


6. Some sort of logical ordering: color, number progression, so the visitor/student will be assured that all the points are accomplished or experienced
   

The first interactive build we went to was one she built on Multiple Intelligences. This is displayed at F/Xual Educational Services http://slurl.com/secondlife/Koru/49/219/23

Next we went to Cave Literature Alive http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cevert/123/88/50 and saw another wonderful example on an interactive build.

Zotarah left us with homework for the week. Now it is out turn! We are to see what you can come up with that you use like a tool that you could use in SL. We will show these at the TNC next week (10/25) at 10:00 am SLT. We hope to see everyone there!

She also provided us with a list of builds and information on building:

ABC Island Welcome Area: http://slurl.com/secondlife/ABC%20Island/130/137/42
Alliance Building: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/115/65/33
American Library Association: http://slurl.com/secondlife/ALA%20Island/179/134/29
Angel Learning Isle: http://slurl.com/secondlife/ANGEL%20Learning%20Isle/67/148/25
Aretao and Moodlerooms NH: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sibine/245/215/73
Blue Angel Poets’ Dive: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Windermere/221/192/34
Center for Water Studies: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Better%20World/55/211/22
College of Scripting, Music and Horsa: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Horsa/46/243/85
Dreams Sandbox and Tutorials: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dreams/106/161/26
Free Math Tutoring: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Meyonohk/120/150/50
Hell room Demo ISTE Island: http://slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/240/184/17
Info Island Machinima Institute: http://slurl.com/secondlife/ALA%20Island/184/152/29
International Spaceflight Museum: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Spaceport%20Alpha/70/131/25 International Technology Expo: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tuatha%20de%20Flanagan/97/66/32 Lighthouse Learning Island: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Lighthouse%20Learning%20Island/6/135/24
Multi Media Arts Center: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Somerset/230/220/67
Mystic Academy: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Immortal%20Woman%20He/87/147/42
NCI International Classroom: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dream%20City/218/172/51
NMC Conference Center: http://slurl.com/secondlife/NMC%20Conference%20Center/68/191/23
NMIT Garden of Learning: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland/94/218/24
Ohio University without Boundaries: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ohio%20University/20/39/25
Oyster Bay: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Oyster/49/128/91
Pyramid in Cairo: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Laurel%20Arts%20Isle/148/73/302
Rockcliffe University: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rockcliffe%20I/199/193/60
ROMA Humanism Garden: http://slurl.com/secondlife/ROMA/231/241/32
Science School: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Science%20School/120/167/26
SJSU School of Library and Information: http://slurl.com/secondlife/SJSU%20SLIS/91/208/35
Talis Cybrary City: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cybrary%20City/124/157/25
Tasneem Project Research Centre: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Xenia/160/217/28
Texture Tutorials: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Benten/25/115/29
The Abyss: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Blekinge/161/26/477
The Cave Literature Alive!: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cevert/131/87/51
The LitAlive! Collaboration Stat: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Norcott%20West/44/37/34
The Magicians: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Abracadabra/214/178/32
The Symposium: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Abitibi/119/6/49
The Whitehorn Memorial Library: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Victoria%20City/128/128/26
Trinity College: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dublin/234/146/26
Vassar Island: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Vassar/111/113/28
Vistor Center, Sprott Shaw College: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sprott%20Shaw%20College/231/51/27
Willow Springs, Montclair State: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Montclair%20State%20CHSS/216/154/23
Annenberg Amphitheatre: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Annenberg%20Island/186/89/27
ELVEN Institute: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cybrary%20City%20II/196/188/23

Week of October 13th.

We have an exciting event for next week (10/18 at 10:00 SLT)!

Zotarah Shepard will present “Teaching in SL with Interactive Builds”. Make sure you arrive a little early because Zotarah will take us to some interactive builds that will spark your imagination. Then, the following week (10/25 at 10:00 SLT) it will be your turn to show us what you have made or you can stop by and see the builds of others. This should be an exciting event that we are looking forward to.

I also want to take some time this week to share some resources that you may find valuable.

Do you have students present in your classroom or create digital media? You may find this free teleprompter worthwhile: http://www.cueprompter.com/ cut and paste your student’s paper in the quick start area, pick how you want it displayed and then chose “start prompter”.

Are you looking for some interactive activities to use for your classroom? Try http://www.fossweb.com/ These activities are setup by grade level.

Did you miss out on NECC 2008? Did you know that you can access videos and podcasts of the event at http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/collection.php?collection=2956?

How about the DEN Streamathon? http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/3rd-annual-streamathon/ This site has resources on using digital media in the classroom.

What’s happening in SL this week?

Discover Educators Network:
Monday, October 13th, 5:00 SLT: Book talk: Brain Rules
Wednesday, October 15th, 5:00 SLT: Faythe Fouroux will present Going Green 102: Green Schools

ISTE:
Tuesday, October 14th, 6:00 SLT: Cyrus Hush will present Blue Skies: Education in Second Life
Thursday, October 16th, 6:00 SLT: New Avatar Social at the ISTE Headquarters
Thursday, October 16th, 6:00 SLT: NETS-A discussion at ISTE Discussion Skypark

Teacher Networking Center:
Saturday, October 18th, 10:00 SLT: Zotarah Shepard: Teaching in SL with Interactive Builds


Open call for presentations:

The Teacher Networking Center is looking for presenters to present at the TNC on Saturday’s. If you have something that you feel would be valuable to educators please contact Pia Klaar or Tek Zeno to schedule your presentation!

ISTE event with Tim Magner

I just finished at the ISTE event where we had a chance to tell Tim Magner (Director, Office of Educational Technology, US Department of Education) what we, as educators are doing in Second Life and what potential we saw for education. There were over 70 people on ISTE island for the event and individuals discussed what they were doing in SL with their students and about the professional development that is taking place in SL.

I had a chance to represent the Teacher Networking Center and talk about informal and formal professional development. Tim Magner asked a great question about what type of professional development opportunities are meaningful in Second Life. My experiences have been that simulations (because you are engaged) and informal collaborations (because the topic is relevant to those involved) are the most meaningful but it started me wondering what others think. What has been the most meaningful professional development, in Second Life, that you have taken part in? Please comment below.

I do want to say that I found Tim Magner to be very supportive of all of us and of educational technology. He is very well spoken and listened to each of us. It feels good to know that we have a voice in Washington that is on the same page as the classroom teacher. I believe that ISTE will be posting the video of the event soon. Once they do I will post the link for everyone to listen to.

A new week!

It is time for a Teacher Networking Center Update. This Saturday Faythe Fouroux gave a presentation on WebBlender and ePal’s SchoolBlog. If you have not attended a presentation by Faythe she does an outstanding job. Faythe is a DEN star educator and presents at the DEN. She discussed the benefits of having a classroom website and how a website has impacted her classroom.

I often hear people talking about ways in which to use Second Life with their students and I think they are missing something important. Second Life doesn’t need to be used with your students to be valuable. It is a wonderful professional development tool. There are so many educators with a variety of experiences in Second Life and everyone is willing to share. The knowledge base is HUGE! Why just focus on using Second Life with your students? Save it for yourself and your own learning.

With this in mind the Teacher Networking Center wants to hear from you. We are looking for people to present others. Presentations can be on Second Life topics or on other topics that classroom teachers benefit from learning about (previous presentations included WebBlender, Webquests and activities for the first day of school). What are you doing in your classroom that works? How are you using technology? What classroom management strategies have you started using? These are things we want to hear about.

Upcoming Events:

I have also seen notices for a Wed. evening DEN event. If you are a person "avatar" that is new to SL this Wednesday night at 5:00 pm SLT JessieMarie will be presenting a Second Life tips and tricks at the DEN on Eduisland II.

I also want to share that I was able to attend the Discovery Educators Network Streamathon and I learned so many new things. I hope to share these over time but, if you were not able to attend, the archives are suppose to be posted soon. I believe these will be posted on the blog http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/3rd-annual-streamathon/ and I am anxiously awaiting them. Hopefull we will here something soon!

Machinima

After taking a break for SLEDD last week we had a presentation on Machinima by Pia Klaar. She has also provided a slideshare of the presentation for anyone that missed it (see the left side of the blog).

Pia discussed camera controls, lighting, speech gestures, lip moving and the environment editor. She also provided us with important “hot-keys” to use when doing machinima since you use “Ctrl –Alt F1” to take away the menus.

M = mouselook
E = jump up
C = come back down
Escape from mouselook
Alt + clicking on something to focus to center of the screen
ALT+Dragging the mouse zooms the camera
ALT-CTRL + drag orbits the camera
CTRL-0 = Zoom in
CTRL – 8 = Zoom out
CTRL – 9 = Resent Zoom


Another thing you don’t want to miss this week is the PBS series that starts tomorrow (9/15) called “Where We Stand: Amercia’s Schools in the 21st Century” (http://www.wviz.org/index.php/WVIZ/features/13948/) . Check your local listings for times. On Thursday evening at 6pm SLT the ISTE will have a fireside chat discussing this program. http://slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/181/144/23

Saturday Workshop by Esme Qunhua

What an exciting presentation we had on Saturday. Esme Qunhua, Jane Wilde in RL, conducted a course for Marlboro College in Sl last year and showed us several interactive tools. She also explained how she uses these for teaching and learning.

We had 37 people attend this presentation and the tools she introduced were Mysti Tools, Opinionator, Sloodle, Give boxes, Whiteboards, 3-D presenter, Notecards and Scripts. Esme also talked about her thoughts on teaching and learning in SL. She has left a box at the TNC center in which you can get information about what she presented. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%205/142/27/43

Her wise words for all of us were not to be afraid of making mistakes in SL. She also explains that open spaces are the best spaces for teaching and learning in SL. Instructors should let students build and come up with their own ideas and learning spaces.

Thank you so much for this presentation Esme Qunhua. It was wonderful and we hope to have you present again! I also want to think Shailey Garfiled for transcribing the presentation for those that did not have voice. I know how difficult this is and she did a wonderful job.

Next Saturday we will not have a session since the SLEDD conference is taking place and we hope you will attend their events. To find out more about this conference go to http://www.rezed.org/events/event/show?id=2047896:Event:9418 and/or http://sledcc.wikispaces.com/

Then, on September 13, Pia Klaar will be presenting a workshop on Machinima at the TNC Conference Center. We hope to see you there!

Saturday August 23 Tour

Things are moving forward and we had a fun tour this Saturday. We started by going to the Occupational Therapy Center which provides training for graduate students. Their YouTube video is available to watch at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvhzHlrargU and they are located on Eduisland II http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%20II/197/33/22

The second site we went to
was the Astronomy and Planetarium.

Not only can you explore the stars on this site but you can also purchase items to place at your own educational location. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Honawan/96/122/4212/421

The third site that we chose to visit this week as a fun site called Museum of Illusions http://slurl.com/secondlife/Enchantment%20Island/87/66/238 At this site we met Sallyanne Sak who advised us that you need at least 40 minutes to explore the entire Museum. There is so much to see. She also told us that the creator is currently making some new items that are being kept a secret. We will need to watch and see!




The final location we went to is one we have focused on before, The Tech Museum of Innovation at http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Tech/197/158/38 This site has many interactive activities as well as contests and chances to show the educational items you create.

For the next tour I hope to have some of our TNC members show off their educational places. I am trying to get 4 people who are willing to give us a tour (about 10-15 minutes) of the places they have created. Southern Georgia has offered to show us his educators Freebee Mall and I am hoping that Shamblesguru Voom will show us the International Schools Island. During our last tour someone provided me with a link to the a place at Microsoft and I am hoping this person will contact me and offer to add to our tour. Is there anyone else who would like to present?

I also want to remind everyone that next Saturday Esme Qunhua will be present some of the interactive tools she has created to use with students in SL. This event will take place at the TNC Conference Center at 10:00 a.m. SLT. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%205/150/67/22


Items you don’t want to miss in SL this week:

Wednesday, August 27th at the DEN:

Join us this Wednesday for the second in a series of workshops on ’Making Your Second Life ™ Easier’ presented by Celestia Cazalet. In this second workshop, Celestia will introduce you to free programs and websites that can enhance your Second Life(tm) experience. This week’s topic: Sculptypaint. Learn how to build those cool sculpted prims. Come prepared to share your own discoveries, as well.

NOTE: Please download the program before Wednesday.Here is the URL: http://www.xs4all.nl/~elout/sculptpaint/
SLT TIME: 5:00 p.m. SLT ( 7 p.m. CDT, 8 p.m. EST)
We’ll meet in the Sandbox.http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%20II/44/60/22

You may want to also checkout the SLED Calendar about upcoming events: http://sl.nmc.org/wiki/SLED_Calender

Back to School!

It is that time of year again when everyone starts to get excited about the new school year! It is interesting to read what everyone has to write on twitter and plurk. Some people are already back the classroom and others are just setting up and getting ready to start after Labor Day.

Last weekend we had a wonderful discussion about webquests on the TNC. We began by looking at some webquest that Pia Klaar shared and then we looked at a wonderful webquest that was designed by Faythe Fouroux and GeeGee Zerbino. I hope that Faythe and GeeGee will come back and tell us about their experiences once they are able to use their webquest in the classroom.

I have some things to announce that some of you may be interested in. This Wednesday, August 20th the Discovery Educators Network (DEN) will be celebrating their first anniversary. Dress up in your best tux or gown for this event. There will be dancing with a DJ, games and surprises! 5 p.m. SLT http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%20II/57/80/22

September 6th is the SLEDDcc in Tampa so we are going to postpone our machinima workshop that is scheduled that weekend. We will keep you posted of SLEDD events that are happening in SL. If anyone has a list or knows where we can find information on this please let us know!

We have put posters at the TNC discussing the second annual Second Life Teen Grid College Fair which takes place on October 12th and the Virtual Worlds in Education Conference. The Virtual Worlds in Education Conference will take place in Second Life on November 10th & 11th and they are accepting proposals until September 11th (http://vwec.ecu.edu/).

Upcoming TNC events:

Saturday, August 23rd – 10 a.m. SLT TNC Tour
Saturday, August 30th – 10 a.m. Esme Qunhau will be presenting educational tools
Saturday, September 6th – 10 a.m. SLEDD Conference
Saturday, September 13th – 10 a.m. Pia Klaar – Machinima

* All events will begin at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%205/142/27/43

Presentation on Webquests

This Saturday at the TNC Conference Center we had a workshop on WebQuests. After the presentation Pia asked me if I was going to put the slide show in slideshare. I decided to take the challenge and created the slideshow presentation that is located to the left of this posting (it looks like chalk and a chalkboard). It was much easier to use than I anticipated. Slideshare takes you step by step through the process. I am starting to think about the different ways I can use this in my classroom. What a great way to provide my presentations to my students. To view and listen to the slide show click on the “presentation” link at the bottom of the picture.

Next week we will be having the second part our webquest workshop and I encourage everyone to attend. For this part of the workshop you are to bring the URL of a webquest you have created or one you feel you can use in your classroom. We will be discussing the different webquests and talking about how to manage your students.

I am also excited to announce that Esme Qunhua will be at the TNC Conference Center on August 30th to discuss some constructivist teach tools she has created for SL. These tools work to get students actively engaged in their learning when you are teaching in SL.

One last thing I want to post is that I want to make sure everyone is aware of the SLED calendar. This keeps track of educational events that are happening in SL and is updated often: http://sl.nmc.org/wiki/SLED_Calender

I hope to be able to update the blog more often this week. As all of you know this time of year gets very busy. School starts here on Friday and teachers go back on Tuesday!

First Days of School

As a parent this time of year means school clothes, haircuts and school supplies. As a teacher it means textbook, classroom management plans and lessons for the first day of school. Have you started planning your first days of school?

I always began the school year by reading Harry Wongs “The First Days of School” by Harry K. and Rosemary T. Wong. I had a chance to hear Harry Wong speak and I found it very entertaining and refreshing. Harry Wong was a educator and his ideas made sense!

If you are starting to think about the new school year I would recommend his book (found on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/First-Days-School-Effective-Teacher/dp/0962936065/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218155124&sr=8-1mazon.com/First-Days-School-Effective-Teacher/dp/0962936065/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218155124&sr=8-1 ) or the teachers.net website where he publishes different classroom strategies. There are links to many of his articles here http://teachers.net/gazette/wong.html

This is also a great time to begin planning new lessons. This Saturday at the TNC Conference Center we will be presenting information on Webquests. This will begin at 10:00 am SLT and last about an hour. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%205/142/27/43 We hope to see you there!

TNC Tour

What fun we had on tour today!

Saturday, August 2 the TNC had a tour of 4 interactive sites in SL. These were each educational sites and we hope that you will enjoy them if you have a chance to explore them on your own.

The first site is ROMA Transtiberim. http://slurl.com/secondlife/ROMA%20Transtiberim/21/57/29m/21/57/29 On this site you explore an archaeological dig. You are able to use different tools and learn about the way that archaeologist discover information about people who live in the past.

Our second site was The Newseum http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Newseum/117/140/26The%20Newseum/117/140/26 This is a museum of news. There

are three floors that contain different topics. You can see covers of newspapers as well as video on this site. Plan on spending a lot of time learning about historical news.

The third site was Sploland a math and science sim. http://slurl.com/secondlife/SploLand/186/76/25/SploLand/186/76/25 The activities here seem to be endless as you explore the island. There are experiments to take part in as well as rides. There is something for everyone at Sploland.

Our final stop was Abyss Museum of Ocean

Science http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gun/55/42/82 With Shark Week going on at the DEN we had to include a place about the ocean. On this island you can go under water to see the different creatures of the deep. At another area on the sim you can swim with the seals.

Next Saturday we will be offering a workshop on Webquests which will last 2 weeks. The first workshop will include information on writing your own webquest and will feature some webquests that you may want to try with your students. After the event on Saturday you will walk away with a mission to find some exciting webquests or a chance to write your own. The following Saturday will be a sharing event where everyone will share what they found.

We also want to let you know about the following events that will be going on this week* :

Wednesday, August 3rd 5:00 SLT: Shark Trivia at the DEN http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%20II/57/80/22

Thursday, July 31, 6 – 7 pm SLT: ISTE educators social. http://www.slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/90/80/30

Saturday, August 9, 10 – 11 AM SLT: Webquests http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%205/142/27/43

Wednesday, August 20, Save this date for the DEN’s anniversary celebration


*Post comments to this blog or IM Tek Zeno for information about adding your event to the TNC Blog.

College Fair in Teen SecondLife
Eye4You Alliance is starting to put together their second college fair on the Teen Grid and they are looking for representatives from colleges and universities to share information.

If you or a representative from your college would like to take part you will need to have a background check and approval to work on the Teen Grid so you will want to get started right away on the process. The college fair will take place Oct 12th. If you would like more information you can go to the Eye4You Alliance island blog (http://eye4youalliance.youthtech.info/?page_id=629) or contact BlueWings Hayek or Alice Burgess on the main grid.

Invitations to Aviary
One of the photo tools that Pia Klaar discussed during the Web 2.0 workshop was aviary. This is a program that allows you to manipulate photos. Since it is web based it allows you to have access on any computer! When we posted our Web. 2.0 list we were contacted by a representative from Aviary (see comments) and she set Pia up with an account with 5 free invitations. If you would like one of these invitations please post a comment below and Pia can send you an invitation.

Tour of Interactive Sites
I also want to remind everyone that this Saturday the TNC will have a tour of interactive sites in SL. We will begin at the TNC on Eduisland 5 at 10:00 am (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%205/142/27/43). Please come a few minutes early.

Other upcoming events*:
Wednesday, July 30 2 – 3 pm SLT: Sloodle 101. This will be an introduction to Sloodle tools http://slurl.com/secondlife/virtuALBA/197/165/30

Wednesday, July 30, 5 – 6 pm SLT: Streaming with SMARTboards: Do you currently have a SMARTboard in your classroom or district? Did you know that Discovery Streaming can be seamlessly integrated with your SMARTboard? During this workshop you will learn about ways to integrate Discovery Streaming, various funding strategies, be provided with resources for implementation, and information on programs that SMART Technologies provides SMART educators. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%20II/57/80/22

Thursday, July 31, 6 – 7 pm: ISTE educators social. http://www.slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/90/80/30

Thursday, July 31 Shamblesguru Voom told us that one of the Lively guys will be giving a talk at a “Train for Success” session. If anyone knows more about this please let us know!

Saturday, August 2, 10 – 11 SLT: TNC Educational Tour. We will begin at the TNC on Eduisland 5 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%205/142/27/43

Saturday, August 9, 10-11 SLT: Making a Webquest for your students. TNC Eduisland 5 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%205/142/27/43

Wednesday, August 20, Save this date for the DEN’s anniversary celebrationSunday, August 31, 6:00 AM SLT: David Warlick is being interviewed at International Schools Island as a pre-session to a Shanghai Conference. I will have a link for this location as we get closer to the event.

* If you want your event posted on the TNC blog IM Tek Zeno in SL with the date and time of the event.

Web 2.0 Workshop

Did you miss this informative workshop?

Pia Klaar gave a wonderful presentation today on Web 2.0 tools . She discussed Professional Development Tools, Social Networking Tools, Blogging, Wikis, Podcasting Tools, Collaboration Tools, Online Applications, Photo Tools, Presentation Tools, Video Sharing tools, Utilities, Aggregators/Newsreaders, as well as other items. After the presentation she created a slideshare of the presentation. You can view this at http://www.slideshare.net/pia/web-20-in-the-classroom-529446/.

Below are the links to Web 2.0 websites that she recommends:

1. Professional Development Tools
· Web2Go: http://www.go2web20.net/
· AllMyFavs: http://www.allmyfaves.com/

2. Social Networking Tools
· Ning: http://www.ning.com/
· Classroom 2.0: http://www.classroom20.com/
· Ning in Education: http://education.ning.com/
· Lively (by Google): http://www.lively.com/html/landing.html
· FURL: http://www.furl.net/
· Del.icio.uos: http://del.icio.us/

3. Blogs
· Blog Basics for the Classroom: http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/blog/blogbasics.cfmsfirst.com/content/blog/blogbasics.cfmsfirst.com/content/blog/blogbasics.cfm
· Edublogs: http://edublogs.org//
· Class Blogmeister: http://classblogmeister.com/
· 21Classes: http://www.21classes.com/
· ePals: http://www.epals.com/

4. Wikis
· Wikispaces: http://www.wikispaces.com/ww.wikispaces.com/ and http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers100Kcom/site/for/teachers100K
· Wet Paint: http://www.wetpaint.com/category/Education--Ad-freeetpaint.com/category/Education--Ad-free
· PBWiki: http://pbwiki.com/education.wiki
· WikiSpaces: http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers100K
· Jottit: http://jottit.com/it.com/

5. Podcasting Tools
· Gcast: http://www.gcast.com/
· Odiogo: http://www.odiogo.com/

6. Collaboration Tools
· Google Docs: docs.google.com
· Skrbl: skrbl.com
· Bubble.us: bubbl.us
· Giffy: http://www.gliffy.com/
· Mindomo: http://www.mindomo.com/
· Voo2do: http://www.voo2d.com/
· JotSpot: http://www.jotspot.com/


7. Online Applications
· Zoho Creator: creator.zoho.com http://creator.zoho.com/
· Peepel: http://peepel.com/
· Thinkature: http://www.thinkature.com/

8. Photo Tools
· Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/
· FlauntR: http://www.flauntr.com/
· Aviary: http://a.viary.com/
· PhotoShop Express

9. Presentation/Video Tools
· Animoto: http://animoto.com/
· Animoto Education Program: http://biz.animoto.com/education/overview.html/education/overview.html
· Voicethread: http://voicethread.com/
· Ed.VoiceThread: http://ed.voicethread.com/
· Bubbleshare: http://www.bubbleshare.com/
· ImageLoop: http://www.imageloop.com/en/index.htm
· Slideoo: http://www.slideoo.com/
· One True Media: http://www.onetruemedia.com/
· Jaycut: http://jaycut.com/

10. Video Sharing Tools
· Blip.tv: http://wwww.blip.tv.com/tv.com/
· Jumpcut: http://www.jumpcut.com/
· Teacher Tube
· YouTube

11. Utilities
· CTC Audio Mixer: http://audiomixer-d.oddcast.com/php/ctc
· Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
· Vixy.net: http://vixy.net/
· Web Resizer
· Skype
· Media Converter

12. Aggregators/Newsreaders
· Bloglines: bloglines.com
· Yourminis: http://www.yourminis.com/main
· Pageflakes: http://www.pageflakes.com/

13. Others
· Calcoolate: http://www.calcoolate.com/index.html
· Create a Graph: http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/
· Stained Glass collage: http://www.stainedglasscollage.com/
· Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling: http://www.coe.uh.edu/digital-storytelling/
· ArtRage: http://www.artrage.com/artrage.html
· Common Craft: http://www.commoncraft.com/
· Captioner –Flickr Toys: http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/captioner.php

Other sites that were recommended by our participants are:
http://www.schooltube.com/
http://www.mogulus.com/
http://www.zamzar.com/
http://www.kerpoof.com/
http://www.cameroid.com/
http://www.techsmith.com/
http://www.shambles.net/web2
http://www.thinkfinity.net/
http://www.readwritethink.org/student_mat/index.asp
http://www.classtools.net/

Resources:
· Brown, John Seely. (JSB) in Educause Magazine, "Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0". : http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0811.pdf

· Freedman, Terry. Coming of Age: an introduction to the new world wide web.: http://comingofage.ning.com/

· Hargadon, Steve . Web 2.0 is the Future of Education: http://www.stevehargadon.com/2008/03/web-20-is-future-of-education.html

· Judy’s Web 2.0 Notes: http://judyoconnell.wordpress.com/

· Kyrnin, Jennifer. What is Web 2.0: Going Beyond the Hype of Web 2.0: http://webdesign.about.com/od/web20/a/aa021306.htm

· Richardson, Will. Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Tools for Classrooms. Corwin Press: California.2006


Other upcoming events*:

Wednesday, July 30 2 – 3 pm SLT: Sloodle 101. This will be an introduction to Sloodle tools http://slurl.com/secondlife/virtuALBA/197/165/30

Wednesday, July 30, 2008 5 – 6 pm SLT: Streaming with SMARTboards: Do you currently have a SMARTboard in your classroom or district? Did you know that Discovery Streaming can be seamlessly integrated with your SMARTboard? During this workshop you will learn about ways to integrate Discovery Streaming, various funding strategies, be provided with resources for implementation, and information on programs that SMART Technologies provides SMART educators. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%20II/57/80/22

Thursday, July 31, 6 – 7 pm: ISTE educators social. http://www.slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/90/80/30

Thursday, July 31 Shamblesguru Voom told us that one of the Lively guys will be giving a talk at a “Train for Success” session. If anyone knows more about this please let us know!

Saturday, August 2, 10 – 11 SLT: TNC Educational Tour. We will begin at the TNC on Eduisland 5 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%205/142/27/43

Saturday, August 9, 10-11 SLT: Making a Webquest for your students. TNC Eduisland 5
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%205/142/27/43

Wednesday, August 20, Save this date for the DEN’s anniversary celebration

Sunday, August 31, 6:00 AM SLT: David Warlick is being interviewed at International Schools Island as a pre-session to a Shanghai Conference. I will have a link for this location as we get closer to the event.

* If you want your event posted on the TNC blog IM Tek Zeno in SL with the date and time of the event.

Web 2.0? Scuba Diving in Second Life?

We are getting ready for our first official workshop at the new TNC conference center. Tomorrow (Saturday, July 26th) from 10:00 - 11:00 SLT Pia Klaar will conduct a Web 2.0 workshop. This will use voice. Please plan on arriving early if you need help with voice. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%205/142/27/43

Have you ever wanted to Scuba dive with sharks? Then don't miss a chance to take part in the scuba diving event at the DEN Monday, July 28th at 5:00 pm SLT. You need to preregister by Saturday July 26th if you want free scuba gear. You can find out more at http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/secondlife. Registration is filling up quickly!

If there are other educational groups out there that want me to showcase their upcoming events please let me know! IM Tek Zeno and I will place them on our blog.

Web 2.0, Machinima, Slide Shows, Social Networking, Upcoming SL Events

When I started this blog I thought to myself “what I am going to say”. Now I find myself excited to share things each week!

Web 2.0
I want to start by reminding everyone that this Saturday (July 26th) from 10:00 – 11:00 SLT Pia Klaar will be offering a session on Web 2.0. This will take place at the TNC Conference Center on Eduisland 5 and will have valuable information for the classroom teacher http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%205/142/27/43 . I have also become aware of a free online book called “Web 2.0 Project Book”. This book contains projects that were shared by teachers who are using Web 2.0 in the classroom http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/et/2008/07/web-20-project-book.html You can download this book and save it for future reference.

Machinima
Are you interested in Machinima? Pia Klaar has created a wonderful slide show that is a “how-to” tutorial on Machinima for Second Life http://www.slideshare.net/pia/machinima-how-to-in-second-life-in-second-life . She has also setup a Machinima area that is full of useful tools at the TNC on Eduisland II http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%20II/23/11/23 .

Slide Presentations
Pia also introduced me to slide presentations this week and I was excited to make the sidebar slideshow that is on the left of the blog. These are pictures that were taken by Pia at the Expansion Party and put into Flickr. Next http://www.slidoo.com/ picked up these pictures and all I needed to do was supply the blog address and slidoo.com attached it to my sidebar. I am now thinking of getting my own Flickr account since I am starting to see a reason to post my pictures. Another website for making slideshows that is recommended by Pia is http://www.imageloop.com/. I have not used this yet but I hope to have time to try it out later this week.

Are you on Plurk or Twitter?
Lastly I wanted to find out if anyone is using Twitter or Plurk. I am on both social networking sites under my avatar’s name TekZeno. I try to post different TNC events as well as other events. Feel free to follow these postings.

Upcoming events in SL to take part in:
Tuesday, July 22 (3:30 SLT): SL Education Roundtable http://slurl.com/secondlife/Montclair%20State%20CHSSSouth/129/156/22
Library Services in SL

Wednesday, July 23 (5:00 pm SLT): Discovery Educator Network
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%20II/57/80/22
The first of a series of workshops in which Celestia Cazalet will introduce you to free programs and websites that can enhance your Second Life(tm) experience. This week's topic: QAvimator. Find out how to make your own animations. Come prepared to share your own discoveries, as well.

Thursday, July 24 (6:00 pm SLT): ISTE
http://www.slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/90/80/30
Social networking event for educators

Saturday, July 26 (10:00am SLT): TNC Conference Center
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%205/142/27/43
Web 2.0 Introduction