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.