A second go at Second Life

I had a second opportunity to use Second Life as a presentation medium last Monday night. You can read Lisa Perez's (SL name Elaine Tulip) write up here. About 40 avatars attended "No U Turn Syndrome: A New Approach to Teaching and Enforcing Copyright Compliance." The presentation was a part of AASL's National Library Week's activities in collaboration with the Chicago Public Schools Dept of Libraries. Rob Darrow also had a very nice blog entry on California Dreamin'. Rob, I truly appreciate the kind words. Ernie Cox also wrote up the event in his blog. Thanks as well, Ernie.

First, let me say a big thanks (again) to Lisa Perez. She is a comforting soul who knows her way around Second Life better than anyone else I know and manages to make anyone presenting in Second Life look more competent than they actually are. I am not sure what all her contributions have been to the physical aspects of ALA/AASL's island, but it is a beautiful, interesting and useful place. Go visit.

The newest SL client is its user-friendliest yet. And the in-world voice system make presenting much easier (and I feel more effective) than the chat/IM-based mode of just a few months ago. I feel like I still have a lot to learn about being an avatar/presenter, including:

• How can I do a better job of gesturing, moving, maintaining "eye contact." etc. with my audience? This still feels far too much one-way, rather than two-way communications.
  
• How do I know if the sound is working well? (Thankfully, I had one attendee tell me a couple times when I was too loud.)
• How does one better facilitate discussion at such an event? I always feel like I am being hit by several channels of conversation at one time.

Still, I had great fun and I just need to say a huge thanks to those brave avatars who attended and participated in "my" learning experience.

A common concern that people email me about is that they feel uncomfortable and ignorant about much of Second Life. Attending an ISTE Social and connecting with an experienced Second Lifer  is the best way of overcoming. Here is a recent invitation:

Are you an educator new to Second Life or ISTE in SL?  Come out to the ISTE Discussion Skypark on Thursday, April 17, at 5:30 PM SLT (8:30 PM EDT)  to connect with avatars who can answer your questions about Second Life and ISTE. 

Connectors needed!  Are you interested in mentoring a new avatar at this week's social?  IM Corinne Fleury <corinnefleury (at) gmail.com> for details.

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/132/124/349

 Blue Skunk readers, any tips or observations about better Second Life experiences are welcome!

Speaking as an avatar

 

Giving a presentation in Second Life last night felt like one of those "going to the pole by dog sled" events. It was possible to do, but felt like had one waited a couple years, the dog sled would have been replaced by a snowmobile.

 

The organizers and I decided that I give the talk via text rather than voice. I practiced with a tool called SpeakEasy that I had carefully loaded with my remarks ahead of time which would with a simple click add them to the chat/IM window one at a time.  I practiced with it. It worked earlier in the day. (It even working this morning after the fact.) It just decided not to work at the time of presentation. Mild panic.

Thankfully, I had also recorded all my comments in the notes field of my slides so I launched good old PowerPoint and just copy and pasted the comments through the talk. I was using my 12" laptop so the screen was crowed. It worked, but it wasn't very smooth and I didn't get to use all the cool gestures with which I had hoped to impress people. (You should have seen my hula.)

I also couldn't figure out a really good "camera" angle from which I could see both the audience and the screen (so I could make sure the right slide was showing.) My eye contact was pretty bad, I'm afraid.

 

I also have always had a tough time with chat/IM discussions when about 10 lines of conversation - questions, comments and challenges - all hit one at once. Anybody have tips on dealing with this?

 

I know - excuses, excuses.

But I would do it again and the bumps will be worked out, making this a good medium in which to present.  I really appreciate the patience of those attending! Thanks, as well, for the help and encouragement of the participants, the ISTE staffers, and Lisa Perez and KJ Hax! You were all great.

 

And I now have a new nursing home story... "Yeah, way, way back in 2008 I gave a talk in an early MUVE called Second Life. Look it up in your history book. This was before the days of true virtual reality when we had to use keyboards and mice and text." You get the drift.
 

The other impression that last night's talk on Intellectual Freedom in a Filtered World left me with was that I am a lone voice in the wilderness on this issue. Is anyone else in education speaking out and writing against overfiltering (not just complaining about their own district's filtering use)? Are teacher and administrator (and library for that matter) preservice college programs teaching newbie educators the concepts and principles of Intellectual Freedom and asking them to read things like the Freedom to Read statement? (Links to other IF resources are in the wiki for this presentation.) Why not?

 

Access to good resources is essential for an educational program that stresses information problem-solving, constructivist learning strategies and higher order thinking skills. Why are more progressive educators not speaking out about the need for a renewed commitment to Intellectual Freedom in schools?

 

Those conservative parents all gotcha cowed? 

 

 

The photos in this entry come from Kevin Jarrett's Fickr collection found here. Thanks, Kevin. I've never looked so blue! He also wrote a kind entry about the presentation on his Story of My Second Life blog.

Lisa Perez blog entry about the presentation is here. And another one about the discussion on the following Thursday. 

Second Life is coming back to life

Wow, things are getting busy in Second Life. Check these opportunities out:

Dear SIGMS Member:
 
The SIGMS is sponsoring a special program in the virtual reality environment “Second Life”.  David Loertscher, a nationally recognized expert in school librarianship from San Jose State University, and Robin T. Williams will host a program entitled: “In Command! Teaching Kids and Teens to Build and Manage Their Own Information Spaces And…Learn to Manage Themselves in Those Spaces.” We will look at opportunities and responsibilities related to guiding students in the use of information work spaces that support a world class education.  In addition, we will learn about Knowville, a world-wide initiative challenging children and teens, through various organizations, to read a billion books, write a billion books, and do a billion projects.
 
Time:   Tuesday, September 18th from 9pm-10pm ET/8pm-9pm CT/7pm-8pm MT/6pm-7pm PT.
Location:  ISTE Island Auditorium (SLURL:  http://slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/93/83/30)
Teleport:  If you prefer, IM Amarris Aabye or Corinne Fleury for a teleport to the meeting location.
 
Tips:

If you do not have an avatar account in Second Life (SL), go to www.secondlife.com <http://www.secondlife.com>  in advance.  Set up your free account, download the client reader software, and sign in after launching the reader.  You must access SL from a high-speed connection using a newer computer with quality graphics.  (See systems requirements at http://www.secondlife.com/corporate/sysreqs.php). Become familiar with the basics of communicating and navigating in SL in advance.

Arrive at the event at least 15 minutes prior to the start time.  Our events usually fill up the sim and many latecomers are not able to attend.
 
Hope to see you there!
 
Lisa Perez, Area Library Coordinator
Department of Libraries & Information Services
Chicago Public Schools, Medill Training Ctr.

(School library media specialists, if you are not a member of ISTE's SIGMS, you are missing out!)

And

Hello, all!
 
Here is the schedule of events for the ISTE Island Grand Opening Celebration.  The schedule can also be found on the wiki events page…enjoy!!
 
Welcome to the Grand Opening of ISTE Island!
 
The Grand Opening will begin on September 17th, and run through October 11th.  We hope you enjoy the events and festivities!
 
Grand Opening Celebration
 
Sep 17 - Grand Opening Scavenger Hunt Begins
            Week 1 Task - Island Tour Exercise:  Take pics of your avatar at each of 25 numbered flags around the island and post them on Flickr with ISTEGOSH as the tag.
 
Sep 18 - ISTE Speaker Series Session, sponsored by SIGMS, ISTE Island Auditorium (6pm SLT)
            David Loertscher, a nationally-recognized leader in K-12 school librarianship, will speak about how adults can help teens and kids create their own online collaborative spaces. He will be joined by Ms. Robin Williams, who will brief us on San Jose State University's new Knowville.org projects - a reading/ writing challenge to adults and their students.
 
Sep 20 - Grand Opening Ceremony and Formal Ball, ISTE Island Beach (6pm SLT)
 
Sep 24 - Grand Opening Scavenger Hunt
            Week 2 Task - Create A Place to Sit:  participants are asked to create a seat that can be used for a minimum of one person to sit upon.  Seat must be textured (not plywood).  Seat must be original creation of the avatar submitting it.  Seat must allow ANYONE to sit on it.  Seat must be transferrable.  Those are the only rules...the possibilities for creative interpretation are endless!  Finished items are to be submitted to RavenPhoenix Zenovka to be counted as complete!
 
Sep 27 - ISTE Island Grand Opening Recital and Reception, ISTE Island Band Shell and Beach (6pm SLT)
 
Oct 01 - Grand Opening Scavenger Hunt
            Week 3 Task - Networking Exercise:  Find 4 ISTE-SL members, one born for each year that SL has been up and running (2003-2007).
Make a notecard, listing the 4 avatars, with the following information about each: Avatar Name, Avatar Birth Year, RL School/College Affiliation and RL Favorite Color.  Submit notecard to RavenPhoenix Zenovka to be counted as complete!  ONE AVATAR PER BIRTH YEAR - no duplicates.
 
Oct 04 - ISTE Island Grand Opening School Spirit/Homecoming Party, ISTE Island Beach (6pm SLT)
 
Oct 10 - Grand Opening Scavenger Hunt Ends
            ALL SCAVENGER HUNT TASKS ARE DUE!  NO SUBMISSIONS ACCEPTED AFTER THIS DATE!
 
Oct 11 - Grand Opening Building Competition
 
          - ISTE Island Grand Opening Closing Ceremonies and Awards (6pm SLT)
 
Come join the celebration!!
 
RPZ - RavenPhoenix

I wouldn't miss seeing Dr. Loertscher in Second Life for anything! Say hello to Blue Skunk Johnson if you get the chance.