SL educators events calendar
I wanted to post the calendar here. It’s also under Links. I forget to use it too. It’s however a great, quick glance at all kinds of events. The SL search function works too, but this is much more to the point.
Preparing for ELI 2008
Educause’s Learning Initiative Annual Meeting is just around the corner and I’m preparing the data I’ve collected over the last 5 months to present.
Aurilio, S. (2008, January). Introducing university faculty and instructional staff to second life: A pilot initiative. EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative Annual Meeting. San Antonio, Texas.
This years theme is Preparing Students for Life 2.0 and quite a few of the presentations are about Second Life. I’ll be making as many of them as I can. I’m also looking forward to hearing Henry Jenkins, whose paper on participatory culture and new media helped me reframe the idea of a digital divide. How are we going to prepare students for life 2.0 with unprepared instructors, facilitators and guides?
Some empirical data and thoughts:
- The average visit time on this website has been less than 3 minutes
- The workshops were very well attended and rated by the majority as effective.
On the one hand it’s great the workshop was seen as effective; on the other, the reason for that extends beyond the topic, expertise of the instructor (Cathy is superb) and timing (Winter break). I marketed it well. I mention this often overlooked piece of the puzzle because it is directly related to sustainability. Another important piece is whether anyone really learned anything and whether there are better, more cost effective ways to learn those skills and knowledge.
If I sound like I’m critiquing the workshop modality, I’m critiquing it in the context of participatory culture and serious resource constraints. These workshop smile-sheet results together with the data for the website and actual consults suggest that a costly solution to what may not even be solely a training problem “is what people want.”
Some of the many, many unknowns I wonder about:
- How many faculty and instructional staff subscribe to the website?
- To what degree do they participate in the flat and 3D web for professional connections and learning?
- How many workshop attendees have continued to participate in SL since the workshop?
- How much did it actually cost to provide the workshops?
Academic Impressions Webinar: Exploring SL Basics
I wanted post this announcement of AI’s webinar on SL to note and reflect on a few things.
This first is to acknowledge that AI webinars have been good products we have used and would continue to use. I’m sure this webinar will be the same. The second is to say in so many words something I’m sure I’ll stumble over: “Phewww… now we don’t have to put resources into such endeavors.” I say that not with a sigh of relief per se but with an exhale of “problem solved, opportunity created.” External entities are continually creating opportunities and filling in gaps for us in academia. Resourcing (not outsourcing) isn’t just a buzz word, it really does make a difference. The cost of putting on our recent SL workshop isn’t a sustainable cost. With budget cuts just up the highway, creative resourcing is essential. The pICTsl Farm would be happy to host this webinar if there’s interest.
Is there?
Winterbreak SL workshop results
We had 32 participants attend six, two and a half hour sessions of our Introduction to Second Life Winter Break workshops. Faculty, instructional staff, campus administrators and folks from our neighboring USD got their second lives up and running. Overall it was well received, the majority thought the sessions were effectively organized and presented. They thought the content was effective and were likely to discuss it with colleagues or students.
When asked about the likelihood of applying SL to teaching and learning the results were more diverse. On a scale of 1-10 (very unlikely to very likely), 22% responded very likely, 13% with a nine, 9% responded with an eight and 34% with a seven. The responses to the likelihood that they would use SL in other ways that would benefit SDSU were also spread out. 16% responded very likely, 19% with a nine, 13% with an eight, 19% with a seven and 25% responded with either a five or six. (These figures are rounded up. Here are the actual stats)
Some of the open-ended responses:
When asked to elaborate on the likelihood they’d apply SL to improve teaching and learning:
“I am willing, but still unsure of possible applications. I need more time to think about what I learned today.”
” improve may be ambiguous. I believe it will be an interesting adjunct to teaching.” ”
“Doesn’t seem quite ready for novices — high cognitive overhead and slow performance — but interesting as a test bed for advanced students”
” This medium presents a challenge to instructional design. We should brainstorm on new ideas for design.”
“I believe this techno can be used to encourage DE learners to get to know each other and also be used as a tool in traditional classrooms.
” I am very interested in using this tool as a meeting place for our online students, particularly those working on group projects. Our courses are entirely online.”
When asked to elaborate on the likelihood they’d use SL in other ways to that benefit SDSU
“Again, if I can figure out effective uses, I will apply them.”
“The notion that people can virtually visit SDSU has been taken to another level.”
“Hard to say at this point.”
“Just having a better understanding of the environment will make a world of difference”
“various applications when it comes to student and faculty orientations”
WinterBreak Workshop
We’ve got 25+ faculty, staff, administrators and grad students signed up for a session or two of our workshop. To register here.
Missed our Plork Discussion?
If you missed our Second Life, Teacher’s Buzz session on Plork, Play+Work, stop by NMC’s blog post on it, complete with pictures.
Media Ecology: Discussions on Media, Culture, & the impact of emerging virtual worlds
This looks like a great series. I’ll be attending for certain.
Guest speakers include Eric McLuhan, (Marshall’s son)
“Media Ecology is an interdisciplinary field of media theory involving
the study of media environments. Media ecology looks into the matter of
how media of communication affect human perception, understanding,
feeling, and value; and how our interaction with media facilitates or
impedes our chances of survival. The word ecology implies the study of
environments: their structure, content, and impact on people.
Kenny Hubble (Ken Hudson, rl) will introduce basic topics in Media
Ecology and will be joined throughout the series by noted scholars,
authors and researchers in the field of Media Ecology, who will visit
Second Life to deliver their ideas and interact with the participants.
The series will be presented select Mondays (Sept 24 - Dec 3) as scheduled from 5-7 SLT
PST, at the Media Ecology Pavilion in Second Life at We The Living 102,129,22.
For more info: http://kenhudson.net/
