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Congratulations
and WELCOME to Our New Avatars!
We're one step closer to
offering live classes on OR Community Colleges Isle...
During the last half of January, our core island team assisted thirty
nine new Oregon avatar instructors over five three and a half hour
sessions to enter the metaverse, and begin contemplating what teaching
and learning in Second Life might mean for them. Instructors from eight
of
our seventeen institutions and a wide variety of disciplines were
represented. During spring and summer term, the team will be helping as
many
instructors as we can to flesh out their ideas to use Second Life in
their classes- stay tuned for the next exciting phase of development!
Avatar
Boot Camp @ ITC E-Learning 2009
Does
your avatar need a little more style? Join us!
On Saturday February 21st from 8:30 to 11:15 a.m. (PDT and Second Life
time are the same) our core island team will be leading a
pre-conference workshop- "Avatar Boot Camp". This is a beginner to
intermediate workshop for novice (but not new) avatars to learn how to
become more expressive and capable through selection of shapes, skins,
clothing, accesories, hair, and gesturing. If you are planning on
attending ITC
E-Learning 2009, join us for a fun session! A shout out of
pre-conference thanks to Stargazer Blazer, Instructional Designer at
Miami University, Dean of Insight Virtual College in Second Life and
master virtual Jewelsmith who will be volunteering her time to assist
during our session.
Stepping
into Science in Second Life
Regulus
Darkstone attends a one day workshop to return and share what he's
learned with all.
on January 30th, an online conference focusing on what Second Life
means for teaching and learning science was held, and while some of us
were training, we were also double-timing our understanding of teaching
and learning in virtual spaces by sending Regulus Darkstone (Dr.
Michael Russell of MHCC) to "Stepping Into Science." To share what he
found out, he's written this
wonderful report- check it out!
Upcoming Spring Training Sessions
Did
you want to train with us winter term and missed us? Don't worry-
spring offers another chance.
During this round of training there were twice as many avatars that
requested training than made it through- some couldn't make it for
scheduling conflicts, others faced insurmountable temporary technical
issues. If you are an Oregon Community College faculty or staff member
interested in exploring Second Life, don't worry! We will be offering
another round of traning sessions spring term, and will send you a link
to the participation request form directly when we make the general
announcement. If you reported having technical issues trying to reach
us the first time, you will be given priority in workshop participation
selection.
Cascades Meeting Area Getting a
Facelift
Soon
to come: Seating that won't face your back to the fire. ;)
Now that the island has been stable in its layout, we're returning to
our meeting spaces to improve their apperance and function. First up-
Regulus Darkstone (Dr. Michael Russell of MHCC) will be making
improvements to our Cascades fire pit meeting area. Don't worry, if you
show up for next Monday's meeting and the space isn't finished, we can
go hang out in the sandbox or tree house together.
Drop-in Help Available Weekly
Stuck
trying to get something done in Second Life? Let us 'share brain' and
help you.
We offer times weekly that you can come to our island sandbox and get
immediate drop in assistance- our
island schedule calendar is updated Mondays by 2 PM. If you want
assistance with anything about Second Life- Building, scripting,
finding places, tools to help you teach, social questions- come by and
let us help you!
February brings Valentines Day
Our
island is festive and seasonal with help from in-world residents.
A shout out of thanks to DharmaPuppy PinkLady for her vigilant service
in keeping our island festive- this month, she's decorated in honor of
St. Valentine. We'd like to also thank Ofelia Laval of Island
Depot Flowers who generously donated some
of our Valentines Day decor, keeping the sharing spirit of Second Life
alive- Mahalo!
Island
Meeting Spaces Available
Come
watch a movie together, meet in a treehouse, or hang our around a camp
fire, and more.
Do you have online meetings where you work with teams toward a shared
goal? Do you have a want to connect better with other faculty in your
discipline across the state (or world for that matter? ) This is YOUR ISLAND! Schedule
virtual meeting space for two to fifty participants with our island
scheduling request form. We've added a theater that will seat up to
40 avatars that can stream movies into Second Life- think of using this
the next time you assign your distance education students media to
watch- we may be able to schedule you a group showing and discussion
session.
Ideas
or suggestions? Join us!
Weekly
In-World meetup: Mondays @ 2PM
If you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to hang out with us
in avatar form to see what a fun and exciting topic teaching and
learning in virtual worlds is, please join us Mondays at 2 PM on OR CC
Isle at our Cascades
Meeting Circle. (Note- we don't meet fnals week.) You can always
find out what's up and coming on the agenda (and any additional project
information at our main communication site.) If you have direct
questions, please feel free to email me.
To longer days and the return of the warm sun!
Monica Martinez-Gallagher, Project Coordinator
(SL:MonicaMarlo Martinek)
Second Life Oregon Community Colleges Island
PCC/OCCDLA
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