EduSquare Under Construction… SLurls, Please!!?

As you can see, I’m in the midst of an update of our Edusquare Space on the Islands of jokaydia!

Edusquare has been created to provide a meeting point and resource space for educators and others who are working in Second Life. It is surrounded by our resident’s spaces and provides several resources including the Educational Landmarks Wall, which provides landmarks to a wide range of educational projects in Second Life.

The plan for this space is to extend the tools and resources setup here to create a more useful collection of how-tos, newbie resources and landmark givers. The aim is to help visitors  to quickly gain an understand of some of the educational activties going on inworld, and to connect with others in Second Life.

And now I need your help!

If you represent an educational project inworld, or you have a favourite educational space in Second Life, PLEASE include a comment and SLurl below so I can update our Educational Landmarks Wall. This tool has been used extensively by both our informal visitors and tour groups and is a great way to promote your projects and draw new visitors to your space.

To visit Edusquare use this SLurl - but wear your hardhat. Construction will be ongoing over the next few days! ;)

August 7, 2008 | Filed Under education, jokaydia, resources | 2 Comments 

Live Futures 2020: A World of Possibilities!

I am VERY excited to announce that the Islands of jokaydia is a major partner in Live Futures 2020: A World of Possibility, a fantastic event being held in Sydney as part of National Science Week 2008!

The festival aims to:

  • Explore the future with young people, futurists, climate experts, scientists, artists, designers, technolgists, film-makers, performers.
  • Create the future together. Workshops, interactive forums, exploration and expression spaces.

During the event, participants will explore a range of ideas, themes, issues and questions:

What kind of future do you want to live in? How will current technologies develop sustainable futures for all the world’s people. What do nanotech, biotech, robotics and artificial intelligence really offer? How do these help us solve health, food, climate challenges, water and other resources and sustainability?

Real-life participants will:

  • Explore virtual worlds! Design collaboration spaces for Global Youth Futures in Vastpark and be the first to populate it! Hear from experts, futurists and artists coming in from all around the world via the Islands of jokaydia in Second Life.
  • Join talks on new cool things on the internet and share yours, an “unconference”, a “twitterfest”, Scinema - award-winning science cinema,  the portable film festival (more portable than ever), alternative fuel cars, “how-tos” on alternative energy sources and reversing and reducing global warming.
  • Explore the universe with the World Wide Telescope.
  • See a printer that can print your cup and bowl. 3D printing that will change the face of manufacturing and impacts of transport carbon forever.
  • Take a team challenge, or set the teams a challenge, see how they address issues of the future. Give your answers and judge the winners!

Virtual participants will be able to join us on jokaydia to hear from futurists, artists, scientists, designers, architects, engineers, film-makers and technologists; and connect to parts of the real-life event including the MiniBarCamp and the portable film-festival.

SO - if you’re anywhere near Sydney, come and visit me at the event on Sunday August 17 at Newtown Square (corner of King Street and Enmore Road opposite Newtown Station) or take part inworld on the Islands of jokaydia!

I’ll be posting further details and information via jokaydia channels shortly, or you can find out more via the Global Youth Futures website! I hope you can join us for this exciting event. 

Help co-create the future!

July 25, 2008 | Filed Under education, events, fun, jokaydia, livefutures2020, news | Leave a Comment 

Mashups Presentation - featuring the jokaydia Blog!

I’m doing a presentation on content mashups to create spaces for learning today as part of an Australian Flexible Learning Framework Online event.

And, as the jokaydia Blog features heavily in this presentation, I thought I’d also share it here!

The slides include some info about the types of tools Im using here to create our Web 2.0 enabled, 2D presence.

Maybe in a future post, I’ll write about how I’m mashing up some of this content to share it inworld in our 3D presence as well! ;)

Enjoy!

SlideShare | View | Upload your own

Spot the cameo appearance by one of our very own jokaydians in the examples section. Thanks, Henny!! ;)

July 9, 2008 | Filed Under community, education, jokaydians, news | 2 Comments 

Are you interested in Environmental Education!??

Im really excited to announce that the Australian Association for Environmental Education are holding some events on the Islands of jokaydia over the next few days! If you’re interested in art, the environment or environmental education, then this one is for you! ;)

The AAE’s 15th Biennial Conference in Darwin this year, and has some fascinating themes:

Communities make the system

In a time of rapid change, how can people who work in early childhood services, schools, tertiary institutions, and government and non-government organisations cooperate to make the system that we are part of more sustainable, and quickly?

Collaborative projects across our communities are a primary focus of this conference. Participants will highlight successes, difficulties and lessons learned from dealing with hot topics such as global warming, water and waste management, energy options, fire ecology, ecological footprint management and biodiversity in all sectors..

<Transcultural communication

For Australia’s diverse population, it is important to integrate global, particularly Indigenous and Asian, perspectives on how environmental education is practiced in our region. This means promoting skills that develop eco-literacy and care for the environment across cultures and languages; land and seascapes.

Indigenous-led field studies, a conference art space and an environmental art exhibition will support perspectives about how to actively communicate trans-culturally..

<Beyond rhetoric - Improving our capacity

AAEE is comprised of diverse communities, and each aims to improve current practice in environmental education. Much of the Association’s national effort is through (and supports) the National Action Plan, through the focus of this conference and through many other workshops and training conducted by state and territory chapters and special interest groups - Early Childhood, Teachers and Teacher Educators, Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, Transformative Learning, Young People and Citizenship, Research, and Vocational Education and Training.

Innovative and effective professional development approaches will be the highlight of work in this theme.

As part of this year’s event the AAEE also contracted me to help them to create an exhibition of works from the real life Conference Exhibition, and it has been a pleasure to transform the jokaydia Gallery space into a Conference Venue for the event.

We have also added some special enviro-features to the jokaydia Gallery - including water collection, worm farming, composting and solar resources from the Big Switch. I hope that it demonstrates some of the wonderful ways we are able to embed incidental learning opportunities into SL environments.

The exhibition is described by the organisers as:

Topophilia: Love of Land

Where is the landscape that gives you a sense of belonging; the place that you love and care for? These works explore emotional responses to being outside of the urban space; visual responses to the ‘natural’ world in which we find ourselves. Does this love of place help us protect it?

Artists in paint, print and photography are invited to submit work on this theme to be selected for display in the Real Life (RL) Charles Darwin University Gallery space during a the Australian Assocation for Environmental Education’s 15th Biennial conference, held in Darwin, Australia from 9-11 July 2008.

A selection of images have also been displayed here to provide a virtual meeting space for both conference participants and Second Life residents.

The exhibition contains some beautiful works, from a whole range of wonderful artists including: Linda Ford, Strider, Birut Zemits, David Rolfe, Sarah Pirrie, John du Feu, Jodie Wilson, Alison Worsnop, Daphne Cazalet, Aly de Groot, Dorothyt Napangardi, Marina Strocchi, Frank Clancy, Weaver Jack, Judy Watson, Mary Meribida, Helicopter Joe Tjungurrayi, Nabiru (Harry) Bulleen, and Ningie Nanala Nangala.

Over the next few days all jokaydians are welcome to participate, by visiting the Topophilia Exhibition. You can teleport directly via this SLurl.

Additionally, the AAEE will be staging a couple of mixed reality events where RL participants and SL participants will have an opportunity to connect:

Topophilia -Exhibition Launch in second Life

Meeting at the jokaydia Gallery inworld to discussion Conference Posters and the Gallery Space

Indigenous Print-Making Process Discussion in the Central Gallery Space

Artists discuss their practice

Special thanks thanks to Amelie Tarantal aka Birut Zemits for all her work in coordinating this special exhibition with the AAEE community, and also to jokaydians Pandora Kurranjong and Sapphire Caewlin for assisting with the facilitation of the events!

Seeya at Topophilia! ;)

July 9, 2008 | Filed Under artgallery, community, education, events, jokaydia, news | 1 Comment 

Mashing Up Tech to Connect with NECC!

We had a fab meetup tonight with the jokaydian NECCers, and it was a priveledge to hear Konrad talk about his work around Blogging Communities in the Classroom again. His work is so inspiring!

Equally inspiring was the way the jokaydians managed to pull off a last minute plan with style. I am so proud of HeyJude, slammed, Al and Konrad for flying the jokaydia flag high and walking the talk of our community by sharing and then sharing some more! It’s been great to follow their journey over at NECC, but even cooler to be a part of it like we did tonight.

About 15 avatars dropped in to Bar jokaydia click here (SLurl) to hear Konrad’s presentation, and with a combination of audio and slide wrangling from HeyJude and the Ustream that Will Richardson was providing, I think everyone managed to get a decent audio stream. And of course, there was a great back channel chat going on in both Ustream and at jokaydia. You can view some pictures of the inworld part of the session here.

Ya gotta love technology - from my living room I am able to connect with some amazing people! A Huuuuge thanks again Konrad, Judy, Dean and Al! You are all stars! ;)

Thanks to Will Richardson for the Ustream too - which means everyone who couldn’t make it can still get a taste of NECC!

Web TV provided by Ustream

July 1, 2008 | Filed Under community, education, events, jokaydians, news | 1 Comment 

Late Breaking Update!! Hear Konrad Live from NECC

Slides by Konrad Glogowski

As part of our meetup tonight to connect with jokaydians currently having fun at NECC, we are going to try to listen in on Konrad’s presentation!

His session is titled ‘Blogging Communities in the Classroom’ and Dean, Jude and Al will be there to help push the sound through to us inworld.

I am so excited! Thanks so much to the jokaydian NECCers for making the effort to share with us! You guys rock!

Meet us at Bar jokaydia click (SLurl) where Konrad and the gang will share with us live from NECC! Time: 11:30pm AEST on Monday 30th June (6:30 AM SLT) - you can check your local times here.

June 30, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized, education, events, jokaydians, news | 1 Comment 

EdNA in Second Life

We had the pleasure of welcoming EdNA for their ‘edna, me, and the digital world’ online conference to jokaydia this evening for a tour and workshop. Participants from the EdNA’s Online Conference logged into Second Life after a long day, to find out more about what we do on the Islands of jokaydia.

And, true to form the host for the evening - the lovely Kerryj aka Pandora Kurrajong has outdone herself and out-geeked us all, by recording some of the event using her mobile fone and Qik.com! Check out her ‘Geeking Out‘ image below…. streaming the event live from SL with her Nokia N95, while she keeps everyone informed about what’s going on via Twitter… and films machinima. Because a girl’s gotta multitask, right! ;)

pandorageek.jpg

Image by kerryank.

You can also get a taste of slammed Aabye aka Dean Groom’s great presentation about the Second Classroom Project in the video below.

Congratulations jokaydians! Thankyou for demonstrating how our community supports and collaborates! Well done to all the presenters, special thanks to Konrad for coming in to film at 5:30am his time(!), big thanks to Sapphire, Annabel and Heyjude for newbie helping and hooray for Pandora!

June 18, 2008 | Filed Under community, education, events, jokaydians, news | 3 Comments 

Pulsar Project Headquarters

Pulsar Project Build

marlonj Myers has been working really hard over the last week or two to get his Pulsar Project underway, and I’m very excited to see the new Pulsar Project Headquarters starting to take shape! marlonj has created a really interesting building - with a great open space for meetings and discussions with the students that will joining him inworld soon.

Additional to the ‘bricks and mortar’ in Second Life, marlonj has been doing a great job of recording the whole process via the Pulsar Project Blog and also the HiperGalaxia Moodle space, where he is setting up all his course support materials. You’ll find some fantastic stuff there, including a description of how marlonj made his first book, the management documents he’s creating and a great YouTube video which gives an overview of what marlonj is aiming to achieve (although you’ll need your spanish!).

Most exciting, marlonj has completed the course outline for the pilot course he is about to commence, and has provided it in both Spanish and English, which is a fantastic way of sharing it with all our jokaydia residents.

Pulsar Project Course Outline

You can view the course outline here.

Congratulations marlonj! I am so impressed with how quickly you have created the Pulsar Project and this growing collection of resources! Please let us know how we can continue to support you and your students! ;)

June 9, 2008 | Filed Under education, jokaydians, pulsar project, resources | 1 Comment 

The Second Classroom Project

Second Classroom Project Ning

As many of our residents and readers probably already know, two of our wonderful jokaydians - HeyJude Jenns aka Judy O’Connell and slammed Aabye aka Dean Groom have been working on establishing the Second Classroom Project for a few months now, and have gathered an exciting group of members on the Second Classroom Ning.

The aim of the Second Classroom project is to “… explore ways in which educators can create projects for students using immersive media such as Second Life, MMORPG and social networks to create authentic learning.

They have also established a parallel project working with students - the Teen Second Classroom Project, which is described as “Teens working with teachers in the Second Classroom exploring immersive media such as Second Life, MMORPG and social networks for creativity, knowledge creation, and ‘future learning’ .”

What excites me most is the way that Dean and Jude are including both educators and students in the discussions they are having around technology, virtual worlds, social networking and learning. This is really exciting stuff! ;)

Jude and Dean have provided a great overview of their project and aims on the Second Classroom Ning as follows:

We know that the academic and social well being of our students is enhanced when the learning environment provides spaces where students can learn in different ways, at different speeds, and where they feel safe and valued. We also know that the changes that 21st century learning has brought to the ways our teachers teach and students learn are momentous.

So we are building the Second Classroom program because we wish to take learning and teaching to the new frontiers of virtual learning by providing our students and teachers with opportunities to strive for creativity, knowledge, citizenship, global awareness and personal success in virtual learning environments.

I urge everyone to go and join in. It will be really exciting to see where this networked discussion leads!

Supporting the Second Classroom Project on jokaydia!

Second Classroom Project Space in SL

In our ongoing effort to support the educational community that is growing on jokaydia and encourage networked learning and sharing, I have decided to donate a small space to the Second Classroom project. You can see Henny, Sapphire, HeyJude, slammed and myself standing on it above. Click here to visit it in Second Life (SLurl).

We will shortly start building a meeting space and resources which will provide a virtual home for the project and a space for participants to share and network on a regular basis. I invite everyone to join us there to share their thoughts. We will post updates on upcoming Second Classroom inworld events soon.

Congratulations Jude and Dean! This is a really fantastic initiative, and I am proud to host and support it on the Islands of jokaydia!

June 8, 2008 | Filed Under community, education, news, second classroom project | 1 Comment 

The Pulsar Project

The Pulsar Project

One of the great things about having more space on the jokaydia Estate is that it gives us the ability to support additional projects. So I’m very happy to announce that one of our wonderful residents marlonj Myers has started a great new project on one of our new little Islands on jokaydia III!

The Pulsar Project: Second Life Tools for Educators is focussed on identifying and locating existing tools that are useful for teachers and students in Second Life, and marlonj will also be creating some new tools, once he’s identified areas of need.

I am really excited about this project, as marlonj brings a wealth of programming skills and experience to the project. He has also agreed to post some blog posts to keep everyone up to date on what he’s up to so stay tuned!

To visit the Pulsar Project inworld go to: http://slurl.com/secondlife/jokaydia%20III/210/69/62/ or to keep up to date on marlonj’s progress, visit the Pulsar Project Blog where there is already a wealth of information about the aims and objectives of the project.

June 4, 2008 | Filed Under community, education, jokaydians, news, pulsar project, resources | 1 Comment 

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