Developments at jokaydiaGRID Landing Point

We’ve had a fantastic week at jokaydiaGRID this week and firstly I must welcome all of our new residents! It is wonderful to see so many new faces and also old friends from Second Life visiting us! During the course of the weekend, we’ve had more than 60 new accounts created and Azzura and I have had the pleasure of meeting lots of people on their very first jokaydiaGRID Rez Day! Too exciting!

Thank you everyone for joining us on this fantastic adventure in Opensim! I hope that we can continue to support educators and artists to explore amazing and inspiring uses of virtual worlds – discovering the best uses and best practices for each of our homes in the metaverse! Stay tuned as we begin holding more regular community events and activties inworld!

Also, if you have a mad scheme, fantastic idea or suggestion you’d like to share with us, we’d love to hear from you! Feel free to email jokay@jokaydia.com.

jokaydiaGRID Rentals – Our Grid is Growing!

jokay and Azzura at jokaydiaGRID Landing Point

In other exciting news, we’ve also had a number of new sims spring up on the grid this weekend, and we’d like to welcome our new Sim Owners to jokaydiaGRID!

• Longtime jokaydians Pandora Kurrajong and Sapphire Ceawlin have moved into Edvirons to explore various uses of opensim including working with teens, SLoodle and professional develoment for educators
• DawnRyder Wycliffe has moved into a huge 6 sim estate – with plans to explore various uses of virtual worlds for education. She has lots of experience from Second Life – and I CAN’T WAIT to see what emerges at the Rising Hope campus.
• Pathfinder Lester aka John Lester who we all know from his years of support for virtual worlds educators has moved into a lovely sim called appropriately ‘Pathlandia’. You can keep up to date with his exploits both at jokaydiaGRID and on the hypergrid on his blog – Be Cunning and Full of Tricks.

Pathfinder moves to jokaydiaGRID!

At any rate… thank you to ALL of our sim owners for choosing jokaydiaGRID to setup home in the open metaverse! I am so looking forward to being part of your opensim adventures and I’m sure you’ll all enrich the jokaydia Community!

Joining jokaydiaGRID

jokaydiaGRID Rentals!

If you’d like to join us on jokaydiaGRID, please feel free to get in touch. We are offering sims for rent to educators, artists and like-minded business people who are interested in exploring the uses of all virtual worlds, but especially opensim and we’d love to welcome you to our community! Our grid is PG-rated and supported by a community of educators and technologists who’ve been working in and exploring virtual worlds since 2006.

Rental Costs:

• $50.00 AUD one-time setup fee
• $25.00AUD per month for each sim (region).

What is included:

As a special deal for our jokaydiaGRID residents, we also offer you FREE access to our Islands of jokaydia in Second Life resources – including a Sandbox, 2 events spaces, Edusquare – our virtual worlds education directory, Bar@jokaydia, the Beach and various other informal spaces.  Please contact jokay Wollongong for further details or to make a booking to use these venues for private events!

But wait… there’s more! Special Offer for October

To support new residents who are making the transition from other worlds,  jokaydiaGRID is offering FREE Setup until the 30th October 2010! This means a saving of $50.00 aud for all residents who join us during the next few weeks!
To get your rental request started, simply complete the form here and jokaydia Support will be in touch!

Seeya in the metaverse soon!

Coming up tonight the Onlinevents.co.uk team are presenting a fantastic interview on Teaching Counseling Theories in Second Life with Edina Renfo-Michel.

Starting live inworld from 12am SLT / 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM (GMT+0100) / 5am AEST, you can check out the live video stream of the session below! You can even join us in our IRC Chatbridge to participate live from the jokaydia Blog via our Mibbit Chat Bridge Tool which is also included below.

Alternatively join us inworld at the Onlinevents.co.uk Headquarters on the Islands of jokaydia in Second Life (SLurl).

Following the interview Edina will take us on a tour of the project so that we can see for ourselves the power of using virtual worlds in Counsellor Education.

This event is part of a series of live interviews planned to whet your appetite for the CESL 2010 conference that will be held entirely in Second Life, this is a great way to open up learning to a worldwide community of practitioners and students without the cost of travel and acoomodation.

CESL 2010 is sponsored by the Online Therapy Institute who will be offering Continuing Education Credits for U.S. psychologists, social workers, counselors, addiction specialists, marriage and family therapists, nurses and educators.

To find out more about Online.co.uk events check out their website which includes video recordings and information about their previous interviews and training sessions.

The School of Creative Arts and Humanities at Charles Darwin University who are based on the Islands of jokaydia in Second Life invite everyone to come and visit their first virtual worlds exhibition! Check out the press release below for more details!

Virtual Impressions: a Second Life gallery experience, in partnership with Darwin Festival

Showing at jokaydia Waters, Islands of jokaydia in Second Life and and at Brown’s Mart Theatre, Darwin CBD

• Showing: Monday 16 August, 5-8pm (Aus Central Standard Time, Check your local time here!)
• Showing: Tuesday 17 August, 10-7pm (Aus Central Standard Time, Check your local time here!)
• Opening Event: 5pm Monday 16 August 2010 (Aus Central Standard Time, Check your local time here!)
• Curator’s Second Life Gallery Tour: 5.30pm Tuesday 17 August 2010 (Aus Central Standard Time, Check your local time here!)
• Location: jokaydia Waters, Islands of jokaydia in Second Life (SLurl)

Become your own Avatar and navigate through the fascinating virtual gallery Virtual Impressions in Second Life.

Created in partnership with Charles Darwin University’s Northern Editions and the School of Creative Arts and Humanities for the Darwin Festival, this unique on-line platform enables visitors to view the centuries-old art form of printmaking with the new virtual environment.

This interactive gallery experience is linked to a CDU research project in new media technologies, ‘Virtual Galleries’, and provides alternative ways to view, consider and discuss fine art. It showcases the best of the freshly released limited edition prints that have been produced at Northern Editions and replicates on-line the two physical exhibitions at Charles Darwin University’s Casuarina Campus, Tiwi Shima and Nexus.

Darwin Festival goers and arts lovers from around the globe are invited to explore all three Northern Editions’ exhibitions, both physically and virtually, interact on-line with the curator and chat with other virtual visitors.

The opening event will also include a ‘live stream’ of our physical art gallery with a user-controlled Internet camera so that the users can take control of the camera and pan, tilt and zoom to the artworks that they are interested in.

Compare the physical artwork with the virtual experience and let us know your “Impressions”.

The amazing Henny Zimer aka @Teacherman79 aka Jeff Agemenoni has done it again! Ground-breaking as usual, he’s setup a fantastic 2 week long Virtual Worlds Camp for kids in his local district in Montana. During the camp, the kids are exploring Quest Atlantis and jokaydiaGRID and learning, fun and a little bit of virtual chaos are definitely in order!

The kids range in age from about 10 to 14years, and had their first explorations of jokaydiaGRID today. It was awesome to see them excited to learn and explore…. seeing kids have fun on jokaydiaGRID NEVER gets old! I cant wait to see what they create on the Montana sim over the coming days!

You can also check out some great images captured by the kids via Jeff’s Flickr stream.

Congratulations to Henny and the Montana kids – it’s truly awesome to have you with us at jokaydiaGRID!

The jokaydia May Unconference 2010 is coming together and we’ve only 2 more sleeps till the fun starts!!! Check out the jokaydia Unconference Wiki for full details on all the sessions! There’s some really interesting discussions planned, and I must say a HUUUGE thanks to all the facilitators who’ve volunteered to participate! Yay everyone!!!

Events include discussions, tours, workshops and presentations across Second Life, Reaction Grid, jokaydiaGRID and World of Warcraft and I’m sure it will be lots of fun!

How to Participate!

The Draft Schedule on the wiki includes links and information to the various venues and how to get there, the time for each session in Sydney, Second Life and GMT Times and any information on additional communication tools. Please note that for some sessions we will be using Skype Bridge and Ventrillo and instructions will be provided on the wiki.

For newbies – check out the following guides for signing up and getting started at our various venues:

• Getting Started in Second Life (jokaydia Virtual Worlds Wiki)
• jokaydia at ReactionGRID – Instructions on setting up, logging in and finding the jokaydia Sim
• jokaydiaGRID Support Site – All the info you need to signup and login to the jokaydiaGRID
• World of Warcraft Session Instructions – All the info you need to signup for the World of Warcraft 10 Day trial and join in the fun!

For Volunteers and Facilitators!

Most of you will have heard from me via email or IM now, and we’re going through the process of confirming and doing final prep for your sessions. If you have any concerns, please email me!

I’ll be hanging out in Second Life on Wednesday evening from 8-10pm (26 May, Sydney Time) and  Thursday evening 8-10pm (27 May, Sydney Time) to meetup with anyone who needs help, wants to check details or would like prepare for their sessions. Feel free to drop in for a chat and we’ll solve any issues.  You can meet me at the jokaydia Landing Point (SLurl).

Tagging the Event!

Please help us tag and record the jokaydia Unconference online! We’d love to see your tweets, images, blog posts etc! We’ll be using the tag #jokaydiaUnconf .

Seeya at the Unconference!

After a few weeks of development and reconstruction, I thought it might be time to do some celebrating and socialising in jokaydia’s little corner of the Metaverse, and so we’ll be holding a number of events in the coming weeks! Check out the details below, and feel free to join us.. all welcome!

Sunday@ the Islands of jokaydia this week! – Monthly Social Events Starting Up Again!

Join us on Sunday at the Islands of jokaydia in Second Life for our regular monthly social event! This month we’ll be touring the new resources on the Islands and talking about upcoming events! We’ll also be doing a little partying in the newly designed jokaydia Beach! All welcome… bring your togs and floaties! ;)

• Event: Islands of jokaydia Social Event
• Location: Meet at the jokaydia Landing Point (SLurl)
• Date: Sunday 18 April 2010
• Time: 9pm – 10:30pm Sydney Time / 4am Second Life Time
• Check your local time here!

TwitterLits Bookclub Meet and Greet

“A Virtual book club for tweeps from the edublogosphere – reading those big ideas books that you’ve been meaning to get to…!”

Pandora Kurrajong aka Kerryj will be hosting a meetup and social gathering over at her lovely space on jokaydia II. Those interested in participating in the Twittlits Bookclub are welcome to attend! Check out the Twitterlits Community Ning for more information on the group!

• Event:TwitterLits Bookclub Meet and Greet
• Location: Kerry’s Place on Jokaydia, in Second Life (SLurl)
• Date: Monday 19th April 2010
• Time: 8:30pm – 9:30pm Sydney Time / 3:30am Second Life Time
• Check your local time here!

Builder’s Workshop – The Sandpit, jokaydia@ReactionGRID

Join us in the Sandbox on the jokaydia Sim at Reaction Grid for some building fun! This is an open session for all levels. Not a formal training session, rather a chance for jokaydians and friends to come together and share their building skillz!  For information on how to signup and join us at jokaydia@ReactionGrid click here.

• Event: Builder’s Workshop @ Reaction Grid
• Location: The Sandpit, jokaydia Sim @ Reaction Grid
• Date: Friday 23 April 2010
• Time: 9pm – 10pm Sydney Time / 4am Second Life Time
• Check your local time here.
• Tip: To find us at jokaydia, simply search the main map, or IM jokay Wollongong inworld for a lift!

Pioneers Open Day @ jokaydiaGRID!

Are you a current resident on the Islands of jokaydia? Have you moved into your FREE Pioneer’s space on the jokaydiaGRID yet?!! Come along and stake your claim and join us in building our new virtual world! All jokaydia in Second Life residents who rent 1024m or higher are entitled to a free parcel! Contact jokay Wollongong for more details, and signup for jokaydiaGRID here!

Keeping up to date with the jokaydia Events Calendar

You’ll find information about these events on our freshly updated Google Calendar which charts upcoming events over the next few months. Check it out below or view it on the Events page!

The calendar has been setup so that events are also displayed at the jokaydia Landing Point (SLurl) and both the jokaydia.com and jokaydiaGRID.com sites.

I’ll also promote all events via Twitter @jokay and @jokaydiaGrid, our inworld jokaydia News and Info Group channel and our jokaydia Facebook Group.

How to Support jokaydia Events!

The jokaydia community hosts free educational and social events for educators and artist who are exploring virtual worlds. There are lots of ways you can support us to continue to provide open and collaborative events for all, including:

• Come along and join in the fun!
• Volunteer to host an event or share your work at one of our regular events – we love collaborative learning! For further info contact jokay Wollongong.
• Share our links and retweet event announcements – help us get the word out!
• Join the Community –  as a rentals tenant, as a member of our jokaydia News and Info Group inworld, as a photo contributor in the jokaydia Flickr Group or as a member of our jokaydia Facebook group.
• Make a donation to jokaydia! Funds raised help to pay for our virtual presence, tools and resources at the Islands of jokaydia in Second Life, jokaydia@ReactionGrid and the jokaydiaGRID.

A big thanks to all who continue to help us to explore virtual worlds and games for education, arts and social change!

Seeya in the metaverse soon!

Today has been an exciting day on many virtual fronts, and to finish it off I had the pleasure of setting up our newest project oriented space on jokaydiaGRID! The Sugar Sim is jokaydia’s new Art and Design space. It will be used as a gallery space and for all sorts of 3D artyness, and will be facilitated by myself and the amazing Al Upton (aka Al Lurton in SL).

Al has been a resident of jokaydia in SL for a long time now – sharing many of his works and exhibitions with our community… so I’m totally excited that he’s decided to take on a leading role in establishing some creative projects on jokaydiaGRID! Thanks Al!! ;)

We’re obviously going into an intense building and planning phase on the Sugar sim starting today, but in the meantime feel free to drop in and share your ideas for how we can support art and design on the jokaydiaGRID. Do you know a great virtual artist? Got a brilliant installation idea!? We’d love to hear from you!

Great news for all jokaydians who SLOODLE!

I’ve just finished setting up and testing the SLOODLE tools over at jokaydiaGRID and all seems to be working well! Yay!

This is a nice addition to our SLOODLE Hut on the Islands of jokaydia in Second Life (SLurl), and the jokaydia Moodle! webspace, which are both available for jokaydia residents to use.

I’ll be using these tools to experiment with some web-based newbie resources, and we’ll run some workshops for residents who are interested in the coming weeks. In the meantime if you’re particularly keen to start playing with SLOODLE on the jokaydiaGRID, feel free to drop me an email!

And a special thanks to the SLOODLE community for making their tools available to Opensim users! Go check out there resources at SLoodle.org!

What an exciting 24hrs! The jokaydiaGrid has opened its gates and welcomed 26 new residents in our very first day!

We also setup our very first resident’s island, with AgileBill Krebs taking up residence on his new sim – Agile Dimensions. Yay Bill!

jokaydiaGRID will be offering sim rentals for business, education and arts organisations interested in joining us .. but more on that shortly! ;)

We  had a visit from our first young jokaydians! Henny and his sons joined us for a little bit of building on the Niello sim. This was particularly exciting, as one of our key reasons for setting up jokaydiaGRID was to enable parents and kids and teachers and students to easily work together inworld.

And finally, the lovely Pandora wins the prize for first hypergrid teleport from ReactionGrid to jokaydiaGRID. You can read more about it via her blog post here. If you wanna try out hypergridding check out the instructions  here.

Big thanks to Maria and the Hypergrid Business team who have included us in their Hypergrid Worlds Directory already! Thanks also to Aaron Duffy who came over for a visit. It’s great to feel that we are a little part of the opensim metaverse already!

If you’d like to come and join the adventure, check out the jokaydiaGRID website, which includes info on how to sign up and configure your client.

Seeya in the metaverse soon!

We’re still in beta mode – but today is the day! Visit the jokaydiaGRID website which has all the information on:

• Signing Up!
• How to setup your client to login

Seeya in the metaverse soon!