Today I had the pleasure of giving an online presentation in Elluminate for students from the New Learning and New Literacies Online Masters program at the University of Illinois. It was a jam-packed, super speedy session to give them a taste of some of the fabulous things happening in virtual worlds and games, and I hope they enjoyed it. I’ve published the slides from the session above.

To follow-up we’ll be meeting with the group in Second Life this Saturday morning (aus time). Check out the session description below for details, and feel free to join us!

New Learning and New Literacies Session 2: Second Life Field Trip

• Friday 14 May 7pm (US) & Saturday 15 May 10am (Aus). (Check your local time here.)
• Venue: The Islands of jokaydia in Second Life
• Meet at the Islands of jokaydia Landing Point to attend (SLurl)

Join us for a hands on workshop in Second Life with Jo Kay aka jokay Wollongong, an Australian designer and facilitator working across a range of virtual worlds to support education, arts and social change! The main elements of this session will be:

• Second Life Basics: Moving, communicating, searching and teleporting
• Dressing Up Your Avatar: Using the avatar tools to create your virtual you
• Exploring the Islands of jokaydia – the home of the jokaydia Community of Practice
• Virtual Touring – including visits to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Headquarters, Foul Whisperings, Strange Matters: Shakespeare’s Macbeth in Second Life, ISTE’s Headquarters and StoryBook Island.

During the session you will develop skills in using Second Life, meet some educators who are currently working in virtual worlds, and develop a better understanding of how educators and institutions around the world are currently using Second Life and other virtual worlds for teaching and learning.

How to Attend the Second Life Workshop

1. Click on the SLurl link above to open a map of Second Life and a teleport Link.
2. Follow instructions on the page to login to the right location for our workshop – the jokaydia Landing Point. If you get lost you can IM jokay Wollongong inworld for a lift to the venue!

Additional Virtual Worlds Events and Opportunities

There are also a range of other sessions that we can attend. Go to the events calendar.

Further notes, recordings and resources from the session are available in the event discussion forum @ http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/content/exploring-metaverse-virtual-worlds-and-games-learning.

For those interested in Quest Atlantis:

• For information about upcoming teacher training in Quest Atlantis visit: http://atlantis.crlt.indiana.edu/site/pd_list
• For a course code or further information contact Dr Bronwyn Stuckey – email: bestucke@indiana.edu, twitter & skype: Bronst, Facebook:Bronwyn Stuckey

Special thanks to Jane McGonigal for her inspirational session at TEDTalks which inspired some of ideas for this presentation!

So its been a huge week or exploring and learning for us over at jokaydia@ReactionGrid, and I must say Im kinda exhausted, but  nonethless inspired!! ;) So far we’ve seen a huge number of the jokaydians come to visit, and some have even got their own sims already.  The Australian invasion seems to be well and truly on, and I’m really glad to be a part new adventures.

As you can see from the image above, I’ve started the process of building out the new space, and will mimic some of the resources we have on jokaydia in Second Life, as well as a whole new collection of stuff to check as we start to get established. To get the ball rolling, I’ve imported some of the jokaydia Landing Point tools and furniture, and am modding it to suit the new space. Next up… newbie garden stuff!

Weekly EduMeets Officially Start This Week!

We’ve decided to start having a regular weekly EduMeet@jokaydia. These will alternate between our space on the Islands of jokaydia in Second Life and our space on the ReactionGrid, and are designed to provide a regular time for informal chats, adventures, sharing and playing. Come along – we’d love to see you in either grid! ;)

The first official EduMeet@jokaydia will happen this coming Sunday 11 October on ReactionGrid and will focus on playing and planning. We’ll take a little trip to explore the ReactionGrid neighbourhood, and also discuss some of the projects we’ve been brainstorming. Kyle G also tells me there’s a way cool Skype tool in ReactionGrid which we need to check out!

We also want to hear from you!? Have you got a burning idea, a resource suggestion, other feedback? Come along and share your thoughts!

Event Details: First Official EduMeet@jokaydia – 11 October 2009

• Location: jokaydia@ReactionGrid
• How To: Simply signup and join us on the jokaydia Sim on the ReactionGrid. You can find the signup page here, and information on how to login here. To locate the jokaydia sim use the map to search, or contact jokay Wollongong if you need a TP!
• Time: 9pm AEST / 10am GMT /3am  SLT
• Check your local time here!

Please feel free to email jokay Wollongong for further details and any of our events and proejcts, and keep your eye out for the 2nd EduMeet@jokaydia on the Islands of jokaydia in Second Life on 18 October.

Seeya in one of our worlds soon!

With only a few days to go, its time for final checks and downloads in preparation for the jokaydia Unconference 09!

Check out the (almost) final unconference schedule on the jokaydia Wiki where you’ll be able to figure out  which sessions you’d like to attend. There are some seriously fantastic conversations to participate in planned!

Getting Ready!

If you’re new to Second Life, you should also ensure that:

• You have signed up for an account and setup your avatar?
• You have attended a newbie session or spent some time inworld prior to the event to get comfortable
• You have a headset and microphone available and you’ve tested your audio settings.

Signing up for Other Platforms!

As well as our SL sessions, we will be visiting World of Warcraft and Quest Atlantis during during the event. Check out the details below, and if you’d like to attend those sessions, you will need to follow the instructions on how to take part.

Quest Atlantis Virtual World Game for KIDS
(9-15 yrs)

Event Details:

• AEST TIME: 1pm
• SL Time: Fri 8pm
• Check your local time!

Come along and have a guided tour of the Quest Atlantis virtual world. See where curriculum, gaming and social values meet in a project sponsored by Indiana University’s Centre for Research in Learning Technology. This program is offered free to teachers and schools about the globe and is already implemented in many USA, Australian and NZ (and 15 other countries) schools already. Maybe your school could be the next?

PLEASE NOTE: Educators wishing to take this tour will need to register and create an account at: Jokaydia Unconference QA Tour. Registration Code: 121597. Email Bron Stuckey (Bron Bloxsome in SL) bestucke@indiana.edu for further information.

World of Warcraft Adventure!

Event Details:

• AEST Time: 5pm
• SL Time: 12am
• Check your local time!

Join the jokaydians for a visit to one of the other spaces we sometimes reside! Join the Alliance and find out more about World of Warcraft and its potentials for use in education.

Please Note: This event requires you to prepare by downloading software and setting up on the correct realm. For further info see the WoW Adventure Wikipage and register your intention to attend! Email jokay Wollongong for further information.

Pandora Kurrajong aka Kerryj – one of the lovely jokaydia residents and a fabbo machinimist, has made a brilliant video for education.au which is titled ‘Immersive learning: it’s game on!‘. It is a brilliant overview for education in virtual worlds, and provides case studies from Second Life, Quest Atlantis and World of Warcraft, interviews with educators and even a student. Very cool to see jokaydia make a little cameo appearance too! ;) Check it out!

Congratulations to the education.au’s Immersive Learning Unit and most especially Miss P!! ;)

Coming up this weekend is the huge and amazing Virtual Worlds – Best Practice in Education Conference – happening in Second Life from the 27 – 29 March 2009.

If you havent been to a big event in SL before, you really should check this out, as all the innovative educators and their projects will b e displayed at poster sessions, shared at presentations, discussed at panel sessions or demoed at workshops.

From the conference website:

The VWBPE Conference provides opportunities for virtual world communities to showcase projects, courses, events and research that lead to best practices in education. The end result of collaborating, sharing, and co-construction of knowledge during the conference is the creation of innovative and immersive environments in which virtual world residents can learn, work, and play.

In past years the event has been an absolute blast, so I urge you to check out the conference program and attend some of the sessions! Dont forget you can figure out your local times using the fixed world clock on Timeanddate.com.

And finally, I’m happy to announce that there will be a jokaydian Panel session at the event:

Creating Communities of Practice in Second Life: A Panel Session with residents from the Islands of jokaydia

Description: The Islands of jokaydia opened in Second Life in September 2007 and provides a range of services and opportunities to educators who are exploring the use of virtual worlds in education. We are a self-funded community of practice which spans a broad spectrum of the education sector including k-12 education, tertiary education, professional development, vocational education and workplace based training. Our community is international, drawing members from Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, France and Columbia and we host both individual educators and organizations on our Islands. This panel session will provide a case study of the journey from empty sim to a maturing community of practice and will include panel members and presenters from the jokaydia community to share their experiences and inspirations.

Featuring: Jo Kay (RL) Jokay Wollongong (SL), Konrad Glogowski (RL) Konrad March (SL), Bronwyn Stuckey (RL) Bron Bloxome (SL), Dean Groom (RL) slammed Aabye (SL), Liz Dorland (RL) Chimera Cosmos (SL), Robyn Heyden (RL) Spiral Theas (SL), Second Life and Jeff Agamenoni (RL)  Henny Zimer (SL).

• Event Date and Time: 7am AEST, Saturday 28 March/ 1pm SLT, Friday 27 March (Check your local time here.)
• Location: ISTE (SLurl)

I hope you can join us!

I’ve spent several hours today helping to get ready for the Australasian Virtual Worlds Workshop 08, which we are proudly supporting…… and as you can see from the images above, Koala Island (SLurl)and the Islands of jokaydia (SLurl) are ready to go! ;)

The AVWW08 event builds on the successful ‘Discover Your Second Life’ workshop hosted at Monash University in 2007 and is being hosted by Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne this year, whilst a number of Australian sims are providing venues inworld.

The line up of presenters looks great too with Guest speakers including Larry Johnson (CEO of New Media Consortium), Bruce Joy (CEO of Vast Park), Chris Collins (Director of Enterprise Business Systems of Linden Lab) and Keren Flavell (Executive Producer of SLCN.TV).

I thought it might be handy to publish the schedule here – note AEST and SLT times! ;)

SCHEDULE: Day 1 (Friday 28th Nov 2008)

• Commencing at 8:45 AEST / 1:45pm SLT (Thurs)
• Check your local time here!

9.00am AEST – Keynote Speaker 1 Larry Johnson, CEO of New Media Consortium

• Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Terra%20incognita/156/100/33
• SLT: 2pm (Thurs)

9.30am AEST -Panel Session 1 – Learning Communities

• Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Terra%20incognita/156/100/33
• SLT: 2.30pm (Thurs)

Panel members: Mandy Salomon – Virtual Environments and the Health Sector, Cheryl Long and Dave Pollard – Simulating Real-Life Community Building in Virtual Worlds, Jenny Grenfell – Blended Worlds :An Arts Education Experience, Peter Rive – How to enable knowledge exchange in Second Life in Design Education?

11.00am Panel Session 2 – Pedagogies

• Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Almaden/214/80/25/
• SLT: 4pm (Thurs)

Panel members: Bronwyn Stuckey – Real Learning In Virtual Worlds: Case Studies Of Quest Atlantis In Australian Schools, Elza Nogueira de Souza Barros – Virtual world education at University of Pernambuco, Andrew Cram – Meaningful learning activities: A framework for using virtual worlds to develop problem solving expertise, Westley Fields – Skoolaborate – A global initiative: Teens and teachers collaborating in a Virtual World.

12.10pm Panel Session 3 – Collaboration

• Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Almaden/214/80/25/
• SLT: 5.10pm (Thurs)

Panel members: Greg Wadley – Collaborative building in Second Life, Matthew Mitchell – The Key Contribution of 3D Virtual Worlds, Assessing sustainable urban planning in SL

2.00pm Keynote Speaker 2 Keren Flavell, Exec. Producer of SLCN

• Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Godot
• SLT: 7pm (Thurs)

2.30pm Panel Session 4 – Regulations of Virtual Worlds

• Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Godot
• SLT: 7.30pm

Panel members: Alberto Rizzo – Rethinking Educational Innovation and Change, Darren Palmer et al – Virtual Worlds, Education and Regulation, Ian Warren et al – Views on Regulating In-world Behaviour in Second Life, David Vaile – I’m god!, No I’m god: An imaginary jurisdiction dispute between Telstra and Linden Lab

4.00pm – End of Day 1 Open Discussion

• Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Godot
• SLT: 9pm (Thurs)

SCHEDULE: Day 2 (Saturday 29th Nov 2008)

• Commencing at 9am AEST/ 2pm SLT (Fri)
• Check your local time here!

9.00am Keynote Speaker 3 – Chris Collins, Director of Enterprise Business Systems of Linden Lab (InWorld)

• Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/jokaydia%20III/113/37/24
• SLT: 2pm (Fri)

9.30am Panel Session 5 – Virtual Worlds construction

• Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/jokaydia%20III/113/37/24
• SLT: 2:30pm (Fri)

Panel members: Georgia McGregor – The World is not enough: Spatial construction in Virtual Worlds, Samar Zutshi – Interoperability in VWs: Open Source and Open Protocols, Om Gupta and Ray Jarvis – A new 3D simulation platform based on Half Life 2 Game, Dale Linegar – A practical guide to Second Life projects in secondary school classrooms

11.00am Panel Session 6 – Business and Enterprise

• Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/jokaydia%20III/113/37/24
• SLT: 4pm (Fri)

Panel members: Mary Gordon – Real Life Brands in Virtual Worlds, Lindy McKeown – Virtual Worlds as corporate learning environments, Danny Stefanic – Evolution of virtual worlds and open standards, Suku Sinnappan – Business Models in Viurtual Worlds

1.00pm AEST – Keynote Speaker 4 Bruce Joy, CEO of Vast Park (RW

• Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Koala%20Island/74/17/26
• SLT: 6pm (Fri)

1.30pm AEST – Panel Session 7 – Virtual World Tool Design

• Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Koala%20Island/74/17/26
• SLT: 6:30pm (Fri)

Panel members: Amanda Kerr – Freedoms and Constraints of Virtual Design, Brian Quinn – Creating terrain and learning artefacts in Second Life and using Opensimulator to view terrain, Nauman Saeed – Effects of hedonic behaviours on User acceptance of MUVEs in education, Lisa Dethridge – Melbourne Gothic in Second Life

3.00pm AEST – End of Day 2 Open Discussion

• Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Koala%20Island/74/17/26
• SLT: 8pm (Fri)

3.45pm AEST – Closing remarks

• Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Koala%20Island/74/17/26
• SLT: 8:45pm (Fri)

4pm AEST – Social Drinks – Student Centre @ Koala Island

• Location: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Koala%20Island/74/17/26
• SLT: 9pm (Fri)

On Saturday, jokaydia will be hosting a number of sessions, and I’m really looking forward to it hearing perspectives on virtual worlds construction and business and enterprise in virtual worlds. To join us teleport to the jokaydia Meeting Hall (SLurl)!

If you’d like to keep up with proceedings throughout the conference you can obtain all the landmarks and inworld schedule at Koala Island (SLurl), Swinburne University of Technology’s presence in SL.

Outside SL, you can listen to the audio stream @ http://75.126.100.42:8060/, watch for tweets (use the #avww08 hashtag so we can find yours!), view images from the event on Flickr (tag your images with avww08 so we can see yours!) or keep an eye on the coverage happening over at the Metaverse Journal.

Hope to see you at the events!