Where in the world is the Second Life in Education Wiki!!??

Funny you should ask that! ;)

The new jokaydia Virtual Worlds in Education wiki includes all of the resources that were previously available at SLeducation.wikispaces.com, the well known wiki which was created by Jo Kay and Sean FitzGerald in late 2006 to document the emerging uses of Second Life in education.

I am now working on a broader collection of Virtual Worlds in Education resources… stay tuned as things develop! For further information or to make a suggestion, please email: joannamkay@gmail.com.

Please Update Your Links!

If you have included links to this resource on your website, forum or social network, please update it now! The new address is: http://wiki.jokaydia.com!

Congratulations to Jenaia and the team for creating a truly magical series of events to celebrate World Aids Day in Second Life this year!

There are activities happening throughout the day, and you can learn more via this blog post on the SL website. I urge you to visit the amazing Story Tree and add your own Illumineria at Karuna Island.

There are also events happening all day:

• The Uncle D Story Quest: all day at all locations. A new section will be opening in New York, so folks should be sure to check that out.
• Live Storytelling: at New York from Noon to 2:00pm PST
• Live Music: at New York from Noon to 7:00pm PST
• Live Music: at Remember Our Friends from Noon to 7:00pm PST
• Live Streaming: all day from Research Triangle International in North Carolina:
• Live Presentations: all day by AIDS.gov and World Community Grid on Karuna Island

Check out the complete schedule of events for more information!

At jokaydia, we are lucky enuff to be hosting a beautiful sculpture called ‘I am here’ by Sledge Roffo, and we’ll be releasing some wiki content later in the week to mark this year’s events.

We also invite you to grab a tshirt from the World Aids Day display and take a picture of yourself to mark the occasion! An action shot of you interacting with the sculpture, or a group of friends gathered together would be fantastic.

To share your images, add them to the jokaydia Group pool on flickr and tag with #WADKaruna so we can aggregate the collection

To visit and make a donation to support Aids education in Second Life click here (SLurl).

With ridiculous heatwave style conditions on the east coast of Australia this weekend, for many of our jokaydia residents it’s just tooooo hot to take part in serious activities. My brain is overheating as we speak!

So what better excuse for us to hold an impromptu beach party!? Join us for informal chats, dancing, swimming and even beach volleyball and virtually cool down with us! ;)

Event Details: jokaydia EduMeets!

• Date: 22 November 2009
• Time: 9pm Sydney Time / 2am SLT
• Location: jokaydia Beach in Second Life (SLurl)
• Check your local tme here!

Paisley’s guests: jokay Wollongong, owner and facilitator of education Islands of jokaydia, Katia Keres, singer, Mo Hax, co-founder EDTECH Retreat and developer, mentor, and blogger.

We have a huge week of activities planned on jokaydia this week – check out the details below!

jokaydia in Second Life: Dialogs with Uncle D -  A Story Quester’s Workshop

Following the success of our EduMeet visit to Story Quest a few weeks back, Marty and Jenaia from the The Virtual Worlds Story Project (TVWSP) have very kindly offered to provide us with two free and very exclusive workshops this week!

These sessions will allow us to further explore how Story Quests like ‘The Life and Times of Uncle D’ can be used to develop interactive, immersive, and educational experiences which allow participants to explore specific issues, ideas or themes; and to teach vital 21st century learning skills.

Workshop 1 will be held on Thursday 12th Nov @ 8pm Sydney Time / 1am SL Time. Workshop 2 will be held on Sunday 15th November @ 8pm Sydney Time / 1am SL Time.

To take part, check out the details on the Storyquest Workshops Signup page. You will need to add your name to the table provided. We are limiting these special sessions to 10 participants only per workshop, so add your name now!

jokaydia@ReactionGrid: MeetUp with the ReactionGrid Team

On Sunday evening as part of our regular Sunday EduMeets, we’ll  have the pleasure of meeting up with Kyle G aka @Dr_Manhattan for an update, catchup and discussion session about all things ReactionGrid and the team’s plans for the platform. This is your chance to get all the goss and find out more about the options available.

To help facilitate this session, I’ve added a ReactionGrid Questions Page to our wiki here. You can use this to add topics or specific questions you’d like Kyle to address.  Go on – add your burning questions now!! ;)

ReactionGrid Q&A Event Details:

• Date: 15 November 2009
• Time: 9:30pm AEST / 1o:30am GMT / 2:30am SLT
• Check your local time here!
• Location: jokaydia Sim on ReactionGrid. (Instructions and ReactionGrid signup here!)

This week we’re going on a roadtrip! We’ll be meeting at the fabulous University of Western Australia campus in Second Life for a tour from their very dedicated project coordinator Jayjay Zifanwe.

The UWA team are developing a fantastic space, which includes spaces for collaboration and learning, and their most impressive feature – the 3D Art and Design Competition Galleries where you can check out the latest works in the competition.

For more info check out the video below, which was created by a UWA student, and gives you a glimpse of the space. (With just a little humour.. ‘dancefloor coming soon!’.. teehee!) You can also check out the project blog.

Event Details:

• Tour Meeting Point: UWA ’s Island Landing Point (SLurl)
• Date: 1 November 2009
• Time:  9pm Sydney Time / 6pm Perth Time / 2am SL Time
• Check your local time here

Learning at the Speed of Mobile

Presented by education organisations and associated industry representatives, the focus of this years event are on showing examples where mobile related learning concepts interface with popular learning design.

The team from MobilizeThis 09 will be visiting us on the Islands of jokaydia in Second Life to convene a panel session as part of their event, which is happening all over the web and live in Darwin!

Panel session members include: Simon Brown – SkillsTech Australia, Leigh Blackall – Australia National University, John Eyles – Telecom NZ, Nathan Kerr – Howick College NZ, Bill Wade, Fred Richardson, David Lamb and Elizabeth Povinelli.

For further information about the event visit the MobilizeThis 09 Wiki or join us for the event.

Event Details:

• Venue: Meeting Hall on the Islands of jokaydia (SLurl)
• Darwin Time: 1:30pm
• Sydney Time: 3pm
• SL time: 9pm, Thurs 29th Oct 09
• Check your local time here!

jokaydia EduMeet at ReactionGrid Tonight!

Event Details:

• Date: Sunday 25 October 2009
• Location: jokaydia @ ReactionGrid
• Time: 9pm AEST / 10am GMT /3am SLT
• Check your local time here!

For information on how to join us on ReactionGrid click here.

After a great first session over at jokaydia@ReactionGrid last week, we’re continuing the fun with our second EduMeet and a visit to Story Quest this Sunday 18th October in Second Life! I hope you can join us!

To kick off the event, we’ll get together for a quick meetup at  jokaydia Beach (SLurl) to catchup on events of the week, and discuss project ideas and plans.  Please feel free to add any topics for discussion to the comments here, and we’ll follow up during the session!

After our catchup and chat, we’re off for an exciting adventure – a visit to the Virtual Worlds Story Project (TVWSP) space to explore their latest Story Quest project – The Life and Times of Uncle D.  Some of you may have attended Marty and Jenaia’s great session about their Story Quest project at the jokaydia Unconference… but now that Uncle D’s Quest has been launched we have an opportunity to actually visit the Story Quest space and take part in the experience!

So what is a Story Quest, I hear you ask?

Check out ‘The Life and Times of Uncle D’ film below and you’ll get the idea!

Jenaia has also provided a great description and overview which i’ve posted in full below:

The Virtual Worlds Story Project (TVWSP) was born of a vision shared by Jenaia Morane (Jena Ball) and Marty Snowpaw (Marty Keltz) to demonstrate – even show off – Second Life’s ability to be more than a tool/technology platform.  The real beauty and magic of Second Life is that it allows us to build our stories and share them with others.  TVWSP’s goal is to envision those stories and invite others to experience, actively participate in, and co-create them.  The larger vision, of course, is to enable each person to personalize his/her learning experience, and become part of a larger community defined by diversity and individual creativity.

Why Stories and Story Quests?

Stories and storytelling – that remarkable ability we all share to suspend disbelief and step into a world of our own or another’s creation – is what TVWSP is all about.  We dream them, write them, collect them, preserve them, and for the first time here in Second Life, have had the chance to build and invite others into them to see, hear, touch, feel, and co-create them with us.  We call these experiences “Story Quests.”

Story Quests and Experiential Learning

Story Quests utilize multi-media and are non-linear. Each individual discovers elements and participates at his/her own speed and in his/her own way (writing, listening, visualizing, photographing, etc).  Each individual’s learning styles and preferred modality are easily accommodated. Second Life levels the playing field and encourages each individual to explore and express his/her creativity in a unique way.

What about Assessment?

Story Quests embody the concept of project-based assessment.  Proof of the individual’s learning is his/her ability to creatively and organically participate in and contribute content to the story.  This approach has the added advantage of personalizing content so that each individual is able to digest and integrate what he/she has learned.

Beyond Traditional Education

Stories are by definition interdisciplinary. They cross the borders of race, culture, religion, and national identity. They are in fact universal and timeless, allowing us to make sense of our lives and celebrate our similarities rather than focus on our differences.

Sounds exciting huh! ;) Having experienced the project I can say its well worth a visit, and I think will prove inspirational for many of us! You can find out more by reading the TVWSP Blog and there’s even a Stories without Borders Ning where you can share your thoughts and responses to the Quest.

Explorer’s Challenge!

For this special visit, we are inviting all participants of the Story Quest visit to dress your avatar as an explorer as part of participating in the event!  This will add to the immersive experience and show be lots of fun! Bring your hat, hiking boots, water bottle and virtual backpack!

Walking Sticks will be provided at the Story Quest sim… or you can grab one early at the jokaydia Landing Point (SLurl) right now! There’s also a sign there to click for further information.

Event Details:

• Date: Sunday 18 October 2009
• Location: Meet at jokaydia Beach (SLurl)
• Time: 9pm AEST / 10am GMT /3am  SLT
• Check your local time here!

How to Take Part:

To take part in the Story Quest part of the event you will need to register your interest in attending so that your avatar can be added to the Story Quest access list. To do so, simply go to the Story  Quest website and enter your email address and complete the form that is provided.

NOTE: You must provide your avatar name and check the ‘Quest Sign-up’ box so that your name is added and you can access the Questing space!

Need More Info?

Please feel free to email jokay Wollongong for further details and any of our events and proejcts, and keep your eye out for the 3rd EduMeet which will be on jokaydia@ReactionGrid on 25 October!

I’ve been working on updating our jokaydia.com sites as part of the whole ‘moving the wiki’ process and have a few groovy new resources to highlight!

Check out the new and improved:

• Events Calendar page, which includes details of upcoming and past events
• jokaydia @ ReactionGrid Page – which includes a signup tool and information about how to visit us at ReactionGrid. Feel free to use this page to help your colleagues and students to get setup for ReactionGrid!
• jokaydia @ MetaPlace Page – which includes information about how to access our MetaPlace space
• About jokaydia Page – which includes information about the jokaydia Project and our online spaces and places.

What About that Wiki?

The wiki move has commenced, and you’ll see both migrated and new resources there soon. For a sneak peak, check out wiki.jokaydia.com. I’ll make further announcements when the resource migration process is complete.

Dont Forget – First EduMeet Tonight!

The first official EduMeet@jokaydia will happen this coming Sunday 11 October on ReactionGrid and will focus on playing and planning!

• 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!