A couple of posts below I mentioned how it was occuring to me that I had really fallen quickly behind on the topic of virtual worlds … through blog rolls I get quick snippetts of what is going on in the field however I have yet to find a really good way to keep on top … so my goal this year is to branch out and explore other worlds from an educational perspective. Interestingly enough I saw another post from Alan Levine tonight regarding a this utube video called the 2008 Metaverse Tour. I just had to include it in my blog as a reminder of my committment to myself to try to keep on top of this technology and to seek ways to explore through parnering with others.
One of my favorite books that I read at Columbia was Linked: How Everything is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means by Barabasi. I read this book for a course in Social Software that I took when blogs and wikis were just beginning to be popular. In looking back, I am amazed how social software has evolved and how information is passed from one individual to another in this linked world.
On my Google home page, I have a gaget that shows photos at random from my favorite FLICKR contacts. Alan Levine, at NMC, is one I follow and it is through one of his FLICKR entries that I found out about these two FLICKR API’s that I wanted to document. I am a big FLICKR fan; there are so many amazing photographers on this site that are more than willing to share their photos just my giving them credit.
However, FLICKR is difficult to search. These two applications make the process easier. One is compflight.com and the other flickrcc.bluemountains.net. I love these interfaces for they make searching for photos so much easier. Thanks Alan for sharing!!!!
In looking at K-12 using virtual worlds, I am reminded that I have really just focused on one virtual world, that of Second Life. We all know that there is only so much time in a day yet I keep thinking that the best use of my lunch time, other than a walk on the campus, would be to broaden my knowledge in other platforms. To be current, I really need to be more aware of what is happening in the business end of virtual worlds and to start to investigate these environments by reading and attending more online virtual conferences.
Up-and-coming platforms include Google’s Lively and the Webflock by the Electric Sheep company are good places to start . More to come later as I broaden my focus …
I was watching the movie Akeelah and the Bee the other day and I was thinking of the quote mentioned in the film, “Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?”
Life’s turbulent waters have a tendancy to drown any such notions from our mind. Being tumbled around, these thoughts have been the last on my mind in recent years… yet today, I am reminded that every once in a while, someone or something comes along just for the sole purpose of encouraging us NOT to forget.
I never, ever, thought I would be awarded one of the NMC Virtual Learning Prizes for 2008. I knew that the competition was tough and there were many talented and knowledgable Second Life educators applying with excellent proposals. I had been working on a Second Life project, the ”Virtual Endangered Ecosystem - Salt Water Marsh” for a year with two science faculty from Seton Hall. The project had not been approved for funding at the university for some reason this past year. I had seen the call for NMC proposals and I was so excited. By having our proposal accepted, I could thank these faculty, in some small way, for putting in so many hours of their own personal time to help me develop out the design.
Eight grants were issued from 75 applicants … I feel truly humbled that our idea was chosen. When I actually found out, I started to cry. We were really being given the opportunity to recreate our learning environment. And for me personally? Well, it represents a candle of encouragement, beckoning me to enter the light.
I was trying to get together a title slide for a presentation that reflected a wonderful opportunity I had a couple of weeks ago. For a week, I worked with a group from Barnfield Academy in Luton, England in the use of Second Life in the classroom, sponsored by Case Western Reserve.
Remembering Wordle, I was quickly able to create a visual I liked that reflected the experience. This Web 2.0 application will take words off of a blog, del.icio.us or input you provide and given a layout style, font and color, will create a graphic. The size of the word is determined by the number of times it appears in the input. Save your word input though in a Word document in case you decide to try other settings and fonts.
I finally decided on the one below as my favorite. Check it out …. sooooooo cool and very easy.
. More to come later as I broaden my focus …
