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I would like to share an article that two of my amazing pioneering students and I wrote about our experiences on Reaction Grid and in virtual worlds.  I promoted these two students to estate managers of Digiteen Island and the F.L.A.T.S. and they have done amazing work with it.  This was printed in the Fall Issue of the SIG Innovative Learning and Technology newsletter which I've embedded at the bottom of this post. If you're not on this Special Interest Group for ISTE and you love technology - you're missing out!  You can see Trent and Tyler interviewed on Leon Cych's blog Post about the Open Source Virtual World Pioneers . Virtually Open Source by Vicki Davis, Teacher Trent H  and Tyler R, Students and Co-Estate Managers Digiteen Island and the F.L.A.T.S. (Flat Learning Area for Teaching and Sharing) From Vicki Davis, Teacher - Moving My Class Into a Virtual World: Driven By Students to Innovate When my 2008 Freshman class was brainstorming their ideas ...

If you and I follow each other on Twitter , you'll know that my ninth graders (a/k/a the Digiteen Dream Team) have been building a virtual world to teach digital citizenship on ReactionGrid, and OpenSim .  Boy, I'm a total beginner (feel about like this kitty on a laptop) but learning a lot, so I'm planning to share the things I've learned with you. Just remember I'm a beginner - if you're a supergeek then head over to Beth Ritter-Guth , Peggy Sheehy , or Kevin Jarrett and the other many educators who leave me in the dust, but if you're trying to figure this out, maybe this will help!  I'm putting this in my own words, so I hope the experts will correct me if I mess up. Basic Terminology Virtual World - A virtual world, some call a metaverse, is a place where you can operate in 3d environment.  Everything is in 3d space which means it has x, y, and z coordinates for those who actually start building in these worlds.  There are many out there,...

In, what seems to be student project about Playful Technologies by Karen Radakovich , (Which Seems to come from the University of Illinois at Urbana ) is embedded a most profound reflection: " The  important component here is to realize that making something seem more “real” isn’t necessarily the goal of simulation.   In a sense, this is what it does, but the fact that a player is using the simulation for play and not experiencing whatever is being simulated in the real world is the clue that there is more to it than that.  Players want to detach themselves from the outside world when they are immersed in play, as I discuss in my section on ideal users.  Therefore, why would they want to get so close to the real world through simulation that they feel as if they are no longer playing?   One thing that this reading discussed was more simple aspects of simulation, like the game pieces on a board game.  For example, in the board game Up the River, ...

From a tweet from Kevin Jarrett , I saw this article " Second Life needs a bailout after all " "...it's a tad shocking that the company was forced to create a bailout plan of its own this week - jacking up the price of the cheapest Second Life land by $50 - a 66 per cent increase. The resulting outcry has been predictable."  This is why I couldn't buy land - I budgeted at old prices but don't have the money to create my student island now. Of course, I'd wait until this past week to buy the island, but I wasn't ready until then. So, our digiteen island is now squarely on Lively, which although it doesn't have as many features, can suit our purpose just fine for a little while.  I still hunger for that little island to call my own where my students and others can teach digital citizenship.  Guess we'll have to look for sponsors, but who has time? Technorati Tags: Second Life , Kevin Jarrett , digital citizenship , digiteen

People with special needs and learning differences are near and dear to my heart, so this is one that has to be passed along. Whether or not Second Life is the platform of our future, if you're attending conferences like NECC and listening to academicians, 3D virtual worlds USED WELL can reach kids who we're struggling to reach everywhere. Today, this is what is happening: Louise Later (SL), who is legally blind, will be with us to discuss how Second Life is used by the visually impaired. She will demonstrate two scripted objects currently under development designed specifically for the visually impaired: a mobility cane and a guide dog, and she will also talk about how EVA (an screen readin g tool) benefits visually impaired users, and her work with Virtual Ability , a Colorado-based startup developing products to assist people with different type of disabilities to utilize Second Life. For more about accessibility in Second Life, click here: http://wiki.secondlife.com...

a simulpost with TechLearning As I read about the evolution of the Web , I just feel that many of the experts are missing it! (Perhaps the 3D web is part of the " intelligent agent " idea, but I'm not so sure.) Yes, I think the semantic web is important (see the W3c specs ) and inherently part of the future of the web, but I think there is one overarching evolution happening right now under our feet that is inexorably enmeshed with the semantic web. It is there amidst the video games and "fun things" that most educators refuse to recognize. With "Web 2.0" barely taking a "bit" part in most of today's classrooms, the next evolution of the web, I predict, is not Web 3.0. I think it will be Web 3D. The 3D web! Lest one think I have come up with this, visionaries have been discussing this for around 15 years. The 3D web has really been around since the Sims went online and allowed people to virtually live next to each other. Howev...

I'd like to share a transcript of an interview I did with Stephen Hogg today. For many new readers who wonder how I started in wikis and how beginners get started, it includes a lot of great information. (Note: Interesting thing about campfire, it shows the time of the host -- So, this was 2 hours later my time -- just a note b/c I have a rule that I don't blog at school.) Stephen H. Where do you teach and what grades/classes do you teach? Vicki D. I teach at Westwood Schools in Camilla GA Vicki D. I teach one semester of keyboarding to 8 th grade and 8 weeks to 5 th grade. Vicki D. I teach Computer Fundamentals to 9 th , Computer Science to 10 th Stephen H. So is your school K-12? Vicki D. and electives to juniors and seniors including computer graphic design (1 semester) and accounting (1 semester) Vicki D. K3-12 th grade -- private school with 350 students. Stephen H. Wow, that is a lot of preps you h...