Chilbo Community Blog

I meant to properly blog this the other day, but hopefully some saw it through a brief tweet.

In this video, an Iowa State University panel of faculty, staff, and administrators consider the implications of using Second Life from an institutional perspective. Both the pros and cons are debated, and I would recommend it not just to educators, but those representing an institution of any sort. When discussing legal liability issues, the focus is necessarily on US law, but the.. ethical and philosophical questions inherent in the presentations really will apply globally.

I’ve been to many panels and presentations and conference sessions about Second Life, but this one gets to some questions that I haven’t seen addressed elsewhere, and despite the fact that most of the participants seems to have done some homework on Second Life, with many having accounts and demonstrating competence in-world, many of the participants are what I’d consider laymen in SL terms. Not newbs, but not residents. And their concerns are ones that I imagine will be shared by many of our bosses and administrators and legal departments and HR departments.

Worth the time investment to watch the whole panel, the Q&A can be skipped.

View the Iowa State University Second Life Panel video here.

Veteran Second Life Educators Share Virtual World Vision at National Distance Learning Week Event


“Distance Education on the ‘MUVE’ : A place to go to learn together without leaving home” is scheduled for Wednedsay, November 14th at 6:00 pm SLT/PST at ISTE Island Auditorium in Second Life.


SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/201/46/23.


ISTE Island, Second Life (PRWEB) November 8, 2007 — Think virtual worlds are just for fun, games and whimsical escapism? Think again. Innovative educators are developing sophisticated educational environments and conducting serious academic research into the use of virtual worlds in K-20 education. They are “making a difference at a distance.” The International Society for Technology in Education is proud to host a Second Life panel presentation highlighting the work, vision and achievements of three talented educators:


Peggy Sheehy (SL: Maggie Marat) is an ITF/Media Specialist at Suffern Middle School in Suffern, NY. Very active in the district’s teacher technology training program, she is a fierce advocate for the meaningful infusion of technology in education and in 2006 established the first public middle school educational presence in Teen Second Life: Ramapo Islands. After great success with the first group of 400 eighth grade students, Ramapo will serve 1,200 students in 2007. She has presented her work at NECC, EdNet, Tech Expo, NYSCATE, and Tech Forum and will be presenting this July at the Building Learning Communities Conference ‘08.


Sarah Robbins (SL: Intellagirl Tully) is a PhD candidate in Rhetoric at Ball State University, the Director of Emerging Technologies for Media Sauce Inc., and the coauthor of Second Life for Dummies. Sarah has been teaching university courses in Second Life for two years. Her research centers on communication mechanics in virtual environments and has been featured in the New York Times, USAToday, and the Chronicle of Higher Education.


Lindy McKeown (SL: Decka Mah) has been developing online learning communities for professional development and curriculum projects for schools across the world since 1994. She specializes in the application of online technologies for professional learning and uses Action Learning extensively in both face-to-face and online settings. Lindy is currently completing a Ph.D. at the University of Southern Queensland where she is conducting research into 3D online virtual environments for use in professional development. She is the recipient of a Queensland Government ‘Growing the Smart State’ PhD Grant. Her work has been recognized via numerous awards from organizations like the Australian Council for Computers in Education (ACCE), the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the Queensland Society for Information Technology (QSITE).


This event will be moderated by Chris Collins (SL: Fleep Tuque), Second Life Ambassador for the Ohio Learning Network and IT Analyst at the University of Cincinnati, and begin with a welcome from Jennifer Ragan-Fore (SL: Kittygloom Cassady), Director, General Membership Program, ISTE. Speakers will each give a brief presentation using voice chat which will be followed by a general Q&A session, concluding with a more personal “meet the presenter” campfire chat (using text) at the beach area adjacent to the ISTE Island auditorium.


For additional information about the event, contact:


RavenPhoenix Zenovka (SL)
ISTE Island Co-Manager


Kittygloom Cassady (SL)
Director, General Membership Program, ISTE


KJ Hax (SL)
ISTE Second Life Docent Program Co-Manager

posted by Fleep Tuque on ISTE Island using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]


Chilbo resident Wainbrave Bernal brought a Flock of Ducks to Chilbo during a workshop, I’ve never seen the sim so packed! After wishing warm welcomes to all the new folks, I grabbed a quick snapshot and got out of the way. Look out Second Life, the Ducks are coming!
posted by Fleep Tuque on Chilbo using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]

Happy rezday to Kat!
posted by Fleep Tuque on caLLiefornia using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]

Filthy Fluno sent a TP for an impromptu Cylindrian performance, and who could pass that up? Leslee McCarey and Malburns Writer joined the crowd while I got some filing and laundry done. Live music in SL is one of the best things about it. Yay Cyl!
posted by Fleep Tuque on Artropolis using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]