Speed Chatting on ISTE Island

As part of the newest ISTE SIG (special interest group) SIGVE (Virtual Environments), I got a chance to participate in our first speed chatting event held at the ISTE skypark. We had a group of 49 or 50 avatars talking about the group and it's place in education. I was able to get some video of the meeting's start using my new favorite video app, Screenr (Thanks Shambles for bringing it to our attention!)

More From the Reaction Grid

Today I got a chance to chat with a small group of 8th grade students on the Reaction Grid. They go to Saint Anthony of Padua in Michigan and I know their teacher from Second Life. She asked me to talk to them a bit about making clothes and so I teleported from my island to one of their Michigan islands where they have a fashion show runway and a clothing store. I hope to bring PESD students from Mr. Ross's 4th grade at Lowell onto the Reaction Grid after the winter break, so this gave me a chance to work with students on the RG ahead of time. As you can see, it looks very much like Second Life.

Teacher Boot Camp

These screen captures were from our Second Life Day of Boot Camp. The first section included the basics such as using arrows to walk, communicating, focusing the camera, accepting notecards, using landmarks, and teleporting. We went on some virtual field trips to Genome Island, the Great Wall of China, a Mayan Temple, the Spaceflight Museum, Virtual Harlem, the Vietnam Wall and many more. Then came the building lessons!

I Am in Total Awe of These Kids!

Everytime I go into the kids' hard drive folders to see what new pictures they have taken documenting their work on the island, I am in awe. These students are gaining a much better sense of spatial reasoning by manipulating three-dimensional shapes in a virtual environment and that gives them a better sense of their own physical world. They are creating buildings from scratch with no patterns or formal blueprints. They "see" what they want to build in their heads and just go for it. They consult with their team members and whatever is happening is evolving from their process. If you walked into the room, no one would notice because they are so busy.

Something Cool

This is a virtual representation of all photos on Flickr for specific keyword searches. Want to find all pictures of roses or dogs? Do a search and find a whole galaxy of photos!

The Lion, the Witch, the Wardrobe, and You!

Here is an integrated lesson plan that hits many of the NETS-S standards as well as many Social Studies essential questions. There are literacy standards, visual, and performing arts standards as well.