Beyers Sellers, Professor at Johnson School at Cornell University and host of the popular "Metanomics" talk show in SL, gave a really neat keynote address on “Why Johnny Can’t Rez.” Beyers addressed the difficult issue of how to convince your higher-ups and colleagues to support your virtual education project. It was a nice capstone to…
Category: Civil Society
Barry Joseph talks about the “Ludic Life” and why Second Life can’t tip
Barry Joseph, director of the Online Leadership Program at Global Kids, delivered a rapid-fire, funny, and challenging talk on "Why Second Life Can’t Tip: The Power and Perils of Living La Vida Ludic." His talk described how Second Life is part of a larger revolutionary trend toward the integration of "life" and "play" that he…
Intellagirl at SLEDcc on “Setting Realistic (Yet Powerful) Expectations for Teaching in Virtual Worlds”
Intellagirl Tulley of Indiana University gave a really interesting keynote address this afternoon where she presented a framework for thinking about how to make our Second Life educational projects more effective. She borrowed a structure from the Clay Shirky book Here Comes Everybody called “Promise / Tool / Bargain”: The Promise: that is what mkes…
SLEDcc Workshop: Using Games to Teach Middle School Science
Chang Liu, of the Vital Lab, Ohio University, gave a really interesting presentation on the “STEAM Project”, which stands for Science and Technology Enrichment for Appalachion Middle-schoolers. The project was an effort to create various learning games to help teach science to middle-school children. The technologies they used included Second Life, Flash and a custom-built…
Claudia and Pathfinder Linden Opening Session at SLCC / SLEDcc 2008
Claudia and Pathfinder Linden gave a fairly casual and friendly opening welcome session this morning to start off the Second Life Community Convention and the Second Life Education Community Conference, at the Marriott in Tampa, Florida. Some quick notes: Claudia announced that Linden Lab is working with ISTE on a new pilot program for educators…
Speaking at SLCC at Non-profit mini-track on Saturday
Just a reminder that my colleague Shawna and I (along with a number of other Global Kids staff) will be speaking at the Second Life Community Convention, which is happening this weekend in Tampa, Florida. Specifically, we’re speaking on Saturday, September 6, during the Non-profit Mini-track that starts at 1:30PM. Check the official website for…
Buy Swifty’s photos from ILHC – contribute to Lindy Hopper’s Fund!
My roommate Swifty has just posted a set of amazing dance photos he took at the International Lindy Hop Championships in DC a couple of weekends ago. Swifty says he will be happy to make a 5 x 7 print for anyone for $8, with all profits donated to the Lindy Hopper’s Fund. Buy a…
My map of how I got to Global Kids
Today at Global Kids, as part of an orientation for new staff members, we did an exercise where we had to draw a visual map that represented five incidents or moments in our lives that led us to come to Global Kids. Here’s the map that I drew. It starts in the upper right corner,…
I’m going to SLCC after all
Through a confluence of several random occurences, it turns out that I am headed to the Second Life Community Convention in Tampa from September 4-7. I’m looking forward to seeing all my avatar friends in the non-digital flesh. Now where do I find a dragon furry costume?
Global Kids Launches Game, “Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in Crescent City,” to Raise Youth Awareness on Eve of 3rd Anniversary of Katrina
I’m proud to announce that on the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, youth leaders for Global Kids, have created an online community and game that connects young people with the ongoing relief efforts in New Orleans: “Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in Crescent City.” Global Kids and Game Pill, an innovator in online games development, have created…