Philip Rosedale and Mark Kingdon (i.e. Philip and M Linden) of Linden Lab gave a friendly breakfast talk for Day Two of the Second Life Community Convention in Tampa, Florida. Philip is of course always good on the stump, speaking fancifully about the potential for Second Life for distance meetings, international cultural exchange and even…
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…
Good bye, AstroLand!
So I hear tale that "Astroland," the beloved and somewhat seedy amusement park in Coney Island, is going bye-bye very soon. This bums me out to no end, even if I have never been one of those who were big into the thrill rides or carnie games. "Astroland" is just part of what makes Coney…
On the eve of SLCC 2008 in Tampa
I arrived today for the Second Life Community Convention and the Second Life Education Community Conference 200, being held at the lovely Marriott in Tampa, Florida. Although the festivities don’t officially start tomorrow, SLers are already here in force, soaking up the free wifi in the lobby and talking geek-speak in the bar. I’m here…
Back when I was an evangelical Christian…
During my undergrad years at UCLA in late 80s, I was extremely active in an evangelical Christian worship group called the University Christian Fellowship, or UCF for short. It was a tightknit bunch of 30 or so folks from various denominations and backgrounds who gathered a couple of times a week for worship-sharing (singing), bible…
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,…