looking forward to mashing up here

[Birdie]

Thank you, Fleep, for inviting me into the parlor. SL seems to offer
so much, yet finding ways to make that promise come alive ... that's
the rub.

We're just finishing up an experiment in learning inspired in part by
Siemens, in part by the vision of Linden Lab. The post-project
evaluation is just beginning.

One thought, expressed by my partner in education, Maxie Schneider, is
that the people who learn in Second Life are the educators -- the
students are just transient, waiting to get back to World of Warcraft
or something with great graphics and lots of action.

[CDB Barkley]

On Aug 21, 11:58 pm, Birdie <birdie.newb...@gmail.com> wrote:
> One thought, expressed by my partner in education, Maxie Schneider, is
> that the people who learn in Second Life are the educators -- the
> students are just transient, waiting to get back to World of Warcraft
> or something with great graphics and lots of action.

From what I hear elsewhere, there's some truth to this, but I'd avoid
making sweeping generalizations. But for those students, try stepping
in their shoes as young people (or of any age)-- what exactly is in
Second Life that they might use their free time and energy to do? My
hunch is this is yet to emerge, if it will at all. If this is a larger
true generalization, then its on us (if it is important to have
students be less "transient") to make those experiences eye opening,
compelling, and nit just an "assignment".

It's still all very new- on the trajectory of the way the web evolved,
it feels like, oh, March of 1995.

looking forward to lots of banter,

alan / cdb

[Liz Dorland (Chimera Cosmos)]

Speaking of Web evolution CDB, was it you (I think) or maybe Jim
Walters who did the first-ever group demo of Mosaic at Maricopa when
it first came out in the mid--90s? As I recall, the connection didn't
work and the presenter wound up describing what we would see from the
Library of Congress if it WAS working. It was just a group of us
gathered around a computer monitor, but it was a historic moment none
the less. Kind of reminds me of the worst days in Second Life when no
one can get in or move or whatever. Hehe

I agree with the comment that educators learn a ton in Second Life
from and with each other. That's why I think the highest purpose may
be for professional development. No one needs to be working in
isolation any more with so many terrific collaborators just a few
mouse clicks away. If having students around helps with that agenda,
then that's a bonus.

Looking forward to the cohort discussion in SL.

Liz Dorland/Chimera Cosmos