9
June
2009
I have been very lucky over the last two years my PLN has been expanding and the contacts and the resources that I have gained from my network are ever evolving. Today I was taking to a colleague in the lunch room as one does about what we were doing at uni and he sent me a real life website of a similar project we presented to you on Sat. Just wanted to share and it is nice to see theory in practice. 
http://wiki.tafensw.edu.au/sydney/mylearning/index.php/Secondlife_library_project_ltm
Originally posted on Elearning Experience One Ning 25th May 2009 http://utselearning2009.ning.com/profiles/blogs/how-fab-are-pln
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9
June
2009
After writing the reflection on the group work assignment tonight have decided to do some more research into how to faciliate a group more effective or find ways to encourage more learning espisods in the next group work assignment. Even though I am a trainer I think it takes a great deal of skill to encourage “social learning” in a group. Hopefully by the end of the Masters I would have acquired these skills.
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9
June
2009
At the beginning of this course this year I felt frustrated that I had to do the this subject again because of misadventure. However for me I got so much more out of doing this subject again. The see how the Web 2.0 technologies had evolved over the past year was amazing and how much my excitement about learning about them had increase. I believe that this subject has reignited my passion for learning that I thought I had lost. It has challenged me and has made me consider further postgraduate study ie a PHD in education further exploring how Virtual Worlds can be used in education. I am excited to what possibilities may come my way am ready to embrace the challenges ahead with open arms
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11
May
2009
I know I Know this was ages ago but am finally catching up with all my Blog posts so bear with me.
On March 27th -29th March The Virtual World Best Practices in Education (VWBPE) was held in Second Life. Jokaydia the learning community I am involved in presented a session which I was lucky to be part of the panel. “The islands of Jokaydia : Creating Communities of Practice in Second Life”. In this session panelist talk about the various learning communities which they were creating as well as describing their involvement in Jokaydia. The second part of the session was a tour of various locations of Jokaydia (not dissimilar to the road trips that Jo Kay aka Jokay Wollongong runs on a monthly basis in Jokaydia) and a practical lesson on building. I found this experience invaluable not only because I got to be on a panel for the first time but also made many contacts in particular a Lecturer from Scotland who teaches graduate students about virtual worlds she is not only a great sounding board for ideas but has provided me with a different perspective on how virtual worlds could be used for educational purposes.
References:
Virtual Worlds in Best Practice Conference in Education Wiki
http://wiki.vwbpe.org/index.php?title=Main_Page#Presentations Accessed March 2009, May 2009
Virtual Worlds in Best Practice Conference in Education Blog http://www.vwbpe.org/ Accessed March 2009, May 2009
Jokaydia Blog
http://jokaydia.com/2009/03/25/jokaydia-at-the-virtual-worlds-best-practices-in-education-conference/ Accessed March 2009-May 2009
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22
April
2008
Last weekend I attended the Jokaydian April festival. You may think where is Jokaydia I have never heard of this place is it in the south coast some where one of those hippy towns or is it a Star Trek planet But no Jokaydia is a island in Second Life.
“The Islands of jokaydia in Second Life is owned and operated by Jo Kay aka jokay Wollongong. It was launched in September 2007 and aims to provide a space to explore the uses of virtual worlds in education, the arts and social change. The Islands of jokaydia are self-funded and support a range of events, activities and services. We also host a vibrant community of educators and artists as part of our rental community on the Island.
The Island of jokaydia is designed to provide a flexible and dynamic space for educators in Second Life which includes informal and formal meeting spaces, plus a range of interesting objects and tools to explore. Our space is designed to assist new residents to gain competency and confidence in using the Second Life interface – whilst they are having fun! We also support mixed reality events, professional development activities and a number of other projects” http://jokaydia.com/about-jokaydia/
I have been hanging around Jokaydia for a while and chatting with Jokay Wollongong who is the administrator of Jokaydia. Even joined the Facebook group. Anyway after must consideration I decided to change my group for the assignment as my group Teacher Buzz only met once or twice a month and they were in San Francisco it just was not practical. So I have digressed.
Anyway I went to a couple of sessions at the April Festival. The Educator in residence Leroy Goalpost discussed his project creating a living space out of trucking containers and how the simulation in Second Life could be translated into Real Life or First Life. He also talked about home schooling and de-schooling society which to be seems like a model of social learning that may be interesting to investigate.
It was only my second experience in a so called “virtual” classroom so really I did not know how to behave as I am so accustomed to the model of teacher in front of the classroom you sit still be quiet and when it is time to participate then you can. I asked Jo is it okay to get up and look at the project as I did not want to appear rude while the presenter was talking. She said go ahead the etiquette of the virtual classroom is such a different kettle of fish. The one think that has not changed is participants did not speak. They did use the chat function to text questions but the participants did not use the functionality that allows them to speak using their real voice to ask questions of the presenter Like in the RL/FL participants still feel nervous to speak (This includes me). Won the lucky door prize at the festival RL cool tee very happy
Anyway will write more as I get more involved and will post some pictures
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