The Human Network

The other life

This is what I like to do when I’m not working. Mine’s the green 67 panel van.

Yey … I’ve got my SL Space!

About to start building my first SL space in Jokaydia. Right over the street from Judy! Hope she doesn’t mind the noise.

Not too sure what I’ll do yet, but at this point, hope to provide a location/venue for CEO Computing and VET teachers. I’ll just link into my online stuff that I share, and will be providing Web2.0 practical lessons and resources for Professional Development. It’s also a a great community and I suspect will lead to building new professional relationships with the growing community focused on Education.

The Skoolaborate project is now in the final stages of going live with my classes, so I’ll be using this space on the adult grid for professional development and meetings with fellow teachers involved in the project.

I am hanging out to get students into TSL, and my year 9 class have been busy in preparation for our first project which will begin at the end of November. Thanks to Judy, Melinda, Wesley, Angela, Jo, Alex, Tobey, Patrick and the infamous CogDog for the support and opportunities so far.

Learnscope 2007 Second Life Venue – Jokaydia

Here is a quick fly through of the Learnscope 2007 Venue in Jokaydia in Second Life. Jo and Sean have put a MASSIVE amount of effort into this space, and set up an exhibit for posters created by each of the teams involved in Learnscope – bringing Web2.0 into schools and Tafe – with a focus on VET subjects.

Event is live in SL during 1/2 November 2007 – so if you can’t make the RL thing, then join the international guests in SL.

Skoolaborate

Though playing email/phone tag … Dave and Tobey have configured a small cluster of iMacs to allow a small group of staff and students to participate in the Skoolaborate project, which I’m aiming at year 8 and 9. Pretty much my Web2.0 focus for a while is going to be in this arena, all be it a sideline project for the interim, and sure people are tiring of my SL adventures already … so I’ll post something up in due course as we get it running. Thanks to all those who I’ve met through the Learnscope project so far, looking forward to the conference in a couple of weeks.

CEO Learnscope – Conference Presentation

As per the conference requirements, this is the 8 page (not inc cover) slideshow put together to illustrate the key findings that I’ve discovered about a whole lot of things about taking the plunge into Web2.0 in my classroom. It covers the use, tools and findings … but don’t take my word for it, check out the kids’ blogs from the ‘My Web2.0 World’ link, just check my blog lines.

Though a little low on text explanation, this is a good insight into the adoption of Web2.0 – from the view point of the marketing world.

CEO Learnscope Poster

Beta – poster for the Learnscope Event in November …

SL Frustrations!

So I’ve been taking classes – shame they all seem to start at midnight or 1am, but thats how it is in SL sometimes. I’m playing catch up, and kicking myself for not getting skilled up well before now, but I want to make sure I can be relevant to the project PMHS is about to start as a spin-off from the NSW Learnscope Initiative.

Way back in the 90s, the web development business was fairly social in Sydney. Most people knew who was doing cool stuff by company and name. There was a huge rush to make sure that whatever you did next was better than the day before. If you didn’t pay close attention, you lost. It was pretty simple. Of course these days, post the dot-com fallout of 2000(ish), there are a gazillion people busy developing the web. Finding a starting point for the would be web – designer, programmer, innovator is just that much harder.

The people I’ve met though SL – all real people with a real passion and insight – have made the exposure to a new communication platform that much easier – and enjoyable. Like the web of the 90, most are in there because they have a real passion for it’s future. The level of Me2 activity in SL remains pretty low – but perhaps because the speed and shift of it’s core-purpose changes so much (despite what 60 minutes will tell you) that Me2 is not sustainable.

So as HTML is fast looming ‘in world’ the pressure is on to make sure I can apply HTML based ‘old school’ skills into SL … because shortly after that Web2.0 will come flooding in and just like the 90s – every man/brand and his dog/product is going to have to be 3D immersive (if thats a word).

As each week seems to pass, the time left for Teacher 1.0 to remain relevant to Student 2.0 seems that bit less and less. The push towards even better tech – now you can Twitter in SL – makes the gap that much bigger … not sure I can solve that one … it’s like trying to hold the bus for people who are running late … at some point I fear that teachers who are immersed in Web2.0 will just have to get on the bus and continue to the next stop … but I’ve got all wierd now so I’ll stop and get back to cruising a VW forum or two.

Well done fellas!

Just a quick post to congratulate the 3 boys, Issac, Eddie and James, who have been offered traineeships with the CEO. This is not to say that the others who applied were not IMO just as good … and after speaking with the CEO, it seems that competition was fierce this year.

One comment I had was that the boy’s blogs showed how they had applied themselves to their studies this year … and in fact I think that (as a teacher or an employer) that a blog is a great way for young people to demonstrate their abilities and levels of sustained effort.

I wish all my year 12 class the best as they sit thier HSC exams … and hope that at least a few … keep using Web2.0 tools in their future studies or working lives. I very much enjoyed working with the Class of 2008 and given that I began my Web2.0 journey with them it was just that bit ‘more special’.