November 3 Week's Blog

Learning more about Second Life in these ways this past week:

SL Class: Attended an NCI Basic Textures Class. When you create a prim, it’s plywood by default. In most cases when building in SL, you want to attach a texture to your build. The inventory comes with many textures to choose from depending on what you are building. For example, if you are building a sidewalk, you might apply the stone texture; a house, brick texture. Also discussed were the file types for uploading to textures. I created my OCC sign in PowerPoint and saved it as a PNG file. Then File, Upload, and paid 10 Lindens. Then I can attach the file to any texture created like a billboard. For my classes, I don’t see my students using textures. However, understanding how to upload a texture such as a photo or PowerPoint presentation is important.

SL Class: Attended a GQ Class, Your Profile. This class addressed the various tabs of the profile page and how you learn about others from their profiles. When you meet a new Avatar, point to their AV and right click to open the pie menu and then choose Profile. One important tab is the My Notes tab. This tab is only seen by the creator, and it’s helpful to use when you meet people. For example, I will write “was in my cont. ed. class” or “met at CIT in Salt Lake.” Otherwise, it may be difficult to remember the avatars because avatar names are very unusual. I actually compare this to a Facebook Profile or any social networking tool. One can share as much or as little as one wants to. I can usually tell about people by the Groups they are members of. For example, if they are an academic, they most likely will be in groups such as EdTech Community, College Professors, Distance Educators, and the list goes on and on.

SL Class. Attended Learn How to Set Up a Blog from Inworld and Post Landmarks. This was a very interesting class. We attached a HUD to ourselves that created a blog within SL. Then within SL we can post text, landmarks, and images to our blog. The images are only SL images. My blog address is http://bletaverse.com/Susie Felisimo. I’m not sure how I’ll use it at this point since I have one blog already.

SL Class.Attended Dealing with Griefers. Griefers are people who are rude, annoying and interrupt the activities on a sim. They enjoy being obstructive. A griefer may be an avatar in all shapes and forms, an object such as a cage or orbit, and particles. The key is to stay Calm and to Sit Down when a griefer is around. When one is sitting the griefer cannot affect you. Also, one must file an abuse report. This class addressed the various ways to report abuse and other tips on dealing with griefers.

SL Presentation. Attended a presentation at the ISTE Island titled Beyond Exercise Books: Powerful Learning Looks Different. The speaker was Dean Groom, Sidney Australia, Head Teaching and Learning Designer, and he used a PowerPoint presentation. He compared the old tools to the new tools and how technology changes learning. However, with the technology there are too many answers on our desktops, and this is a problem for students. We need to be selective with the tools and teach students how and went to put information into context. Heard the term “data smog” or “information overload?” He also talked about how the classroom has changed to a blended collaborative environment. This is what he is talking about. It’s all about the learning! There were approximately 60 attending the presentation. About 20 minutes into the presentation, there was a lot of noise. I understand another class was close by. Just one of the obstacles in participating in an SL presentation.

Meeting. Met face-to-face with Biker on our Findlay Campus. He uses SL in a couple of his classes, and we talked about SL and his assignments. He, too, uses the SL environment as a learning tool for his students to complete assignments and work together. He shared two great assignments with me. Kudos to Biker for forging ahead in SL.

Chatted with GentlemenKey who I met in my Profile class. We had a lengthy conversation about using SL in our classes. He teaches a lot of workplace skills classes to adults.

Continued to read daily the Educator’s Digest (SLED) and Slrl Digest (Research). As I peruse these digests, I normally take away something valuable whether it’s a contact, website, slrl, or just ideas.

One advantage of attending classes in SL are the great handouts the presenters share with us. They normally provide course handouts in an orb, and we right-click, touch, or buy (for free), and then receive the handouts in our inventory. Plus, if text chat is used, we can save the chat for review.

Off to see the Bucks beat the Wildcats!