Thanks a bunch.



Jennifer Williams

Ga State University


-----Original Message-----
From: David J. Rosen <djrosen at comcast.net>
To: The Technology and Literacy Discussion List <technology at nifl.gov>
Sent: Mon, 17 Sep 2007 11:31 am
Subject: [Technology 1288] Second Life Adult Education Explorers




Technology Colleagues,

Think of Second Life (SL) as new territory to explore. You have a map  
(that I have not found very useful). You have some guides (of varying  
degrees of usefulness).  Sometimes you have other people -- their  
avatars at least -- who you can ask questions of. You have "islands"  
in SL that are devoted to a particular center or enterprise, some of  
them higher education and other education institutions. (What I  
haven't found (yet) are good destinations for adult educators.) And  
now you have adult education fellow travelers with whom to explore  
and learn about SL.

Fifteen people, mostly adult literacy educators, are in a group that  
is exploring the potential of Second Life for Adult Education  
Professional Development.  So far we have at least these two questions.

1. Is there anything on SL now that would be useful to adult literacy  
education teachers? If so, what?

2. Would SL be a good place to build an adult education professional  
development (PD) center, where teachers could find/take online PD  
courses, see videos of other teachers demonstrating good practices,  
meet and chat (shop talk), and/or do projects together?

The frustrations that many have with SL (other than crashes, freezes  
and other technical problems) appear to be the "directionless",  
"purposeless" quality of the environment. As I see it, that's a  
superficial issue that could easily be addressed by providing clear  
directions in an adult education teacher entry portal Web page for  
adult educators. If there were a worthwhile purpose or goal, and a  
"destination" with some added value for teachers, getting there and  
navigating around would be relatively minor issues. With specific  
directions in the portal, one could limit the distracting and  
confusing variables.

If you are interested in helping to answer either of the two  
questions above, join the Second Life Adult Educator Professional  
Development Explorer group (SLAPDE) group.

Start, by going to http://slapde.pbwiki.com (password is "explore)  
Enter your first and last name and e-mail. From there you can follow  
directions to enrol in the SLAPDE Yahoo Group, and also to get onto SL.

David J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net






>  -----Original Message-----

> From: Guckert-von Ehren, Denise A <dg21 at txstate.edu>

> To: The Technology and Literacy Discussion List <technology at nifl.gov>

> Sent: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 12:03 pm

> Subject: [Technology 1255] Re: Second Life for Survivor class

>

> I think the arrival of Second Life is a reality that we need to  

> accept and understand, though I personally find it hard to embrace.  

> I always check out new technologies, and did so with Second Life. I  

> was incredibly frustrated and unsuccessful in achieving my goal,  

> which was to explore the interface. It is fascinating to me that I  

> have such poor skills (and patience) to use this software.

>

> Second Life is not just a technology; it's a social culture with  

> many new rules to learn. You must interact with other people, who  

> are represented (disguised...) as their avatars, and depend on them  

> for help. While this is probably the aspect that makes Second Life  

> so popular, and so different than other technologies, I have no  

> patience for this kind of interaction and hate feeling dependent,  

> either on people or on help files. Since I was exploring Second  

> Life for work reasons only, not personal or entertainment value, I  

> did not want to deal with a new social network and "reality"  

> navigation.

>

> That being said, the whole issue of Second Life as it compares to  

> people entering new cultures, whether that be as an immigrant for  

> study or work reasons to the United States (or going from a culture  

> of poverty to middle class) is incredibly intriguing.

>

> From: technology-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:technology- 

> bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Cindy J Holden

> Sent: Monday, August 27, 2007 3:59 PM

> To: The Technology and Literacy Discussion List

> Subject: [Technology 1241] Re: Second Life for Survivor class

>

> I would like to use Second Life as a meeting space for some techie  

> teens I am working with in a drop-out recovery program. Having gone  

> in and experimented with the environment, I found I liked the  

> challenge to my spatial intelligence. What I did not like was the  

> billing notice ( 9.95) I got from Second Life. I thought one could  

> explore for free and purchase real estate, etc. later. I have  

> emailed to ask them why I would have received a bill. So far, no  

> response. I will not use this tool with my students if they are  

> going to be billed without their consent.

>

>

> On 8/24/07, Marian Thacher <mthacher at otan.us> wrote:

> My 2 cents - it would be really fun for students who are already  

> online gamers or used to an avatar environment, and pretty hard for  

> those who are new to it. But I haven't tried it with learners. Has  

> anyone?

>

> Also, I guess you would have to hook up with an organization that  

> has land so you would have a place to meet. Not hard, but takes  

> some looking around. How would others handle this? You definitely  

> don't want to build your own environment!

>

> Marian Thacher

> OTAN

> www.otan.us

>

> The Technology and Literacy Discussion List < technology at nifl.gov>  

> on Friday, August 24, 2007 at 6:24 AM -0800 wrote:

> Our freshman seminar is structuring its class as "Survivor," with  

> tribes, tribal councils, challenges, and the like. We're using a  

> wiki for group collaboration. Would "Second Life" work for that  

> kind of environment?

> Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. adjunct professor, director, writing center

> Post University, Waterbury, CT

>

> Marian Thacher <mthacher at otan.us> wrote:

>

> Right, Barry, Second Life is like Real Life in that way - you have  

> to figure out your own mission - no small task sometimes!

>

> But if you were meeting your students in a particular area, and  

> giving them an assignment, having a discussion, sending them on a  

> quest or whatever, that would be their learning experience. You  

> would be supplying the mission.

>

> Marian Thacher

> OTAN

>

> The Technology and Literacy Discussion List < technology at nifl.gov>  

> on Wednesday, August 22, 2007 at 5:18 AM -0800 wrote:

> To Barry from another Barry,

>

> I think second life has merit to it, I think it is a lot like the game

> World of Warcraft, AKA WOW. A major difference I have noticed in my

> minimal time on the system is that there is no set purpose for an  

> avatar

> to continue, as an example, in WOW after you decide who you will be,

> what you will wear, etc you are given a mission.  As opposed to Second

> Life where I built my avatar and then essentially walked around, lost.

>

> If you were able to give your students directions to you virtually  

> that

> may work.

>

> Do I have this wrong?  Is a player given a sense of purpose and an  

> idea

> of what they need to do to continue playing?

>

> Barry Burkett,

> Frankfort, KY

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: technology-bounces at nifl.gov [ mailto:technology- 

> bounces at nifl.gov]

> On Behalf Of Bakin, Barry

> Sent: Monday, August 13, 2007 6:59 PM

> To: The Technology and Literacy Discussion List

> Subject: [Technology 1211] Re: Prosessional Development Design

> &Developmentfor the 21st Century

>

> I don't know if it's been mentioned in this forum or not but  

> there's an

> interesting discussion taking place at Sylvia Martinez' blog on her

> experiences with using SL as an educator.  It's worth looking at for

> some of the issues that she raises. You can read through her original

> posting as the responses at

> http://blog.genyes.com/index.php/2007/07/21/second-thoughts-on- 

> second-li

> fe/  Again, as David notes, my position is not one of saying one  

> should

> use or not use Second Life but rather what would it take to get to the

> point that educators would want to invest their time to make this

> technology tool practical for the students they work with.   

> Speaking as

> one who is extremely pleased to get something as basic as an email

> message from a student, it would take some doing to expect my students

> to be creating avatars and visiting educational sites on SL on their

> own.  I'm not convinced yet that my time is well-spent on encouraging

> that endeavor.

>

> Barry Bakin

> Pacoima Skills Center

> Division of Adult and Career Education,

> Los Angeles Unified School District

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: technology-bounces at nifl.gov [ mailto:technology- 

> bounces at nifl.gov]

> On Behalf Of David J. Rosen

> Sent: Monday, August 13, 2007 11:31 AM

> To: The Technology and Literacy Discussion List

> Subject: [Technology 1210] Re: Prosessional Development Design &

> Developmentfor the 21st Century

>

>

> Hello Mark, and others,

>

> Thanks for your thoughts on the use of Second Life (SL) for adult

> literacy education. I hope you will share some of your group's  

> research

> on "under what conditions and for what purposes 3DVR might be more

> appropriate or effective than other tools/environments for  

> learning" and

> what you see as some of the opportunities and limitations of using

> Second Life. I would like to learn more about what  "we need to  

> advocate

> *for* educators *to* vendors like Linden Labs, so they build in more

> education-appropriate features." What features on SL do you think are

> worthwhile? What other features should we be advocating for?

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

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>

>

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>

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>

>

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> National Institute for Literacy

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>

>

>

> -- 

> Cindy Holden

> High School Liaison

> Learning Works Windham

> 167 Main Street

> Brattleboro, VT 05301

>

> (802) 257-9449 extension 106

> (802) 257-3762 fax

> cholden at vtadultlearning.org

> ---------------------------------------------------- National  

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David J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net



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