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Springsteen: We learnt more from a 3-minute record…
A further idea suggested in my talk a week ago…
Because, among the first quotations I ever collected, there were a lot of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen lyrics, I couldn't not include at least one in my talk.
You can go to conferences, find great ideas for using technology on the internet (see for example, some of the Blogs I learn from, in the sidebar, right), but in the end, technology is very, very much a question of [...]
The ingredients missing in Second Life
Fifa10: now that's what I call a game!
An article on ASTD caught my eye this morning: Ten Ingredients of Great Games.
Which of those does Second Life not have?
While SL does have "self-representation with avatars" and "three-dimensional environments", obviously, what I found missing until I vowed never to return was "narrative context" (engaging narratives, in other words and feedback — which ASTD describes as "progress bars, zooming numbers, and status gauges, all in a well-organized dashboard that lets players know how things are going, good or bad".
Maybe I've just played too much Call of Duty, [...]
EVO Sessions 2010
The 2010 edition of the excellent TESOL EVO sessions has just been announced.
Session topics include video, online games, teaching with interactive whiteboards and teaching languages in virtual worlds (including Second Life).
The six-week sessions start January 11th, are free and open to all and do not require TESOL membership. They tend to be a little over-subscribed, but are run by volunteers and are well worth attending.
Registration starts January 4th.
Virtual worlds
Here's an interesting article on Edutopia.org that shows how virtual worlds can provide "a shared online universe in which students can play to learn": Get a Life: Students Collaborate in Simulated Roles,
It mentions Whyville, "a Web-based virtual world that provides inquiry-based education for middle school students" and some of the projects that schools have done using it, as well as looking at some of the benefits and (ahem) "challenges".
Whyville isn't Second Life — it's not so sophisticated, as you can see from the avatar I [...]
CSI in Second Life
I've not been in Second Life for several weeks (and haven't missed it). In fact, I doubt if even my favourite TV show — CSI — will persuade me to head back, though there's a new CSI:NY episode featuring Second Life, though the latter is not named, which aired on CBS in the States October 24.
The episode, says New World Notes, led to "an explosion of new account sign-ups — as many as 100,000" joining Second Life, that is. It would be interesting to know how many of those would rather spend time in SL than they would watching [...]
Second Life posts
A list of the posts here on Tech ELT Blog on Second Life… so far! In reverse chronological order: Second Life: where to find out more Second Life: the hype Virtual worlds here to stay Second Life: where to get started
There is an index of all posts — on all other topics — here.
Some day I'll get round to labeling them all properly!
Will new technology get adopted?
One of my favourite technology blogs is Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog.
From my Blue Skunk RSS feed [explanation] this morning, this chart enabling you to work out the probability that technology will get adopted large scale.
Doug asks, "What are the chances of large scale adoption of (…) Second Life?"
I make that low…!
Web 2.0, Web 3.0…
The term "Web 2.0" gets bandied around a lot these days. It refers to things like blogs and wikis… For a fuller definition, this article on oreillynet.com explains What is web 2.0?
But Web 2.0 isn't in fact so cool any longer, as we now have Web 3.0 as well. PC Mag explains What is web 3.0?
Web 3.0 would include things like Second Life (a virtual world). On the Second Life Educators List, Gary Hayes had a neat explanation of it: To me, evolution of the web order can be defined in single sentences:
1.0 the pushed, one way [...]
Second Life: where to find out more
Second Life: waiting for something to actually happen… Meanwhile, places you could find out more:
In order to keep up with the speed of developments in SL, a news aggregator supplying you with RSS feeds is useful: don't search, have things come to you, as I always say. Those of the resources below with an RSS feed are marked [RSS].
In alphabetical order:
101 Uses for Second Life in the College Classroom [.pdf file] "Intellagirl" blog (Sarah Robbins) [RSS] Jane Knight has a list of SL resources NMC, [...]
Second Life: the hype
Unless you go to an event of some kind, much of Second Life in fact looks like this… What on earth is all the hype about?
In case you missed it all, here is some of the hype about Second Life (SL):
This BusinessWeek article (1 May 2006) thinks "virtual worlds may end up playing an even more sweeping role — as far more intuitive portals into the vast resources of the entire Internet than today's World Wide Web".
It also repeats the oft-heard assertion that [...]
Virtual worlds here to stay
Whether you're keen on Second Life (SL) or not, virtual worlds (VWs) are coming, and not just for entertainment or education. Elearnmag has an article on Another Life: Virtual Worlds as Tools for Learning which is well worth a read.
Reading stuff on SL generally requires you to sort out the sensible from the hype. This article is no exception, but it does have a number of sensible things to say: We encourage you to examine this technology with fresh eyes and begin by asking what sensibilities it can bring to the learner that aren't found in traditional learning technology. [...]
Second Life: where to get started
Yikes! A tree! Hang-gliding in Second Life… Perhaps I should have stayed on Orientation Island longer? Assumption #1 You haven't been lost in the jungle for the last three years You've heard of Second Life (aka SL), right? If not, the SL home page gives you a good overview of SL and what it's all about. Assumption #2 Your PC is up to spec Assuming that your computer is up to the technical specifications for Second Life, you've downloaded it, entered it, wondered who the hell wrote all the [...]
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All posts by Tom Walton, teacher trainer at IH Barcelona
Blogs I learn from
Online course for teachers
April 22nd—June 2nd 2013
Barcelona, Sat.8th June 2013