Snapshots from ISTE Island

Hey, all,

Looking forward to the upcoming ISTE VEN Reunion in Second Life, I dug into my bloated SL inventory and struck paydirt in the form of snapshots auto-named for the location and coordinates where they were taken. It was a quick search for "iste island" and it yielded enough snapshots for what you'll see here, if you have the patience to view a 5+ minute video comprised of them. The video and music is courtesy of my Screencast-o-matic Pro account, filmed from my desktop whilst standing in front of the images displaying in an image viewer object (Multi-photo Display, Sold by Iain Maltz Visit The Store) at the new Virtual Environments Network homeplace, now viewable there. Many of the pics were taken for my long-running blog, "Oh, Virtual Learning," which ended years ago but is still available at Blogspot.  I suggest you go all full screen with it! I hope you enjoy:

Reflections on What Could Be Isolation, But Isn't

I'm experiencing an ongoing therapeutic program designed to promote resilience in this time of societal retreat. Thankfully, my school district is footing the bill, and I admire that in an employer. Thank you Metro Nashville Public Schools.

The online platform is called Tiatros. I haven't done my research to understand the etymology of that word, but I should. Heck, let me pop out right now...

Hmmm. Makes sense. You can read the founder's story of the digital startup for yourself. But here's a  definition, thank you Google, from Wiktionary:

Etymology

From English theatre, French théâtre, German Theater, Italian, and Spanish teatro, Russian теа́тр (teátr), from Latin theātrum, from Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, “a place for viewing”).
Noun
teatro (accusative singular teatron, plural teatroj, accusative plural teatrojn)

1. a building where theatrical productions are performed, theater (theatre) (building)

1. everyone related to such a building, collectively (its actors, set designers, administrators, etc.)

1. the art of theater

Derived terms

• pupteatro (“puppet show”)

• somerteatro (“an outdoor theater”)

• teatra (“theatrical”)

• teatraĵo (“a theatrical production”)

• teatrejo (“theater, playhouse”)

• teatrotajloro (“costume designer”)

See also

• kinejo (“movie theater”)

Like I say, it makes sense: Essentially, the core concept of the therapy, which includes some lecture video, some meditative audio, and some reflection in answer to questions about one's life, is that telling and sharing one's story is a healing process. I tend to agree. Anyway, I want to share one part of my story that I shared in answer to a question about a difficult effort in my life, one that has not yet been fully realized and may never be. Here it is, copied and pasted from my online response:

 I have been advocating for being "together at a distance" through virtual worlds for nearly all of the twenty-five years I have been a teaching. I had elementary school students in a space called Quest Atlantis twenty years ago, and I recognized the value of immersive synchronous learning environments so strongly that I founded ISTE's Virtual Environments Network with at its core a network of educators primarily meeting in Second Life, a massive online avatar community where I have met many thought leaders who have become cherished colleagues and friends. That work still goes on, as the PLN's mission has expanded to all digital realities. I lead a daily get-together in a range of virtual spaces as we speak, today in Engage, which offers a platform on computer but primarily on 3D goggle devices, to watch educational TEDTalks and discuss them. A handful of educators from all over the world have spent two weeks in Second Life, then two in VirBELA, then these two in Engage, experiencing being together at a distance in different ways. We'll be in AltspaceVR the next two weeks then lord knows where after that. There are over 70 virtual synchronous worlds at latest count. Maybe we'll see them all. Getting the Education mainstream to pay attention has been a challenge but  I'm still plugging away, with a little help from my friends. Yes, it's been difficult and confusing, until it's not. Google all that. It's a thing, and in this time when we should be exploring and considering new alternatives for learning, it's a powerful thing.

There. I got that off my chest. Now I'm sharing it with you, emphasis added in post-production. I just laughed a little. Stay well and safe.

EDU TEDTalk a Day!

Happy Friday, everyone, or as we now call it, "Day." In the past we might have given everyone we came upon at work that greeting, but things, as we now say, have changed. So, well, Happy Day.

For those who may be experience some disequilibrium over how to spend time during the hours previously labeled "the work day," I would like to offer a modest contribution: Every day, at the same time of the day, let's go online into a virtual space where we can be "together at a distance" and view, together, a randomly selected TEDTalk about what teaching and learning has looked like in the past, looks like now and how it might look in the future. We will start, the first week, in Second Life.

I woke up Monday, the first day of Tennessee's Safer at Home order from our state government, and what should have been the first day back to school from Spring Break, with the idea. I've been working on it ever since.

Some backstory:

Back in the first decade of the 2000s, I was teaching in the Lower School (elementary) computer lab at University School of Nashville. I also worked on Mondays at the Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach, though at first that group was called the Vanderbilt Office of Science Outreach. It was the brainchild of the brilliant Dr. Virginia Shepherd and USN was kind enough to release me from my teaching schedule each Monday to work with the CSO in the role of Teacher-in-Residence.

I was meeting my new colleagues at Vanderbilt, my first day of work in that new job, when one of us got a call that America had been attacked on 9/11. During the 8 years I worked in that role at Vanderbilt, I focused on helping schools utilize the thirty or so videoconferencing codecs we had already placed in public schools, working closely with Vanderbilt Virtual School's Jan Zanetis. This was before the days of desktop videoconferencing and that help was needed. During the course of time I created a podcast that brought interviews with working scientists, computer tips, and independent music to the world--early "edutainment"-- which I called "Snacks For the Brain!" Its 84 episodes are archived at the Vanderbilt library's online repository. Have a listen to one produced near the end of those, featuring Dr. William Schafner with some timely info on viruses:

Those were some times.

Another project toward the end of those days was one I called "CSO TalkTalks." I set up a CSO space in 2nd Life and used my Second Life blog "Oh, Virtual Learning," to promote and set up each ~monthly event to vote on one of four proposed TEDTalks then watch it in that space together. It proved to be very fun and a way educator/learners could spend some quality time discussing the talks' content in text chat while the videos were going on. It had a kind of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" vibe because "talking" during the video was highly encouraged--in fact, it was key to the experience.

from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Science_Theater_3000

Note: it's actually Saturday, though I've been writing this early morning and the fact that I started doing so simply underscores the depth of my own schedule disequilibrium, hahahaha.

But I digress, LOL. Beginning next week, on Monday, March 31, at 10am US Central Daylight Savings Time, we will begin ISTE Virtual Environment Networks "Mystery Education Theater." We will do so daily, Monday through Friday. All the info is here. It will go a bit like the venerable CSO TalkTalks with some variations, but in addition to getting all of us together in a virtual platform (a different one every week until we run out of them and cycle back through), it will help us focus, daily, on how prominent minds have mused upon the broad topic of Education and what we think about what they have shared.

In the planning for this free Professional Development, we at ISTE VEN have developed a randomizing tool I often use in the classroom. One of the fabulous free-to-teachers online tools available at classtools.net, you can find it for your own use, should you be unable to join us at the daily appointed time, to pick your own video(s) to watch at a time that you schedule daily to do so. There. That's my free offering to you for your daily schedule.

Pick a different TEDTalk about Education every day!

You're welcome. Join us if you can.

Call to Volunteer

Hey, ISTE members and other curious humans,

Pardon the long and textual post, but I have an important question to ask: Have you been wondering what the meaning of "reality' is?

At the ISTE Virtual Environments Network, we've been exploring that question since before 2000! Surprisingly, we have found some answers. Our professional learning network orbits around the concept of "together at a distance," a term coined by co-founding member Peggy Sheehy. With the advent of new technologies like 3D goggles and rapidly developing innovations in virtual worlds--some of which are actually experientially accessible within 3D goggles--we might expand that concept to "together, anywhere, at a distance."

We meet at least twice a month, together, from wherever we are. It is not unusual for us to gather around a crackling campfire, seated comfortably, dressed stylishly, and everyone lookin' good, to discuss PLN business. I am on a kitchen counter stool in my home in Nashville, Tennessee; Mary is in her living room on an island in the shadow of Niagara Falls; Andy is at his home office table with his son laughing in the next room. Others are in Virginia, or California, or Canada. But--and here's the rub--we are all here. Sure, we could Zoom or Google Hangout, but this is somehow more fun. Everyone needs fun, even teachers!

Kurt Vonnegut's physician son is famously quoted for this comment: "We are all here to help one another through this--whatever 'this' is." That's what we do at VEN: We help one another through this.

Besides our monthly "OOH" (Open Office Hours), VEN produces, at our headquarters in Second Life, a monthly "Focus Session" which features an innovative educator sharing her or his innovative creation that leverages the unique affordances of virtual environments. Often, we teleport from these events as a group to a site within Second Life or Open Simulator, to explore together, communicating in text chat and voice our wonder and our insights, our questions and our answers.

Our huge annual culminating event traditionally takes place at ISTE's annual Conference and Expo. Ya'll, we invented the Playground. Initially that sort of event at ISTE NECC (National Educational Computing Conference) took place for several hours during the conference and was called a "Lounge." The Second Life Lounge at NECC 2007 was where I first met, in person, a core group of ISTE educators who already were meeting regularly in Second Life and whom I already thought of as friends and colleagues. There was even a working docent program within the virtual world, where educators could and did schedule themselves (themavatarselves) to be on duty to meet with other educators, both those familiar with ISTE and those not. The large building at ISTE Island offered a very large stone-paved front porch, where we would "widen the circle" of avatars as new arrivals joined the conversation. At that time there was no voice engine in Second Life and everything was in text chat. I always thought that made me more intentional in my comments than I would have been in voice, and there was a substantial backlash when Linden Lab did enable that feature. 

But I digress, as is my wont. I'm sending out this notice to ask you to join in the fun. Volunteer for ISTE wherever you wish to serve, but especially, serve with us. We will widen the circle with you. It will open up worlds of learning.

Visit https://www.iste.org/membership/volunteer and take a few minutes to work through the brief sign-up form. Choose Virtual Environments Netw1ork. We'll be in touch. And, hopefully, we'll see you at the end of June in Philly for ISTE 2019!

Midnight Reef in Second Life

Enjoying some virtual down time when I have real down time. :)

https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cFeX2RDFmc

Virtual Reality in Support of One's Mental Health

At La Digue du Braek in Second Life

In my volunteer life, I work with some of the brightest minds in learning and teaching. Serving this year as Chair of the International Society for Technology in Education's Virtual Environments Network (VEN) affords me at least weekly opportunities to actually meet with them. Scheduled meetups are on Tuesday evenings.

After a long day at a very demanding, often-times emotionally draining teaching job at a struggling inner-city school, meeting with these friends (and it seems there are new ones joining in every week), though they may be in New York, Colorado, or Australia--actually being with them, my Second Life avatar embodying my self--helps me relax and know my worth in the world.

Once a month, on the month's first Tuesday, friend Barbara Seaton leads a session called VEN Writers Group. We visit a "sim" that is evocative in some way, artistic, moody, and always creatively designed and implemented, soak our(avatar)selves in the ambiance, and each of us pens some creative writing piece around that experience. The following month we meet at our Second Life Headquarters and share our work by turns.

Last month, we met at VEN HQ, chatted together for a moment, then visited an amazing place modelled after a mixed beach-and-industrial location on the coast of France. I confess that I did not write my piece that night, but later, closer to the sharing meeting, I penned a poem after a particularly hard day at my teaching work. I can't share it here because it is a bit too dark and personal, but it will soon be among the writings shared at our group's website at http://venetwork.weebly.com. The picture above was taken there, and you may visit it in Second Life via this link.

For comparison after you visit in Second Life, see this video drive-through of the "real world" location.

On another Tuesday of every month, we meet for a VEN Focus Session, formerly a "Speaker Session" but more and more participative in the way of a field trip, often to other virtual worlds besides Second Life. Do you want to take a moment to view an archival video of this experience? It might just spur you to get your own avatar at http://secondlife.com and come and join us! Do!

Visit the VEN livestream archives to view one of 11 recorded live events.

Haiku from a Virtual World

Come join the ISTE VEN Writers Group in Second Life every first Tuesday of every month as we visit immersive simulated environments to inspire writing in any genre. Here's a little haiku I set down after our very first outing in April. The group is growing and the work is happening. Very fun, very worthy of one's time and attention.


Visit http://bit.ly/istevenetwork on Tuesdays at 5pm SLT (Pacific Time) to join in on all our activities and learning opportunities.

See you at ISTE2015 in Denver, CO and in the Metaverse!

Cheerio,
Scott

New monthly meetup for Writers Workshop!

Guest post by Barbara Seaton, aka Helena Kiama--Thanks, Barbara!

 Please join us for this maiden voyage of a new feature at ISTE Virtual Environments Network.

  Tuesday, April 5th, at 5:00 p.m. SLT:

Mementos Cathedral in Chouchou

from zikiquesti.blogspot.com

Have you ever been immersed in music or visited a place that transported you to another reality or evoked feelings that made you see things in another light? In those moments you transcend the day-to-day busy thoughts, focusing on some small aspect of life in which you gain new insight.
Join us in the new ISTE SL VEN Writer’s group as we find and experience thought-provoking regions in Second Life that use visual and audio components to take us into another reality in our thoughts. From there will we write about our experiences, whether it be a poem, short story, essay, a short video, or just thoughts, to share with the group the following month.
For our first meeting, we will travel together to such a region, and spend some time there, exploring, taking pics, listening to the music, and letting ourselves become immersed in the moment. Some may wish to free write (write whatever comes to mind) during this time.

We will initially meet at the VEN headquarters at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/EduIsland%209/62/99/22 and travel together to our first region.

ABOUT THE LOCATION:
Mementos is a cathedral floating in the sky. It is a very old build in Second Life, but absolutely beautiful in detail.
HUD:
You can pick up their cinematic HUD at the entrance which moves your camera slowly. I highly recommend you walk into the cathedral and find a good spot for your avatar before putting it on. Otherwise, it can be a little difficult to walk. Once the HUD is on, use your arrow keys to set your camera “flying.” (What is happening is that your avatar is turning, but the camera is delayed, then floats smoothly to catch up and swings past you.) Combine this with scrolling in and out and just enjoy. Hitting ESC returns your camera to you.
BEFORE YOU GO:
Be sure to have your audio stream working to listen to the music. For photographers in the group, you may wish to set your graphics to advanced lighting.
BECOME IMMERSED:
Once we arrive and go in, we ask that you keep IMs and chat to a minimum to allow yourself and others to become immersed in the experience.

Join in April 9 for the SL MOOC Webinar

This should be fun. We'll have an expanding table and a skeleton of an agenda of topics. Come join us and we'll discuss, yes,  "Everything about ISTE Virtual Environments Network." Established in 2009 as the ISTE "Special Interest Group for Virtual Environments," this community dates back further than that; we just made it official then. It's complicated. It's funny. It's important in important ways. I will be periscoping the session, just for fun. Be there.

If you can't be there, maybe you can contribute if you have pics from 'way back or any comment to add to the conversation. If either, tweet those babies out to #istevenslmooc anytime between now and April 9 and we'll see what we can do to work them in.

I suggest you join the MOOC. As I said, this'll be fun. See who else is presenting"
Second Life MOOC 2016 Presentations   
Life(s) is good,
Scott