Wednesday Evening Epiphany

I don't know how I've gotten so scattered lately, but my wife has more than once looked at me and said, "You're multi-tasking too hard, you: You're going to make a big mistake soon."

She may be right. The whole thing is a train rattling down a steep mountainside toward...what?

The place where it encounters a steep upturn, a clean end to the track, and the vehicle takes wing and soars adroitly, elegantly, gracefully into the flattering ether?

Some long, level, languishing, loverly lane where the train (remember, that's the metaphor) lolls along indefinitely, its laughing engineer sipping a tasty adult beverage and learning lots of things?

The wall?

Heck, I don't know.

Anyway, I'll continue to update you as I can. This very day, by the way, I spent a nice hour in the midst of wonderful folks, the sophomore class at the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt. These are my peeps, ya'll, 25 kids I filmed, recorded, and witnessed as they grew in their freshman year last year. I haven't spent any time at all with them this year, involved as I've been with podcasts and with trying to etch out a Second Life presence for the School's hosting organization, the Vanderbilt Center for Science and Math.

What I saw today indicates the program works--it is possible for kids to be yanked out of their public school routines one day a week for intense, hands-on, research based science learning, and for them to grow in self-confidence and knowledge in incredibly impressive ways. I'll be working next Monday (in my own bizarre one day a week work model for Vanderbilt) to concoct a Snacks4theBrain! podcast to celebrate all that. But here's the question for now:

Everyone's looking for a way to make education work. Is this model something that could be extended to other disciplines? Could we have a "School for Creative Writing at Vanderbilt"? Could dedicated Engineers create and facilitate a "School for Architectural Innovation at Vanderbilt"? What about a "School for Environmental Sociology at [plug in your own university]" or a "School for Health and Wellness Education" at [plug in your own university]"?

Is there truly a role for higher education communities to reach out to our struggling public school systems to offer innovative solutions for the terrible fix our national fascination with "accountability" has gotten us into, Ollie? My favorite quote here is, "You don't fatten the pig by weighing it."

Look no farther than the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt. Really. Now you come up with a way to extend that incredibly effective model into your own discipline.

Talk at ya soon.

Very Cool--School for Science and Math Students on the Local News!

From News Channel 5 here in Nashville:

A wonderful short spot on the fine work going on at the Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach!

Major Accounting Firm Donates Half-Million to NC State University's Second Life Efforts--Call for Suggestions!

As reported on the Carolina Newswire yesterday, "The Ernst & Young Foundation recently awarded $400,000 to the NC State College of Management to support development of a Second Life presence for the college’s Department of Accounting." An additional $100,000 was added to the grant to bring it to a cool half-million. Further, according to the article, the "combined gift of $500,000 represents the largest single gift to date to the accounting department at NC State University."

Now, this is news! I'm not alone! Others see the potential!

While that last set of comments is perhaps a bit over the top, considering the robust global community of educators in Second Life, it can feel pretty lonely for an educator who believes. Those of you who know that loneliness (weep with me here!) may also be heartened by the recent announcement of my own one hour presentation on February 20 to the faculty and staff of the Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach and the Vanderbilt School for Science and Math on the topic, "Second Life."

That's pretty open, for a topic, isn't it?

I have some pretty good notions about how I will use the hour, but I'm wondering if anyone else has had the experience of standing in front of intelligent colleagues to share the potentials of virtual environments for teaching and learning. If so, how'd it go? What do you wish you shared that you didn't? What did you share that you wish you had not? What brief engaging illustrations did you offer? How can I knock this outta the ballpark? If it were you, how would you proceed?

Please comment here or visit the presentation's wiki to provide your input! Thanks!!!

Vanderbilt Web Spiders Presentation

This morning I shared Second Life with a group of folks at Vanderbilt University called the "Web Spiders." They're interested in Web development. I got a warm reception for my contribution to their knowledge base and even received applause for my little machinima about the CSO's entry into the 3Dinternet, our new presence on Lighthouse Learning Island.

I'm adding a couple URLs that came up in discussion, ones that are not in the presentation files below:

Congressional Hearing on Virtual Worlds

A great graphic representation of commercial presences in SL (a year and a half-old, btw)

MUVErs LLC

Here's an interesting side-by-side shareout from Google Documents,



then Slideshare:

Virtual Environments for Education--Second Life

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: vanderbilt scottmerrick)

Engaging Podcasting Workshop

Just finished a very nice session with some Vanderbilt community folks all about podcasting and to make the .ppt accessible as pie I'm going to embed its slideshare.com version right here. Audio from that class will be up at the next episode of Snacks4theBrain! by next week!

For a larger version and to download the .ppt, click on the embedded version to visit slideshare.com!

Thanks to all the attendees, and comment here if you have anything to ask or add!

Windows Podcasting1008

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: podcasting windows)

STEM Report Calls for Refocus in Education

Please take a minute to read a new report in T.H.E. Journal that cites some alarming statistics and calls for change. Pleased, I am, to be working on the formation of a new "Vanderbilt Institute for STEM Education," hosted out of my "other work" at the Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach. More information on that Institute will be available here as it unveils itself. From Dave Nagel at T.H.E. Journal:

A new report issued this week by the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is calling for sweeping changes to bolster STEM education in the United States. Citing an impending shortfall in scientists, engineers, and mathematicians in this country, the report highlights the need to expose children to STEM early and to integrate these subjects throughout the curriculum, beginning as early as kindergarten.

The report, STEM Education: Achievement and Innovation, noted that while the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. job market require science and math skills, only 8 percent of the total number of degrees awarded in 2001 were in engineering, mathematics, or the physical sciences and that there's been a drop of 50 percent in undergraduate enrollments in computer sciences in the last five years. By 2010, should current trends continue, 90 percent of the world's scientists will be in Asia.

Nagel, Dave. "STEM Report Calls for Refocus in Education." T.H.E. Journal. Sept. 2008. 1105 Media, Inc. 1 Oct. 2008

PLEASE read more...

Good Ink for the CSO!

The Nashville Tennessean delivered a very nice spread today about the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt. No, I'm not mentioned, but I'm working in the background. Some very capable and dedicated people were, though! Go read!