The 3rd Issue of Virtual Environments Journal is HERE!

A beautiful new issuu (sic) of SIGVE's Virtual Education Journal? With two articles by moi and 60 pages of some of the most engaging introductions to what's happening in 3D worlds learning and teaching ever shared with the public?

Bring it on!!!

And thanks, Rosie and Bob Vojtek. FYI, both of those fine folks, who produce VEJ as a labor of love, are vibrant educational community leaders, public school administrators in their "real" lives and active volunteers for educational innovation on an international scale. See what they and many other innovators are up to in virtual worlds. You'll be amazed and impressed, I warrant.

Open publication - Free publishing

Please share profusely. And do visit ISTE Island in Second Life before  it moves to a new, smaller (but most likely more robust) space. You'll want to build a few virtual memories from the heyday of our tribe, now, wontcha?

Cross-posted (and elaborated upon) from Oh!VirtualLearning!

SITEslides 030811 Merrick

Here's the slides I may share on today's panel at SITE in Nashville, assuming I get the chance. If I don't get the chance, here's the slides I would've shared.

I'll add some notes after the fact just to make the online archive a bit more valuable to others. Until then, use your imagination.

SITEslides 030811 Merrick

View more presentations from Scott Merrick.

JamParty4Education is LIVE!

JamParty4Ed

Promote Your Page Too

Okay, ya'll, it's live, yes, but it's not fully populated. What is there is enough to get you started on requesting you own FREE copy of an exciting new WindowsPC-based musical creativity software that offers so much hope for so many students and educators that I'm simply beside myself  [looks to the left, jumps, startled} with the potentials. With JamParty:Remixed students with little or no musical training can begin to patch together their own creations from royalty-free song banks, "Jams," using an interface very much like the Guitar Hero and Rock Band ones many are so familiar with already. Think Legos with pieces of music. Not familiar with those tools? Never mind, you don't need to be. In Wikipedia, at the top of the definition for "Intuitive," is a screengrab from JamParty:Remixed. I'm not kidding!

Okay, I'm kidding, but I'm excited and I tend to kid when I'm excited. But the coolest thing is that once they've created their music, students can SAVE their creations as .mp3 files and share them with others. Do you have older kids who are into music already? Audacity, Soundbooth, Garage Band all can import these .mp3 files as tracks and your kids can add more instruments or even vocals, singing or narration. Cool?

Cool.

Watch this:

For Educators--Getting Started with JamParty4Education from JamParty4Ed on Vimeo.

Now go request your own copy!

Professional Networking for Lifelong Learning

My thanks to the organizers of Texas's Virtual Education Conference '10, held this week Nov. 9 through 12, for the opportunity to meet a quality handful of new colleagues via my presentation last night. I did prepare a PowerPoint for it, though through the effort of adapting that object to the Elluminate10 platform I'm beginning to see value in starting out building a presentation in its whiteboard-based interface and will likely play with that during February's 4 webinar series with ESBOCES in New York. At any rate, on my way to my morning treadmill workout I want to offer the original PowerPoint here.

Focusing on only three elements of a PLN, it's chocked full of resources for an educator just starting out building a one, which for me has two "P's," Professional and Personal. Maybe I'll start abbreviating it "P/PLN" to make that point.

The 1 hour mini-event, moderated magnificently by Kim Caise, will be archived at the site, and if it's available via guest access I'll post the link to it right here. I had fun, and I learned some things myself. Please feel free to share:

PLN4LL

View more presentations from Scott Merrick.

Reposting Again, Another Opportunity to Share

I consider David Warlick a friend. Back in 2007 I was teaching a week of Web 2.0 exploration to a group of teachers and David spent an hour of his time chatting with us, an hour borne of our acquaintance through ISTE and subsequent conversations about education. A resulting artifact was podcast number 59 of my "Snacks4theBrain!" series, an interview, music show I produced back then for the Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach. You can read (and listen) all about that at the Snacks4theBrain! podcast website. 

Zoom to present day, where you are encouraged to add to your calendar David's live share, detailed below, this Wednesday night via the K12 Online Conference. I regret to admit that I haven't participated at all in this annual event, but only because my personal and professional life has been so busy. Perhaps I'll see you in one or another event this week, or perhaps I'll see you at David's live post-conference keynote. I hope so.

Via email this morning:

Subject: Post-Conference Keynote Presenter Live 

Fireside Chat with David Warlick

A message to all members of K12 Online Conference

Hello everyone! I wanted to invite you to continue to view the 2010 K12 Online Conference presentations including the post conference keynote presentation by David Warlick - 'A Gardener's Approach to Learning'. The culminating live event of the K12 Online Conference will this Wednesday, November 10th at 7pmEST/11pm GMT.The session will be in Elluminate and accessible via either of the following links: Date: November 10, 2010 Time: 7pm EST/12am (next day) GMT Short URL: http://moourl.com/k12online10__ Full link:  https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2008350&password=M.BCB4DFE87DA4243B4040ACD3044AF9__ Mark your calendars with this event and stay tuned for more details with invitations to participate in the live Echo sessions held at EdTechTalk throughout the remainder of 2010 and 2011. The Live Events committee will continue to share details and additional live events after the 2010 conference and before the 2011 conference. The 2010 K12 Online Conference has been a fantastic two weeks with amazing videos from presenters around the world. The Live Events Committee hosted several events throughout the conference and will continue into the new year. We hope to cross paths at the Global Education Conference hosted by Steve Hargadon and Lucy Gray. Many of the current and past K12 Online Conference presenters will again share the wealth of their knowledge throughout the five days the Global Education Conference will be held. Be sure to check the schedule and support conference presenters by attending, engaging or volunteering to assist with conference sessions at the #globaledcon10 website. Have a great week, Kim Caise K12 Online Organizer Team

Visit K12 Online Conference at: http://k12online.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Make Plans to Participate in the 2010 Global Education Conference, November 15 - 19!

While my two colleagues are planning to leave me behind to hold down the fort at the end of next week when they traipse on out to Arizona for the iNACOL 2010 Virtual School Symposium, I'm planning to, well, hold down the fort at MNPS Virtual Learning, but I'm also planning to attend another conference, all from the comfort of my own little (admittedly techtripped-out) cubicle. Thanks to Steve and Luuuuuuuuuuucy (I have to say it that way every time I see her, for some inexplicable and likely juvenile reason) for making this happen. I repost content from the Global Education Conference website here in the sincere hope that I'll see some of you there (virtually, of course!). Here 'tis:

Bienvenue! Welcome! 歡迎! Willkommen! Benvenuto! 

반갑습니다!

Seja bem-vindo(a)! Bienvenido!

The 2010 Global Education Conference will be held November 15 - 19, 2010, online and free. Sessions (do check this list out! You'll be AMAZED) will be held in multiple time zones and multiple languages over the five days.

The conference is a collaborative and world-wide community effort to significantly increase opportunities for globally-connecting education activities and initiatives.

There is no formal registration required for the conference, as all the sessions will be open and public, broadcast live using the Elluminate platform, and available in recorded formats afterwards. Links to watch the sessions will be posted a few days before the conference begins, in the "Sessions" and "Schedule" pages, and recording links will be listed soon thereafter. To verify that your computer system is configured correctly to access Elluminate, please run the self-test here.

We are currently looking for volunteers to help moderate session--please check here if you can help (and thanks!).

Thank you for your interest,

Steve Hargadon
Co-Chair
steve@hargadon.com
www.stevehargadon.com

Lucy Gray
Co-Chair
elemenous@gmail.com
elemenous.typepad.com
http://globaleducation.ning.com

A Spanish/Espanol version of the site is here.

Gary Stager's "Must Read" List for School "Reform"

The esteemed Gary Stager, educational change advocate and a strong voice in the edublogosphere, last week posted a piece--on the new Huffington Post Education tab--which he, with characteristic aplomb, entitled, "Wanna be an School Reformer? You Better do your Homework!" I heartily encourage you to begin yours with a visit to that post and a thorough reading of Gary's careful and knowledgeable descriptions of the 18 books on his (though "admittedly subjective") list of essential required readings. I took a few minutes at the start of my work day to cull out just the titles with Gary's links to the books themselves, but only because I want a concise assignment sheet for myself in order to search my local public library (that "teacher's salary" issue ;).

[Posted later, a pic of my growing collection from the public library, shared with my colleagues at my cubby]:

Steve Hargadon, through whose Facebook post I became aware of Gary's article, suggests that "we need to do a book study of these." I concur. As I say, please do read the original post, but if you need the cheat sheet I submit it here, along with Gary's comment preceding his must-read list:

"The following books are appropriate for parents, teachers, administrators, politicians and plain old citizens committed to the ideal of sustaining a joyful, excellent and democratic public education for every child."

A Schoolmaster of the Great City: A Progressive Education Pioneer's Vision for Urban Schools, Angelo Patri

Dr. Seymour Sarason, The Skeptical Visionary: A Seymour Sarason Reader, The Predictable Failure of Educational Reform: Can We Change Course Before It's Too Late, And What do YOU Mean by Learning, Political Leadership and Educational Failure and Charter Schools: Another Flawed Educational Reform?

Seymour Papert, The Children's Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer

The Big Picture: Education Is Everyone's Business by Dennis Littky and Littky's biography, Doc: The Story Of Dennis Littky And His Fight For A Better School, by Susan Kammeraad-Campbell

Deborah Meier, In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing and Standardization

The Schools our Children Deserve: Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and "Tougher Standards" and The Case Against Standardized Testing: Raising the Scores, Ruining the Schools by Alfie Kohn

Dr. Theodore Sizer, Horace's Compromise

Jonathan Kozol, Ordinary Resurrections: Children in the Years of Hope

Herbert Kohl, The Herb Kohl Reader: Awakening the Heart of Teaching

Susan Ohanian and Kathy Emery, Why is Corporate America Bashing Our Public Schools?

Gerald Bracey published, Education Hell: Rhetoric vs. Reality - Transforming the Fire Consuming America's Schools

Not With Our Kids You Don't! Ten Strategies to Save Our Schools by Juanita Doyon

Go for it! And let me know when you're ready to have that book study group!

Sir Ken Robinson Helps Me Out (Again)

Okay, just to make sure you watch this. I've Facebooked, tweeted, emailed, and done everything but run screaming through the streets to share this 11 minutes of reasonableness with others. Here's my last effort (today, anyway) to nominate Sir Ken Robinson for a Global Reason Award. Is there such a thing? Maybe not, but there should be. I started off my MNPS SWAP session by sharing this with the 18 K-12 teachers who were really there for a Web 2.0 learning day. I said it was "to let you know where I'm coming from, here." Here:

Virtual Pioneers Online History Conference!

Come and join in the 3D immersive fun and learn while you do it!

 Second Life and OpenSimulator, two important artifacts of future history, are continually providing new ways to see, hear, and personally experience the past. Other 3D platforms are doing so as well, and in the course of these presentations over a two day period, as you drop in when your own schedule allows, you will see what all this can mean for learning and teaching over the next generation. Read the press release for the conference.

Andrew Wheelock (Spiff Whitfield) has facilitated into being a group of around 200 educators interested in exploring history in virtual worlds. The Virtual Worlds Pioneers has been going strong for years now, having started out in a Ning and migrating to grou.ps (as did so many other communities) when Ning dumped their free-for-education policy. The new address is at http://grou.ps/virtualpioneers/home and I heartily encourage you to join.

Why? Because VWP consistently offers events in virtual worlds where educators can share a passion for history. In doing so, they build friendships that can last a lifetime. Two lifetimes, even...

If you don't have a Second Life avatar, now's the time. Simply visit Secondlife.com and get one for free. Play around with it for half an hour prior to the conference so you will be able to sit or walk without sitting on someone's head (considered rude in any historical period or culture) or bumping into others embarrassingly. 

This is the first ever VWP online history conference, but it won't be the last. Themed "Re-Create, Educate, Illuminate--Learning History Virtually," it runs Friday and Saturday, October 29 and 30, coming up in just under two weeks. I'll be wrapping up the conference with a closing keynote on Saturday, 4 pm SL (Pacific) time, to be followed by a "Closing Celebration- Socializing, dancing, prizes, and music!" The entire schedule is available online at the conference website and it looks to be a doozy! 

Heck, I'll save you a click or two:

Saturday, October 29:

Date	Time (SL time)	Session	SLURL
10/29/10	1-2pm	Kimmer Jameson from PBS Eight will inspire us with her blend of great teacher resources that can adapt to Virtual Environment history.	Virtual Pioneer Headquarters
10/29/10	2-4pm	Csteph Submariner will lead us on a tour of this unbelievably detailed and historically accurate sim that highlights the trials and poetry of this era in world history.	Western Front
10/29/10	4-5pm	Jacon Cortes will take us on a tour of Antiquity Texas, an 1800's role playing sim in the Antiquty Community of Victorian Sims and ruled under the gracious hand of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Antiqutiy. Jacon has a superior knowledge of this time period as well as tremendous skill as a Second Life designer and builder. Please join us on this fantastic tour.	Antiquity Texas
10/29/10	5-6pm	Eureka Dejavu- Understanding Islam in Virtual Worlds	Virtual Pioneer Headquarters
10/29/10	6-7pm	Tamsin Barzane- The Yoruba Light Project (still under construction) connects the past and present of the West African Yoruba people to Salvador da Bahia in Brazil and to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.	Yoruba Light

Saturday, October 30:

Date	Time (SL)	Description	SLURL
10/30/10	10-11am	BigD Flanagan- Join BigDin a discussion of team teaching Social Studies in the secondary setting.  BigD has 17 years of History teaching experience to bring to this topic.  The subject lends itself to a wide array of teaching approaches and practices.	VP SKYBOX
10/30/10	11-12pm	Shenlei Flasheart-Overview of the 1:1 simulation of the Gettysburg Battlefield being developed in the openSim-based ScienceSim grid. Discuss how educators can become involved in this large-scale, big picture project to fully simulate the critical, 3 day Battle of Gettyburg.	Virtual Pioneer Headquarters
10/30/10	12-1pm	Norma Underwood -Historical Building by Students. Come see the Lincoln Memorial and a Holocaust Memorial built on a Second Life Teen Estate and moved to the Reaction Grid. If you are interested in re-enactments or role-playing, this shows what 13 and 14 yr olds are capable of doing.	Virtual Pioneer  Headquarters Reaction Grid
10/30/10	1-2pm	DrM Magic- Connections Through Cultural Dynamics DrM & Students will present a cultural quilt of history and familial dynamics that bring educators and students together through a historic poster presentation blanketing their comforting past, gingerly gifting it to 21st Century learners!	Virtual Pioneer Headquarters

10/30/10	2-3pm	Ydnar Seljan-A Walk Through History with Language	Professional Development Cruise
10/30/10	3-4pm	Nany Kayo- Dias de Los Muertos-The Day of the Dead -Exploring this unique Mexican holiday.	Smithsonian Museum of Latino Music
10/30/10	4-5pm	Closing Speaker- Scott MerrickOh- Will wrap up our conference as only Scott can, by inspiring us with the future of virtual environments and education.	Virtual Pioneer Headquarters
10/30/10	5-6pm	Closing Celebration- Socializing, dancing, prizes, and music!	Olive's Bistro

Cross-posted from Oh!VirtualLearning!

Live Interactive Event Monday--Come Join the Discussion!

From http://futureofeducation.com, an invitation: 

Date: Monday, October 4, 2010

Time: 2pm Pacific / 5pm Eastern / 9pm GMT (international times here)

Duration: 2 hours

Location: In Elluminate. Log in at http://tr.im/futureofed. The Elluminate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Elluminate, please visit http://www.elluminate.com/support. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page.

Event and Recording Page:  http://www.learncentral.org/event/106358
Hashtag:  #elev8ed

The Future of Education Charting the Course of Teaching and Learning in a Networked World

A message to all members of The Future of Education

Between the NBC "Education Nation" Summit, Waiting for Superman, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's $100 million gift to Newark city schools, there has been a lot of media attention focused on the topic of education reform. Unfortunately, much of it has excluded actual educators, let alone students. Furthermore, and perhaps as a consequence, the dialog has become divisive, blaming, and ultimately counter-productive. FutureofEducation.com and Edutopia are collaborating this coming Monday on a two-hour live and interactive look at "Elevating the Education Reform Dialog"--an online discussion with special guests and specifically for educators,  to help move past the bashing and to engage in a constructive conversation about the best way forward.  Connection details are at the bottom of this post.  Confirmed speakers include:                              Julie Evans is the CEO of the national education nonprofit organization, Project Tomorrow (www.tomorrow.org) whose mission is to ensure that today's students are well prepared to become tomorrow's leaders, innovators and engaged citizens of the world. Alfie Kohn writes and speaks widely on human behavior, education, and parenting. The author of eleven books and scores of articles, he lectures at education conferences and universities as well as to parent groups and corporations. Chris Lehmann is the founding principal of the Science Leadership Academy, a progressive science and technology high school in Philadelphia, PA. The Science Leadership Academy is an inquiry-driven, project-based, 1:1 laptop school that is considered to be one of the pioneers of the School 2.0 movement nationally and internationally. Deborah Meier has spent more than three decades working in public education as a teacher, principal, writer, advocate, and ranks among the most acclaimed leaders of the school reform movement in the U.S. Diane Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a historian of education. In addition, she is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.  She shares a blog called Bridging Differences with Deborah Meier, hosted by Education Week. She also blogs for Politico.com/arena and the Huffington Post. Will Richardson considers himself an "evangelist" for the use of Weblogs, RSS and related Internet technologies in classrooms and schools. Over the past six years he's had the chance to speak and work with thousands of educators from around the world on the merits of "The Read/Write Web." He was a classroom teacher for over 20 years who integrated these technologies into his curricula for over four years. Sir Ken Robinson, PhD is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources. He has worked with governments in Europe, Asia and the USA, with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and some of the world’s leading cultural organizations. Since 1982, Gary Stager, PhD, an internationally recognized educator, speaker and consultant, has helped learners of all ages on six continents embrace the power of computers as intellectual laboratories and vehicles for self-expression.

I'm on for ESBOCES Webinars in February

Cool.

ESBOCES in New York is setting up a cool year of professional development for their administrators and teachers, and I've been asked to belly up for a 4 week series of weekly webinars on the general topic of Leadership in education. Cool!

New! Model Schools Virtual Technology Leadership Series

Get inspired from the comfort of your own home! 

All administrators and interested teachers are invited to join us for this exciting and inspiring technology leadership series.  Participants will be given the opportunity to learn from and interface with technology subject matter experts.  This Leadership Series is designed to broaden your perspective on technology and its application to improving teaching and learning.   Each series will run once a week for four weeks and will feature a different technology expert. Weekly webcasts will be followed by additional on-line interaction (blogging, discussions, etc.) and will allow you the chance to interact with technology leaders from other districts as well.

Here's some info on my contributions to this innovative effort, and I'll post links for participation here once everything's set in virtual stone:

February 2, 9, 16 and March 2, 2011, from 8-9pm EST, facilitated by Elluminate

Scott Merrick--Innovative Leadership: a Contradiction in Terms?

An essential element of effective leadership is making sure our academic institutions improve and thrive. Or is it? For example, maintaining an ongoing plan for Professional Development can be well nigh impossible: What works one year may not work the next. What one school needs may not be what another needs. Are our schools and our school districts missing something important that may, if not "save the day," at least help in particular settings? This four-week set of hour long interactions will focus on several general topics through the perspectives its presenter has developed over the last decade of teaching, teacher training, volunteer work, and professional practice. The topics are at this writing subject to change, but they will likely include the following:

• The Read-Write Web and what that means for teaching practice, professional development, and personal satisfaction
• Personal Learning Networks, Professional Learning Networks, and the big question--"Why Bother?"
• 3Dimensional Immersive Environments--Sense of Presence at a Distance and Why You Want It
• Distance Education in K12--"Disantiquating" Schools and Schooling with Virtual Learning

Cool.

From Metro Nashville Public Schools News 08-06-2010

MNPS Virtual High School: A new era in education

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Aug 6, 2010) – Imagine the day that all 22 credits needed for high school graduation could be earned in a student’s own time, a time when students will be able to learn at their own pace earning credits based on mastery not seat time. Metro Nashville Public Schools is excited to say that day is here thanks to the district’s new Virtual High School.

“Virtual High School will open so many doors for so many students,” said Executive Director of Instructional Technology Dr. Kecia Ray. “We will now be able to meet students where they are on their path to finish high school on time and provide options for students where the traditional school or classroom is not conducive to their learning style. Our opportunities with Virtual High School are unlimited.”

For the 2010-11 school year, Virtual High School will seat 10-15 full-time students and will be able to seat more than a thousand part-time students at any given time. 

Full-time students can take up to three courses at a time. Though all courses will be taught entirely online, the group will be required to meet at least once each semester for non-academic reasons, such as social skills and bonding. Students will maintain a Virtual High School blog and other social elements to help them feel part of a bigger community.

“The beauty of virtual education is that students are in control of their own education,” said Associate Superintendent of High Schools Jay Steele. “We want to meet students where they are academically, regardless of age or geographic location.”

Upon completion of a course, they can immediately enroll in a new course, regardless of day or month. This will allow all students the opportunity for accelerated learning. Eligibility guidelines are still being developed, though five full-time students have already been identified for the upcoming school year. The district is now accepting full time students or students may enroll part time through their regular high school.

Ray explains this first class will be very small so that the district can “build out student support.”

“We have to be able to provide every student certain support services -- access to advisors and counselors, assistance with financial aid and post-secondary education opportunities, online resources like libraries, social networking -- all the things students in traditional high schools have access to. So we will start with a small group of full-time students in 2010-11, but we expect to be completely open by 2011.”

The school will also be open to students enrolled in other high schools in the district. These students will take a regular load of classes at their enrolled high school and be able to take additional courses online. This will benefit students who want to take classes not offered at their regular school, or those who want to get ahead but not miss out on the traditional high school experience. There will be a fee for non-Metro students; it has not been determined.

All students interested in Virtual High School must have access to a computer. Parents must also be prepared to learn. All parents of full-time students will be expected to participate in a training program that will teach them how to help their children.

About online learning

Online learning is different from e-learning, which MNPS already offers in the form of A+ Credit Recovery. While e-learning does not require an actual instructor, every online course has a full-time instructor. The teacher may be in another state, but he or she monitors and instructs the students daily.

MNPS will contract with an online learning vendor to locate and provide courses. The district will purchase so many “seats” which can be used for any course and any student. One of the greatest benefits to online learning is the unlimited number and type of courses MNPS will be able to offer students. According to Ray, “Japanese, AP Archaeology, you name it. If it’s out there, we can offer it.”

MNPS has a Coordinator for Virtual Learning and a Virtual Curriculum Specialist in place. Coordinator Barbra Thoeming worked with Florida Virtual School as an instructor and Instructional Manager. In addition, she was an online student during her Master’s Degree program. This gives her a unique insight into the needs of students, parents, and teachers in the virtual environment.  

Specialist Scott Merrick was recently selected as a National Association of Independent Schools “Teacher of the Future” and is chairperson of the Virtual Learning Environment Special Interest Group for Virtual Environments. He served 14 years as a Technology Coordinator at University School of Nashville.

Virtual High School will be funded through federal grants. This is the first school in our state to offer online learning in this capacity.

Important Reminder:

The 2010-2011 school year begins on Thursday, August 12, 2010, with new immunization requirements for pre-school, pre-K, kindergarten and 7^th grade students. Vaccination information is available, in English and Spanish, at   http://www.mnps.org/Page68374.aspx.

- MNPS -

Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools serve more than 76,000 students with the goal of being the first choice for families in Nashville and Davidson County. The governing body for MNPS is the Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County Board of Public Education, a nine-member group elected by residents of Metropolitan Nashville. For more information, please visit www.mnps.org.

ISTE NETS-S in 3D

Hey, ya'll,

I have been remiss in sharing a project I put up one day in ReactionGrid that I hope will provide an interesting destination for teachers interested in learning and teaching in virtual worlds. I did share it briefly at ISTE10 in Denver, CO at the SIGVE Virtual Environments Playground, but I think a few pics online would be a nice addition to the shareout.

This build displays the standards outline for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), which those of us who follow and utilize this kind of thing know as ISTE NETS. There are three "National Educational Technology Standards" sets, one for students (NETS-S) and one each for Administrators and Teachers, each substituting the appropriate letter for the -S in their acronyms.

See them all here.

And now you can visit a visual representation of them in ReactionGrid, the OpenSimulator-based virtual world that has become a staple of my online explorations. Disclaimer: the owners of this beautiful and functional world are becoming friends of mine, so I'm biased as can be in favor of this platform. If Linden Lab took a few cues from their personalized, helpful, and proactive style of service for educators (or for anyone, for that matter), they would ensure the future of Second Life, a future which has come under considerable speculation lately. Don't get me wrong: I love Second Life. Our Special Interest Group for Virtual Environments networks in there and shares fascinating professional development opportunities in a monthly SIGVE Speaker Session every third Tuesday of every month (taking a break for August as teachers get back into the swing of the school year. It's just that the recent elimination of 30% of their employees included, apparently, anyone interested in fostering an education market. We continue on in spite of, not with the help of, Linden Lab. We hope for positive change, as usual.

But I digress. Surprised?

Here are a few pics from the ReactionGrid project, hosted on ISTE Island 1. When you first login to Reaction Grid, look at "Places" on the login screen and choos ISTE Island 1. When you visit, please know that you are invited to visit ISTE's new headquarters on ISTE Island 2 (teleport at the standards build), part of a new project for that organization. And while you're there, feel free to add resources at each level of the standards that illustrate ways to implement them. Don't be afraid to hit the Build button and share away!

View from above

Close up of one standard--fly through and enjoy the view

A side view

An example of one resource for one standard: add your own!

Am I Delusional? Apple Summer Learning Institute Shines in the Closet

Okay.

So I just got finished with the two days that comprised the Apple Summer Learning Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. It was not an invited conference, though I was invited as a "Teacher of the Future" from the National Association of Independent Schools. Anyone who knew about it could pay a fee and attend. There are around a hundred? Maybe? attendees. As a learning experience for the educators in attendance, it was great and the conference organizers and presenters all did a fantastic job. All that said, one would soooo expect the organizers and the attendees to be savvy about collaborative arenas and online platforms.

Not the case. I set up a twitter hashtag, but I don't see any way to get it to the participants and if no one's using it but me that's all you get with a search. Since the event is the "Boston Apple Summer Learning Institute" for teachers, the tag I made up is #basli,10 and there ya go. Searching around, I did find this one brief but thoughtful post from a principal who attended the separate session for his ilk two days prior to the one for teachers.

The conference organizers made no concerted effort to share any means of online collaboration. This is Apple, ya'll. They should know better.

The problem, of course, is that they do. And they're choosing not to support this arena of collaboration or allow us to continue the dialog outside of their staged event. Is that because Apple doesn't have a competitive (to twitter) microblogging platform? I don't know. I shudder to contemplate. I've learned a lot here. Sadly, I have little venue to share it.

When I say "us" above I mean the people at the conference of course, but also the people in my PLN who share my notions about how the current (agrarian, teacher-directed) models have failed our students and how serious rethinking is in order. You may not be one of them, but you got to this page, so you may have some interests that flow along this stream.

I met a bunch of change-committed teachers in my BASLI experience, and I'm grateful to NAIS for sending me, but seriously, now, are we here yet, or are we stuck in the last decade? There is no reason for a conference like this to isolate itself outside the robust discussion that gets carried on through social media every day of every week.

Apple, think about the Global Share. I think it will benefit your message and your profit line.

Apple Summer Learning Institute in Boston

I'm at the Apple Learning Institute for Teachers for two days of learning for teachers in Boston, MA, at the lovely Colonnade Hotel. I'll try to post here as I go, maybe liveblog it if the arrangement and access seem just right. I'm a PC guy at heart, or at least I am now, and I'm wondering if the experience these two days will "turn" me. We'll see. Most likely, if you're interested, I'll be tweeting and Facebooking and sharing in other ways, so if you're one of my PLN, be on the lookout. 

Cata and Catou--Calling all French Teachers!

From my dear friend Jason Barnard in Mauritius, comes this call:

Hi Scott,

We are looking for Beta-testers for Cata and Catou...
Could you give me a few links to our new site (and sign up as a beta-tester, maybe)?

http://www.catacatou.com/beta-signup/

Fish and cabbage in ginger sauce for dinner !

Have fun

Jason

Plus, here's a great song: made all the more touching and funny by Cata's wonderful interpretation, and her delightful French pronunciation.

Twitter #K12perfectschool to Contribute!

I started a project [hears the Bee Gees "I Started a Joke"] on twitter that I'm hoping gains some legs and provides some interesting diversion from the eternal discussions about "school reform."

Here's the gist: Assuming that prominent futurist/thinker Alvin Toffler was correct when he recently said in an interview:

Edutopia.org: You've been writing about our educational system for decades. What's the most pressing need in public education right now?

Alvin Toffler: Shut down the public education system. just how do we proceed to do that? Well, I don't know, but I do know that Twitter holds some interesting promise as a dialog facilitator, so I thought to myself, why not see?

The image below is the beginning of what will hopefully be a response to my call for educators on Twitter to contribute little pieces of how they envision a changed landscape of the way we teach and learn. Do you have ideas? Open up your Twitter, type the hashtag "#k12perfectschool" and have at it. I'll be noting my ideas along the way. The goal?

After we get 2010 tweets I'll dig in and summarize. Maybe we'll have something of a starting point. Maybe we won't. It'll be interesting, at least, and will be a valiant effort to end-run the timeless and endless talk about reforming a system that is so fundamentally wrong and so clearly failing to invent one that is fundamentally right and that works.

Nashville Sign Project in ReactionGrid

Please visit and comment! Here's a little video that explains a little 'speriment I put together to share a small printmaking exhibit from a high school art class led by Lesley Patterson-Marx. Extending the audience is the goal, as well as encouraging comment on a global scale. We'll see how it flies at Scottsperiment Island in Reactiongrid!

Find more videos like this on Virtual Environment Education Videos!

4th Graders and Book Buddies, Thankfulmaking

I don't cross-post from my USNLSTech blog very much, but this little Animoto video turned out so cute I have to share it here too! The faces of these children, their body language, and their intensity of focus say a lot about the place in which we all learn, University School of Nashville.

Ms. Hunt's 4th graders came into the computer lab last Friday to hang out with their Kindergarten Book Buddies (they go to the Kinderclass each week to read to their buddy) from Ms. Reynolds' class. I grabbed the camera, and the rest is animoto...

Art at a Distance, Learning from a Master

A great deal of fol-de-rol is made over the way technology has made it possible for students formerly isolated in their school buildings can now reach out to others--topic experts, teachers, museums, distant classrooms full of kids more like them than unlike them--but seldom does the mainstream media join in on that discussion.

Enter public radio, in the guise of Susan Knowles from Nashville's own WPLN. Early one morning just prior to our artclectic, Susan came into our school with a recording team and witnessed New York and Memphis artist Pinkney Herbert interacting with our high school artists, both faculty and student, at a distance.

The resulting story has been featured at the WPLN website for days now, and it occupies its own archival space at the website. Visit http://wpln.org/?p=12506 for an uplifting and encouraging audio moment.

Our school has participated off and on for years in Interactive Videoconferencing, and you can see some of the ways we've done so at http://ivcatusn.blogspot.com. This past year and last, I had become so discouraged by the slow adoption of the technology that I all but stopped promoting it. This instance of IVC was completely teacher motivated and intrinsically integrated into the curriculum, not "delivered," but rather inspired. Maybe that's what it really takes. My heartfelt appreciation goes out to high school art teacher and department chair Liz Mask, (pictured above, right, with student David Stein and journalist Susan Knowles) for the wherewithal it took to execute this collaboration, which I hope is the first of many in our art department. I'm still standing back and staying out of the way, though I am here to help.

My dear departed mom always reminded me that "the best love is held in an open palm." That's my current stance on our school and distance learning. Look out, though, for an announcement about our Tandberg Connections professional development offerings in the winter and spring. That's another story.