Today I spent the day shopping in SL, which ironically (ironic because I hate shopping in RL), was a pretty good time. That was, of course, until I tried to use my camera controls to get a good look at myself. This part of SL has probably become my least favorite, because it is the time that I am in the least control. With this in mind, I thought that it would be a great time to try the Sit 'n Scan Scavenger Hunt, and get some practice controlling my views. I attempted to use the Sloodle blogger option and record my experienced, but I could not remember the proper link so I have chose to switch between SL and my Google blog.
Here goes:
1. The greatest challenge for me is differentiating between the zooming in/out and looking up and down. After finally getting in close enough to the book shelf, I found that the book furthest to the right was titled "LMs and Teleporting". I did not find a title on the book located on the top right shelf, so I am going to go with the aforementioned as my final answer.
2. The long leaves and twisty branch of that tree make it very hard to zoom in on the nest, but I think that I counted three eggs in that nest.
3. I have no idea how to get behind that Sandbox sign. I bumped into the side of the moutain so many times, my head started to hurt:)
4. I guess the tasks associated with the sandbox signs are not within my skills, because no matter how much I zoomed into that sandbox cube I could not find any writing. This may be due to the fact that it takes a few minutes for my computer to load any images.
5. Wow... The process of taking my pic was very tedious. Well, I should say that the process of looking at myself was very tedious. But I did it, and I got my pic. In a litle while I will figure out how to get that photo into my blog.
6. I finally got into that vase and saw a small square with what looked like a star or a spider. It's strange, but getting into the vase was easier than looking at myself.
The verdict from the scavenger hunt is that I need to spend more time in SL, and work on my camera views. But its coming along...
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Last night I had my first spontaneous conversation with another resident of SL. His name was Daniel, and I found his on ISTE island. I think that he was actually there to help,
but he initiated the conversation by asking if I am an educator. I then asked if he was, and he told me that he teaches teachers about assistive technologies. I am always intrigued by a term in education that I am unsure about so I asked him what he meant by that, and part of his answer was that he teaches teachers how to use word predication software. When I applied to Marlboro College, one of things that I talked about was how I wanted to learn about to use technology in the classroom without it being a crutch for students; I had word prediction in mind when I said this. I asked him how he would defend this, and he pointed out to me that there is a big difference between spelling and writing. I understood his point, but I also pointed out to him that as an English teacher it is my responsibility to teach students how to form concepts and how to spell. We discussed it a little, and then he shared a story with me about he too was once a skeptic untill he saw it actually help students with both writing and spelling.
I think that I would still need to see work predication in the classroom, so that I could form my own conclusions. My real point in sharing all of this is that I had a meaningful conversarion about a subject in education that I interested in, and I didn't have to go anywhere or find a teacher who could make time for me. In addition, I have never heard teachers talk about word prediction at all, so even if I were at one of the previous schools I taught at, I do not think that I could have carried out this conversation.
I think that I will always stand by my belief that events in SL cannot take the place of real life interactions, but if you are talking about SL or nothing or SL or reading a one-sided article, then I have to say that my faith in possibilities of virtual worlds has expanded.
I still have not done much socializing in SL. I have mainly gone there to play around with functions, but I certaily look forward to "talking" with more people about the issue in education, among other things.
but he initiated the conversation by asking if I am an educator. I then asked if he was, and he told me that he teaches teachers about assistive technologies. I am always intrigued by a term in education that I am unsure about so I asked him what he meant by that, and part of his answer was that he teaches teachers how to use word predication software. When I applied to Marlboro College, one of things that I talked about was how I wanted to learn about to use technology in the classroom without it being a crutch for students; I had word prediction in mind when I said this. I asked him how he would defend this, and he pointed out to me that there is a big difference between spelling and writing. I understood his point, but I also pointed out to him that as an English teacher it is my responsibility to teach students how to form concepts and how to spell. We discussed it a little, and then he shared a story with me about he too was once a skeptic untill he saw it actually help students with both writing and spelling.
I think that I would still need to see work predication in the classroom, so that I could form my own conclusions. My real point in sharing all of this is that I had a meaningful conversarion about a subject in education that I interested in, and I didn't have to go anywhere or find a teacher who could make time for me. In addition, I have never heard teachers talk about word prediction at all, so even if I were at one of the previous schools I taught at, I do not think that I could have carried out this conversation.
I think that I will always stand by my belief that events in SL cannot take the place of real life interactions, but if you are talking about SL or nothing or SL or reading a one-sided article, then I have to say that my faith in possibilities of virtual worlds has expanded.
I still have not done much socializing in SL. I have mainly gone there to play around with functions, but I certaily look forward to "talking" with more people about the issue in education, among other things.
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