No, I am not a cat who has nine lives and is soon to begin living my second one.
Second Life is a virtual world that has totally been created by it's users. Going public in 2003, it has exploded and today is inhabited by millions of people from around the Globe. Users create fully customizable in-world avitars. On any given moment in Second Life (or SL if you're speaking in-world), you will possibilty come across a various array of different characters. I, myself, have not been a member very long; however, the things I have learned and people I have met up to this point have been very exciting!
You may be asking yourself, why should I be interested in SL? Simply put, it's use in education is becoming more prevalant. Just today I met a librarian in a Chicago school district that specializes in technology who has a big part of ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) in SL. Yes, to answer the second question you may have. ISTE has a group in SL that hosts many different events, including a "social" on Thursday nights where technology educators from all over the world meet to have discussions. How exciting is that?!? Personally, I don't ever have the opportunity to share ideas with others except those in my own little world and those around me. Now, because of this group, I will be able to share ideas with educators from all over the world!
Many universities from all over the United States are also getting involved. They use SL as a place to go and have chat sessions with their students about their RL subject. There are even teachers who use SL as their classroom! How exciting is that?!? Although I have not gotten into this part as of yet, you are able to enable voice chat. Your avitar will actually be speaking your voice!
Let's talk about price. This Web 2.0 tool is free, but you'll soon realize there are things that do require money. The in-world money is called lindens which can be purchased with RL (real life) dollars. I will say, though, there is a lot of things you can do that are absolutely free. If you never want to spend a single RL dime, you don't have to spend a RL dime. There are even ways to make lindens in-world, but that would be something to do after you had really been involved in SL for a while. An example of a RL person making SL lindens - a co-worker of my husband's is a singer who has a singing career in SL. RL people pay linden dollars to hear her sing at various concerts. I'm actually attending one this afternoon! These jobs are never something you would do to make much RL money, but can help get SL money without having to pay RL dollars.
Check it out! If you're one who enjoys discussion with others to improve education, you'll be glad you did. Everyone is very nice and helpful so don't be shy about asking questions. That's how you learn. Everyone there was new at some point and are eager to help you enjoy SL. If you already have a SL account, please look me up and send me an IM! I would love to chat with you. If you ever create a SL account, I hope you'll look me up as well. I would definitely help you out any way I can! I am JennAFuzz Gabardini. Please feel free to ask questions or discuss SL here!
I do plan to eventually start a SL blog for JennAFuzz which will share her exciting adventures in SL as well as share things that I am learning through her because of educator groups I am a part of. Once I have created that blog, I'll post the information here.
I hope to see you in SL!!
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
Bringing School to the Information Age Article
It's been a while since I posted. It may look as if I have posted 2 times in one day; however, the post right before this, Web 2.0 tools, has been written for a while, I just forgot to post it! If you did not read that, please visit that post to gain a basic understanding of what Web 2.0 tools are.
The place where I work gets several educational magazine subscriptions, one of those being Edutopia. The subscription being passed around to me and my co-workers is the July/August 2007 issue (yes...sometimes we are a little behind, but we still read the information!). There were several articles I felt worth of sharing, but the one I really want to high-light is the editor's note.
Please read and add your comments!
Editor's Note: Bringing School to the Information Age
written by James Daly, Editor-in-Chief of Edutopia
July/August 2007 Edutopia Magazine Article
I feel like this article hit the nail on the head! The last 2 paragraphs really express the need that students have for schools and educators to "jump on board" and began to use technology in their classroom. I know there are several teachers out there who still do not see this as a need, but whether or not they see it, the need does exhist. I also realize there are many teachers who see it as a need, but do not know where to begin and are even scared of the technology. The good news - people, like myself, exhist to help you in those frightening endeavors! Never be afraid to ask for help. We welcome that and are excited to encourage and assist you along the way.
For links to additional articles I thought were outstanding from this issue, please visit my wiki and click on the Instructional Technology Articles link in the sidebar.
The place where I work gets several educational magazine subscriptions, one of those being Edutopia. The subscription being passed around to me and my co-workers is the July/August 2007 issue (yes...sometimes we are a little behind, but we still read the information!). There were several articles I felt worth of sharing, but the one I really want to high-light is the editor's note.
Please read and add your comments!
Editor's Note: Bringing School to the Information Age
written by James Daly, Editor-in-Chief of Edutopia
July/August 2007 Edutopia Magazine Article
I feel like this article hit the nail on the head! The last 2 paragraphs really express the need that students have for schools and educators to "jump on board" and began to use technology in their classroom. I know there are several teachers out there who still do not see this as a need, but whether or not they see it, the need does exhist. I also realize there are many teachers who see it as a need, but do not know where to begin and are even scared of the technology. The good news - people, like myself, exhist to help you in those frightening endeavors! Never be afraid to ask for help. We welcome that and are excited to encourage and assist you along the way.
For links to additional articles I thought were outstanding from this issue, please visit my wiki and click on the Instructional Technology Articles link in the sidebar.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Web 2.0 Tools
What are they and why should I be interested?
Wikipedia (a web 2.0 tool...) defines web 2.0 tools as "a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis, and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing between users. The term gained currency following the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004.[2][3] Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use webs."
In "layman's terms" web 2.0 tools are another "layer" to internet that allows people to interact and also makes software available on-line - more often than not it's free! Think of a social-networking site...myspace or facebook for example. Both of those sites allow interaction with others on-line. Those are considered a Web 2.0 tool. This blog is considered a Web 2.0 tool. My wiki - jmcdaniel.pbwiki.com - is a Web 2.0 tool. Google offers a word processor, spreadsheet document, and powerpoint type document (called Google docs) online. They are free and work very similiar to documents of similiar type. The exciting thing about these, though, is they are on-line and can be accesses from anywhere you have an internet connection. All you need is to create a google account (free of charge - of course).
To be able to search for all sorts of different Web 2.0 tools (most free, but some not), you can visit www. and a list of all sorts of different Web 2.0 tools will be available for your pursual. You can search by different criteria and then when you click on a tool, a preview with a description of the web 2.0 tool will appear at the bottom. There will also be a link that will take you to the actual web page of the tool if you're interested in using it and/or learning more about it.
In the coming weeks, I will be highlighting some different web 2.0 tools and giving detail on what they are and how they might be used to enhance learning. I will go over some of the more common ones (blogs, wikis) and will also give a listing of several different ones that are not quite as common. This will allow you to explore some of the different things that are out there with knowledge of how it might be used to enhance student learning.
I welcome thoughts/ideas on web 2.0 tools! Please add your "2 cents"!
Wikipedia (a web 2.0 tool...) defines web 2.0 tools as "a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis, and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing between users. The term gained currency following the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004.[2][3] Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use webs."
In "layman's terms" web 2.0 tools are another "layer" to internet that allows people to interact and also makes software available on-line - more often than not it's free! Think of a social-networking site...myspace or facebook for example. Both of those sites allow interaction with others on-line. Those are considered a Web 2.0 tool. This blog is considered a Web 2.0 tool. My wiki - jmcdaniel.pbwiki.com - is a Web 2.0 tool. Google offers a word processor, spreadsheet document, and powerpoint type document (called Google docs) online. They are free and work very similiar to documents of similiar type. The exciting thing about these, though, is they are on-line and can be accesses from anywhere you have an internet connection. All you need is to create a google account (free of charge - of course).
To be able to search for all sorts of different Web 2.0 tools (most free, but some not), you can visit www. and a list of all sorts of different Web 2.0 tools will be available for your pursual. You can search by different criteria and then when you click on a tool, a preview with a description of the web 2.0 tool will appear at the bottom. There will also be a link that will take you to the actual web page of the tool if you're interested in using it and/or learning more about it.
In the coming weeks, I will be highlighting some different web 2.0 tools and giving detail on what they are and how they might be used to enhance learning. I will go over some of the more common ones (blogs, wikis) and will also give a listing of several different ones that are not quite as common. This will allow you to explore some of the different things that are out there with knowledge of how it might be used to enhance student learning.
I welcome thoughts/ideas on web 2.0 tools! Please add your "2 cents"!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Welcome to My Blog
Students of today crave technology. Some teachers of today shy away from technology. Never a good combination. Why this blog? To encourage and inform teachers about becoming a 21st century teacher for our 21st century kiddos. They are wired differently and they learn differently. Yet there are still teachers out there who teach like they were taught.
What's the harm in this? We learned it just fine the old fashioned way and look how we turned out - just fine! The problem is that our kids have to know how to communicate in a global economy. There are skills that kids of today have to know and understand that weren't important when we were going to school. I plan, in the days to come, to blog on the different skills that a 21st century student needs to have that, in a "traditional sit in your seat and listen to me talk" classroom does not provide.
I hope that you learn something from this blog. That is the intention. My mission is to help teachers be successful using technology in their classroom. Feel free to comment (even if you disagree!!) and add your own "2 cents".
The plan - to blog at least once a week (if not more) on issues relating to integrating technology into the every day classroom. Sometimes it might be as simple as a link to a great article. If you're an avid user of technology - good for you! Please share your expertise with us. If you're ready to use technology, but not sure where to start, hopefully you'll find some great things to get you started. If you're convinced technology is for everyone else but you, I hope you keep reading to "prove me wrong". The world would be boring if we all had the same opinion, but how much richer the conversation is if there is discussion!
May this blog help at least one teacher to realize the importance integrating technology into every aspect of their teaching!
What's the harm in this? We learned it just fine the old fashioned way and look how we turned out - just fine! The problem is that our kids have to know how to communicate in a global economy. There are skills that kids of today have to know and understand that weren't important when we were going to school. I plan, in the days to come, to blog on the different skills that a 21st century student needs to have that, in a "traditional sit in your seat and listen to me talk" classroom does not provide.
I hope that you learn something from this blog. That is the intention. My mission is to help teachers be successful using technology in their classroom. Feel free to comment (even if you disagree!!) and add your own "2 cents".
The plan - to blog at least once a week (if not more) on issues relating to integrating technology into the every day classroom. Sometimes it might be as simple as a link to a great article. If you're an avid user of technology - good for you! Please share your expertise with us. If you're ready to use technology, but not sure where to start, hopefully you'll find some great things to get you started. If you're convinced technology is for everyone else but you, I hope you keep reading to "prove me wrong". The world would be boring if we all had the same opinion, but how much richer the conversation is if there is discussion!
May this blog help at least one teacher to realize the importance integrating technology into every aspect of their teaching!
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