MUVES+and+Professional+Development

Week 5 Begin by revisiting one or more of the MUVEs you explored this week. Then, contribute the following to your group’s wiki: •Identify at least two professional organizations that have an online presence and offer training or workshops in the MUVE. •Identify one personal learning network available in the MUVE that will help you keep abreast of new and emerging technologies. •Identify at least one other resource in the MUVE for information about new and emerging technologies (e.g., technology reviewer, futurist, researcher, or journal).

Next, respond to the following question: •How could you use the MUVE—and the resources you found—to engage colleagues (local and remote) in professional development workshops?

Christa Dandoy's Week 5 LC Post:

I decided to look further into the Second Life MUVE as this seemed to be the most well-known one and discussed in our articles. Two professional organizations that have a presence in this MUVE are PBS and the Discovery Educator Network (DEN). The latter community is focused on using digital media in the classroom. I myself already use Discovery in my classroom and like the idea of joining a group that offers additional trainings and opportunities to exchange ideas.

One personal learning network (PLN) available in the Second Life MUVE is the Teacher Networking Center. I saw that our instructor is a co-founder of this network ([]). This PLN offers professional development for teachers within Second Life. It can also help teachers stay abreast of new and emerging technologies. It is a great way to collaborate with other educators and exchange ideas.

Another resource in Second Life to help teachers stay informed about new and emerging technologies is ISTE. This organization offers opportunities for teachers to chat and discuss with each other. Participants also can participate in a speaker series offered weekly and in world events that occur twice weekly. See ISTE’s Second Life wiki for more information: [].

My colleagues and I could use Second Life to participate in professional development. There are many workshops with varying dates and times. Our professional development can be individualized to suit our needs. Right now we often have to take the same courses. Using a MUVE, we can find organizations that fit our needs, interests, and schedules. Hopefully our network of colleagues will grow because of this experience.

Response to Christa, Thanks for the links. I think joining one of the ISTE workshops would be an interesting experience as a professional development event. As I have created my avatar and begun to explore, I realize this Second Life world, or “grid”, has become a vast world in the last decade. In my opinion, it is quite intimidating and hard to see how to use it in the classroom. These types of organized events would have to be a structured starting point for beginners.

Mike

Response to Christa I took your advice on your choice of personal learning network and checked out the Teacher Networking Center and was immediately rewarded with information and ideas from the members that were currently on. I too chose the Discovery networks and places and had a blast exploring them in SL. I was amazed at the way the places were assembled and the information was intertwined into the architecture of them. Although it can be difficult to get around, I can definitely see myself and my students exploring these. Mike Ballard

Traci Kitchen's Week 5 LC Post

Second Life does seem to be the most popular from the authors of this week's resources. After reviewing the site I noted the numerous opportunities to create an avatar in your likeness. While reviewing the resources my 9 year old son inquired about my creating an avatar and, "finally joining so we could play." I told him that I was only visiting for research purposes, but I promised I would re-visit once my schooling has a break. The two professional organizations, PBS and DEN, are key components in my classroom. Each has a special place in my lesson plan and in my hear. I use one or the other every day.

Two personal learning networks that provide training and workshops in MUVEs are Moodle and MUVEnation. Moodle is a network that offers a multitude of collaborative tools that will all an educator to open the door and windows of his or her classroom to the world. MUVEnation helps teachers acquire the necessary competencies to integrate massively multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) into their teaching practice ; by exploring the links between : virtual worlds, learning and motivation, active learning and pedagogical approaches that include socio-constructivism, situated learning, project based learning, learning by doing, game based learning, simulations and role-playing.

The personal learning network (PLN) that I have used is Skype. My grade level utilized this system last summer when we needed to work together, but could not get convenient times for everyone. I had used the network during my undergraduate studies also, to work with a middle school science class in Dubai. The experience was enlightening and made my learning far more rich than if I had simply attended class each day.

Upon further research of personal learning networks, I found other uses for Skype and even found Skype-In-The-Classroom. The ideas different educators blogged about opened a door where excitement burst out. Edupin.com is a wiki entitled The Educator's PLN. It offers a multitude of great suggestions and ideas for all grade levels complete with quotes and videos to fit all interests. I am looking forward to sharing this site with others in my school next fall.

Resource: []

Traci's Response to Christa-

PBS.org and Discovery Educator Network are staples in my classroom. From Pendamonium for English / Language Arts to Georgia Stories for Georgia Geography / History to Math Mansion for Haunted math mysteries, my students and I love the programs that are housed there. I typically utilize a Magic School bus episode to reinforce a newly introduced science concept and the students really make the connection. By using 21st century tools, each of the learning styles is being met.

Christa's response to Traci: I have not used Skype very much but I hear great things about it. I am glad to hear you have used it for educational purposes. Does your school provide a Skype account or did you have to set up your own for use in the classroom? I definitely like the idea of using it to collaborate with colleagues and other educators from around the world. Thanks for providing the information about Skype-in-the-Classroom PLN.

Michael Larson As a semi-digital native, I am rarely intimidated by a technological application, but Second Life and other multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) have me questioning. I love the idea of getting mathematics into a format that is motivating to students in the form of an interactive game or exploration. Second Life certainly would be motivating and entertaining, but as I stated in this week’s discussion, I wonder how to use it to reach the learning targets in my curriculum.

After creating my avatar and exploring (which was cut short on multiple occasions by the application not responding/freezing), I could see my students loving the visual excitement, and interaction such a program has to offer. In my eyes, it is kind of like the Sims with wide open access to different worlds where the opportunities are seemingly endless. I was unable to get to a few grids I desired that I thought may relate to a math classroom, again because of the freezing issue I faced with my aged pc. However, I did perform a Google search for any organizations that offer learning in a mathematical context. These are some of the resources I found…

1) []

2) []

3) []

As I had anticipated, there seem to be a lot of suggestions to use the virtual world to explore 3D shapes, as the creation of the objects in the virtual world are manipulated from prisms and other geometric shapes. In the second Youtube example, an exploration takes place with attention to pi and spheres, but again I see a lot of difficulty in connecting such projects to standards. I also searched for an association with the National Council of the Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), but was unsuccessful.

So at this point, I could see using the ISTE events as an opportunity to expose teachers to such virtual worlds, but do not see myself focusing on MUVEs in my curriculum next year. I do feel that there are tremendous opportunities in such virtual environments, but see other applications offering better connections for my math classroom. If anyone has suggestions in relation to mathematics, I welcome your ideas.

Mike Ballard

I signed up for a Second Life (SL) account to test out a MUVE and search for some of this week’s organizations and networks. SL seemed to be the largest and more diverse MUVE, which I was hoping meant more interesting environments to choose from. I was a bit confused to start out as I had trouble moving around and finding locations and networks I was looking for. I eventually found my first professional organization, which is the Discovery Educator Network. This led me to a number of very cool locations and some interesting trainings and simulations. I chose NASA as my second professional organization, which provided some great ideas and tools for introducing programs that can explore space.

I ran into a bit of trouble finding a good personal learning network and came back to our Wiki to get some ideas. I decided to check out the Teacher Networking Center and after joining the group was immediately surprised by the number of members and the conversations that were occurring right off the bat. People were discussing everything from places in SL to world political goings on.

The last resource I chose was the PopSci Future Lounge that I had a lot of trouble teleporting to but when I finally arrived I was surprised by the design as well as the information provided here. There were numerous links to PopSci web pages, scale models of new technologies (phones, handhelds, etc.). They even had magazines that you could flip through while sitting on the couch.

It took me quite a while to get the hang of navigating through the SL worlds and finding the places and networks I was looking for but after I spent a few minutes looking over some different places and meeting new people I gained a new appreciation for what was taking place here. Engaging my administrators and colleagues could be entertaining and very informative with the numerous and interesting places that could viewed and the workshops that are provided. The ability for large numbers of people to join and collaborate, as well as the different topics that could be used could cover nearly every educational need or concern. I also think the ability to visit other networks and places at the push of a button could help solve problems and answer any questions both fast and fun.