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Archived Posts from “Second Life”

Comic Life and Second Life

02

June

Kim Flintoff11:24 am5 comments

Plasq have recently announced the BETA release of a Windows port of their Comic Life software.

Plasq Test

I used a few available images from Second Life® drama classes to piece together an example of the output. I then got to thinking about all the possible uses for this software in learning environments. Combined with Second Life®, Comic Life becomes an incredibly creative tool. At the very least you could combine SL Snapshots from inworld events and use the chat logs as dialogues to create engaging documents of events - think of comic book minutes from meetings - people might actually read them!

In a school context there are many possibilities… and cross-media at that! Think of English classes that use Second Life®/Comic Life to create graphic novels; media classes with storyboards and crossovers; science to document experimental procedures and observations (with or without SL involvement); SOSE to represent historical events, to document cultural encounters, etc; what about 3D visual representations of mathematical concepts and proofs?

These are just initial thoughts - but I can see the possibilities of a really engaging set of learning activities with amazing output that is student created. The boon in this instance is that the Comic Life software is incredibly simple to use but the possibilities for creative expression of fictional and non-fictional narratives are seemingly limitless.

Permanent link to this post: (222 words, 1 image, estimated 53 secs reading time)

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Second Life Best Practices in Education

15

May

Paul Reid11:49 am1 comment

bloglogo.jpgThis conference may be of interest to those of us who have ventured into Second Life. Looking forward to the ECAWA inworld event this Friday thanks to Yvonne Harrison.

The Second Life Best Practices in Education International Conference will be held on May 25, 2007 in venues all over the Second Life world, with exciting presentations, vendors and exhibitors, and everything an educator needs to know to get started exploring the possibilities for teaching, learning, and research in Second Life.

OrganisersThe event has quite a few sponsors which may or may not be a legitimisation of the events worth. I’m yet to be totally convinced about the merits of Second Life as an educational tool. Perhaps that’s because I personally feel handicapped as a slow typer when I want to communicate. Asynchronous audio would be so much easier. I’ve tried to download SecondTalk to allow use of Skype inworld but haven’t been able to locate the required headset object for my inventory. Anyone got a better idea?

Permanent link to this post: (168 words, 2 images, estimated 40 secs reading time)

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  • Bryn Jones: Channel 4 in the UK has £50million to develop new media content. Ewan McIntosh has some role in it as Digital Commissioner for Scotland. Jobs open now! http://www.4ip.org.uk/
  • Thomas Goodwin: Paul Reid has pointed educators in the right direction (create and collaborate) however he started from an incorrect premise; The Learning Federation's Digital Resources are completely different from the...
  • Patricia Corby: Phew, what a terrific wealth of useful info here! Thanks Paul. In reference to this comment "They need to move from static to dynamic in form" as an overall comment it is relevant but being fair some are...
  • Paul Reid: If everyone's Math is correct the Teaching & Learning Federation pays $20k for jpeg pictures Learning Objects! eg these ones shown here http://www.thelearningfederati on.edu.au/for_teachers/what...
  • Janice Millard: its not fair that my class can't go on rain forest maths because of other people copying we were going to do a test on it but it was closed down my class was very upset not very happy!
  • Julie Squires: I love the TLF learning objects but cannot get teachers to use or even look at them!!! I wonder if the type of computer access they require is not what's available in most schools? What I mean by that is...
  • Ken Allan: Kia Ora Paul It seems a pity that learning objects seem to be always tarred with the same brush, especially since the curriculum is so broad. Not all disciplines favour learning objects and there are some good...
  • Karen Mutton: I will admit that there is a great deal of variety within the learning objects. Some are fantastic and engaging and some leave a lot to be desired. Many students become frustrated that they are unable to save...
  • Michael Pate: Digital Learning Objects are reusable technology-based resources that aim to equip teachers with tools to improve the quality of teacher learning. The Learning Federation is one Australian-based provider of...
  • David Hillard: I think that the learning objects are another tool that we utilise as teachers to make learning engaging and relevant for students. The challenge as mentioned by others is to help teachers integrate these...
  • Tomaz Lasic: For my 20c (we have a long way to $123 mil :-) I can see Paul's argument that TLF objects are often used as (very expensive) digital busy work and/or 'eye candy' with the effect of a deadening worksheet when...
  • Tim Hand: Always enjoy a revisit of the LO debate-thanks Paul. Teachers do have trouble unzipping, access may be limited to the TLF objects (depending on jurisdictions licensing/discovery & access points). But to...
  • Robin Petterd: As someone who produces these types of learning objects, I really think the whole model has had it's time. I think that most of the interactive design models used in them are out of date and yes students see...
  • Patricia Corby: What the TLF produce in terms of Learning Objects and Digital Resources are excellent. I depend on them for my online teaching and also for F2F when sourcing authentic resources. The digital resources are...
  • Kim Flintoff: I tend to concur Paul. Some years back, I was on a committee that seemed to be chasing little more than arbitrarily endorsing a content creation program. I saw committee members effusing over content that was...
  • T Goodwin: Using a purely economic aurguement in this discussion is flawed from the start because the real cost of the digital content produced by The Learning Federation is shared by the 3 million plus school children...
  • Tony Forster: Hi, My reply to Stephen is on another list but not Ozteachers Stephen: What are people's thoughts regarding The Le@rning Federation? Rob: - many activities feel like they hem you in - highly scripted, limited...
  • Jamie kelly: I must say I am currently in the stage of completing my own eportfolio as part of my university degree and find them beneficial and a great showcase of skills.
  • Blitto: Great video Paul. Thanks mate - I'll use some of this at my workshop at CONSTAWA this weekend. Aren't you worried?: 55th out 55. Kids learn ICT DESPITE schools not because of schools. The virtual closing down of...
  • Steve: Its kind of like an internet within the internet (also open to abuse like the internet). What amazes me is that we have a mobile phone network with all of its towers and Telstra's new broadband wireless network also...
  • Firas: Excellent! From a research point of view this tool is invaluable.
  • Daniel: The ownership issue is ultimately a technology issue: we're still living in the post-mainframe days. The mainframe died in the early 1980s (well, it's still living in certain places, long live Cobol!) and was...
  • Paul Reid: Some interesting comments here. Students need a creative/communication machine that is not a business machine purely for productivity. The total cost of ownership is currently outweighing the total opportunity...
  • Blitto: Hey guys! Please can you let us know about whether the podcast is up yet? ta Blitto
  • Paul McMahon: Hi Ken, I like you point about ownership. Theoretically in a perfect world kids would bring along whatever laptop they liked and all apps would be accessible online. Things are changing and we may be there...
  • Wayne Eglinton: What about the have nots? Many many families can not afford $250 a year.
  • Ken Price from The Great South Land: Should schools own computers, or should kids?
  • Ken from The Great South Land: It's odd that we still tend to think that schools need to somehow own or control the computers that kids use. As a result, we've created our own ball-and-chain of providing maintenance,...
  • Penny Coutas:
  • Joe Jurczyk: Another example of the open system - be it one that doesn't necessarily rely on "knowledge" as the end product, or judging the quality of that knowledge - is Facebook. The growth is certainly exponential and...
  • Kerrie 'Smik': Thanks for the posting Paul. Certainly is a busy and exciting time. There will be a beta launch of the new my edna tool too.
  • Kim Flintoff: Hi Richard, What I was intending is that the comic is a method of presenting a record of what transpired - it can also be creative output and a reflective tool.. all manner of uses depending upon context and...
  • Richard Horowitz: I might be a little lost but is this creating a comic from a virtual world to be read in the real world via the internet in order to elicit an emotional reaction from the inner world of these real life...
  • Kim Flintoff: Hi Judy, Thanks for the feedback - I'm happy to facilitate similar events - I have a presence in the Teen Grid. I'm sort of involved with the Skoolaborate project through Westley - so if there's a way I can...
  • Kim Flintoff: Hi Patrick, I'm weighing up whether the comment is being a bit sarcastic or whether its actually a compliment... I hardly thinki its a brillaint idea... just a variant of other things I''ve encountered... I'm...