It’s Official - We’ve Moved!

It’s been quiet on the blogging front lately… but definitely not on the virtual front! ;)

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After a few months of tinkering and planning on the Island of jokaydia, we’ve finally moved our projects there officially and the Island is open for business.

We’ve even managed to hold a few events, including a live tour for participants at the UOW’s ‘Serving Up the Future’ Mini Conference and the NSW Learnscope Regional Event - Go Virtual.

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Above: Panel Session at Go Virtual, September 2007.

It’s been an exciting few days too - with three new residents joining us on the Island - our first virtual tenants!

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Already they are starting to create interesting things on their new virtual plots.. it’s going to be exciting to see what develops. For those who are interested - there’s one plot left! ;)

Meantime, I’m focussing on setting up the information tools on jokaydia - in particular the tools in EduSquare - our Second Life in Education hub on the Island.

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The other big move has been demolishing the last pieces of Jo and Sean’s Virtual Meeting Space in Wasp. Although it has been wonderful to move to the Island… I was a bit sad as I removed the pieces of our space from the land and parcelled it up for sale. I’ve come a looong way since I first went land shopping in early 2006!

A special thanks to Sean for all the hard work, creating and re-creating, facilitating, workshopping and managing he did there!

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Anyway, below is a series of pics commemorate my original virtual home! Enjoy!

1. Purchasing my first land in Wasp - May 2006

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2. My first cabin - Day 1 as a land owner!

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3. First Event at Jo’s Meeting Space in Wasp - August 2006

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4. Dalek!

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5. Two Seans in Second Life!

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6. Drumming with Sean

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7. Meeting in the Library Hut, Dec 2006

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8. Balloon Ride Anyone?, Feb 2007

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9. In-World Presentation: Showcasing Australasian Educational Projects in Second Life, June 2007.

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10. One of the last events in Wasp - NMC Teacher Buzz Session, August 2007.

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NMC TeacherBuzz in Wasp!

Sean and I just had the pleasure of hosting a session for the NMC’s TeacherBuzz meetup this evening, and had the opportunity to share our work with a group of educators also working in and exploring Second Life.

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The NMC TeacherBuzz is a…“regularly scheduled, informal discussion session for practicing teachers using Second Life, or those just plain interested in the idea or process of using SL for a class. Not a series of lectures or presentations, we envision more of a relaxed coffee hour to share the “buzz”.”

For more info on their activities, check out the TeacherBuzz Category on the NMC Campus Observer.

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We took the participants on a tour of our Virtual Meeting Space in Wasp, showcasing our newbies’ resources, our Educational Uses of Second Life resource and the other support materials we have developed to assist teachers who are checking out Second Life for the first time. Of course - all the info is on our Second Life in Education Wiki.

We finished the tour with a visit to our virtual hairdressing salon - which is an example of how Second Life photostories and roleplays can be used in vocational training.

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Thanks to all who attended, and to CDB and Corwin for inviting us to host the event! ;)

Next TeacherBuzz Session: Aug 20 6pm SLT/PDT - “Student Built” Project: Timeline of the History of Earth and Life on Earth Walking Exhibit, created at University of Arizona.

Definitely well worth attending if you’re interested in meeting other educators in SL and learning more about the work the educational community is doing.

(Thanks to Sean FitzGerald for the images from the event!)

Checking Out Virtual Books!

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Pandora Kurrajong came to visit me in Second Life today for a tour. She and Gnu Curry joined me as we visited some interesting spaces including the Island of Svarga (SLurl) and the ICT Library (SLurl) on Info Island.

Here we are checking out some virtual books at our Virtual Meeting Space in Wasp (SLurl).

posted by jokay Wollongong on Wasp using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]

Under Construction!

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Blogging and BlogHudding have been easy to neglect in the last few days in favour of working on a design of our virtual meeting space. It’s starting to get to a reasonable state now…. more to reveal shortly! ;)

posted by jokay Wollongong on Wasp using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]