isi2 closed BUT ... isi Estate still alive and well

Early Dec 2010 I closed down International Schools Island 2 ... for several reasons ... the educational discounts are being withdrawn in 2011 .. and a full SIM will then be over US$3,000 per year.
The other reason was to release some time to extend my explorations of other virtual worlds and other platforms for teaching and learning online .. including webinars and VLEs.
Int.Schs.Island (Estate) is still very much alive and well .. in fact the irony is that casual daily traffic has more than doubled over the past month.
I have also moved isi3 to the location where isi2 used to be ... and here is the new layout.

"Team Building" Workshop 16April09

Just finished a workshop today with the focus on team building and collaboration; the task of each group was to build an avatar out of a given set of  individual prims.
It was really 2 professional development events ... yesterday I met with six volunteers to be the individual team facilitators and one volunteer who was to be the judge for the best build (there were definite criteria)
Our meeting yesterday ended up being over two hours of sharing of suggestions, skills, strategies and tools to consider when running today's public session.
We had around 40 avatars attend the 90 min session, after a brief intro with the whole group we then split into the six teams with it's facilitator for 45 mins and the collaboration and building began.

For the last 20 mins we all reconvened and each of the facilitators reported back on their sessions and finally Judge Louise nominated teams 1 and 4 as the joint winners.
There was so much learning that happened in these two session for me that there is just not room to list specifics here .... suffice to say that we all survived better equipped to support future teaching and learning in a virtual world environment.
I'm most grateful to all who contributed.

ISTE events are listed at: http://secondlife.iste.wikispaces.net/events

Photographs can be seen at my Flickr account

isi Group .. easier subscription

In an earlier post I described how to subscribe to an Int.Schs.Island group using the official SL application.  The problem with this is that you are only allowed to join a maximum of 25 groups.

I'm now using a third party application to create and manage groups that you can subscribe to that does not take from your maximum of 25.

This group is designed to mainly send out notices of new developments, objects and tools on isi.

So to join just find one of the subscription boards as in this picture and click on "Subscribe"

There is one at

http://slurl.com/secondlife/International%20Schools/69/83/24

VW Best Practices in Education Conf. 2009

The Virtual World Best Practices in Education (VWBPE) conference
27th to 29th March 2009 wiki.vwbpe.org
International Schools Island had a display in the 'Poster" area

3rd Speakers Series : Size isn't everything

Tonight we had the final of our mini Int.Schs.Island (Pilot) Speaker Series ... with the topic "k-12 Recruitment".
The turnout was not large but the quality of the discussion reminded me that size isn't everything ... 
Thanks Jeff and Jon for sharing and others from Bangkok, Laos and Australia .. I personally learnt a lot.

The technology did kick me out once and also made it difficult for Jon from China but that was  a reminder that we really are pioneers at the cutting edge ... and it's OK to bleed a little.

P.S. health warning ... never accept a drink from Utes Torok in world .. I crashed immediately after accepting one ... I suspect it was spiked ;-) ... have fun.

Speakers Series : 19 Nov ... (part 2)

Many thanks to Dianne and Doug ... larger audience this week ... and lots of participation and sharing ... the only problem for me was that Dianne stayed as 'Casper the Ghost" for the whole hour for me ;-)

Next session ... Wed. 26th Nov. same time ... topic is "Recruitment" .. see the Google doc for full details.

International Schools Island (Animoto)

Presentation Video : SL & VWs

When I do real life presentations at conference/workshops about SL / VWs I often show a 17 min video that I talk to (stops me rambling) then we get into discussions.
I've just put the video inworld on Int.Schs.Island at http://slurl.com/secondlife/International%20Schools%202/70/180/57

This is version 1 ... I plan to modify. (aren't we always)

No soundtrack as I usually talk to it live ... but may be of interest.
It is streaming into this location from www.blip.tv 

Universal (Language) Translator

There are several language translators available in Second Life ... my preferred one is the "Universal Translator" from Hank Ramos.

It translates 35 languages ... including some Asian, the translations are done in the text chat window.

You just choose your own language from the drop down blue menu that you get when you click on the box ... it will then translate the text chat from others who have also clicked on the box ... from their language to yours ... amazing.

What is even more amazing is that it is free.
There are several scattered around Int.Schs.Island, including in the Mod.Foreign Languages area on the 5th Floor in the Curriculum Tower.
You can pick up your own translator at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Grignano/100/97/28

More Presenting in S.L.

Media Players in S.L.

Media Players in S.L. seem to be evolving almost daily ... I just purchased the NHC Media Center - Q308 for L$500 (US$2.50) to experiment with ... attracted by the boast of being able to play YouTube videos directly from YouTube.
... and it works brilliantly although I did need a little help from creator Sylvio Runo
It plays | Movies in Sequence | Direct YouTube Search & Play | Slide Show with Your Photos and Textures | Audio Music Parcel Manager | Radio Stations | plus ....
Support to lots of media types with auto adjust of the correct mime-type: php, asp, htm, html, mov, sdp, mp4, mv4, mpg, mpe, mpa, jpg, gif, txt, tiff, mpeg, 3gpp, and pict.
If you want to play with this one then just tp to isi at http://slurl.com/secondlife/International%20Schools%202/121/94/26
More details of this particular player can be seen at SLEX http://tinyurl.com/6babwo
Of course ... playing media in S.L. works best on a high spec computer with a good connection.

Today was "Lip Sync" Day (for me at least)

Today I downloaded the latest S.L. viewer 1-20-15 and by clicking just one button the lips of all the avatars I view (including me) are now moving when they talk with voice.
This is ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT and is going to completely change the social interactions in S.L. ... gone are the days of clay/wooden faces.
I'm over the moon about this ... in fact if you click on this photo to get a larger image ... look closely at my lips ... you can see them moving with a slight smile.
BTW the button to click is "Advanced" = > "Character" => "Lip Syn (beta)"

Another isi mini outpost ... OSU

Int.Schs.Island has another mini outpost, this time on OSU Medicine Island ...and what is special about OSU? ... 100+ metres up in the air is the 'giant testis' model that I wrote about in an earlier Blog posting.
I'll resist the temptation to say that this island has the ----s to model simulations in Virtual Worlds.
(UUMMmmmm...)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/OSU%20Medicine/116/60/27

Auto Tours

I recently set up some automatic tours around isi ... there is a Pedal Balloon ride right around the Estate that takes 7 minutes. Others include riding on a broom stick (Harry Potter style) and some automatic walking tours around the Towers. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to set these up using the resources available at The Guided Tour Company. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Mocha/236/71/33 When you take any of these tours make sure your public chat window is open for a description of the tour as it takes place.
It took a lot of self control not to have the tour ride on a dinosaur ;-)

Holodeck

Star Trek fans will be familiar with the concept of holodecks ... press a button on the wall and your classroom changes into a new environment ... a farm yard, hotel lobby, meeting room, tropical island ... these exist in S.L. and there are several available on the market, to buy.
After some research I decided to buy the model available from HORIZONS ... they have been around for a while, seem stable and also have a professional version that allows you to build you own scenes.
vendor and details at ...
http://slurl.com/secondlife/International%20Schools/40/87/73
You can also buy scenes that other users have made.
The isi holodeck is floating about 100m up in the air above mountain top 2.
Ironically .... immediately after buying this version I found a cheaper one that plugs into the Mysti HUD ... so now have two ... this second one is carried about by my avatar who can throw up a scene at the press of a button ... providing he has building privaleges on the land.

Spreading the Word about isi (on Temasek)

This is a doubly satisfying post for me ... firstly ... it's my first opportunity to build on another SIM that helps spread the word about the International Schools Island. secondly ... it gives me the opportunity to mention a new island with an Asia theme .. Temasek ... a SIM designed to introduce residents to the culture, history and ecology of Singapore. Veritas Raymaker (Ken Lim in the real world) http://voyager.blogs.com/voyeurism/temasek SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Temasek/18/79/28

If anyone out there can loan plot(s) of land anywhere (hopefully education themed area) to put up a link display to International Schools Island then PLEASE contact me csmith@csmith.info ... it would really be appreciated.

click on the image for a larger version.

Clothing (inc. isi t-shirts) ... all free

Free Clothing ... an area on "Mountain Top 2" has lot of free clothes .. the difference from the norm here is that we have put them in topic boxes to make it easier to find items... i.e. there is a box of 'gloves', another of skirts, another of formal tuxes etc.
There is also one large collection box for you to donate free clothing which we will then put in the relevant topic box.
I've also set up a vendor which gives out free t-shirts made on isi ... I needed to spend time evaluating at a number of different vendors (free and for sale) ... I ended up going with "Cool Vendor v1.5" buying it online at SLXchange for L$600 (a little over US$2) ... recommended and excellent value.
The package contains several different vendor models, including one which materialises 3D images of objects for sale .... instructions for using the vendors was straight forward.
Of course all the t-shirts in this vendor can be purchased for zero Linden Dollars ... a gifts from Int.Schs.Island.

While setting up the vendor I was joined by a visitor, Milinneta Babii, to the Island who was casually exploring ... it really warms my heart to see the facilities, and especially the growing S.L. index in the towers, being used and making the lives of other educators in S.L. a little easier.
The specific location of these freebies is
http://slurl.com/secondlife/International%20Schools%202/129/148/47

I love my "Scrubber"

Putting a script into objects in S.L. can result in all sorts of actions happening ... giving stuff away, changing colours, shapes, locations, gathering data ... too many to mention here.
You can write your own scripts but builders in S.L. are more likely to use scripts that others have already written ... there are thousands available for free.
On International Schools Island we are collating free scripts into topic boxes ... which any avatar can come and take for free.
Also there is a 'drop box' should others have scripts they are willing to give and share.
Building this collection was initially very frustrating because when scripts were put into the boxes they would often try and do something to the box ... that's what scripts do ... you cannot blame them (unless they are told not to run .. but too late if they are already in the box).
But then I was introduced to "The Scrubber"... which basically neutralises the box .... I love the Scrubber ... it has made this project do-able.
We will be working on these boxes for some time to come, you can find them on the 1st floor of the Info.Tower.
Click on the image for a larger version.

Who's a dummy?

This morning (4:00a.m. UK time) Takeme gave me a dummy ... think she might have been hinting at something actually ;-)
This is very simple and made of about 14 plain prims (objects) but the original creator had obviously taken care in getting the ratios close to reality. (not sure whose reality though).
But these could make brilliant teaching aids, if running a course in S.L. on textures or building then this could be used as a starting point to modify rather that start with nothing.
Takeme immediately left me behind in the gate and dropped some map textures on her dummy ... took her a matter of seconds and VERY effective ... geographers could have some fun with this approach.
My dummy just looked on in amazement ... but will now go in my inventory and be used at some future teaching and learning event.
Click on the image to see a larger version

Sandbox or Bowling Green

Our Sandbox has evolved over the last week with part of it having a lawn laid which has been carefully mowed to help builders measure out their objects.
In fact I wonder if it should now be called a 'grass box'?
Sandboxes are places in S.L. where people have automatic permissions to build ... any objects left in the isi sandbox are returned to their owners automatically after 24 hours.
One VERY nice new tool we have in this area is a 'Prim Finder' which automatically makes different shapes for you ... saving time.

But what I really want to do on here is to play lawn bowls or golf ... I wonder if these sports can be played in S.L.?
The sandbox is at http://slurl.com/secondlife/International%20Schools%202/173/104/24