Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education

What a weekend! I had campus meetings Friday afternoon and came home to prepare for a full day of teaching on Saturday. The Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference 2009 was also held this weekend. Several of the sessions looked very good. How could I do both? Well, the VWBPE Conference was held in Second Life. I was able to attend three different sessions before and after my teaching schedule. They were all interesting and engaging. In Second Life (SL) I am Friday Karu. In SL and real life (RL) educational designs, student interactions, and student immersion in learning are key. Although I was sitting comfortably in my home in Chico, CA I was able to engage with these thoughtful and engaging educators from Ireland, Colorado, and Australia. We spoke, viewed slides, read, and moved. It was a powerful experience for me. As Friday, I participated in discussions, networked, went on a field trip, reviewed and discussed student work, participated in a trivia quiz, and was part of a drama lesson with several other educators, all from around the world. No travel costs incurred for me or my department, but the learning was substantial and meaningful.

Here are the sessions I attended.

Pedagogical Design of Learning Experiences Within Virtual Worlds

Carina Girvin (RL) Sleepy Littlething (SL) and Timothy Savage (RL) Esox Graves (SL) Trinity College University of Dublin Ireland

Virtual World Learning Experiences: Identity and Culture

Dr.Cynthia Calongne (RL) Lyr Lobo (SL)

Colorado Technical University, Colorado USA

Dramatically Different: Strategies for Socially-Engaged Learning in Virtual Worlds

Kim Flintoff (RL) Kim Pasternak (SL)

Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia