Henry Jenkins on Transmedia

As a participatory culture we all have the ability to tell stories. Henry Jenkins in this video discusses transmedia. Transmedia refers “to the idea that a stroy can be told across various media.”

A Survey of Health-Related Activities on Second Life

Second Life has several areas for health information, training and education. This research study created by several departments and authors from the University of Ottawa discusses these areas.

The key to success

Joachim de Posada in his talk at TED, links the ability to delay gratification with success. In past and present studies, kids who could delay gratification by not eating a marshmallow got good grades in school and were successful in their lives. Should we teach our children and ourselves this skill?

Certificate in Second Life

Texas State Technical College’s virtual college (vTSTC) announced the first known student to graduate from a certificate program taken entirely in a Second Life.

“… In my second life I have explored the inside of computers and servers, collaborated with people across the world, traveled to world class art museums, built 3D products for my logo designs, explored a tsunami from the ocean floor, and many more experiences I could never do in my real world. … Thank you again for this once in a (second) life opportunity! ” Julie Shannan

Northrop Grumman in Second Life.

Northrop Grumman Corporation has now entered Second Life with five regions. The company is using SL to “prototype products, conduct simulations, and train employees in environments that would be prohibitively dangerous, expensive, or even impossible in the physical world.”

“I’ve been able to collaborate with people I would never have been able to collaborate with before. I can’t begin to tell you how important this is. We’re now doing development work for clients where one hundred percent of the product and the client relationship is virtual.”
— Matt Furman, Developer & Second Life Project Lead, Northrop Grumman

For more information read this article of Simulation and Prototyping in Virtual Worlds.

Twitteracy

All these social media tools are just tools. It is the way we use them that helps us learn. Nielsen says 60% of people who twitter fail to come back the next month.

Some we may use only for a short while. What is new this week, may not be what everyone is using next year. This is why you need to learn and find information on your own.

100 Geeks You Should Be Following On Twitter

The Story of Stuff

Everyone needs to see this, even kids. . I know I have too much stuff.

Seth Godin: Why tribes, not money or factories, will change the world

This is what my class is all about.

We can change the world, you are learning new tools that will help.

So as Seth says….Create a movement…..

A Big First: Case Western Reserve is first Edu on Standalone Version of Second Life

Linden Labs and NMC have now found a way to contain Second Life on a server. This means that a school, any school can keep anyone in and anyone out. The good point about this is it can be a completely “safe” environment, and allow even younger children into Second Life. The bad news is it keeps anyone else from visiting your site.

How the Government is using Second Life for education, training, outreach and testing

This week in the Federal Computer Week magazine there is an article on how the Air Force, National Guard and Navy are using Second Life. The military has always been in the forefront of simulation for training. Most of this in the past has been on very high end computers and is very expensive. Now some of this can be done on a desktop computer in Second Life.