NECC 2009 Conference June 28-July 1st: Technology in Education

If you are interested in virtual worlds, serious games, interactive multimedia technology, and emerging technologies in education, the 2009 NECC conference is the place to be!

NECC 2009 Conference Website

ISTE Website

Live Streaming from the NECC conference

CITEd (Center for Implementing Technology in Education) will be at NECC at the end of this month, where CITEd staffers will be keeping in touch via Twitter and Facebook.

The following information about virtual worlds and learning is from CITEd-e-News:

"Follow CITEd as we attend NECC 2009, the largest educational computing conference of the year. If you're attending this year, check out the agenda to see where we'll be; if you can't make it, we'll be Twittering the conference at TechnologyinEd. New to Twitter? Check out The Ultimate Guide for Everything Twitter or Twitter in Plain English. "

Source: NMC Second Life Flicker Photostream

Virtual Worlds for Teaching and Learning

Virtual worlds, particularly Second Life and Teen Second Life, are a hot topic in education as schools and universities around the world begin to make use of virtual learning environments. With a wide variety of educational projects, Second Life is home to virtual conferences, professional development workshops, "field trips" to exotic locales, in-world classrooms and collaborative learning activities. In this issue of eNews, we take a look at some of the ways educators are using Second Life to enhance learning and teaching. Learn more at www.cited.org.

	Avatars Teach Teens about Self-Image Read about how one health teacher used avatars (alter egos) in Second Life to teach students about body image issues, media representations of beauty, and self-image.
	ICT for the Non-Specialist - Virtual Worlds If you've ever wondered about using virtual worlds with your students, but don't know where to start, check out this short video highlighting several schools as they explore using Second Life in their teaching.
	Teen Second Life Guide for Schools Suffern Middle School in Suffern, NY has maintained a virtual presence in Teen Second Life since 2006, with a focus on standards-based curriculum. Based on their experiences, teachers have created an in-depth guide for moving your school or classroom into the virtual world.
	Global Kids Second Life Project Thinking about using virtual worlds in your school? Global Kids has used Second Life to work with urban youth since 2006 and offers free sample curriculum materials and professional development opportunities. Be sure to visit the blog written by teens in the project!

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Whatever your technology need, CITEd's web site offers unbiased, reliable and timely resources and information for implementing technology in the classroom, school, and district. Want to know more? Visit our home page!

www.CITEd.org

(I'm on a cruise vacation, otherwise I'd be at NECC!)

Post from Jonathan Tarr, HASTAC, about Sharon Burn's Virtual Worlds Tour (8-minute overview video)

If you are interested in interactive multimedia, you might be curious to learn more about virtual 3D worlds. I tried out Second Life for a couple of weeks in 2005, and found that for me, I simply don't have the time. I often don't have enough time in my "first life"!

Since 2005, Second Life and other virtual worlds have exploded in population. Here is a good overview and update, including information and views of children's virtual worlds such as Whyville, Webkins, and Penguin.

FYI: I'm always flattered when I've been "re-blogged", so I hope that Jonathan Tarr doesn't mind that I've reblogged his post from the HASTIC website:

March 4, 2008 - 3:34pm. VIRTUAL WORLDS TOUR FROM SHARON BURNS


"MacArthur Foundation CIO Sharon Burns (whom I met briefly last month in Chicago) has posted the first part of an excellent tour through various virtual worlds on Youtube, for those who are looking for a quick and smart overview. I learned more about it in 8 minutes than I have in most longer presentations about virtual worlds, so there is certainly some benefit to brevity. There's also a useful writeup of the video on Susan Tenby's blog at Netsquared, if you want an even briefer writeup and some additional information."



What is HASTAC?

"A consortium of humanists, artists, scientists, social scientists, and engineers from universities across the country, HASTAC ("Haystack") is committed to new forms of collaboration across institutions, disciplines, and communities to promote creative uses of technology. Since 2003, we have been developing tools for multimedia archiving and social interaction, gaming environments for teaching, innovative educational programs in information science and information studies, virtual museums, and other digital projects. HASTAC leaders have served as consultants to U.S. and international organizations and governments on grid computing and cyberinfrastructure. Our aim is to promote expansive, innovative uses of technology in formal education and lifelong learning."