SL - A 3D Wiki?

It is according to the New World Notes blog. Blogger, W. James Au, believes that until now, SL as a 3D wiki has merely been an analogy. He states,

"Virtual/real world architects Keystone Bouchard (Ryan Schultz) and Theory Shaw (Jon Brouchoud) of Wikitecture Studio have just filled this gap. Their "Wikitecture Tree" saves the data of a building project into a leaf on the tree. Collaborators can then review and critique each, and if they like, create a new version of it-- which then literally becomes, in turn, another leaf sprouting from the original design. To see any of these iterations, you just click on the leaf, and the design rezzes before your eyes."

A demo of Bouchard and Shaw's Wikitecture Tree is available on YouTube at http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z3eWKIJxzyc .

Blended learning, blogs and wikis - oh my!

A new book on blended learning - Blended Learning in Higher Education: Framework, Principles, and Guidelines (Garrison & Vaughan) - takes a look at the blended learning trend. Not only do the authors discuss the theories surrounding the incorporation of technology into the curriculum (e.g., active engagement, social presence), but they also examine ways educators can use blogs and wikis to enhance the f2f learning experience. In this Inside Higher Ed interview with the authors, they outline the design of assigments using blogs and wikis that foster collaboration, self-reflection, and peer review.

CNN in SL

This just in...

CNN has just launched a news site in Second Life!

"Just as CNN asks its real-life audience to submit I-Reports -- user-generated content submitted from cell phones, computers, cameras and other equipment for broadcast and online reports -- the network is encouraging residents of Second Life to share their own "SL I-Reports" about events occurring within the virtual world."

For those interested in honing their amateur reporting skills, CNN will be hosting its first in-world training session on Tuesday, November 13, at 5 p.m. ET at the I-Report Hub.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/11/12/second.life.irpt/index.html

A Virtual College in a Virtual World

Miss those college years? The current ones not living up to your expectations? Thanks to Second Life avatars Roberta Beauchamp and Redd Columbia, you can experience the stereotypical college years (e.g., beer parties, Greek life, late night cram sessions) in a SL role playing game, Kindly State University. Just complete their online application and pay 200 Linden dollars, and you too could be a part of this experience!

More about this "institution" is available through the Chronicle of Higher Education's Wired Campus blog.

Second Life Survey

The Friday, October 5, 2007 issues of the Chronicle's "The Wired Campus" included details of the Second Life Educators survey conducted by the New Media Consortium. Their findings show that educators are divided on the future of SL for educational purposes. The survey results and the appendix are freely available at:

http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2007-sl-survey-summary.pdf

and

http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2007-sl-survey-summary-appendix.pdf

Some of the interesting nuggets from the respondents include:

*80% of the respondents were between the ages of 36-55+
*43% took a class held in SL
*91% have engaged in random wandering; 77% have used SL to meet new people
*46% have designed their avatar to resemble themselves
*45% indicate that rich interactions, meeting new people, expanding networks, and generosity of community have been their most positive experiences; 36% say that their most negative experiences are due to technical issues/using SL
*SL characteristics that ranked high were engaging, interactive, social, and global; ease of use and realistic were lower in comparison
*46% consider SL to have great potential and is a taste of the 3D future

Facebook

On Wednesday (10/3), Curt sent the class a link to an article in USA Today about the 23 year old owner of the social networking software, Facebook. In today's (10/6) New York Times, Alice Mathias (a 2007 graduate from Dartmouth) talks about Facebook as online community theater and a form of escapism. Check it out at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/06/opinion/06mathias.html?th&emc=th

Cutting and Pasting

Speaking of cutting and pasting, Google unveiled a new feature - individuals can now cut-and paste from its collection of online books.

More about this feature is available in the September 20, 2007 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education and Google.

Work-life Balance

A blurb in today's Chronicle of Higher Education references a list created by Computerworld on ways to balance IT work and real life. While the full list that appears in Computerworld includes 10 tips, the Chronicle piece only lists these top five.

1. Establish and enforce your own priorities. Sometimes that may mean saying no to overtime and promotions.

2. Communicate. Once you set priorities, let your co-workers know about them. Set boundaries so your boss knows when he or she is crossing them.

3. Build a business case for your better life. If you want to telecommute or have flexible hours, show how you can achieve superior job results in that situation.

4. Take advantage of employee programs. If your college offers job-sharing or on-site child care, find out about those options and use them.

5. Seek out a mentor. Find someone in your field who seems to balance work and life nicely. Ask his or her advice about how you can do the same. Maybe even copy what your mentor does.

Easier said than done...

Blogging and Group Discussion

In Monday's class, my group discussed the Pew article on blogging by Lenhart et al. (http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP%20Bloggers%20Report%20July%2019%202006.pdf). One fact our group found of interest was that while blogging is equally split between men and women, their reasons for blogging differed. For example, Lenhart and her colleagues found that men are more likely than women (67% to 52%) to say that they blog to entertain people. In contrast, women who blog and younger bloggers (age 18-29) are more likely than other groups to say that keeping in touch is a major reason for blogging (p. 8).

Today, I was reading an article in First Monday titled, "Mining the Blogosphere: Age, Gender, and the Varieties of Self-expression (2007; http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue12_9/argamon/index.html). In this piece, the authors outline their findings from a study on language use and blogging. They found a pairing that was similar to the one presented by Lenhart and her group. In "Mining the Blogosphere," the authors note the following:

"Factors and parts–of–speech that are used significantly more by younger (older) bloggers are also used significantly more by female (male) bloggers. Thus, Articles, Prepositions, Religion, Politics, Business, and Internet are used more by male bloggers as well as older bloggers, while PersonalPronouns, Conjunctions, AuxiliaryVerbs, Conversation, AtHome, Fun, Romance, and Swearing are used more by female bloggers as well as younger bloggers. "

It's interesting that not only do women and young people share similar reasons for blogging, but that the language styles of their posts are similar as well.