Sloan-C SL Activities: Committee Meeting Date and Time

Based on the responses I received, I’ve decided to hold the organizing committee meeting on Fri., Aug. 3, and a preliminary brainstorming session on Wed., Aug. 1.

Location

Both sessions will be held at the Sloan-C SL site (Teaching 48, 213, 22). Here’s the SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Teaching/48/213/22 .

Committee Meeting

The committee meeting will be held on Fri., Aug. 3, at 12 noon SLT/PDT (1 p.m. MDT, 2 p.m. CDT, 3 p.m. EDT). I plan to end the meeting after one hour.

At this meeting, I hope we can determine what type(s) of events to hold and when to hold them, schedule the first one or two events, and plan for others. If enough people are willing to help with the organizing and there is enough interest in different types of activities, we may form subcommittees to streamline the organizing process. We will also schedule the next committee meeting(s).

Brainstorming Session

People who can’t (or can) attend the committee meeting on Fri., can stop by to see me, and anyone else who’s there, to discuss any ideas on Wed., Aug.1 between 6 p.m. SLT/PDT (7 p.m. MDT, 8 p.m. CDT, 9 p.m. EDT) and 7 p.m. If enough people come, we can hold an informal brainstorming session.

Voice Chat in SL

As he related in his own blog, KJ Hax and I spent some time play with the newly enabled voice chat last night at ISTE HQ in SL. It worked quite well. I had assumed that there would be a 20-meter limit, but after some experimentation, we discovered that we could hear each other 80 meters away.

I also gave KJ some voice gestures that I originally got from Milos Lundquist of Sloan-C.

It is nice to hear other people's real voices, but this will make it harder to eat when in SL. ;)

Sloan-C SL Activities

We've had 56 responses to the questionnaire about holding events for higher-ed folks in SL. I had no idea how many to expect, but I think we'll be able to plan and hold some interesting activities with that number.

I e-mailed everyone who completed the questionnaire to find out who would like to participate on an organizing committee and when they could meet this coming week. So far 27 people have responded, and most could make it on Friday afternoon. I scheduled the meeting then with a brainstorming session on Wednesday night for people who can't make the meeting but want to offer suggestions.

Triangle Stool

I did some building in SL this week. First I made some bookshelves for the library that's being created in the manor house on Renaissance Island. Then I discovered a web site with pictures of a type of stool used in the 15th and 16th centuries. I created some in Second Life. Two, one dark wood and one light, don't have the smaller vertical pieces, and two more, one each color, do. I have some ideas for other pieces of Tudor and Elizabethan furniture I'd like to try making.

The Poet's Corner

Since my house on Renaissance Island is on the village square, I decided to create a sign and give it a name. I called it The Poet's Corner and put out a poem of the day at the corner of my house and the intersection. I'm rotating the poems so there's different one every day. Maybe this will motivate me to start writing more.

Sonnet for Theater Opening

I've been working on a sonnet for the Grand Opening of the Globe Theatre on Renaissance Island (in SL). Here's the first complete draft, which still needs some work:


To a New Globe

The deaths of lovers end their families’ strife;
a feckless prince becomes a warrior king;
a jealous husband kills his faithful wife;
the king and queen of fairies dance and sing;
a king’s ungrateful daughters drive him out;
a duke usurped receives his own afresh;
an indecisive prince gives voice his doubt;
a maiden saves a merchant’s pound of flesh--
these scenes have oft been played upon thy stage.
With topics elevated and benight
in poetry like music on the page,
the bard will still enlighten and delight
within thy walls--in second life or third--
arising as the legendary bird.

Sloan-C Second Life Initiative

I’ve with working with the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C) on a new initiative to hold networking sessions in Second Life so folks in higher ed can get to know each other better, exchange information and, at the same time, discuss some of the issues that have been raised in the SLED listserv.

Anyone who would like to participate should complete the questionnaire at http://www.sloanconsortium.org/networking_discussion/.

Globe Theatre Grand Opening

Globe Theatre Grand Opening
Renaissance Island (204, 45, 27)
Sunday, July 22, 2007
1 PM-6PM

The original Globe Theatre opened a few years back in the Autumn of 1599 in Southwark on the River Thames. Join our scholar and builder as they discuss the history of this remarkable Elizabethan theatre.

There will be two discussions/Q & A sessions, fireworks, and a dance, too! Not to worry--William Prynne will not be reading from his loathsome Histriomastix against theatre and dancing. Do feel free to wear your favorite Renaissance/Tudor period attire! (Visitors will find free attire in the welcome center located at 69, 183, 150).

Here is the schedule:

1-2PM Discussion by Dolgoruky Umarov (in RL Dolgo has a PhD in English and Theatre Arts and has performed in 4 major Shakespearean roles; he has also researched the Globe Theatre extensively). Dolgo will be joined by Globe builder extraordinaire Charlene Trudeau. A Q & A Session will follow.

2-5PM Globe(al) Dance Party with Fireworks around 3.

5-6PM Dolgoruky and Charlene will repeat their earlier program.

Parish Poet

On Sunday I agreed (volunteered actually) to be the poet for the Parish of Reading Primley (i.e., Renaissance Island in Second Life).

I have ideas for a couple of sonnets to celebrate upcoming events. I hope I'm able to get them finished.

Renaissance Woman Wiki

I've been working on a wiki with information on writing and research--at least for starters--for my students. I also promised Desideria Stockton that I'd provide information on research for her Collaboration Station in Second Life. So far I've got the first of four sections done. The third section, on actually doing research, will be by far the most involved.

CCC SLED Numbers Increasing

As of last night, there are seven members in the SL CCC SLED (Colorado Community Colleges Second Life EDucators) group. I'm looking into free listservs, specifically Coollist and FreeLists. We'll need one if we keep growing. I haven't spent as much time looking at FreeLists, but I'm rather dubious about Coollist because of spelling and grammatical errors I saw.

My Virtual Room

I don't know why it happened to show up in my RSS feeds, but this morning I read a post dated March 31 by Maryanne Campo at Blended Edu about Elluminate's free vRooms. I signed up for one this afternoon. It looks like a great possibility for holding virtual office hours. The "room" will hold up to three people and, according to the web site, provides

• Two-way audio
• Interactive whiteboard
• Direct messaging
• Application sharing
• File transfer
• Synchronized web tour
• Live webcam
• Breakout rooms

It looks like a great tool, and I want to play with it soon to see what it will do.

SL Connections

One of the first "people" I met in Second Life was Milos Lundquist, who, as he tells everyone in his SL profile, is John Bourne, Executive Director of the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C). Last Saturday afternoon I spent almost an hour talking with him and one of the staff about how Sloan-C could help institutions using SL for education and how I could help Sloan-C.

Later I told KJ Hax, one of the founders of SLolar-Central, about our visit and my mentioning SLolar Central to Milos/John. KJ got in touch with Milos, as he mentioned in his blog this morning, where he graciously thanked my SL persona, Floria Beaumont, for the introduction.