Virtual Environments...a little knowledge is dangerous

...to my frail ego;)

I'd be lying if I said that I could wholeheartedly embrace the use of Virtual World or Virtual Environments.  I recently spent some time working in Second Life and am still struggling with the academic value in VW/VE.  I recognize that there are true believers and users in the education world. I can see where Math, Science and World Languages find success.  Perhaps, my angst is really because the learning curve is so steep.

Earlier this week, I tweeted about two links of interest. Actually, I hope that when I become discouraged with my inability to create a worthwhile SL classroom, I will re-read these articles and make another earnest attempt at it.  Here are the links for you non-followers:

A Neurologist Makes the Case for the Video Game Model as a Learning Tool | Edutopia http://t.co/LtrT4IR via @AddThis

Checking out "SIGVirtualEnvironments" on The Educator's PLN:http://ning.it/iG9zfY

And because I truly believe that "attitude is everything", here's a youtube video on the use of VE and Smartboards:  http://youtu.be/uVFsxev-2sk

Thanks for letting me share;)  Amanda

Introducing Google docs

Here's a simple three-minute tutorial on creating a Gmail account and working with Google docs.  I would provide this video to high school students in my business/career education courses here on Guam.  It's a quick view, so perhaps you'll find it useful, too.  Thanks for stopping by.

Neil Pasricha: The 3 A's of awesome | Video on TED.com

Neil Pasricha: The 3 A's of awesome Video on TED.com I couldn't resist sharing this fantastic TedTalk. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

What does it mean to be educationally social?

I was recently asked to discuss my expectations of educational social networks in my educational technology class. My first instinct was to use a reliable search engine to look for definitions of said networks. According to aptly named website http://www.educationalnetworking.com/ , the term “educational networking” is simply the use of social network technologies or tools for educational purposes. In fact, to detract from the negative connotations that ‘social networking’ carries, the site suggests that ‘educational networking’ be the catchphrase to more objectively discuss the “pedagogical value” of such tools.

With an acceptable definition in hand, or rather, mind, determining my expectations proved a more difficult task. Admittedly, my first foray into social networking was hijacking my poor husband’s facebook account. It wasn’t intentional. I merely started posting pictures of our three-year-old on the wall so that off-island relatives could glimpse his growth. It’s since morphed into my facebook page under the pseudonym that is actually my husband’s name.

Oddly enough, I realized that it was this process of appropriation, or rather annexation that should be applied to educational (social) networks. To that end, I began my hunt for blogs, articles, websites, professional learning networks (PLN) and the like to ascertain as much information as I could possibly use in growing my practice as a secondary education teacher of career and technical education courses.

My interaction, to date, has been rather one-sided. I’ve created a blog, a microblog, joined a handful of PLNs, groups within said PLNs, posted comments and queries, but have been met with silence, thus far. Thank goodness, I’ve thick skin. I do recognize that I'm a novice in this arena. And I realize that if I am true believer of life-long learning, I will keep plugging along. I will post when I’ve something worthwhile to say, I will follow people and groups of interest, I will try to keep abreast of worthwhile information. I will be the 21st century learner that I strive to have my high-school students embrace. And while it started off as professional exploration, I know that my educational networks tout the 3Rs: relationship (-building), rigor and relevance inside the classroom and out.

Mark Zimmer is a Tech Genius

Open publication - Free publishing - More web 2.0

I cannot thank my University of Guam Ed Tech professor Dr. Cyrus enough for introducing us to the blog  The Pursuit of Technology Integration Happiness  recently.  This site is my new favorite resource.  I know that I'll be spending a lot of my summer nights tweaking my lesson plans to accomodate the use of these great ed tech tools.  I just have to map out a great proposal to ensure that I can use particular tools in my school district.  Alas, some sites are restricted on my campus.