Google Docs rocks! and Authorstream makes it potently portable
Having created my record of my SL Journey in Google Docs, it has now been published in a more portable package. I now have another notch on my Web 2.0 Toolbelt
This is my Swan Dive on this collaborative project.
Thanks to all for their support and patience.
Couki Carol's SL Journeys
Monday, September 20, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Journey to Second Life
Mark Twain said that travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrowmindedness ~ and I love to travel !!
This is a portion of my M4T-A adventures in travel to Second Life. Take a wee bit of time and travel to Virtual Reality for some not-so-virtual learning opportunities ~
and here but one of the travell images for a visual preview ... I will follow a tad later with a film version ... moving pictures so you do not have to do the work ~
Glen Gatn invited us to build our presentation in the sandbox outside of Conviviality Corners.
This is a portion of my M4T-A adventures in travel to Second Life. Take a wee bit of time and travel to Virtual Reality for some not-so-virtual learning opportunities ~
and here but one of the travell images for a visual preview ... I will follow a tad later with a film version ... moving pictures so you do not have to do the work ~
Glen Gatn invited us to build our presentation in the sandbox outside of Conviviality Corners.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Regression for Progress as a Learning Endeavor
 |
| Progress in Play: Glen made the beautiful colored cubes; Sam made the comfortable chair to sit in; we engaged in SL Sandbox play and found so much more than we anticipated. We laughed and learned ~ Ludmila, Carol, Silvia |
 |
| See Sam's Chair; listen to and watch Carol and Silvia's book review in Second Life |
 | |||||||||||
| Glen, Ludmila, Carol, Magda, Sam and Silvia of M4T-A via IT4ALL in Second Life |
Friday, September 3, 2010
Life is our Learning Laboratory
During our formative years, it is our guardians (usually parents) and siblings that are our "models". Our surroundings and experiences are all parts of the learning process 
. It is during these times that our willingness to explore 
, to discover 
connections with the worlds around us and foster our risk taking 
and creative abilities flourish. 
And then ... the academic institution generally takes over and the process of "conformity" and reduction to more extensive elimination of creative exploration starts.
By the time we are in our teens, and beyond, most of us have lost the enthusiasm and willingness to follow creative paths; have lost the abilities to find joy in new discoveries of the familiar; to have fun learning. We have been driven to conform 
; to be controlled by social, academic and business structures. 
Second Life is an opportunity
to return to a more carefree, joyful, and less conformity driven life experience (although many choose to drag all the baggage with them anyway). We are free to explore, discover, create new personnas and businesses and redefine how we become knowledgeable and "educated". Second Life offers us a brand new laboratory for life.
Can Moodle support learners acquiring an "institution free" education?
That depends upon the Moodlers and whether they use the tools and philosophies as an outgrowth of prior learning about teaching and learning,
or, if we are willing to take risks and go where most others have not dared to go before. Moodlers have the opportunity to open education to creative exploration and discovery. Will we accept that challenge ? Or, will we return to those paths that many have come to know and be accepted by the rules and expectations of prior institutions of education.
My hope is that enough Moodlers will continue to explore, make new discoveries and add to the sense of learning as fun while we all play in the sandbox of Second Life
Thank you Glen for opening the doors and sending us out to play
Now, what might be all the ways that we can contribute to making learning fun again ?
. It is during these times that our willingness to explore , to discover connections with the worlds around us and foster our risk taking and creative abilities flourish. And then ... the academic institution generally takes over and the process of "conformity" and reduction to more extensive elimination of creative exploration starts.
By the time we are in our teens, and beyond, most of us have lost the enthusiasm and willingness to follow creative paths; have lost the abilities to find joy in new discoveries of the familiar; to have fun learning. We have been driven to conform ; to be controlled by social, academic and business structures. Second Life is an opportunity
to return to a more carefree, joyful, and less conformity driven life experience (although many choose to drag all the baggage with them anyway). We are free to explore, discover, create new personnas and businesses and redefine how we become knowledgeable and "educated". Second Life offers us a brand new laboratory for life. Can Moodle support learners acquiring an "institution free" education?
That depends upon the Moodlers and whether they use the tools and philosophies as an outgrowth of prior learning about teaching and learning, or, if we are willing to take risks and go where most others have not dared to go before. Moodlers have the opportunity to open education to creative exploration and discovery. Will we accept that challenge ? Or, will we return to those paths that many have come to know and be accepted by the rules and expectations of prior institutions of education. My hope is that enough Moodlers will continue to explore, make new discoveries and add to the sense of learning as fun while we all play in the sandbox of Second Life
Thank you Glen for opening the doors and sending us out to play
Now, what might be all the ways that we can contribute to making learning fun again ?
Moodle, Life and Learning ...
1. What does "Education" mean nowadays? What are challenges and perspectives for the future of education?
SUNY Empire State College’s dedicated faculty and staff use innovative, alternative and flexible approaches to higher education that transform people and communities by providing rigorous programs that connect individuals’ unique and diverse lives to their personal learning goals.
2. What does "a learning environment" mean to you? How is a Learning Environment in Moodle different from other educational settings?
3. What is your experience with creating a Learning environment for Moodle users? Outside Moodle?
4. Suggest your ideas for creating a framework for the course design that reflect the benefits of Moodle pedagogy.
5. Create a podcast using one of your answers.
SUNY Empire State College’s dedicated faculty and staff use innovative, alternative and flexible approaches to higher education that transform people and communities by providing rigorous programs that connect individuals’ unique and diverse lives to their personal learning goals.
2. What does "a learning environment" mean to you? How is a Learning Environment in Moodle different from other educational settings?
3. What is your experience with creating a Learning environment for Moodle users? Outside Moodle?
4. Suggest your ideas for creating a framework for the course design that reflect the benefits of Moodle pedagogy.
5. Create a podcast using one of your answers.
Never to late to learn ... more moodle musings
1. What does "Education" mean nowadays? What are challenges and perspectives for the future of education?
In today’s society, education appears to mean being able to pass tests and/or get grades to show that you know something. It does not necessarily mean that you understand what you know, or that you know what you need to know. Nor does it mean that you can appropriately apply what you know in a useful way that benefits your self and society
.
As the world of technology and commerce, global enterprises and climate changes speed up the number of changes in an ever increasingly vast pool of innovations, societies are ill equipped to adjust and progress with the changes.
In order to survive and thrive with change we need to change our understanding of education and the adaptive, collaborative and innovative skills that we will continue to need.
Memorization and regurgitation will no longer serve our needs as they may have in the past. Although, truth be told from my perspective, this was never an “education”; it was merely a control mechanism and a way to “rank” people in a society. It may even have bordered on an educational “caste” system that benefitted a minority.
.
2. What does "a learning environment" mean to you? How is a Learning Environment in Moodle different from other educational settings?
2. What does "a learning environment" mean to you? How is a Learning Environment in Moodle different from other educational settings?
My answer to this is brief: a learning environment is life itself and all that life entails. Mooodle has the capacity to tap into a more organic method of learning that resembles the investif=gations and discoveries we encounter as we live our lives. Success is measured by more interesting questions and more involved adventures, not by a raw test score … at least this is my hope.
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness" ... Mark Twain
and this means all sorts of travel for me ... physical and mental
3. What is your experience with creating a Learning environment for Moodle users? Outside Moodle?
My experience creating a learning environment within Moodle has been limited to the course assignments. I am a rank newbie.
My experience outside of Moodle encompasses several formal LMS within which I have attempted to “break the barriers” of the traditional learning models with more social constructive learning techniques. Blogs, wikis, puzzles, You Tube, Facebook, LinkedIn and forums have been staples in my “toolkit”.
4. Suggest your ideas for creating a framework for the course design that reflect the benefits of Moodle pedagogy.
I have no specific ideas at the moment, and a lot of potentials explorations and discoveries to follow as I move forward. As a newbie, and as an older educational facilitator/mentor, I am aware of the value and necessity of incubation time. For now, I am immersing myself, as much as time allows, in the process of learning the LMS and additional web 2.0 tools with mini-presentations that resemble some course development.
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