Jokaydia Unconference in SecondLife
I must admit I’ve been a very slow adopter of the realm of SecondLife. Perhaps because I’m more of an auditory learner than visual or kinesthetic, it was quite some time before I had the slightest interest in creating an account and logging in, and even longer before I was willing to open my mind to the possibilities of it being used to somehow support learning. To be brutally honest, a certain degree of scepticism still remains as to the logistics of using SecondLife in education - not the least of which arise from the massive learning curve required to acclimate to life “in-world” - but I’m quite happy to have reached the stage where I’m at least open to the possibilities.
In no small part due to the edublogging activities of many people around the web, a great deal of discussion, some very helpful and insightful SecondLife advocates, and my own curiosity I have begun to spend time in earnest exploring the activities and educational uses of this emersive environment. As luck would have it I’ll also be meeting in SecondLife for the upcoming Facilitating Online Communities course I’m taking beginning the 28th of this month.
In yet another amazing coincidence it would seem that there is an unconference on the horizon as well. From the Island of Jokaydia Community Wikispace:
“The Islands of jokaydia Community of Practice is planning an In-World Unconference which will will occur on the Islands of jokaydia from 27-28th September 2008.”
The unconference is expected to cover a variety of topics relevant to education and eLearning, with the three main themes being: Virtual Worlds for Education, Innovation in eLearning and Arts and Culture in Second Life.
Continuing the apparent theme of openness and community-driven learning that I seem to be in the midst of lately, the conference content will be largely directed by the participants:
“According to wikipedia, an unconference is a: conference where the content of the sessions is driven and created by the participants. Generally, unconference style events are community organised, informal and social events where participants provide the content and facilitation for the event.”
There’s a great deal of additional information on the unconference page of the Island of Jokaydia Community Wikispace, so if you’re interested I would encourage you to check it out. From what’s been discussed in the wiki the event is being exceptionally well planned and organised, so it should be something you don’t want to miss.
Personally speaking the portion of the unconference that has piqued my interest the most concerns a case study on titled “Ramapo Islands: A New Dimension in Learning”:
Focusing on the process of developing constructivist learning in the virtual world, Sheehy will present the steps her teachers have taken this second year of teaching in Ramapo Islands on Teen Second life to translate their content into the virtual landscape. She will outline the best practices that have evolved as a result and the student responses to this 21st century pedagogical shift.
The hour long presentation will include anecdotal evidence from teachers, administrators and students, video clips of the work being done and both the anticipated and actual outcomes.”
If you’re planning on attending any or all of this unconference please let me know. Perhaps we can go together.
Monday, July 21st, 2008