If you are familar or not with teaching and learning in Second Life, you will most likely find this podcast by Jeremy Kemp to be enlighening as to the state of educational opportunities in immersive worlds. Kemp also discusses the integration of Second Life into an LMS and how it can advance learning for distance learners.

RezEd Podcast, Episode 7- Jeremy Kemp on Immersive Environments and their Opportunities

– Podcast: Jeremy Kemp of San Jose State University speaks on Immersive Environments and their Opportunities. This podcast also includes a news round-up and upcoming conference round-up. 

This podcast also features a special youth voice podcast <http://www.rezed.org/forum/topic/show?id=2047896%3ATopic%3A7851>  from Global Kids youth leaders involved in the production of this year’s virtual video machinima project in New York City. 

To listen to the podcast go to:

http://www.rezed.org/forum/topic/show?id=2047896%3ATopic%3A7750

Enjoy!

PS

If you are interested in learning more about education in immersive worlds, please contact me, Ann Steckel, at asteckel@csuchico.edu.

Recently, my attention has turned toward online utilities that facilitate learning for all sorts of learners, like those with predominate auditory, visual, and kinesthetic styles. Universal Design (UDL) is something we in TLP embrace and promote in our trainings, and if put into practice, encourages instructors to utilize content that engages students in multiple ways.

This web resource, developed by College@Home, lists 100 resources instructors can use to facilitate learning for multiple learning styles. I encourage you to check the list and try a few. If you find one you think is valuable, let us in TLP know and we will share your findings.

To see the list go to:100 Helpful Web Tools for Every Kind of Learner

Anyone who is a client of Blackboard Academic Suite or Enterprise License who didn’t get the marketing email might want to have a look at the “sneak peek” video that Blackboard posted about their “project NG” or Next Generation LMS:

Okay, now that we’ve sucked down a heaping helping of hype, let’s actually dissect what we’ve seen. I’ve taken the liberty of chopping some freeze frames out of the video for us to decode. Keep in mind that I’m looking at these snaps from the perspective of a Blackboard WebCT Vista user, so if anyone else has a perspective on this as an Academic Suite user, I’d love to hear from you in the comments or by email.
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This week has been especially busy for the CSU Chico Technology and Learning Program. For the past two days the department has been conducting accessible technology training for faculty who are redesigning their courses to insure their course materials are accessible to all students. The faculty in the photo comprise the first group to go through the training.

[Front left to right: Hsuying Ward, Ann Bykerk-Kauffman, Rich Rosecrance, Margaret Bierly, Jane Rysberg, Teri Todd, Jeff Jiang, Paula Selvester, Sue Steiner, Kathryn Schifferle, Sara Cooper, Julie Schneider, Katie Whitlock, Steve Koch]

The New Media Consortium (NMC) announced today the call for proposals for the 2008-09 NMC Virtual Learning Prize, a $100,000 competitive program of awards intended to create a compilation of novel open-source learning practices that make use of the unique characteristics of a virtual learning environment. As many as 20 NMC Virtual Learning Prizes will be awarded in 2008.

“Projects funded under the NMC Virtual Learning Prize program will be those that make learning fresh or novel, or that illustrate concepts that are usually very difficult to teach,” explains Dr. Larry Johnson, NMC’s CEO and director of NMC Virtual Worlds.

For further information, or to download a proposal submission form, please see the Virtual Learning Prize website.

For the past nine years Educause has conducted a survey to determine the top issues facing postsecondary leaders on campuses across the nation. This year’s survey is especially noteworthy in that the previous top issue, funding, was bumped from the number one spot by security.

If you’re interested in the top-down approach to campus information technology issues and strategies, a look at this document is well worth the time.

When Brett Christie came to CSU Chico to conduct his presentation about the Horizon Report and Web 2.0 applications, he demonstrated Sketchcast, “a new way to communicate something online by recording a sketch, optionally with your voice speaking.” The reaction to Sketchcast among the faculty who were in attendance was very positive. People seemed to especially like the tool because the resulting product could be embedded for play-back in an LMS, blog or web page.

Today Cris Guenter and I were speaking, and she pointed me to her inaugural “sketch” in which she describes the Rule of Thirds. I watched and my take on it is that for a first try, it is pretty darn good! She said she enjoyed making it and sharing it with others and when I checked this morning she had nearly 230 views!

It is my hope that others here at CSU Chico will investigate Sketchcast and possibly create some creative “sketches” to share with their students and colleagues. If you have tried it and want to share your reaction, we would enjoy hearing from you.

Brett Christie’s presentation, “Teaching and Technology Horizons: Presentation and Discussion” and is now available via an archive.(Simply type your name in the participant window and go! No password necessary.) Links to the Horizon Report websites used in today’s presentation can be found here.

Those of us in the Technology and Learning Program would like to congratulate Laura Sederberg, TLP Manager, on receiving her ten-year pin at yesterday’s Thirty-Seventh Annual Staff Council Spring Awards Luncheon. The packed to capacity event was enjoyable for all, as we saw our colleagues recognized for their outstanding service to the university.

In addition to Laura, other ATEC members receiving recognition for their service were: Assistant Director, Dave Abbott (35 years), Buzz Buzzini (25 years), Dan Carter (10 years) and Randy Wall (10 years).

The past two days that the University of British Columbia group has spent in Chico have flown by. I believe everyone who has been involved would agree we have learned a lot from each other and have enjoyed sharing what we have in common in an effort to provide the best experiences for our respective campus communities.

The above photo shows the two groups who represent both the technical and pedagogical sides of the academic technology groups.