Knowledge Transfer and Public Engagement in Second Life - Dave Taylor

Knowledge Transfer and Public Engagement in Second Life - Dave Taylor

TIES 2007 Conference

I have been feverishly getting ready for next week's TIES conference. Cara Hagen and I are presenting a workshop Sunday, December 9th and a session on Tuesday, December 11th on Virtual Worlds titled, "Online Virtual Environments in Education." In this session we will explore virtual worlds such as Second Life and Active Worlds and their potential for professional development and integration in the classroom. I have prepared a wiki for this session at http://ties2007vles.pbwiki.com/. I invite anyone interested in virtual worlds and education to edit this wiki.



Information on these and other sessions offered at TIES 2007 can be found at https://wiki.ties.k12.mn.us/Conference+2007.

Google Maps Street View

WOW! This is amazing. I wonder how long it will take to capture every street in the US. Actually, I am more interested in them capturing streets in more distant locals. There are some obvious educational applications of this tool. Now, if these panoramic images could be done as webcams and broadcast video in real time and we merged this technology with Second Life it would be amazing. Stationary panoramic webcams could also contain microphones and speakers. Those in the virtual version of a location could hear what was going on and talk to actual people there. Plus, virtual buildings could be constructed within a context of real space. I do believe we are not far from something like this being a reality. Complex? Yes. But approaching technology transparency.