MUVES+and+Professional+Development.


 * MUVES and Professional Development**.

= Layna Winter: Online Learning Community: Leading Technology Change =

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has created various links within SL (Second Life) to promote Multi User Virtual Environments providing a place to enhance collaborative learning, research tools and pedagogical strategies for educators. 8 A Teachers On-Line Resource Guide for Educational Associations []

8 Soft Skills Training and Development //This site offers online training// courses to meet the needs of any //organization//. Clients //have// a choice of instructor-led, e-learning and blended, virtual classroom, design and facilitate customized //professional// development //workshops.// []

8 A Community for Education Professionals An international online community working environment for education professionals for K – 12, enrichment teachers (world language, physical education, music, art, technology) librarians, administrators, and professional development trainers. This site provides a gathering place to learn, collaborate, share ideas and offer support to colleagues. []

8 Croquet A powerful open source software development environment for the creation and large-scale distributed deployment of multi-user virtual 3D applications and metaverses that are (1) persistent (2) deeply collaborative (3) interconnected and (4) interoperable. The Croquet architecture supports synchronous communication, collaboration, resource sharing and computation among large numbers of users on multiple platforms and multiple devices. []

8 Experience is Everything This site offers a presentation for teachers on Emerging Technologies within the learning environment. It provides an overview on 21st Century skills and effective habits for utilizing collaborating tools such as blogs, wikis, MUVEs, RSS feeds, and social networking tools. Educators that use this site are also embracing the idea of modeling to their students how to be a lifelong learner and going beyond the classroom walls to embrace education through technology, identify goals and facilitate learning to students, who are digital learners. []

I found the “Experience is everything” Site to be beneficial in introducing to MUVEs. During our discussion for week 5, I was doubtful with using Second Life, because it seemed cumbersome for students to navigate. After reviewing this site and viewing the “Emerging Technologies presentation, I think it will be easier to begin to introduce teachers MUVEs for professional development workshops. I believe that after teachers because acquainted with this type of Web 2.0 tools, it will be easier to introduce it into the learning environments.

= **Michael Wanmer: Leading Technology Change: MUVEs** =

**__Resource Links__** // TappedIN // [|http://tappedin.org] TI bundles synchronous and asynchronous discussion tools, a notes section, an interactive whiteboard, and file sharing space. After logging into the virtual space, users are teleported to the TI Reception Area and greeted by Helpdesk staff.

// MUVEnation // [] The project seeks to develop a peer learning program for teacher training for the use of “Active learning with Multi-Users Virtual Environments to increase pupils’ motivation and participation in education”. Based on the potential and opportunities afforded by active learning approaches combined with Massive Multi-Users Virtual Environments (MUVEs) as effective solutions to inspire and engage learners and foster motivation, the MUVEnation project’s general aim is to contribute to explore, analyse, develop and evaluate within context the effectiveness of this innovative way of teaching and learning with regard to some of the problems of the educational system such as pupils motivation and participation.

// IT’s Academic // [] For more than 15 years, Princeton University has sponsored a series of technology seminars. Part of the outreach efforts of its IT department, these Lunch ‘n Learn seminars invite customer friendly speakers with varied affiliations to explore a wide array of cutting edge technology topics. During the past five years, OIT’s Lorene Lavora and Jon Edwards sought to transform the existing series into fully integrated outreach, with these blog posts, very high quality podcasts, RSS feeds, and through Facebook, all in all a demonstration of how a small outreach office with sophisticated collaboration tools can leverage its resources.

// SimTech // [] Information and Community for Educators using M.U.V.E.'s Includes a blog, wiki, forum, and many other links.

// Teaching Through MUVEs // [] Includes a blog, news and resources for teachers desiring to provide instruction through the incorporation of MUVEs in their classroom.

// Learning Online Info // [] Learning Online Info is a blog where Jorge Goncalves, a chemist, collects links of interesting e-learning-related sites and news and in all things related with e-learning and the new learning technologies.

**__Engaging Colleagues in Incorporating MUVEs__**

Many of the resources I have located serve as a tool of engagement for my colleagues in professional development workshops that encourage the utilization of MUVEs within the classroom as a learning tool. I am still very hesitant myself as to the effectiveness of MUVEs, such as Second Life. In adopting MUVEs in my classroom, I would have to analyze the effectiveness of its implementation juxtaposed with its role as a distraction. “ As educators, we should be using technology as a critical design factor, in combination with research on how people best learn, to establish new and different environments for student- centered learning” (Lemke & Coughlin, 2009, p. 54). It is not enough to simply use technology, it needs to be used correctly; I believe that further investigation and research might allow for a school site discussion on MUVEs on how we might successfully incorporate it within our unit instruction.

Alexis Scheck: MUVE Sites

Professional Organizations Tapped In []

This MUVE allows educators to collaborate and explore resources. “K-12 teachers, librarians, administrators, and professional development staff, as well as university faculty, students, and researchers gather here to learn, collaborate, share, and support one another” (Tapped In, 2011).

RezED []

A site for learning about MUVE’s. This site offers discussion areas, blogs, videos and more. This site offers tutorials for practitioners wanting to learn more about virtual worlds. Much information, blogs, podcasts, forums, and has a good introduction and tutorial. This is a useful source for teaching and learning about MUVE’s.

SLED Blog []

This guide helps educators use MUVE in the classrooms. This source has a wealth of information including links to useful MUVE’s.

Teaching Through Multi-User Virtual Environments [] Seeks to identify and describe new and emergent technologies in MUVE. Includes resources for educators to incorporate MUVE into their classrooms.

Since our students are natives to technology, Multi-user Virtual Environments (MUVE) are naturally engaging. Using MUVE’s in our classrooms only helps to expand our students knowledge in technology and how it can be used as a learning tool. Using MUVE’s allows students to solve real-world problems, collaborate, and explore topics in a safe environment. Many MUVE’s can expose students to things they would ordinarily not have the ability, physically or financially, to explore.

References: Tapped In Home. (n.d.). //Tapped In//. Retrieved October 7, 2011, from http://tappedin.org/tappedin/index = =
 * Dean Phillips: Leading Technology Change: MUVE’s **

MUVE Nation [] The project seeks to develop a European peer learning program for teacher training for the use of “Active learning with Multi-Users Virtual Environments to increase pupils’ motivation and participation in education”. There were some interesting topics here, many referring to opportunities within Second Life. The focus, as stated in the description, is creating a European educators peer group to explore the potentials of multi user environments and education.

World of WarCraft [] This is a very rich resource if you are interested in the educational opportunities that are available in WOW. Lesson ideas that are aligned with content areas, as well as lessons that are aligned with state and national technology standards.

Quest Atlantis [] Quest Atlantis (QA) is an international learning and teaching project that uses a 3D multi-user environment to immerse children, ages 9-16, in educational tasks. This seems to be a very controlled environment where Questers participate in virtual journeys to solve problems and complete tasks. Again, much of the content is aligned to standards.

Although there are some very real issues and hurdles when thinking of implementing MUVE’s into the classroom, I would think that there are some very real and important skills and opportunities as well. If I were in the classroom, I would be looking very closely at how implementation of a virtual environment could help learners develop skills and become successful.