"teh interwebs"Collaboration across the virtual spaces of Twitter, Facebook, and Second Life

Liz Dorland

dorland@wustl.edu

Washington U in St. Louis

Report from BCCE 2010

What I said I’d do at the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education…

“Co- presenters will join us from within Second Life as we discuss what has been done and the potential for using virtual space for everything from classes or seminars to entire conferences in mixed-reality, i.e. a combination of real and virtual space.”

(Complete BCCE abstract coming up…)

ACS - American Chemical Society

A “live” tour of Second Life

P291: "Teh interwebs": Collaboration across the virtual spaces of Twitter, Facebook, and Second Life - Liz Dorland (Washington University, USA)

There continues to be a lot of "chatter" about 21st Century Skills and what faculty should be teaching in addition to or in conjunction with our traditional subject matter. Students, the story goes, are heading out into a new world where they will need to know how to "collaborate and work in teams." This presentation is not about that. It's not about what students need to know. It's about how faculty can benefit from and model the use of a variety of new and mostly free online tools for communication, collaboration, and professional enrichment. Grown-ups on Facebook? Yes indeed. Twitter in the classroom? Perhaps. Meetings in the virtual world of Second Life? You bet.

But the forming of new communities across disciplinary, professional, and international boundaries by interacting across all of these platforms is the most exciting development. We are currently facilitating a diverse group of avatars as they tour education sites in Second Life, learn simple building skills, and discover how to meet other professionals with similar interests. Co- presenters will join us from within Second Life as we discuss what has been done and the potential for using virtual space for everything from classes or seminars to entire conferences in mixed-reality, i.e. a combination of real and virtual space. No flying or hotel rooms involved!

Avatars & Tour Destinations

GeorgiannaBlackburn

Chemical Museumat ACS

JennetteForager

SL Event Facilitator

JuliaTiraxibar

Chemistat TAMU

Sandy Adam / Georgianna BlackburnMilwaukee / Second Life

@G_Blackburn on twitter (event arranged on FaceBook)

Teleport to ACS Island

Teleport to ACS Island

ACS Headquarters & Museum

s, p, d or f?

Chimera Cosmos Tour Host

ACS Chemical Landmarks Museum developed by Georgianna Blackburn

ACS Chemical Landmarks Interactive Museum developed by Georgianna Blackburn

Making Nylon ExhibitBy Hiro Sheridan

Wendy is joining us from

vacation inBuenos Aires

Collaborators:

Jean-Claude Bradley

(Horace Moody)

Andy Lange(Hiro Sheridan)

http://chemist-in-sl.blogspot.com/

Wendy Kenney-Kennicutt / Julia TiraxibarTexas A & M Chemistry / Second Life

On to Texas A & M…or so we thought…

However, Chimera was unable to teleport.

Relogging into Second Life failed, and the time allowed for the session was over.

Sadly, the visit with Julia didn’t materialize and the slides of the TAMU cams and her work had to suffice.

Texas A & M Campus in Second Life

Map of Texas A&M in Second LifeMap of Texas A&M in Second Life

Tower

Classroom Is here…

Classroom Is here…

Students attend virtual office hours and use models & quizzes in-world.

Apologies to Julia for theTechnical difficulties thatInterrupted our visit. We will return!

Julia Traxibar’s ChemistryClassroom

Jannalee Redmond / Jennette Forager Washington DC / Second Life Event Facilitator and Trainer

@jennfor on twitter - also friends on FaceBook

ConclusionJennette Forager was waiting to tell us about facilitation of in-world events after our visit with Julia. These and many other friends provide a multitude of opportunities for collaboration and for networking virtually.

Even though we were bumped from SL, an audience of over 50 chemical educators saw this presentation, visited with one avatar “live” on ACS Island, and heard from Georgianna via text chat. Not perfect, but a success.

Thanks to collaborator Spiral Theas (Robin Heyden IRL)

Spiral Theas Chimera Cosmos

t e h interwebs