AASL Podcast and Discussion - 4/30/08
May 4th, 2008
On April 30, I was asked by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) to moderate a discussion related to the importance of school libraries. First, our group listened to a podcast by AASL Executive Director Julie Walker. Ms. Walker made a strong case for the importance of school libraries in impacting student achievement. Next, the group discussed our reactions to the podcast, our points of view about the importance of effective advocacy, our experiences with using School Library Media Month to promote our library programs, and suggestions for future support by AASL.
Grand Opening - Japanese Garden
April 27th, 2008
On Friday, April 25th, I participated in the grand opening of the Japanese Garden, an event which was attended by approximately 30 persons. The garden is part of the Info International sim. It is a great place to relax and have quiet conversations with friends. Visitors can stroll through the garden and collect educational notecards embedded in Japanese lanterns to learn about various aspects of Japanese culture. The garden is also available for use for educational and social events. (Contact Elaine Tulip to schedule.) Special thanks go to builder Kingbishop Ferraris; graduate students Sergeant Mornington & Uriah Wrigglesworth, who created the cultural lanterns; and Japanese advisor Ayukum Harsley for their contributions to the development of the garden. The garden is located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island%20International/40/137/31. See Flickr pix at http://www.flickr.com/photos/elainetulip.
AASL Copyright Program with Doug Johnson
April 15th, 2008
On Monday, April 14, the CPS Department of Libraries collaborated with the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), the AASL Web 2.0 Taskforce, and nationally known speaker Doug Johnson to host a program entitled “Beating the No U-Turn Syndrome: A New Approach to Teaching and Enforcing Copyright Compliance”. This event in Second Life focused on the topic of the school librarian in advocating for the fair use of copyrighted materials. [Program description: For too long librarians have been seen as “copyright cops,” impeding the use of copyrighted materials by students and staff. This presentation suggests we redefine our roles, helping those we serve take maximum advantage of fair use provisions, finding authorities with a “user-centric” view of copyright enforcement, and teaching others to consider not just the legal, but moral side of intellectual property acquisition, use and re-use.] About forty persons attended this session and contributed to a lively discussion about the subject. See companion materials at Doug’s wiki. See Flickr pics of this event.
Chicago Public Schools Dept of Libraries Sim Now Open!
March 20th, 2008
We finally did it! On Monday, March 17th we officially opened the Chicago Public Schools Department of Libraries sim in Second Life. The event featured an informational presentation about our project followed by a St. Patrick’s Day bash complete with views of a dyed-green Chicago River and dancing at the new Sepia’s Blues Lounge.
The purpose of this sim is to provide professional development, collaboration, networking, and educational opportunities to CPS teachers, librarians, and administrators. This sim provides many nods to Chicago, including a Lake Michigan beachfront, the Chicago River, and custom builds of arts and crafts homes, bungalows, and graystones. Working drawbridges, a blend of new and historic architecture, and ample park areas represent Chicago.
Our CPS Professional Library is a focal point of the sim and serves as a virtual extension of the real life library, providing educational resources and information for our teachers, librarians, and administrators. The library provides links to recommended websites, research data about the importance of school libraries to student achievement, many books in notecard form to read, conference and comfortable seating space, and information about our department. There are many places for your avatar to “read” while you work in SL. See our current special rooftop exhibit: “Outstanding Young Adult Authors”.
The sim also features various places to promote collaboration and instruction: a lakeside auditorium, a westside park, library seating, office spaces, beach seating, and floating small group clusters. To foster a sense of community and enjoyment, there are recreational areas, including Sepia’s Blues Lounge, canoeing, windsurfing, a classic movie theater, a gaming area at the Professional Library, and casual seating throughout the sim.
Join our group “Friends of Chicago Public Schools” to receive information about upcoming events and exhibits.
Project Partners:
University of Chicago eCUIP
Golden Apple Foundation
Chicago State University
DePaul University
National-Louis University
School of the Art Institute Library
Illinois School Library Media Association
See Flickr pictures.
Visit the CPS sim in Second Life. SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chicago%20Public%20Schools/56/142/23
This sim was made possible by a generous grant from the Illinois State Library.
Teen Grid Sunday Mtg - 3-16-08
March 16th, 2008
Today, I attended the regular Sunday meeting of the Eye4You Alliance on the Teen Grid. I learned about the various exciting projects on which people are working. See their blog for more information. I took the opportunity to mention our sim opening on the main grid tomorrow evening. Our new Professional Library is hosting an exhibit entitled “Outstanding Young Adult Authors” which is sponsored in part by Eye4You. In addition, I discussed further information about a sponsorship offer from a company for bringing authors to future events on the teen grid.
Virtual World: Libraries, Education, Museums and More Conference
March 8th, 2008
This weekend I attended the Virtual World: Libraries, Education, Museums and More Conference. This fantastic conference occurred totally within Second Life. It was a convenient method to be connected to resources and colleagues from an international community. As part of the conference, Wendy Ennes, a museum educator from the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute, and I delivered a special presentation entitled “Ancient Mesopotamia: Engaging Online Resources from the Oriental Institute”. (download ppt below) I also enjoyed browsing through the exhibit area to learn about various programs and organizations that work in Second Life.
Wendy Ennes presents at the Libraries, Education, Museums and More Conference
A presentation I attended called “Using Second Life Tools to Enhance Exhibits” by Abbey Zennith and Bucky Barkley
Ancient Meopotamia PowerPoint
ancient-mesopotamia-oriental-institute.ppt
Museum of Music in Second Life
February 17th, 2008
The Museum of Music (or MuMu) recently opened in Second Life (SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island%20International/22/188/44) According to the curator, Bucky Barkley, “The house is meant to be a typical U. S. home in the early sixties as the sounds, sights, and styles of the British Invasion began to have an influence. Pictures, posters, magazines, etc. hold notecards too. Explore, click, and enjoy!” That is just what visitors will do in this feast for the senses currently featuring an exhibit about the British Invasion. Do stop in for a visit soon!
“Festival of Authors” in Teen Second Life - Feb 2, 2008
February 3rd, 2008
On Saturday, February 2, 2008 the Eye4You Alliance teens, in collaboration with TeachingBooks.net and Chicago Public Schools Dept of Libraries, hosted the “Festival of Authors”. This event showcased the best young adult literature for teens. See the Flickr pics. See Eye4You’s blogpost with links to teen blog reviews and press coverage. Read the pre-event info.
One of the highlights of the event was when author Barry Lyga appeared in avatar form to share information about his books “The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl” and “Boy Toy”. He showed a filmclip from his website and even held a drawing for free, autographed copies of his book. See his blog post.
We were also pleased to receive a special visit from author Marc Aronson who shared information and responded to questions about writing works of historical non-fiction. Another highlight was a display of author easels, featuring information about top authors of young adult literature with links to further information, podcasts, and video provided by TeachingBooks.net. A special presentation was provided by teens from TeenReadNC who shared information about how they conduct mock Printz Award nominations.
At the same time that the “Festival of Authors” was occurring on Teen Second Life, there was a Literary Festival happening on the main grid for adults. Chicago Public Schools Department of Libraries created similar easel displays for the adult festival as they did for the teen program. (see below)
Weekly Teen Grid Planning Mtg - 1-20-08
January 20th, 2008
Today, I attended a planning meeting on the Teen Grid to discuss upcoming events there. Some items on the agenda included the establishment of a virtual Model U.N. program and a teen greeter volunteer program. Several adults expressed an interest in receiving teen-created space artifacts and machinima to be passed through by Lindens for use on the main grid. We also discussed my upcoming project - a literary festival that will take place on both the teen and main grids on February 2nd. I received delivery of a copyable, scripted easel -created byone of the teen builders - that we will use for our author displays from It was good to hear about so many projects and interests occuring on the Eye4You sim.
Maintaining Intellectual Freedom - ISTE Social 1-17-08
January 18th, 2008
Last night, ISTE invited us back to continue Tuesday’s discussion about maintaining intellectual freedom. As we gathered around a virtual campfire, attendees took notecards from Tuesday’s event, new discussion questions, and a link to Doug’s website. Despite a sim restart about halfway through, we had an excellent conversation. Folks shared experiences about filtering in their schools, including issues with over-agressive blocking and student tricks for circumventing their districts’ filters. We shared thoughts about how much responsibility the school has towards blocking and how to help students make intelligent decisions about websites they access. We were fortunate to be joined by Doug Johnson himself, who ended the meeting by sharing ideas for using filtering in ways that foster students’ intellectual freedom. We closed with a recommendation that people follow up on this discussion at Doug’s wiki.
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