Tour Guide: Bernajean Porter
SL Name: Bernajena Pinazzo

Bernajean Porter (RL) AKA Bernajena Pinazzo (SL) - a writer, speech and debate coach, inventor, auntie, teacher of possibilities, media maker, futurist, master of survival techniques when working with adolescents, professional speaker, technology consultant, teacher of teachers, promoter of anything that increases joy, spirit and outrageous possibilities in all aspects of life for kids and adults and now. . . a digital storytelling guide and Second Life coach, teacher and learner. Likes: Watching stars, designing large group events, mountain living, learning anytime anywhere, moon glows, adventure travel, can-do attitudes, mangoes, magic, building community spirit, lilacs, ATVing mountain trails, a good story and living life juicy! Dislikes: Rules of all kinds. Loose ends. Stale strawberry licorice. Having narrow choices. And milking cows. Pet Philosophy: Da Um Jeitinho - there is always a way.

Session Description: Enter a 3-Dimensional humanity project exhibit in Second Life created by Ramapo, NY middle school students and inspired by Robert Frost's poem, A Road Less Traveled. Students were challenged to find their own meaning beyond a literal interpretation of Frost's words using a story prompt on the larger theme of struggling with decisions in our lives: "Share a remembered time when a choice made or not made touched your own lives." Teams of students then began the creative tasks of finding, sharing, and then translating very personal experiences into 3D emotional immersive storyworlds for others to experience their narrative storyline about CHOICE and their lessons learned. Creativity, engagement, and deep introspection into sharing something real in their lives gave this project a special glow for everyone! When you read a book, you imagine the world.

When you watch a film, you see and hear the world. When you visit an online 3D immersive environment, you enter the world. Come tour the student exhibit at Atlantis Rising Campus @ http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%206/39/224/21


Tour Guide: Jane Wilde
SL Name: Esme Qunhua

Jane Wilde is on the faculty of the Masters in Teaching with Technology program at Marlboro College Graduate school in Marlboro Vermont where she teaches course in pedagogy and instructional technology. She is an adjunct instructor and doctoral student at State University of New York - Albany. Her research interests are distance learning, 3-D learning platforms, and identity and sense of place in on-line communities. Jane has been teaching in Second Life for 2 years. Her course Teaching and Learning in Virtual Worlds is a fully on-line class that uses the platform Second Life as a meeting place and a laboratory for exploring constructivist teaching practices.

Session Description: Second Life offers a meeting place for distance students. It also offers a place to experiment, to create, to test ideas and collaborate. AND it holds a rich array of educational resources, created by other educators, students, scientists, government agencies, artists, writers, business people.

In this workshop we will begin, as I do with my classes, in an empty "sandbox," an open area with minimal or no existing buildings. We will play interactive learning games to show how your virtual body can interact with the environment and other people. We will then participate in a popular learning activity known as a virtual quest. Finally, we will travel to a sampling of virtual islands to explore how you can use group activity and existing resources to teach your content.


Tour Guide: Rochell McWhorter
SL Name: Rachell Munro

Rochell McWhorter is a doctoral student at Texas A&M University and also a Senior Lecturer at The University of Texas at Tyler where she teaches courses in technology and human resource development. She holds a Master of Education Degree and worked in K-12 schools for 17 years prior to moving to higher education this year. She is the Aggie Student Group Leader in SL and serves on the vTAMU development team. In the past three years, she has organized numerous Texas Aggie events including virtual Bonfire, Muster and Relay for Life. She continues autoethnographic research as well as qualitative inquiry in virtual spaces for their potential for adult learning and immersive training applications.

Session Description: Virtual worlds offer distance and on-campus students, faculty, staff and alumni the opportunity to interact in real-time from geographically disbursed locations and various time zones. This immersive session will take place on the Texas A&M University's Second Life campus and will focus on 3D spaces and learning tools designed for synchronous classroom instruction and the exhibition of student work. Take a walk around a molecule or sit on a 3D graph. Participants will also hear efforts toward "mixed reality" symposia for expanding access to distinguished lecturers and traditional on-campus events. As with any new technology, it takes time to overcome the learning curve. Come hear about mentoring students and faculty from newbie to virtual learner.