I have always been having a dream of becoming an archeologist since I was a child. I often imagined myself discovering mysterious artifact from the past like TinTin by Herge. :D so I didn't want to miss the chance when I got a group notice from Science Circle about this class "Introduction to Archeology"


The class was special. Not because I was sitting by two animals, the wolf and the hoot, but it was because the lecturer was my dear friend Astronomer Somerset. It was great to hear his British accent for more than an hour. I felt like being with Harry Potter...seriously. Well, I did get what was being lectured.

Thank you Astro. It was a great class.

Okay, I have been wondering about this for a while. "Is there such things as book writers, pulishers, and bookshops in Second Life?" I knew there was a readable and realistic 3D book inworld. As I had my spring break, I started my quest to fid information about this. Thanks to Shambelsguru, I got the landmark of Book Island. The name sounds promising, doesn't it?

It does! Book Island is like a dream come true to me. Here you can find books for sale, publishers and of course book writers. There are weekly events in the island such as Writer's Support Group and Book Chat. It's really exciting talking about books in such a relaxing garden. It is indeed better than 2D browser based book chat.


Being a book writer in physical world, I know exactly that many brilliant ideas cannot be published by publishers because the cost of producing and publishing a book is high. This fact discourages creativity and productivity. If adults have to face a gazillion obstacles in sharing their ideas in a book form, let alone young people. 

In 3D virtual world, these obstacles can be minimized. The cost of producing a 3D book which is as good and realistic as physical book is almost NOTHING. The marketing outreach of this 3D books is worldwide. Renting a space for a bookshop in the island costs only  L$ 550 a week. (around US$ 2.2 / Rp. 20.000) . We will never have that luxury in physical world.  We can be a book writer, a publisher and a bookshop owner all at once in Book Island. 

I can't wait to bring my students' works inworld. 

 

Tidak banyak workshop yang disediakan VWBPE (www.vebpe.org) yang bisa saya ikuti pada awal April tahun ini. Dari ratusan kelas yang disediakan, saya hanya mengikuti kelas yang benar-benar menarik minat saya. Salah satunya adalah tentang 3D Virtual Space Design.

Pembicara topik ini adalah Noha Saleeb/Noha Turbo, peneliti PhD di Middlesex University UK dan pengajar di departemen Computer Science di American University Kairo, Mesir. Menarik sekali apa yang dipaparkan Noha berdasarkan hasil penelitiannya. Design ruang itu sangat mempengaruhi kinerja kita dalam belajar di dunia fisik dan begitu pula di dunia virtual. Design ruangan virtual tertentu menimbulkan kesan yang spesifik pula.

Saya sangat setuju dengan apa yang Noha paparkan. Anak-anak yang belajar di ruang kelas terbatas dan tertutup yang sama selama bertahun-tahun tentu akan mengalami kebosanan dan kehilangan gairah pada satu titik tertentu. Tetapi merubah design kelas fisik bukanlah hal mudah. Merenovasi kelas untuk meningkatkan minat pelajar memakan waktu dan biaya yang sangat besar. Mungkin hanya sekolah-sekolah yang super mahal yang bisa melakukan ini. Itupun biasanya tema kelas hanya diganti satu tahun sekali. Belajar di luar ruangan, di alam dan di fasilitas publik juga sering memakan biaya yang sangat besar.


Di dunia virtual, design ruang belajar ini bisa diubah-ubah sesuai kebutuhan hanya dalam hitungan detik. Kalau kita rajin mencari barang-barang yang gratis (freebie) maka 'renovasi' ruang belajar ini tidak memakan biaya sama sekali dan bisa dilakukan sesering mungkin. Belum lagi kalau kita berbicara tentang belajar di ruang-ruang publik di dunia virtual. Jumlahnya ada banyak sekali. Kita bisa belajar di ruangan museum atau di ruang terbuka di sabana Afrika, semua bisa dilakukan dengan cepat, sering dan hemat.


 

Think twice. Virtual class is cool. ;)




 

University of Delaware did it again. ;)

They simulcasted their Global Agenda Talk from their physical - atomic based campus in Delaware, US to their virtual - pixel based campus in Second Life. This time the speaker was Marwan Muasher, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment, where he oversees the Endowment’s research in Washington and Beirut on the Middle East. Muasher served as foreign minister (2002–2004) and deputy prime minister (2004–2005) of Jordan.

The topic of the session was "View from the Arab World". He talked about various issues from democracy to desalination, from monarchy to education in Arab world. He mentioned about Indonesia (yay! my country ^^) as a moslem country that was successful in promoting democracy.

Why is Second Life simulcast is more interesting than video talk like www.ted.com or any LIVE streaming video technology? First of all, because unlike others, live simulcasting a video into Second Life allows us to be 'there' with other virtual/physical audience. The sense of presence is stronger in 3D technology. Then, this technology also allows live interaction between the virtual audience with the physical speaker who is being simulcasted.

I cannot wait to attend other Global Agenda Talk in Second Life. http://www.udel.edu/globalagenda/2011/Global_Agenda_2011/Home.html
It's great to be able to learn from the history maker him/herself in addition to other sources and it costs us no more than an internet connection. Love it!

BioInformatics class with Alfa Roux aka Guiseppe Russo Ph.D. (Research Assistant Professor, Director, Cancer Systems Biology and E-Health Programs, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA)

Hari ini adalah hari pertama liburan musim semi di sekolah jadi saya menggunakan waktu luang ini untuk mencari dan membeli peralatan pendidikan untuk dibagikan kepada peserta workshop virtual world Klub Oase tanggal 9 April 2011.


Karena lama tidak pernah update informasi mengenai alat-alat ini maka saya minta tolong kepada teman saja Josain, guru science SMP di Amerika. Kemudian dia menajak saya bertemu dengan Jennette Forager. Saya sudah berteman dgn Jen sudah lama tetapi baru pertama ini bertemu tatap muka hee hee.

Jen menjelaskan kepada saya tentang berbagai alat pendidikan di SL selama satu jam lebih. Wuih..beruntung sekali bisa dapat kelas privat seperti ini karena Jennette adalah pengelola group tools jam yang spesialisasinya memang di penggunaan alat-alat pendidikan ini.

Dari berbagai demonstrasi yang diberikan Je, yang paling menarik adalah satu alat yang bisa terkoneksi dengan nomor hand phone di manapun di seluruh dunia. Jadi kalau kita punya murid yang belum muncul di kelas, tinggal dipencet namanya maka dia akan mendapat pesan di hand phonenya. *Ingin punya*

Hari ini saya belajar banyak. Thanks Jen and Josain.