I think I have learned enough in SL. Besides, I am 8 months old now, right? Well...I am wrong. Just like other technology, SL develops so fast and I need to constantly update my knowledge and skill to improve my virtual teaching. I was lucky to join a workshop about Using Virtual World Teaching Tools provided by NCCCS Virtual Learning Community Professional Development Center.

https://sites.google.com/site/ncwebieeproject/home/professional-development-calendar


There were 3 tools that caught my attention in the workshop: poll machine with a bar graph, quiz maker and a mailbox that might solve the problem of capped IMs. I can't wait to join the next sessions about Educator Presentation Skills, Teaching Strategies for Virtual World and Virtual Classroom Management.


(Thank you Aedann Slade for providing these amazing works)

One great way to learn in SL is by visiting campuses and exploring them. This time I got a chance to visit a nursing department at University of North Carolina-Pembroke built by Stone Semyorka, a professor in Department of Mass Communication in the same campus. The building was modern and equiped with realistic equipments. I was really amazed by the details of the hospital, from the waiting room to the ob/gyn clinic (my favourite part ^^). I still wonder how students utilize this facility for their learning. I hope next time I can get a chance to see how a class is conducted there. (Thank you for letting me explore the hospital, Stone. It is a great work

Karena sabtu itu saya sedang tidak ada pekerjaan maupun sesi belajar di SL, maka ketika seorang teman mengajak bergabung di sebuah training, maka saya langsung teleport ke lokasi. Training pagi itu adalah tentang GLOGSTER. Saya sangat paham dengan manfaat lapbooking untuk belajar tetapi saya baru mengenal Glogster pagi itu. Glogster itu adalah drag and drop multimedia interface yang berisi text, gambar, suara, video, grafik, animasi, dll. Para pembelajar visual pasti akan sangat menyenangi belajar dengan glogster karena menggunakan piranti ini, pembelajar bisa mempelajari sesuatu dengan cara membuat scrapbook/poster/kliping yang berisi macam-macam multimedia. Pembelajar aktif mencari ilmu tidak pasif menunggu diberi ilmu. Dengan glogster, mereka belajar dengan jalan memproduksi apa yang mereka pelajari daripada sekedar mengkonsumsi materi belajar yang orang lain produksi. Beda glogster dari lapbooking tradisional tentu saja adalah kemampuan glogster dalam menampilkan video, audio dan animasi. Bayangkan betapa mengasyikkannya ketika anak bisa belajar dengan suka cita seperti ketika mereka berbahagia menghias buku hariannya.

Belajar itu tidak hanya duduk, diam, diberitahu dan mengerjakan soal pilihan ganda. Ada banyak cara belajar, silahkan dicoba GLOGSTER. Biarkan anak-anak membuat portofolio belajar mereka sendiri www.glogster.com 

Everyone agrees teamwork and afterschool assignments are important. But if you live in a crowded city like Jakarta, before being important, those two will become costly. My students live averagely 10 kilometers away from each other. If they have to do a group work after school (in a rush hour), each will spend about US$ 10 for back and forth transportation cost.

But with collaborative whiteboard in SL...not anymore. My students can work together in the comfort of their homes and their moms' homemade meals. ^^

Their avatars can work together online, share ideas, type together, draw together and do many office works with so many collaborative tools accessible through media on prim in SL. (Picture: www.twiddla.com in media on prim)


So goodbye carbon foot print...goodbye inefficient collaboration.... Are you going to waste time, money and other resources? We are going to save them!

(I enjoyed learning how to use these collaborative whiteboards. Thank you for your link the other day Josain! Flock draw and Sumopaint didn't work)

My building ability is at a very basic level. I can even say that most of my students are better than me in building. So it was like a very nice surprise when my friend asked me to make a snowmen for the Twisted Sisters Christmas Charity Concert. My very first snowman....... Thank you coz for giving me the chance and trusting me.

Dress up and be a model. (My dear friend Lala, Indonesian traditional outfit tailor, convinced me to be her model for her fashion catalogue. Urgh....It was nerve wrecking but I was happy to learn about the business side of SL)

Be an extra in a machinima and make your way to Holywood.lol (It was a nice experience to be an extra Straad. Now I know how people make a machinima in SL. Next time I need extras, I know how to do it..eh? Josain?)

Waktu sudah menunjukkan jam 12 malam lebih, tetapi malam itu saya paksakan untuk tetap bangun karena ada satu workshop penting tentang Open Sim yang ingin saya hadiri. Topik utama yang dibahas adalah ketidakpuasan mereka yang berada di balik educational sim atas keputusan diberhentikannya pemberian harga khusus kepada educational sim. Di kesempatan ini, akhirnya saya bisa betrtemu Pathfinder untuk pertama kalinya. Beruntung sekali saya bisa berdiskusi selama 10 menit mengenari Reaction Gri

My Japanese friend, Draciena, showed me her creation. It was a tool to visualize electric charges. It was an amazing tool and although it looked very simple, it could be a great tool to explain about the invisible electric charges to students. Then, my other Japanese friend, Yan-the curator of the Abbys Observatory, teleported and joined our fun. But instead of learning more about the tool, we ended up sitting on the particles GOSSIPING ha ha ha

I had a love at a first sight, or should I say at a first word with Sister Abeyante when I attended her session in Virtual Ability sim. Her words are always powerful. She is strong and gentle at the same time. She is one of the most inspiring female avatars I have met in SL. To support my group, SLED Indonesia, in our fundraising event, Sister Abeyante agreed to give us a roundtable session about " Virtually Good: Using Virtual Worlds to Make Our Real World Better".

This roundtable session was the most special roundtable I ever had in SL because I organized it. After all, I am not a newbie anymore.

Sister, thank you so much for your inspiration and support.