Posted by dmirliss | Oct 15th, 2009

Replicate Real-Life Experiments in Second Life

On October 6, 2009 representatives from NMC’s virtual world building team gave a tour of a project that they created for the University of Washington’s Psychology department.  The goal of this project was to recreate a real-life experiment space using a virtual environment.  The real-life experiment seeks to evaluate people’s responses to office and classroom environments that are decorated in a...

Posted by dmirliss | Apr 25th, 2008

RezEd

Just joined a new online community dedicated to education in virtual worlds.  I have overwhelmed by the number of groups that have popped up since we first brought students in Second Life two years ago.  I would have to clone myself and my AV in order to attend them all   Anyway, the interface being used on this site is very cool – wondering what they are using to power the site.  You know I am impressed...

Posted by dmirliss | Nov 29th, 2006

eSchool News Article

Recently I was highlighted in an eSchool News article regarding the use of SL in my class.  It was especially fun when one of my best friends who is a faculty member at Kent State (Lin Lin) and my Director found the article as well   You can read the entire article here: http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=6713&page=1 Many colleges have begun to incorporate Second Life into some of their...

Posted by dmirliss | Oct 14th, 2006

Grand Opening of the “Art of Second Life”

Tomorrow is the grand opening of the “Art of Second Life” – the first major exhibition by the new Aho Museum Curator, Tayzia Abattoir.  I got a chance to sneak over last night and see the Starax exhibit that occupies its own sim.  Starax is truly talented and it is a great loss that he/she is no longer in SL.  Luckily the artifacts of his existence remain.  Be sure to drop by the NMC Campus and...

Posted by dmirliss | Oct 13th, 2006

Identity Fashion Show

This week and next is the NMC’s Symposium on Impact of Digital Media and the Slatenight team has been asked to participate.  As part of our program Anya (Angela Thomas) will give a talk on identity that will be followed by a fashion show with a twist.  Instead of highlighting the latest fashions we hope to be able to recruit members of the SL community to showcase their unique identities.  I have already...

Posted by dmirliss | Oct 12th, 2006

It’s a Small World (SL that is…)

In real lile I would describe myself as shy, maybe those who know me would disagree but it really does take a lot for me to approach someone new.  I just realized that I have turned into a shameless networker in Second Life – begging for access to restricted sims, emailing people that I find on blogs to be guest speakers, etc – pretty much anything that will help the students in my organizational...

Posted by dmirliss | Oct 6th, 2006

Upcoming SL Events – Mark Your Calendar

October 12-14th – the Alliance Library System and Second Life Library/info Island Grand Opening! Proposed Scheduel of Events: Thursday, October 12 – Virtual Worlds and Education:  The Cutting Edge – 4 pm sl – 6 pm sl – Speakers: Pathfinder Linden, Kitty Paul, Puglet Dancer, Professor Boliveau, Lorelei Junot and Maxito Ricardo – Puglet Dancer and Kitty Paul will cut the ribbon to begin grand opening...

Posted by dmirliss | Oct 5th, 2006

Generosity of SL Residents

I was hoping to be able to post this to the NMC Campus Observer but that would have been the second day that I posted the same day as someone else.  Is there some kind of a collaborative blogging etiquette *smile*?  Lori Bell has joined the NMC blog and has posted important info regarding an upcoming event at the NMC library – I’ll wait until tomorrow before taking over the “prime real...

Posted by dmirliss | Oct 4th, 2006

John Bransford – SL Talk

Monday was a very busy day in Second Life for educators – in the morning the NMC Teachers Buzz session featured scultures based on mathematical equations.  I got the rare opportunity to talk about this visit with two math faculty today as we plan to really investigate the SL environment for teaching and learning (more to come).  But the real treat for me was the talk given by Dr. Bransford on his work with...

Posted by dmirliss | Sep 27th, 2006

Fashion in SL

 I get teased a lot for my shopping addiction in SL (esp. by partner in crime Heidi) but a recent Wall Street Journal article says that I am not alone.  According to the article, and this should be no surprise to other SL residents, clothing is emerging as the hottest market.  What does this tell us about the attachment to our avatars?  Why do we care so much about our appearance?  In the Slatenight article...