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Xirconnia — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 09:33:57 CST

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It Begins.....

Xirconnia — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:46:30 CDT

Hey, all! Welcome to Herding Cats & Barrels of Monkeys!

The wiki name is partially inspired by a presentation I attended while at the CiTE Conference in Denver (see the Herding Cats presentation in Conference Day 1 for more details) and the other half basically from one of my favorite expressions "more fun than a barrel of monkeys".

I also decided to update the wiki name after I discovered that the term 'cutting edge-ucation' was not only not a super-cool brand-new term straight from my imagination, but apparently had been used extensively -- even by NASA-- and was already years old. Bah. So onward and upward to Herding Cats & Barrels of Monkeys, which is a much more appropo title for life in general. Feel the zen of it all. :)

Anyone reading this who doesn't know me, I train faculty at a college, and I do the adjunct thing on occasion. I started this wiki to get my feet wet in the wiki-world, and see what it can do. Any other questions, feel free to ask.

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Hobby Corner

Xirconnia — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 15:11:16 CDT

My hobbies range from multimedia creations and 3D immersive environments design and building to painting, drawing, knitting, crocheting, photography, film-making, and writing.

Currently my first novel is in the gears of the publisher, awaiting an editor. Naturally I expect that it will be a smashing success. :)

Expansion @ The Experimental-- Now with 25% More Gettysburg!

Xirconnia — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 15:05:25 CDT

I've acquired the plot of land next to the Experimental in Manua, so I will now be able to expand the Little Roundtop mini-sim outwards, thus creating a much larger space for visitors to explore.

The plan of action is that building in the new sim will occur sometime this fall, and onwards into the winter as it is currently far too hot at the battlefields to get good images to use in the sim (there is a LOT of humidity, which never bodes well for cameras of any ilk).

Pictures will be posted here as they become available. So stay tuned history buffs!

The Geek of Being a Land Baroness

Xirconnia — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 14:58:26 CDT

I've made some recent acquisitions in Second Life in various areas of the various sims, ranging from regular large tracts which will be used for an interactive fiction area, to ocean lots with beach houses for meetings (one with secret aquarium, woo hoo!!).

The idea behind the less-than-traditional spaces was to motivate folks to have creative brain-storming spaces where the constraints of the real world were but a distant memory (those familiar with the newbie freebies of SL: I sunk the BSD Archer House on one sim and pushed it waaaay up into the air in another sim).

I've been active on the building front, no doubt, but much like a tree falling in a forest-- if no one visits these awesome new spaces I'm building how will I know if they promote creativity?

A conundrum to be sure.

IM me in-world for tours of these super-awesome spaces. :)

Presentation Transcript

Xirconnia — Fri, 25 May 2007 12:25:10 CDT

Drawing on SecondLife Experiences to Enrich the 1st Life Presenter Transcript

Introduction:
Hi, everyone. It’s great to be here, and thanks for coming to my presentation ‘Drawing on SecondLife Experiences to Enrich the 1st Life’! You can get an outline of the presentation by clicking on the box.

Also note that a full transcript of this presentation will be available at my wiki: “Herding Cats & Barrels of Monkeys” at http://cuttingedge-ucation.wetpaint.com.

I encourage everyone to give what I discuss here today a try and share your experiences on the wiki!

There will be some time at the end of the presentation for discussion and questions, so I ask that all questions wait until the end of the presentation.
All that said, let’s start the presentation with an introduction. My name here is Xirconnia Morphett, and in my 1st life I’m Suzi, the mild-mannered Instructional Design Specialist at Peirce College.

My day-to-day duties as an instructional design specialist involve training and aiding faculty with designing and delivering their online and on-campus courses, incorporating new elements to courses, and researching new ways to deliver content via online course tools.

I am a QM certified peer reviewer and I have a background in media, art, photography, web design, creative writing, technical writing, script writing, training, and instructional design.

In my spare time, I love to knit socks, and hope to have my first novel published later this year! :)

Right now, I’d like to get to know everyone, so if you would tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do in your 1st life as well as what you do in Second Life, that would be super!

(introductions removed for privacy)

Cool! Thanks everyone! I can see there’s a pretty diverse crowd here today. I hope everyone will find the information presented helpful and maybe even inspiring.
Some points we’ll touch on during the presentation include the following:
1. Virtual Self-Awareness vs. Self-Awareness in Real life
2. Using SL to Expand Imagination
3. Using SL to Enhance Group Dynamics
4. Gaining across-the-board Self-Awareness by Becoming Your Exact Opposite
And of course, how to apply all of the knowledge gained in SecondLife to the actual first life, or living outside the circuit box, if you will.

Using SecondLife to explore your own psyche -- getting to know yourself through your avatar:
Take a look at yourself-- compare and contrast the virtual you vs. the real you. How many folks here have an electric replica of themselves sitting here today besides me?

(responses)

I’m glad I’m not the only one who has a virtual doppleganger. LOL.

What does your avatar say about you ultimately? Note how you’ve dressed in Second Life and how your avatar looks.

Does it look like the physical you or is it something totally different? Is it an idealized version of you or the way you would like to look in real life?

Or… is your avatar a subconscious blueprint for making a better 1st life you?
As an example, while updating my avatar’s appearance, I began to look at myself, but I mean really LOOK. I took note of my facial shape, my eyes, chin, nose, etc. Things I had seen for years I seemed to see for the first time in my virtual doppelganger.

All at once the pieces came together in a surreal eureka! moment and I started to wonder just what else I had been missing about myself over the years. I started to take note of my SL interactions, and my 1st life interactions.
- Next questions to consider: what does your SL interaction say about you? (for example, are you secretly a wannabe dare devil risk-taker? Are you normally shy in your 1st life, and the life of the party in SL? Or is your avatar a virtual extension of the real you?)
- if you have a home or land in SL, what does it say about you? (for example, have your neighbors put up a wall around the side of their land that blocks out your property from their view?
Have you put up a wall to block your neighbors from your view?
- Would you do the same things you do in SL in real life? (Flying aside :))

2. * using SecondLife to expand imagination
Which brings me to my next point…. If you can dream it, you can be it in SL.. but we all knew that, right? :)

I've met many newbies in my SL travels and been a mentor to them. It was interesting how initially, almost everyone started off with 1st life limitations except when it came to bodies.

I admit I was intrigued by the idea of virtual plastic surgery. :)
My initial intent upon entering SecondLife was to build Something and gain insight into the inner workings of the human mind.
I wasn’t quite sure exactly what I expected from all of this, but SL was like a blank canvas waiting for a masterpiece.
Through explorations and experimentations I became very aware of my own limitations, and how to overcome many of them. And after seeing some of the creations in-world, I was even humbled by how much I needed to learn in order to accomplish what I was imagining.

As a writer, I was suddenly able to LIVE the characters I had written, complete with appearance and stature. I could create a walking, talking prototype and find out if it was believable to the casual observer.
As an educator I was able to create a virtual Battlefield at Gettysburg, complete with images that talk to the observer when touched.
I also created a rooftop garden that serves as both a Zen space for lunch break relaxation and an educational hobby tool when the visitor touches the plants.
Each plant tells the visitor what it is, and provides helpful growing tips.
Visitors to The Experimental leave with some keen ideas, and enjoy the relaxing space. I’ve also found that I’ve had ideas have come to me more rapidly and with less restrictions from sitting in (yes, IN) my rooftop koi pond than sitting around a boardroom table. But that’s just me. 

3. * using SL to enhance group dynamics.
How many here have group meetings in-world?
(response)

How many have created a virtual board room to hold those meetings?
(response)

How many use non-traditional style areas for your meetings?
(response)

I’ve found that my rooftop koi pond meetings of the minds bring a new dimension to brainstorming sessions.

Even something as silly as a KoolAid Man costume during a friendly chat can bring new ideas that might not have occurred to your group before.

As an example, during a presentation of Second Life to faculty, I asked a friend of mine to drop by and chat about his SL experiences—in-world, and via projection screen to the faculty meeting.

My physical audience was able to ask questions of my virtual friend, such as what he did in-world, what he liked about his experiences, etc.
At one point toward the end of the presentation he donned a KoolAid Man outfit and continued to chat with my audience.

The simple act of injecting absolute humor ignited my audience into a flurry of discussion and new questions they hadn’t thought of previously and they became thoroughly intrigued at the limitless potential of what could be done.
And in a group dynamic, Second Life DOES have limitless potential for cultivating collaboration, confidence, and imagination.

By holding brainstorming sessions in-world IN my rooftop koi pond I create a relaxed collaborative space with no restrictions and no expectations.
I frequently meet in-world with my friend that occasionally dons the KoolAid Man costume to discuss things we’ve found and to visit new places.

When we can’t meet online at the same time, we drop landmarks into each others’ inventory for later review and discussion.

By placing no restrictions on a meeting time, space, or how the meeting will take place, asynchronous collaboration can result, adding another dimension to group meetings.

And similar to online courses, in Second Life there is no ‘back of the room’, so everyone has a chance to collaborate equally, expanding group input.
If using this method for group meetings, be it academic or corporate, make sure to have the groups reflect on and evaluate their processes to ensure that a particular way of meeting is the most effective way of meeting.
They should consider things like:

Was there a group leader or facilitator?
Was a group leader of facilitator necessary?
Was it an efficient and effective way of brainstorming or meeting for what we were trying to accomplish?
Was everyone involved technologically savvy enough to navigate around SL?
Was anyone in our group adverse to meeting in-world?
What are the skill sets of our group members?
Did meeting in-world help or hinder the brainstorming process?
Did we accomplish what we set out to accomplish?
What new ideas emerged from the meeting, if any?
What did we learn about each other through this form of meeting and collaborating?

Can anyone else think of some other questions for the group to ask themselves?

(responses)

The group should also keep in mind that what is accomplished in-world is always a work in progress, that it can and should be updated and expanded, taken apart and put back together as much as possible so that it is always improving.

The question ‘What did they learn about each other?’ is an extremely important one.

What if certain members of the group didn’t see eye to eye? How were conflicts addressed and resolved. Was there a need for more or less group leader mediation?

These things should also be taken into account when reflecting upon the group meetings in order to get a better feel for the group dynamic.
Through reflection on the group process through Second Life, the group dynamic can be improved and interactions expanded.
One way to expand the group horizons is to ask ‘How can members of the group who disagree gain an understanding of where the other person is coming from if they don’t share the same experiences?’

4. * Gaining across-the-board Self-Awareness by Becoming Your Exact Opposite …. Aka Walking in someone else's shoes for 1 SL Mile

The answer in real life is not so easily found through role-play as the appearance of the team members is still very much the same.
The answer in Second Life is role-play to become their exact opposite for a day. It suddenly gives a new dimension to role-playing, doesn’t it? :)

While the concept could be potentially daunting, those willing to try a VERY new experience could gender swap for 1 day or modify themselves to be their exact opposite in-world.
I tried this gender experiment myself, and you can see the full details of my experience at my wiki along with pictures.
The first step in my experiment was to modify my avatar to be a man. No easy task having been a woman my whole life, and MUCH easier said than done, as I soon found out. :)

You can see the before and after pics behind me, as well as on my info cube and on my wiki.

Initially, I modified my looks to be very masculine, with a strong jaw line, muscular body, tall, with piercing green eyes, as this had always been my impression of all that was man.

As an aside, subconsciously, these were all features I found attractive—and it took someone else to point it out to me! LOL.

With my new avatar and his rough-around-the-edges hunky intellectual looks as I had imagined them I thought I’d be a shoe-in for spontaneous conversations with hundreds of people.
After all, all of my other SL experiences as Xirconnia pointed to SL being a friendly, open place where everyone wanted to talk to you.

As my usual femme self most of the time I couldn’t get through the tutorial islands without having kazillions of questions and introductions thrown my way.
Instead nobody would really talk to me at all. As a woman having observed men in day to day life, I thought for sure guys would hang out and chat with other guys in Second Life like they do in real life.

Something I became acutely aware of was that in social areas, men didn’t really talk to other men in Second Life, and women didn’t seem too interested in chatting with me, either… at least not with phase 1 of the male avatar I came to call “Xircon”.

Even at the tutorial islands where I could barely pause to rest my fingers as my female self proved to be a challenge for conversations while I appeared to be a man.

I made a quick IM to some friends in-world with a request for their opinions of my new look and what I was doing wrong.

I started to realize it wasn’t so much that I was a guy that was bothering people. I just looked a little like a crazy guy with a ‘newbie default’ness about him.
Undaunted by this revelation, on day 2 of being a dude I gave Xircon a makeover.

I toned down his muscles and stature, made his eyes larger, rounded his face a little more, and curved his mouth up at the corners just a little bit to give him a friendlier expression.

I also traded in the combat boots and white t-shirt for Chucks and a Ghostbusters t-shirt.

In essence, I softened my look to be slightly younger-looking and more feminine. And it worked. Kind of.
People started to talk to me when I said hello… well, women did, anyway. Briefly, and always with hesitation.
My conclusion after this brief foray into being male is that men have it harder than I thought. :)
But in all seriousness, my initial suppositions going into my experiment were that it would be easy, and that interactions would be free-flowing.
What I ended up discovering within the first half hour of ‘being a man’ was that my male avatar was very foreign to me and I have to admit to feeling uncomfortable in my new skin.

After getting in touch with my inner guy, however, I felt almost guilty about becoming my regular self again once I ended the experiment.
I felt bad for “Xircon”, the poor misunderstood misfit that didn’t seem to fit in anywhere near as well as my regular avatar.

I was also a little amused/confused by my friends’ negative reactions to the new ‘me’.

Even my friend who knows me in real life and as my female avatar in-world reacted strangely to me as a man in Second Life at first.
It was a strange and surreal experience, to say the least.

Out of curiosity, has anyone here ever tried putting on a different ‘look’ or even a completely different avatar?

(responses)

If you’d like to share your story, my wiki will be set to open access for anyone who would like to post their experience, or you can drop me a note in-world detailing your mile in a different avatar’s shoes.

(This next portion was not presented due to time, but is available here :) )

For the curious, here are some guidelines to consider if you are going to try this/have tried this:

First and foremost, make a note of your expectations before slipping into a different skin. What do you hope to gain from the experience?
What do you think your results will be?
Do you think your interactions will be easier or harder as a different avatar?
As your new self, try visiting your usual haunts and observe reactions and interactions from both those that know you or new people, or visit completely new places and interact.
You should keep a Notecard journal of where you visited and your experiences and what you’ve learned about yourself in the process.
Some questions you should ask yourself:
1. Did I get treated differently as my opposite? In what ways did I get treated differently?
2. Were my interactions and ideas more openly accepted or rejected?
3. Was I more quickly accepted or rejected because of my appearance?
4. How did my initial ideas about being a different avatar compare to my actual experience?
5. What have I learned that can be applied to real life?

In a virtual buddhist sort of way, the path to enlightenment in this case is through knowing both yourself in real life and in SecondLife, and using virtual self-awareness to shape your experiences in both worlds into something more.
Examine your online experiences as if they were in-person interactions, then apply an objective viewpoint.

In closing, ask yourself what you take away from your Second Life experience and how it fulfills a need in your first life.

Is your exploration in Second Life an extension of your first life, have you explored beyond your comfort zones to places that are new and foreign to you?
Are you already subconsciously drawing on your experiences in Second Life and applying them to your first life, and possibly didn’t realize it?

For those interested in continuing the discussion, a transcript of my presentation will be posted to my wiki at http://cuttingedge-ucation.wetpaint.com so we can continue beyond the conference.
I am also available for those who would like to brainstorm or discuss ideas in-world. IM me: Xirconnia Morphett.

Does anyone have any questions about the presentation?

Landmarks to the Experimental available upon IM request.

My Days as a Dude

Xirconnia — Fri, 25 May 2007 09:53:22 CDT

Day 1
I have to admit it, I was wrong.

Every assumption I had made about this experiment was wrong.... well, not 'wrong' per se, but definitely not 'right'.

I started off with a very lofty assumption that 'guys have it easy'. My expectations going into this virtual gender-swap were that guys made friends easily, and in a virtual environment I would have plenty of new friends to make, and I might even end up being a hit with the ladies.

Not so much, as I soon found out.

I started off by creating my male avatar. His name was/is Xircon, the male counterpart of my usual avatar, Xirconnia. Where Xirconnia is petite, feminine, and uber-spunky, Xircon's looks started off resembling an angry body-builder, as shown above. I had created what I believed would be Xirconnia's opposite and an 'ideal' man. Compared to other avatars he was pretty huge, and a definite presence everywhere he went. My theory was that since I was liked well-enough as a woman, my personality would shine through and looks wouldn't matter.

Part 2 of my theory was that while Xirconnia was constantly approached and chatted with in-world by just about everyone, the majority of them male, Xircon could move easily and chat it up with everyone as well, and the majority of those that chatted with him would be female.

I was excited at first, with many idealist notions in my head of how things would be as a manatar. But a funny thing happened. When I modified my appearance and looked at the final result I felt weird and out of sorts. OK, that's an understatement. While in real life I was consistently 'one of the guys' and a bit of a tomboy, suddenly having a virtual sex change was a surreal experience and I felt a strange sense of almost dislike for this manatar I had created.

I shook the feeling off as being nerves and walked out to greet the new world I hoped would be waiting for me. A new world of open and opening doors and many new friends. My idealist nature held onto the belief that in Second Life, looks wouldn't matter because anyone can be anything, be it man to woman, woman to man, human to animal or what have you.

I was completely wrong. ONE person actually chatted spontaneously with Phase 1 of Xircon, and only because he asked a question and there was no one else in the room. I'm guessing his ultimately cultivated newbie look drew pity and suspicion.

Ironically, men I had met in-world that would IM me frequently suddenly stopped after seeing me as Xircon. I asked those I knew in-world for their opinion of my new look and it was unanimous: Xircon creeped people out.

One thing I hadn't even realized until after a female friend asked directly the one simple question "Are you attracted to men that look like this?" Wow... shock and awe. I hadn't even realized that I had created a conglomerate of male features I found attractive until it was pointed out directly to me. It was kind of weird and I learned something about myself in one fell swoop.

I began to feel a strange sense of being a stranger in a strange land as I wandered through places I had been to many times. Tutorial islands were easy to navigate all of a sudden, and I was able to explore regions without being interrupted. By anyone.

As time passed and only friends that had met me as Xirconnia or who knew me in real life would talk to the towering Xircon, I started to feel bad for the poor guy. I got to know my inner guy, and he wasn't so bad. I felt guilty for feeling suspicious of him and for disliking him at first (and I did. I even considered changing back to my original womanly form soon after becoming a manatar).

As I got to know him I did a strange thing: I gave him a past, and a background. He became a separate entity from me. While Xirconnia was me, with similar looks and the same personality as me, Xircon was a brooding intellectual. In the real world he'd be that guy at the end of the bar that no one really talked to, staring intently into his beer or liquor. He'd be the one I would talk to, because he'd have stories to tell of worldly adventures and intrigue. He'd have a head full of theories and ideas, and he'd secretly be a writer or a brilliant artist with an amazing imagination. He'd be rugged and world-weary to look at, but he would have a beautiful soul.

Rather than scrap the tortured artist I had created, I instead gave him a makeover.

I widened the eyes, relaxed the facial lines, took away the initial jaw-heaviness and huge muscles, shortened the stature and thinned the body.

I also gave him a little bit more of a smile around the corners of the mouth. Oh, and a Ghostbusters t-shirt and Chucks. :)

In an instant I had turned back the clock on my tortured artist/intellectual and given him a new lease on Second Life.... and this time TWO people, both women, spoke with him.

One unfortunately didn't speak English or French, so I struggled with trying to speak German (which I don't speak, sadly).

The other woman spoke English and the conversation went well.... I think.

Strange experience... more to come.

Feedback & Follow-up!

Xirconnia — Wed, 23 May 2007 09:53:19 CDT

I'd like to hear from folks that attended my presentation, so feel free to post a comment and let me know what you thought, discuss your findings and explorations in-world, or ask any questions you might have.

Presentation Outline

Xirconnia — Wed, 23 May 2007 09:50:40 CDT

Drawing on SecondLife Experiences to Enrich the 1st Life RL: Suzi SL: Xirconnia Morphett SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Manua/17/18/60

Wiki:(hint: you're already here :) )“Herding Cats & Barrels of Monkeys”

Points for Discussion:

1. Virtual Self-Awareness vs. Self-Awareness in Real life

2. Using SL to Expand Imagination

3. Gaining across-the-board Self-Awareness by Becoming Your Exact Opposite

4. Using SL to Enhance Group Dynamics

5. How to apply all of the knowledge gained in SecondLife to the actual first life.

1. Using SecondLife to explore your own psyche -- getting to know yourself through your avatar Take a look at yourself-- compare and contrast the virtual you vs. the real you.

2. Using SecondLife to expand imagination and confidence If you can dream it, you can be it in SL.

3. Gaining Across the Board Self-Awareness by Becoming Your Exact Opposite - Walking in someone else's shoes for 1 SL Mile

4. Using SL to enhance group dynamics - No restrictions on a student or employee at a company = unrestricted creativity - Corporate, educational, or personal brain storming sessions - Enrich groupwork by having the groups work together to build the next big SOMETHING, whatever they want. * after they created the next big thing, they can reflect on the process, evaluate it, and make a plan moving forward on how to streamline it and make it better. They can also add onto their next big thing to make it the Next Bigger and Better Thing.

5. How to apply all of the knowledge gained in SecondLife to the actual first life. Participants or Explorers should keep a notecard journal and reflect at the end of the experience or even during the experience exactly what was going on, then step back into real life shoes and apply the knowledge gained as if it truly happened.

* Summary In a virtual buddhist sort of way, the path to enlightenment in this case is through knowing both yourself in real life and in SecondLife, and using the virtual self-awareness to shape your experiences in both worlds into something more.

2007 Second Life Conference Presentation

Xirconnia — Wed, 23 May 2007 09:47:34 CDT

This area will include information from my presentation "Drawing on Second Life Experiences to Enrich the 1st Life", given at the Second Life Best Practices in Education, Teaching, Learning, and Research 2007 International Conference on May 25th.

The Experimental @ Manua

Xirconnia — Thu, 10 May 2007 13:07:33 CDT

MY SECONDLIFE EXPERIMENT IN MANUA

No experience would be complete without jumping in feet-first, right? Right!

So here, for your viewing pleasure, are some before and during snapshots of an experiment I'm doing in SecondLife to see just what SL can do. :)

	Experiment: STAGE 1 In order to fully grasp the possibilities of what SecondLife could do, I needed to spend a little. I bought a membership, which then allowed me to buy land and build. I found a cute little hillside for sale overlooking the water and built a pre-fab house, shown to the left. I experimented with using different building textures, moving parts of objects, etc.
	STAGE 2: THE EXPERIMENT GROWS
	STAGE 3: AND GROWS (AERIAL VIEW)
	STAGE 4: PIECES ARE COMING TOGETHER! In the background you can see the beginnings of the Gettysburg Battlefield at Little Roundtop sim, complete with sky!

End Note: This project has kind of grown and evolved as I've communicated with other educators both in-world and in the field. I was also influenced by some of the more intricate sims I've seen. One particular sim gave the user a taste of being schizophrenic and provided information about schizophrenia, etc.

While many of the educational sims are still a little stark visually, some have gone above and beyond and are pretty impressive. My hope is to combine the immersive element of the educational sims with the visual WOW factor of the gaming sims. There are apparently some gaming areas just around the corner from my humble abode, and they floored me with the textures and graphic elements. As tempted as I was to enter, the extremely readable sign that said 'You can die here.' kept my curiosity in check as far as entering... but I flew all around the outside and looked in the windows. :)

The Experimental as it stands in Manua today is now three full stories high, with spiral staircases, new and improved textures, a fully immersive Gettysburg Battlefield at Little Rountop sim with talking images, an art and texture gallery with some of my images and textures for sale in Lindens- cheap!- personal living space in a very industro-SoHo Loft-esque minimalist decor, and a rooftop garden with talking plants, koi pond, and fountain.

For more pictures and info, check out The Gallery Without Walls @ the Experimental.

Questions in-world should be IMed to Xirconnia Morphett.

The Gallery without Walls @ The Experimental

Xirconnia — Fri, 04 May 2007 09:42:08 CDT

I admit it, I'm officially an addict to textures now in SL. So much so that I opened the Gallery Without Walls at The Experimental so that I could get some $L back for uploading so many textures. :)

Above is the main building.

Floor 1: The 'Experiment' of the Experimental, which was an immersive simulation of the Battlefield at Gettysburg, PA. I even learned to script Linden. Woo hoo! Love the marble landing strip and mossy stone? All parts of my texture addiction. :)

Floor 2: The Gallery Without Walls @ The Experimental, featuring some neat textures (check out my apartment's hardwood floors!) and scenery for sale for L$20 each (it's all play money, and all L$ is going toward maintenance of the Experimental and upload of new textures). The Gallery might eventually evolve into a 3D version of my original website, which was started up to help new artists, writers, film folks, and photogrpahers get some exposure for free. In this case, artists inworld would create stuff and I would put it up in the gallery.

Floor 3: Personal 'living' space. You'll notice one of the windows is tinted, and there is a controller in that room that allows the window to be blacked out entirely. I use that room for changing, believe it or not. I'm modest, if nothing else. :)

The Roof: Rooftop Garden complete with fountain and koi pond. Some of the plants I scripted to talk and tell some neat tidbits on how to take care of them as well as some old wives tales that actually work. You can most likely find me there around lunchtime chilling in the koi pond (I like the fountain sounds and the scenery, so it's kind of like having my own virtual garden space to have lunch in during the week. Of course all are welcome to join and we can have lunchtime discussions about cool stuff as well :) ).

Time Management for Faculty

Xirconnia — Fri, 04 May 2007 08:38:00 CDT

Time Management in the Online Environment

Check your Dropbox frequently to ensure that you are receiving student communications. Select View All to see all Dropboxes and their contents.
When answering communications in the Dropbox, be sure to work from the oldest to the newest (from the bottom up) to ensure that you are responding to students in a timely manner
When grading attachments in the Dropbox, if you don’t have time to sit in front of the computer, or you prefer not to sit in front of the computer, print out the student attachments and bring them with you. Make marks on the printed versions, and then when you are logged in again, enter your comments and grades.
You can also print out discussions by clicking Expand All, then right clicking and selecting Print.
Make sure you have returned assignments to students from the Dropbox by clicking the assignment heading in Gradebook. If there are still checkboxes next to the assignment in the Return column, that assignment has not been returned and the student will not see their grade.
Use the Dropbox to receive communications from and send communications to students, this will guarantee that the student has received your message. Also make an announcement for students to check their Dropboxes.
Use the Discussion board to post responses to student discussion. If you prefer to be an observer, communicate that to the students up front, but let them know you will be reading their comments.
By checking your Dropbox a few times a day instead of once a day, you will be able to keep abreast of assignments coming in and stay ahead of your work.
Make necessary changes to your course content BEFORE the start of the session, that way all you will need to do is interact with the students when class starts.
Use Microsoft Outlook or similar software with a Calendar function that allows you to schedule appointments and reminders. Refer to the Outlook presentation in Doc Sharing at the Faculty Lounge site for more information on the basics of Outlook.

TIME MANAGEMENT PART II So.... you know all about using Outlook or a similar calendar program (such as iCal on a Mac) now, right?
We'll now focus on using that program effectively to stay on top of day-to-day activities, even personal life stuff. Points we'll cover are:

Using Follow-up flags on emails and setting due dates for the follow-up
Using the calendar as your own personal assistant
Creating tasks as reminders
Moving emails to the calendar or tasks folder in Outlook to set up reminders.

At this point you're probably saying, "Why do I need to know any of this? It just seems like more work in my already insane schedule."
My answer? You need to know this so that you can focus on the SANE in your schedule! Believe it or not, after following these simple suggestions you'll never miss another deadline, due date, start date, end date, birthday, anniversary, or favorite TV show! You'll also save time by being able to view posted schedules in the global addresses of the organization, and seem uber tech-savvy when you send out a meeting request for a time when multiple people are shown as free because you used the Auto-pick Next button on the meeting scheduler (saving more time by not having to go through and search the calendars for an available slot!).
And since time is of the essence, here's the skinny on how to do it all (details on how to use Auto-pick Next is discussed in the Outlook presentation):

If emails require a follow-up or research, you can do a few things to keep it straight in your schedule:

move them to the Calendar and set them up as if they were an appointment, showing the time as free or busy, depending on how much work is required for the email response
you can also move the email to Tasks, and set a reminder
set a flag, with reminder and base the priority by flag color (I use red for close deadlines, orange for a close deadline with less work involved, yellow for a close deadline with little to no work involved before the due date, and green, blue, and purple for emails that I want to check into but that are not pressing).

An example of using Outlook's calendar to keep everything straight:

Schedule appointments in your calendar for due dates, and weekly start and end dates. If your course week starts on Tuesdays, for example, schedule an appoinment marked as free with the subject Week 1 starts, and so on. If your course is ending on say, April 30th, set a reminder for the beginning of the week with email text to send to your class informing everyone of the approaching deadline. You can copy and paste the text you originally wrote in your meeting reminder to an email and announcement to your class.
Schedule an hour or two appointment marked as Important and busy at least two weeks prior to the start of the session. In the meeting text field, write down details about what needs to be updated in your course. During the time you have scheduled, go through your course and make changes to due dates, syllabus, gradebook, and gradebook review dates.
If you aren't sure how to do something in your course, there's probably a tutorial in the Faculty Lounge already. Check the Lounge and Doc Sharing, be sure to download a copy of the presentation so you can write notes down, and if you have any questions, set aside some time well in advance to chat with me, that way you'll have some free time before class starts to relax. :)
Set up appointments in Outlook's calendar to keep track of your daily activities. If something happens on a schedule, you can set a recurring appointment with no end date, or specify an end date. For example, friends' birthdays. You can set the appointment up to show your time as free, color code the event to purple (for birthday), and set a reminder for a time of your preference, with a recurrence of annually. If you need to get a gift for your friend, I would recommend setting a reminder for a day ahead. :)
Block off your calendar to show your availability, using the busy, free, and tentative settings as well as color coding to easily get a quick look of what's an actual appointment, and what's been blocked off for grading papers, etc. When setting up appointments, be sure to block off extra time if travel will be required, or if you need to prepare for the meeting, that way you can better gauge how much time will be needed for each appointment on your calendar.
When possible: OVERBOOK YOUR TIME! No, I don't mean schedule appointments and meetings on top of one another, I mean schedule buffer times between meetings! This will prove to be a lifesaver in a busy schedule! So if you have a meeting say, at 10am, book another appointment slot for fifteen minutes before and fifteen minutes after, and that way you won't feel rushed going into the next meeting or event. This buffer timezone will also help if your meetings run long, or if you have other things you will need to work on but can't seem to find the time-- now you'll have that extra time budget you always wanted!
Schedule a To-Do List for 8am every day, recurring weekdays, no end date. Color code it as Important. Update the Series every day, keeping what needs to be done toward the top in bold letters, and what's completed kept at the bottom of the meeting text field with the word DONE in bold. Look at this list every day when the reminder pops up, and it will keep your day in perspective. You'll see how much you've accomplished, and be able to address the more pressing issues by scheduling appointments for the to-do items throughout your day. At the end of the day, move accomplished tasks to the bottom of the meeting field, save & close. :) You can also set up a to-do list through Tasks, as well.

Using Tasks as Reminders:

Tasks has a similar function as the calendar, but without the ability to block off time in your schedule. For example, I've used Tasks as a reminder for groceries, shopping lists, or as a general reminder for things to pack on a trip.

Moving Emails to Calendar or Tasks Folders for a more detailed reminder:

Everyone gets an email at one point asking for something to be done, or requesting information, etc. during a time when there is no time to do it.
So what do you do? You make a time! Now that your calendar software is expertly updated with details of meetings, etc. and color coded for quick reference, you're good to go! To find time to answer that email, choose File, then Move to Folder. From there, depending on how much will need to be done to satisfy the email request, you can put it into the Calendar or into Tasks.
If moving to calendar, pay attention to the information presented in the upper area of the meeting request. If it's a conflicting appointment, you will want to double-check to make sure you're not overlapping times.

Second Life

Xirconnia — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 07:48:45 CDT

<-- So that's the virtual me, Xirconnia Morphett. In the background is the house I built (prim by prim) in SL.

The journey through SL was a quick one for me. I was always fascinated by technology (although fearful of the WYSIWYG at first, I eventually learned to love the Mac and function fluently on the PC.) Chat rooms fascinated me, and when I saw the initial stages of avatar chatting on the web, I was intrigued but largely non-plussed by the overall lack of real texture. My thought was basically 'why can't this be a 3-D environment?'

I tried my hand at learning VRML after learning HTML, but found the VRML to be pretty difficult. Sooooo.... fast forward, long story short, etc. and I bumped into the MUVEs of Active Worlds and SL. Pure gravy! Except that Active Worlds wasn't cross-platform compatible, and SL was, and so SL won me over for the interactive element of moving forward. :)

Knitting Stuff

Xirconnia — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:22:06 CDT

Did I mention I love to knit and crochet in my spare minutes? :)

A favorite site that I love love LOVE is Knitty!

Thomson NOW and eCollege

Xirconnia — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 08:54:15 CDT

Software presentation of Thomson software and the future of the company. Course Technology will continue to release SAM software.

The Joys of Multimedia

Xirconnia — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 08:52:23 CDT

A good presentation. The instructor demonstrated how he had incorporated audio files into his classes, from course lecture to week summaries. He also discussed student response to the audio segments and how it affected interpersonal communication (for example, online students felt as if they ‘knew’ him, and felt comfortable enough to call with questions and interact conversationally rather than formally because they had listened to his lectures so often).

Next Step for Upgrade

Xirconnia — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 08:45:31 CDT

Basically a presentation of the latest and greatest from eCollege. A LOT of features to look forward to!

Herding Cats - Training Tips for Teaching

Xirconnia — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 08:43:49 CDT

A definite favorite. Got slightly off-topic on occasion, but notes were handed out at the beginning for reference. The group was mostly trainers and instructional designers, and the presenters were responsible for training roughly 600 instructors across a 7-school system. 8 main people are responsible for training colleagues, who then mentor and train "eRookies".

The schools get together once or twice a year for a mini-conference (much like our PDS sessions for Fall and Spring) where new technologies and policies are discussed, and where staff from the Library, Bookstore, and Student Services present to all faculty. They also have a Show & Tell of Exceptional Instructors, where innovations and new ideas that instructors have implemented in their courses are presented by the instructor. They also hold another conference just for 'eRookies' in which specific software training and discussion is gone over and questions can be answered.

Lunchtime sessions are also not uncommon, and incentives are offered.

Where they started?

1. Assessed the need at the college for faculty development.
2. Sought funding -- including more staff.
3. Set goals and objectives and assessed the success of the program.

Faculty Mentoring & Evaluation

Xirconnia — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 08:31:03 CDT

The full title is actually "Ensuring Academic Quality-- Innovations in Faculty Mentorship and Evaluation" from Park University.

This was an amazing presentation. The ACE Principles of Good Practice are in place as a guide for faculty evaluation, serving as a rubric for faculty who wish to know how they are being evaluated. Specifically Principles 7 & 8 are used, along with a tier model of faculty training, mentoring and review.