Snacks 74–Peggy Sheehy and Ramapo Islands!
Monday, September 29th, 2008Greetings, Snacks listeners!
It’s been too long: For that, my apologies. Your long wait for a new episode of Snacks4theBrain! will, however, prove well worth the patience. For this episode, I share portions of my friend Peggy Sheehy’s presentation at the Second Life Education Community Conference in Tampa, Florida, just a couple weeks ago in mid September! Download episode number 74 right here!
The innovative educational work in 3 dimensional virtual environments is being led by some great teachers, among whom Peggy is globally recognized as a pioneer, if not the pioneer. I met Peggy at her presentation at NECC2007 in Atlanta and was terrifically impressed with everything she had to say, and I’ve watched over the months since as she refined her practices more, made further strides in the technology, and honed her message so that it can now be understood by even the most technology-resistant educator. More and more research is coming in to help support her basic message: Immersive Environments and their creative challenges WORK for students. Guided experiences in these environments work magic for students who might not raise a hand or a voice in the traditional classroom; guided experiences in these environments give students opportunities to experience (and build) relationships with fellow students who may not give them the time or day in a traditional school setting; and guided experiences in these environments can be made secure, fun, and pedagogically sound, with solid (if novel) assessment tools and strong underlying collatoral learning.
All that said, dig into S4theB! 74 right here, embracing the change. It’s coming, whether you embrace it or not. Its benefits are too great to miss the chance to enjoy them!
I’m hearkening back to the Podsafe Music Network this episode for a couple new tunes, one to open the show and one to close it. So before we get to Peggy, listen up to Matthew Ebel, and indie-pop singer-songwriter from none other than our very own Nashville, Tennessee. Both songs on this episode are his, and since the topic is Second Life, the second one is one he recorded in Second Life while performing live. I like both tunes and I hope you will, too!
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Links:
More information about SLEDCC at the SLEDCC wiki
Peggy Sheehy’s Ramapo Islands blog
and finally, here’s the (grainy but viewable) video, with Peggy’s crystal clear powerpoint embedded right beneath! It’s almost like you’re there!