Intersting Edusim Developments (& Funding)

Greenbush is very close to one of the biggest multi-year grants we have ever
received (http://www.greenbush.org) with a heavy emphasis on virtual spaces to
connect students across distance as well as in class resources (with heavy use
of Edusim/Croquet http://edusim3d.com)... This would pump a lot of money into
the project over the next 5 years!

Another thing the brass here seemed equally as intrigued about was that the Eye
on America TV series (http://www.eoatv.com) contacted Greenbush wanting to do a
piece on k-12 educational technology.  They mentioned they seen the Edusim
videos and found them very interesting.  Ill keep the group notified but about
production/airing... It was kind of a surreal meeting and wanted to share with
the group since I know how hard we all work to make sure Croquet makes a
difference in the trenches and in kids learning lives.

Best Regards,
Rich

==========

Hello all -

I'm delurking on the list for a bit to ask for your expert opinion on a 3D modeling tool I'm working on in Hungary.  Quick preface:  I work for the University of Texas at the IC2 Institute - a think tank that focuses on commercializing science and technology to foster innovation economic development in various regions throughout the world.  This technology is part of a program we have in Hungary and is coming from a research team in Budapest.  This technology was introduced to our program late in the game and our grant funding is up at the end of the year.  if you have a moment, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it:

The tech is a 3D modeling device - a kit with a pair of shuttle glasses, a pen, and mounted cameras.   The tech allows you to model and manipulate 3D images in stereoscopic space.    It was developed by a young man, Daniél Ratai, who hopes to create modeling devices at a low enough cost point to be generally accessible and very usable.  There currently isn't much software (read "very very little") to accompany the device.  The kit would come with an SDK and sample source code.  More info is available on their site:  http://www.3dforall.hu/?q=en/node/12

My question for the group - as developers within the emerging realm of virtual worlds, does this technology appear to offer any value or benefit to the work you do?   How might you see it being used?   Have you seen something similar (which is likely)?

Please feel free to respond offline - and thanks so much for reading this far!

--
Donna K. Kidwell

Program Manager
Mexico – INVITE Program Office
IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin
Global Commercialization Group

http://www.ic2.utexas.edu/global/

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
vox:      (512) 232-3557
cell:       (512) 689-8158
fax:       (512) 305-0338
skype:   kalitechna

Interested in subjective (as opposed to objective) computer
science?  Interested in
postmodern computer science?  Read the November 27th issue of my blog at
http://coderextreme.blogspot.com/  I'd be interested in a squeak or croquet
implementation (or any implementation).  I'd also like to hear if
this is equivalent
to fuzzy networks.

Thanks,

John Carlson

Hi Rich,

What great news!
___

Here are a few lessons about "educational 3D interactive worlds" and
"learning socially online" which I've found recently.

Cheers,
Darius

    * Gardner Campbell interview by Jon Udell:
      MP3: http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail3451.html

    Gardner Campbell teaches English literature, film studies,
writing, and -- woven through it all these disciplines -- a new one
that he calls digital imagination. In this conversation with Jon
Udell, he talks about how our emerging uses of the internet enable
educators and students to create fresh approaches to higher education.


    * Arden I: The World of William Shakespeare
      Shakespeare's world in 3D - Free to Download
      Not a real success with students - Some lessons learned:
      http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2007/11/two-releases-ar.html#more

"    .... In short, lots of Shakespeare. It's also rather boring, as
I've said before. We failed to design a gripping game experience. As
several of our playtesters said, Where are the monsters? -- a good
question to ask of any serious-games initiative....
    No monsters is a big problem for our larger goal, which is to use
virtual worlds to run experiments. No monsters means no fun, no fun
means no people, and no people means no experiment. Back to the
drawing board.... "


    * Clark Aldrich address the issue of properly balancing pedagogy,
simulation, and gaming aspects to make a viable learning 3D
environment.
      MP3 Talk: http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail372.html
      Clark's Blog aiming to include a comprehensive list of
attributes and functions about 3D & online interactive learning
environments:
      http://clarkaldrich.blogspot.com/

"          Six criteria are emerging as critical not just to
simulations but to all successful educational experiences. Three are
focused on content, and three on delivery elements. The key criteria
for content are:
          1. Linear content.
          2. Systems of content.
          3. Cyclical content.
          Additional criteria for delivery elements are:
          4. Simulation elements that model reality.
          5. Game elements that provide familiar and entertaining interactions.
          6. Pedagogical (didactic) elements that ensure the students'
time is spent productively.

          As we understand pedagogy (#6) and linear content (#1), we
first mourn that they have become so dominant, but then realize how
powerful they are in concert. It is only through the interelationships
of all six criteria that we begin to get results that can truly
transform people."

Why interactive 3D environments? I believe one answer comes from being
aware of the kind of world we will be injecting our students into as
describe by Paul Hawken. Our world's complexity is becoming more and
more apparent to the public and our young students. Interactive 3D can
be a way of representing and simulating these complex relationships so
that the student has a hope at grapeling with some of the principles
of the problems and the solutions. Dynamic 3D might also by the way
the students can understand the interrelationships between the
organizations which are working on the solutions.

    * Paul Hawken, The New Great Transformation - Humanity's immune system
      MP3 of his talk:
http://beagle.monkeybrains.net/longnow/salt-recordings/salt-020070608-hawken/salt-020070608-hawken-web.mp3
      Video of his talk:
http://fora.tv/2007/06/08/Paul_Hawken_New_Great_Transformation

"          .... His new book, BLESSED UNREST, was inspired by the
countless business cards that earnest environmentalists would hand him
after his lectures all over the world. After a while he had 7,000, and
he wondered, "How many environmental groups are there in the world?"
He began actively building a now-public database, WiserEarth.org,
which includes social justice and indigenous rights organizations
because he found they indivisibly overlap in their values and
activities.

          The database now has 105,000 such organizations. The
still-emerging taxonomy of their "areas of focus" has 414 categories,
amounting to a "curriculum of the 21st century"— Acid Rain, Living
Wages, Tropical Moist Forests, Peacemaking, Democratic Reform,
Sustainable Cities, Environmental Toxicology, Watershed Management,
Human Trafficking, Mountaintop Removal, Pesticides, Climate Change,
Refugees, Women's Safety, Eco-villages, Fair Trade… Extrapolating from
carefully inventoried regions to those yet to be tallied, he estimates
there are over 1,000,000 such organizations in the world, adding up to
the largest and fastest growing Movement in history.

          The phenomenon has been overlooked because it lacks the
customary hallmarks of a movement— no charismatic leaders, no grand
theory or ideology, no "ism," no defining events. The new activist
groups are about dispersing power rather than aggregating power. Their
focus is on ideas rather than ideology— ideologies are clung to, but
ideas can be tried and tossed or improved. The point is to solve
problems, usually from the bottom up. The movement can never be
divided because it is already atomized...."