Join us for an informative panel discussion made up of SJSU MLIS/MARA or SLIS students on learning and creating in the virtual world of Second Life on Thursday March 6 at 6 pm pacific at the SLIS campus in Second Life.  This program is part of the SJSU SLIS/VCARA Virtual Worlds Colloquia series and is open to anyone interested.  Students on the panel have taken or worked on the courses “Living in Tudor Times” during fall 2013 or “The Birth of the Renaissance in Florence” during spring 2014.  Some have been involved in other learning aspects in Second Life as well.  The panel will contain a presentation by each student with a lively discussion after the presentations.  The program will be held at the VCARA Ampitheater.

Creating Displays of Virtual Objects and Events
Marie Vans/amvans.lapis  will discuss creating displays of virtual objects for documenting educational experiences. This would include creating machinimas of events and objects in-world for display outside of virtual worlds.

Finding Your Inner Avatar 
Chris Nelson/Snow Scarmon will discuss personal identification with your avatar as an extension of yourself; an important component of immersive learning.

The Pitfalls of Second Life Learning
Sarah Walker/Veronica Gambara will talk about some of the challenges of learning in SL for students.  Coming into a new world poses some problems for students that can be easily avoided if planned for in advance. How do we make this new world as comfortable as possible for students?

The Value of Field Trips in Second Life
Sarah Fihe/Sarah Bookworm will be discussing the value added requirement for different Second Life field trips throughout the course. These trips included visiting in-world libraries and archives, exploring historical role playing sims, experiencing virtual simulations and immersive learning environments. These trips helped students to experience the wide range of opportunities that Second Life has to offer and at times pulled them out of their course comfort zone by requiring them to explore beyond their island.

For more information, contact Dr. Pat Franks ([log in to unmask]) or Lori Bell at [log in to unmask].