Virtual Learning Environments

How does your project leverage and create a richer learning experience for your specific target population?

Our project, Global TextBook, allows students to engage in documented discussions where their responses, questions and answers can be calculated and well-planned. The online nature of the discussion forums and potentials for chat room interactions also allow for students who may be shy in face-to-face environments the chances to say what’s on their mind. The amalgamation of RSS feeds and video/photo posting in one space allows students a wide range of access to sources to supplement their textual reading material.

The typical targets of Global Potential are lower income and underprivileged urban youths who typically wouldn’t be exposed to critical analysis of sensitive topics; they would typically only see the perspective of their local community. The Ning platform offers a compelling multifaceted forum that is engaging, yet not limited by many of the usual barriers to entry that students from lower income households tend to face. Ning is not dependent upon a speedy internet connection or advanced computer hardware. Its windows are easily formatted when one needs to print and it is not blocked by many of the filters used on public internet access computers. Our Ning community will also allow students to break their geographic limitations and form a new community whose purpose is to critically discuss differing historical texts. This elaborates on the idea that students are encouraged to think more critically about historical issues.

Ning allows students the chance to see two sides of an argument, giving students an opportunity to create a new perspective for themselves for the situation they are discussing. It also gives them skills that they can transfer to other parts of their lives. Additionally, the format that is being used allows students to learn debating skills.

Screenshot of Discussion Forum

Given that Ning is fairly easy and accessible, it also allows a high level of personal customization both at student and moderator level and easily facilitates connection and networking with like-minded individuals and communities. In addition, given the increasing interest in NING, customized skins and applications specifically designed for NING are becoming more and more prevalent, thus making the student, teacher and classroom experience ever more personalized and focused.

Screenshot of Profile page

Given that virtual learning environments are becoming increasingly cultivated into educational experiences, Ning is an excellent choice for segueing into this form of technological learning. Because it is simple and direct, it provides the student a solid understanding of how to interact in a VLE, as well as how to contribute on an equal level as his/her classmates. As mentioned before, the opportunity to be more “vocal” in an online educational forum will allow for more students to better express themselves and share one another’s knowledge and viewpoints, decreasing the shyness factor that can be brought out in a typical classroom setting. It also gives more freedom to question the subject matter and inspire a deeper level of critical thinking; one that is tougher to reach learning out of a textbook.

Briefly summarize your project objective, obstacles, modifications/solutions, describe project progress to-date, and include relevant processes/screenshots/links.

The Group:

Each member of our team worked diligently to contribute to the various parts of our Ning social site, Global Textbook. While each person has their own skills, we all did our part to pull together a solidly constructed virtual learning environment that students can benefit from and contribute to.

As a group we worked on the organization of the main page. We also agreed on what tools we should provide to our community. This includes the Photos, Videos, Forums, Links, and a reference page. We also agreed that we would create a Global Textbook user manual using a separate wiki space. We met weekly to revise our Ning site and brainstorm ideas on how to make it better.

Screenshot of Chat page, where we held some of our weekly meetings

Each member played his or her part in bringing the project together and we were not hampered by ‘wannabe superstar egos’.  As such, workloads were apportioned evenly and according to individual talents and schedule; and thus each member was able to shine in his or her own way. We worked efficiently and without ‘pomp and circumstance’; keeping true to Katzenbach & Smith definition of a successful team. We simply remained throughout… a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and [a common] approach for which they hold themselves accountable. [1]

Individual Tasks:

Although each of us went to considerable lengths to make this project the best it could be in a short few weeks, we will briefly summarize below what each member completed throughout the duration of the Ning site and the supplementary Wiki page.

Katharine’s main duties were to set up the interface for the Global Textbook site, where she chose “Social Sunny” as the theme (silhouetted conversing figures) which best demonstrated the purpose of the site. She also edited the colors to be similar to Global Potential, and added some initial features to the main page, while doing some html coding for the Links tab for easy navigation. She also wrote instructions for six of the tabs, which can be found on the Wiki page.

Kelly’s main responsibility was setting up RSS feeds to the Ning site. Google News had a decent sampling of the current news from each region (Haiti and D.R.), which she chose to feed into the main page of Global Textbook. She also contributed to rearranging the page, initiated the Wiki, and wrote about starting a discussion, while also giving a tour of the main page.

Henry set up two forums for Global Textbook and wrote the instructions and rules for posting on them. The first forum is Lessons, for administrators only, and the second forum is Open for all members to start discussions on their own topics. The restricted Lessons forum would allow Global Potential to use the site for its educational purposes, while a less restricted open forum would provide students and other members a place to share their ideas and views in order to build a better sense of community. Henry also contributed to the Photos section to provide a sample of how it could be used by instructors, as well as to include supplemental images. He also wrote Wiki entries for Photos and Videos, and contributed to the “How to post to the forum” section. These entries explain how the sections are meant to be used for educational purposes, and how to post in them.

Vicki worked on researching different videos, articles, and relative information about Haiti and the Domincan Republic to provide a solid base of information for Global Textbook’s main page and additional tabs. She included a Reference Texts tab (with the help of Katharine) to add a bibliography of relevant texts and information written about these countries. There are a few videos that better visualize the relationship between Haiti and the Dominican Republic that are posted to the Video tab and take the user straight to the video’s host page. She also included links in the Links tab to both nations’ United States Embassies home pages. She also included a map of the island of Hispaniola in the Photo tab to add to the visual element of the learning experience in Global Textbook.

Helen was responsible for getting the site off the ground, which she did by initiating the Google Groups forum and creating the Ning network name and ID project, where Global Textbook could get underway. She also contributed to setting up RSS feeds on the Ning site, which are linked below. She added a list of NGO/UN and other links, easily located in the Links tab. She also wrote the four sub-sections under “Your Members” for the Wiki.

Screenshot of Videos page

Concluding thoughts:

There are always obstacles to working with a group on a project that is done completely through virtual methods, but we are all confident with the outcome of the Ning site and are proud to have created this educational platform in a rather limited time frame. There was a clear lack of direction and misunderstanding of the project in the first few weeks of the course. Once we received clarification from Salman that our goal was to construt the skeletal frame work for Global Potential, and not to actually create and implement lessons, we were able to pick up momentum and pull things together. Every time we met, we found new ways to improve our site. Another issue was the general simplicity of Ning itself. In the end, the simplicity of Global Textbook actually compliments the goal of the project, emphasizing the analysis of text rather than toying with new online networking trends.

One issue with the site is the overall appearance. We have gone with a neutral style using a default image provided by Ning. Though this works and stays with our simplistic nature, it can still seem mundane. Global Potential may want to find a design student to create a more unique logo for the community.

This was no small feat. When things run smoothly, it’s often easy to overlook the unspoken work that each of us put in to making room for the other, and for each of us to pull their own weight. This level of maturity is rare and yet is a key element in the ultimate success or failure of a project such as this. Consequently, we feel that we should congratulate ourselves on the efficient flowing work environment that we created and acknowledge the accomplishment of this.

1] ‘The Wisdom of Teams’ J. Katzenbacj & Smith [1993], p.45

From Highsmith Ch.5 Adaptive Software Development

a. http://globalvoicesonline.org/-/world/americas/dominican-republic/

b. http://globalvoicesonline.org/-/world/americas/haiti/

Visit our Ning site here: http://globaltextbook.ning.com/

Project 1, Conflict Texts Group Meeting

We met tonight (Wed, 7/22) to continue working on our globaltextbook page on Ning.  The meeting ran for about an hour (6:30-7:30) during which time we reviewed where we want certain information to appear on the pages. We reviewed the texts Salman sent us and decided to create a Reference Texts tab to help provide more information for our moderators. We also plan to create “how to” section that gives basic instructions on creating discussion through the forum. We’ve also created a wiki to use as another information base for Global Potential to build on. Once the details of the work on the site were finished, we delegated responsibility to each other for what needs to be finished, then scheduled a meeting for this weekend.

Project 1, Conflict Texts group meeting

Sunday night at 8 PM eastern time we met through our Ning’s chat function. During our meeting we discussed Salman’s answers to our questions. As a group we chose the tools our site would provide and organized its layout. After about 50 minutes we decided to take a break and spread the next couple days putting together instructions for teachers and students on how to use the site.

The Ning chat box does not allow users to copy and paste the entire conversation, So there will not be a detailed minutes for this meeting.

I have taken one of the themes and edited some of the colors through CSS and came up with this. I sent an email to our group to let them know the changes that I made along with some options and ideas as to what we could possibly do next to further personalize the site. Just making sure we’re all on the same page here and that we can get a bit more work done before our next meeting in the chat function on our Ning on Sunday the 19th.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

[15:19]  Connecting to in-world Voice Chat…
[15:19]  Connected
[15:22]  FS.audience seat 1.1(16deg floor) whispers: Touch your seat to select another sitting pose.
[15:29]  Vicki Vesuvino: looks like everyone is almost here
[15:29]  FS.audience seat 1.1(16deg floor) whispers: Touch your seat to select another sitting pose.
[15:29]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: hello!
[15:29]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I won’t be able to talk because I’m in a computer lab at school
[15:30]  Vicki Vesuvino: its probably easier to type anyway
[15:30]  Vicki Vesuvino: so we can better record the minutes and everything
[15:30]  Helen Fierenza: i’m fine with that
[15:30]  FS.audience seat 1.1 (16deg floor) whispers: Touch your seat to select another sitting pose.
[15:30]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: good!
[15:30]  Spike Hammill: Me too.
[15:30]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I tried to download it at home and it wouldn’t work…
[15:31]  Helen Fierenza: hey vicki – do you know your hair hangs over teh back of your chair?! it’s totally weird!
[15:31]  Helen Fierenza: i mean – they even tho9ught of that?!
[15:31]  FS.audience seat 1.1 (16deg floor) whispers: Touch your seat to select another sitting pose.
[15:31]  Vicki Vesuvino: haha i know
[15:31]  Spike Hammill: its more like it hangs through the chair, which is really weird.
[15:31]  Vicki Vesuvino: this whole thing is trippy to me
[15:32]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: me too!
[15:32]  KellySupahstar Catnap: it is very strange!
[15:32]  Helen Fierenza: hi kelly
[15:32]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I didn’t have much time to change my avatar, I feel pretty lame
[15:32]  Vicki Vesuvino: do you guys know how to leave Mouselook?
[15:32]  Spike Hammill: So we never got answers from frank and salmon right?
[15:32]  KellySupahstar Catnap: Hi Helen!
[15:32]  KellySupahstar Catnap: ESC to leave mouselook
[15:32]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: not as far as I know, spike
[15:32]  Vicki Vesuvino: I zoomed in too close or something and I can’t get back to the view where I can see myself
[15:32]  Vicki Vesuvino: ESC wont work!
[15:33]  Spike Hammill: using a mouse?
[15:33]  KellySupahstar Catnap: nope no answers from Frank & Salman
[15:33]  Vicki Vesuvino: yeah
[15:33]  Helen Fierenza: no i dont think so – i havent been on seesm ic todsay
[15:33]  Spike Hammill: just zoom back out.
[15:33]  Vicki Vesuvino: that doesnt work either
[15:33]  Spike Hammill: escape works for me
[15:33]  Vicki Vesuvino: i am going to log out and log back in
[15:33]  Helen Fierenza: ok
[15:33]  Spike Hammill: and no response on seesmic.
[15:34]  KellySupahstar Catnap: ok. so what do we do next?
[15:34]  Helen Fierenza: hmm – i guess we just nake up our own group then
[15:34]  Spike Hammill: But we did get an answer to some questions from Josiphine.
[15:34]  Vicki Vesuvino is Offline
[15:34]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: where did we get an answer?
[15:35]  Helen Fierenza: the google groups
[15:35]  KellySupahstar Catnap: in the google group
[15:35]  Spike Hammill: So it is all through Ning and they will provide us with texts. But when and how we get the texts is unclear.
[15:35]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I’ll have to check it
[15:35]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: the group I mean
[15:35]  KellySupahstar Catnap: and it’s for high school students
[15:35]  Vicki Vesuvino is Online
[15:35]  Vicki Vesuvino: looks like im back to normal
[15:35]  KellySupahstar Catnap: and Josephine said to go with a structured self-paced lesson plan
[15:35]  Spike Hammill: Yeah, so atleast we have something to work with for now.
[15:35]  FS.audience seat 1.1 (16deg floor) whispers: Touch your seat to select another sitting pose.
[15:35]  Helen Fierenza: youre invisible – is that normal?!
[15:36]  Vicki Vesuvino: me??
[15:36]  Helen Fierenza: yes
[15:36]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I can see her
[15:36]  Spike Hammill: sometimes people start as puffs of smoke until they load
[15:36]  Vicki Vesuvino: weird
[15:36]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: haha
[15:36]  KellySupahstar Catnap: i see Vicki too!
[15:36]  Helen Fierenza: lol -
[15:36]  Helen Fierenza: ok its me!
[15:36]  Helen Fierenza: no worriews – i can see her name tage
[15:36]  Helen Fierenza: anyway -
[15:37]  Helen Fierenza: does anyone have thoughts on how to move from here?
[15:37]  Spike Hammill: One of us has used ning before right? i forgot who said that
[15:37]  Helen Fierenza: kelly
[15:37]  KellySupahstar Catnap: yup!
[15:37]  Helen Fierenza: i copid some of you on some cool ning educaton networks
[15:37]  Helen Fierenza: did you get them?
[15:38]  Helen Fierenza: i thought they might be a good place to get ideas and such
[15:38]  KellySupahstar Catnap: the first thing you have to do while setting up the ning network is to choose a name that will be in the web address
[15:38]  Spike Hammill: ok. are you willing to make out basic skeleton ning for us? once thats done we can all start looking it over and discussing how to modify it
[15:38]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: why don’t we make the name the same as our google group??
[15:38]  Spike Hammill: yes which means now we get t obrainstorm for a name
[15:38]  KellySupahstar Catnap: sure
[15:39]  Vicki Vesuvino: ok
[15:39]  Helen Fierenza: i think thats teh name of tehir ning ?
[15:39]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: is it?
[15:39]  KellySupahstar Catnap: But i think there is already a network for Global Potential
[15:39]  Helen Fierenza: im checkng
[15:39]  Spike Hammill: we can’t change the name later can we?
[15:39]  KellySupahstar Catnap: i don’t think you can change it later
[15:39]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I thought it was globalhood…or wait that’s the name of the organization
[15:39]  KellySupahstar Catnap: at least not in the web address
[15:39]  Helen Fierenza: i dont think so
[15:39]  KellySupahstar Catnap: you can change the way it appears on the site though
[15:40]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: but not the URL
[15:40]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: right?
[15:40]  KellySupahstar Catnap: right
[15:41]  Spike Hammill: well ours is going to be a framework for future projects, so maybe a simple name like global potential or global hood works fine in the URL and then we’ll find a more specific name to display on the site later.
[15:41]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I like that idea
[15:41]  KellySupahstar Catnap: what was the name of the one they already have set up?
[15:41]  Vicki Vesuvino: that sounds good
[15:41]  Helen Fierenza: global hood
[15:41]  Helen Fierenza: i’m there now
[15:42]  Spike Hammill: Theirs is globalpotential.ning.com
[15:42]  Spike Hammill: So we can’t use that one. Globalhood is then?
[15:42]  Helen Fierenza: this is their community development program
[15:42]  Helen Fierenza: ts differnet
[15:42]  Helen Fierenza: when i set up our group i thought this was it
[15:43]  Helen Fierenza: http://www.global-potential.org/
[15:43]  Spike Hammill: http://global-potential.ning.com/ this is free, lets just go with this.
[15:44]  KellySupahstar Catnap: ok
[15:44]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I think that’s great
[15:44]  KellySupahstar Catnap: are you setting it up now?
[15:44]  KellySupahstar Catnap: Hi Josephine!
[15:44]  Josephine Junot: hi guys
[15:44]  Helen Fierenza: ok
[15:44]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: hi!
[15:44]  Vicki Vesuvino: weird, when i click on the link it says the page does not exist
[15:44]  Spike Hammill: Hello. We having a fire?
[15:44]  Josephine Junot: don’t let me disturb – just dropping into say hi
[15:44]  Josephine Junot: :_
[15:44]  Josephine Junot:
[15:44]  Vicki Vesuvino: hellO!
[15:45]  KellySupahstar Catnap: we’re working on setting up the Ning site
[15:45]  Josephine Junot: cool
[15:45]  Helen Fierenza: what about global textbook?
[15:46]  Helen Fierenza: hi josephine
[15:46]  KellySupahstar Catnap: global textbook sounds like a good name!
[15:46]  Helen Fierenza: its availabel
[15:46]  Vicki Vesuvino: that sounds great
[15:46]  Josephine Junot: nice! I like it
[15:46]  Vicki Vesuvino: it helps to let people know its a resource
[15:46]  Vicki Vesuvino: for educational purposes
[15:46]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I like that idea as well
[15:46]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: but didn’t henry say that the other one was open?
[15:47]  Helen Fierenza: yes they both are
[15:47]  Spike Hammill: its fine. global textbooks sounds good. How about globaltexts though. easier to say.
[15:47]  Vicki Vesuvino: both sounds good to me
[15:47]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I like globaltexts
[15:47]  Helen Fierenza: erm – if teh fire tender runs out teh rooom – should we follow?
[15:47]  KellySupahstar Catnap: why don’t we use globaltexts in case global potential wants to use their own name
[15:47]  Helen Fierenza: has there ever been a second life fire!
[15:47]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: hahaha
[15:47]  Spike Hammill: No, they tend fires. They leave means no fires to tend
[15:47]  Vicki Vesuvino: haha
[15:48]  Spike Hammill: Servers do overheat… accidents happen.
[15:48]  Helen Fierenza: ha!
[15:48]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: how does one obtain such a position I wonder?
[15:48]  Vicki Vesuvino: haha
[15:48]  Helen Fierenza: there is a project i jusrt googled called global texts – its a website
[15:48]  Spike Hammill: Don’t ask me. I start fires… after that Ican’t control them.
[15:48]  KellySupahstar Catnap: you can get SL jobs in the classifieds!
[15:48]  Helen Fierenza: http://globaltext.terry.uga.edu/
[15:48]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: hmm maybe we shouldn’t use globaltexts then
[15:49]  Helen Fierenza: i think textbook is ok though -
[15:49]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: global textbooks is fine
[15:49]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I think
[15:49]  Vicki Vesuvino: yeah we better go with that
[15:49]  KellySupahstar Catnap: then let’s use textbooks
[15:49]  KellySupahstar Catnap: rather, global textbooks
[15:49]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: wait so just to be clear
[15:49]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: globalhood already has a ning, right?
[15:50]  Helen Fierenza: yes
[15:50]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: http://globalpotential.ning.com/
[15:50]  Vicki Vesuvino: yep
[15:50]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: ok…
[15:51]  KellySupahstar Catnap: how short can we make the name?
[15:51]  Helen Fierenza: globaltextbook is available
[15:51]  KellySupahstar Catnap: we want it to be something memorable and hard to spell wrong
[15:51]  Helen Fierenza: i have it in limbo
[15:51]  Spike Hammill: ours is for something more specific than that. We’re making what could be a framework for numerous differant ning pages. each one dealing with a differant conflict region. IE haiti and DR, or Someday Palistine/ israel, etc.
[15:51]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: should we make a ning if they haven’t yet told us what they want us to call it
[15:51]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: ??
[15:52]  Vicki Vesuvino: good question
[15:52]  Helen Fierenza: we have to move ahead though
[15:52]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I know totally
[15:52]  Spike Hammill: Yeah. even if what we do now isn’t used in the end, it will still be a framework to use for our final ning site
[15:52]  Josephine Junot: I’d say just make one, knowing that it could be the model for similar others, or it could remain the one that’s used for the pilot project
[15:52]  Helen Fierenza: http://education.ning.com/
[15:53]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: they have something similar that I was looking at for SL
[15:53]  Helen Fierenza: a referecne
[15:53]  Josephine Junot: they are definitely interested in testing it out for the very next set of students, in august in fact
[15:53]  KellySupahstar Catnap: how about globalref.ning.com
[15:54]  Josephine Junot: if you’re looking for some great ning sites to reference, have a look at http://rezed.org (sorry if you already knew that one)
[15:54]  KellySupahstar Catnap: as in a global reference
[15:54]  KellySupahstar Catnap: or a referee between two sides?
[15:55]  FS.audience seat 1.1 (16deg floor) whispers: Touch your seat to select another sitting pose.
[15:55]  Helen Fierenza: i know it’s shorter – but it seems harder to rememebr – to me
[15:55]  KellySupahstar Catnap: thanks Josephine for the website
[15:55]  Helen Fierenza: (is ref/ refs/ ….etc)
[15:55]  Spike Hammill: I do like Globalrefs.ning.com. we’ve got some good names. lets pick one and move along.
[15:56]  Vicki Vesuvino: Yeah we should probably figure out what’s next
[15:56]  Helen Fierenza: see we already are miss spelling it
[15:56]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I think I like globaltextbook(s)
[15:56]  KellySupahstar Catnap: with or without the ’s’?
[15:56]  Spike Hammill: we can flip a coin
[15:57]  Vicki Vesuvino: haha
[15:57]  Josephine Junot: k guys great seeing you – if you have any questions you want to ping – just IM me, I’ll be downstairs and upstairs for a bit.
[15:57]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: okay!
[15:57]  Vicki Vesuvino: thanks!
[15:57]  Helen Fierenza: i think without – it’s one global textbook made up of all textbooks from arounf teh globe
[15:57]  Josephine Junot: np!
[15:57]  Spike Hammill: K. thanks for the appearance.
[15:57]  KellySupahstar Catnap: see ya later!
[15:57]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I vote for singular, without the s
[15:58]  KellySupahstar Catnap: let’s go with globaltextbook then?
[15:58]  Spike Hammill: that sounds good. All in favor of globaltextbook type yes.
[15:58]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I agree
[15:58]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: yes
[15:58]  Vicki Vesuvino: yes
[15:58]  Spike Hammill: yes
[15:58]  KellySupahstar Catnap: yes
[15:58]  Helen Fierenza: yes
[15:58]  Spike Hammill: there we go.
[15:58]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: sweet
[15:58]  KellySupahstar Catnap: yay! what’s next?
[15:59]  Spike Hammill: ok, what can we do with ning?
[15:59]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: has it been all registered and everything?
[15:59]  Spike Hammill: blogs, forums, links. etc.
[15:59]  KellySupahstar Catnap: events, pictures, videos
[15:59]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: do they have a twitter?
[15:59]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: or a fb account?
[16:00]  KellySupahstar Catnap: who?
[16:00]  Helen Fierenza: we could create all f that right?
[16:00]  Spike Hammill: can ning be connected to peoples twitters and facebooks?
[16:00]  KellySupahstar Catnap: idk?
[16:00]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I don’t know!
[16:00]  Helen Fierenza: widgets that the studenst share
[16:00]  KellySupahstar Catnap: there’s a badge you can create from within ning to put on other sites
[16:00]  Vicki Vesuvino: thats cool
[16:00]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: cool cool
[16:01]  KellySupahstar Catnap: there’s also a chat function in ning
[16:01]  KellySupahstar Catnap: so we could have meeting within our ning site
[16:01]  Vicki Vesuvino: in terms of the information/research, how do you guys think we need to incorporate that onto this framework?
[16:01]  Spike Hammill: curriculum delivery is a good question. once its orginized we still need to get it to them.
[16:02]  Helen Fierenza: once we see it i think we’ll be able to have a better idea of how to present it
[16:02]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: we could do it as podcasts?
[16:02]  Vicki Vesuvino: ok
[16:02]  Helen Fierenza: yea – a nice muli media mix
[16:02]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: this rezed thing has podcasts which is pretty cool
[16:02]  Vicki Vesuvino: the more diverse media the better i think
[16:02]  Helen Fierenza: i agree
[16:02]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: and that way it;s like a lesson/lecture thing
[16:03]  KellySupahstar Catnap: can everybody sign up for the site and meet there using their chat in the next few days?
[16:03]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: YES
[16:03]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: better than SL for me!
[16:03]  Helen Fierenza: yes
[16:03]  Vicki Vesuvino: yeah sounds good
[16:03]  Spike Hammill: sure
[16:03]  Helen Fierenza: have you built it already?
[16:03]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: how do we join the globaltextbook group?
[16:03]  Helen Fierenza: join ning – and look for it – then add
[16:03]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: okay…
[16:03]  Vicki Vesuvino: search for globaltextbooks?
[16:04]  Helen Fierenza: yes – once kelly has set it up
[16:04]  Vicki Vesuvino: ok
[16:04]  Helen Fierenza: it shoudl come right up
[16:04]  KellySupahstar Catnap: it needs to be set as a live group
[16:04]  KellySupahstar Catnap: it says it’s not launched yet
[16:04]  Helen Fierenza: ok – what does that mean?
[16:04]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: okay
[16:05]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: we have to wait for a bit more set up to occur?
[16:05]  KellySupahstar Catnap: Helen, you set it up, right? If so, go into the manage tab
[16:06]  Helen Fierenza: no i just held the name – eek – i’ll go back to that page
[16:06]  Spike Hammill: So who is setting it up?
[16:07]  Vicki Vesuvino: kelly?
[16:07]  KellySupahstar Catnap: i just typed in globaltextbook.ning.com and it says it is still being set up and if you are the Network Creator there’s a link to sign in
[16:08]  KellySupahstar Catnap: I think Helen has to do it since she held the name, but I’m not sure
[16:08]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I have a quick question about the google group
[16:08]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: it looks like helen uploaded all these files but I can’t open any of them…?
[16:09]  Helen Fierenza: i cant get it back -
[16:09]  Spike Hammill: Sooo we need a new name?
[16:09]  Vicki Vesuvino: ugh
[16:09]  Helen Fierenza: let me email them – can we give it til teh moring ?
[16:09]  KellySupahstar Catnap: Helen, can you type in the address and then click where it says If you are the Network Creator, click here
[16:10]  Helen Fierenza: phew
[16:10]  Helen Fierenza: thanks kelly!
[16:10]  KellySupahstar Catnap: no problem!
[16:11]  Spike Hammill: good.
[16:11]  Helen Fierenza: are all the description/; tag lines editable later ? can i skip for now?
[16:11]  KellySupahstar Catnap: yes
[16:11]  KellySupahstar Catnap: just put in a placeholder for now
[16:12]  Helen Fierenza: ok we’re launched!
[16:12]  Vicki Vesuvino: can you send the link to log in?
[16:12]  Vicki Vesuvino: is that how it works?
[16:12]  KellySupahstar Catnap: Helen, you might have to go to the manage tab and go to the bottom to put it online
[16:13]  Helen Fierenza: itsays it’s live
[16:13]  Helen Fierenza: try refressing your browsers?
[16:13]  Helen Fierenza: maybe?
[16:13]  Helen Fierenza: how do i turn it in to a group?
[16:14]  KellySupahstar Catnap: idk, but you can send invites to our email addresses
[16:14]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I tried searching and couldn’t find it
[16:14]  Vicki Vesuvino: i dont see it either
[16:15]  Spike Hammill: What is the URL?
[16:16]  Helen Fierenza: i just sent you all invites through ning
[16:16]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: cool thank you!
[16:16]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: wait to our emails or in ning?
[16:16]  Helen Fierenza: http://globaltextbook.ning.com/
[16:17]  Helen Fierenza: ning
[16:17]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I’ve joined
[16:17]  Vicki Vesuvino: i just joined too
[16:17]  Helen Fierenza: yea
[16:17]  Vicki Vesuvino: looks like we’re good to go
[16:17]  Spike Hammill: all in.
[16:18]  FS.audience seat 1.1(16deg floor) whispers: Touch your seat to select another sitting pose.
[16:18]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: awesome
[16:18]  Helen Fierenza: ok – i made you all administrators
[16:18]  Helen Fierenza: kelly i dont’ see you yet
[16:18]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I don’t either
[16:19]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: um so maybe now that we have this we should all work on a part of the site?
[16:19]  KellySupahstar Catnap: my computer is starting to overheat from SL
[16:19]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: yeah when I was back home in CA my mom’s computer was not happy
[16:19]  KellySupahstar Catnap: and is getting really slow!
[16:19]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I think it takes up a lot of RAM
[16:19]  Spike Hammill: Turn your graphics options all the way down.
[16:20]  KellySupahstar Catnap: i don’t know what that means
[16:20]  Helen Fierenza: well anyof us can move you from memebr to admin once you join the ning group
[16:20]  KellySupahstar Catnap: ok.
[16:20]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I wouldn’t mind setting up the design of the page
[16:20]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: like the theme and colors and everything
[16:21]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: unless anyone has major ideas about what they want to do
[16:21]  Spike Hammill: Ok. how about we all take a job on and work on that. then some time this weekend we meet up and nitpick eachothers ideas to make them better
[16:22]  Vicki Vesuvino: i trust your design skills… i havent thought of any ideas
[16:22]  Helen Fierenza: think its grat that you wnat to jump in
[16:22]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: yes I would love to
[16:22]  KatharineJoann Threebeards:
[16:22]  Helen Fierenza: kelly – any suggestions as you got things going for us here
[16:22]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: and feel free to tell me if it’s horrible
[16:23]  Helen Fierenza: henry – i think its good we meet over the wekened – anyone have suggested times?
[16:23]  Spike Hammill: I’m open.
[16:23]  Vicki Vesuvino: sunday night is always best for me
[16:23]  KellySupahstar Catnap: no suggestions are coming to mind right now.
[16:23]  Helen Fierenza: how about saturday afternon – to give us tiem to make changes
[16:23]  KellySupahstar Catnap: sunday night works for me
[16:23]  KellySupahstar Catnap: i have an all day event on saturday
[16:23]  Vicki Vesuvino: i cant saturday- family visit!
[16:24]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: any day is fine for me
[16:24]  Spike Hammill: so sunday night?
[16:24]  Helen Fierenza: yes
[16:24]  Vicki Vesuvino: sounds good
[16:24]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: sunday night is fine for me
[16:24]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: what time?
[16:25]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: and this will be in a ning chat right?
[16:25]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: not second life?
[16:25]  Vicki Vesuvino: makes sense to use ning
[16:25]  Spike Hammill: Ning would be better. SL was a novelty, but isn’t essential to the project.
[16:25]  KellySupahstar Catnap: i think that would be easier too!
[16:25]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: maybe I can’t see it but where is the chat function?
[16:25]  Helen Fierenza: im good with that
[16:25]  Vicki Vesuvino: yeah i was wondering that also
[16:25]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: or do we all have google accounts?
[16:25]  KellySupahstar Catnap: you might have to add it as a feature
[16:26]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: ahh
[16:26]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I’ll look into that and email everyone
[16:26]  Spike Hammill: thanks.
[16:26]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I was going to say we could google chat but I think that’s only one-on-one
[16:26]  Vicki Vesuvino: cool
[16:26]  KellySupahstar Catnap: if you go up to the manage tab you can drag and drop features
[16:26]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: cool
[16:27]  KellySupahstar Catnap: i finally signed in to ning using my ipod.
[16:27]  KellySupahstar Catnap: i think i have to shut down sl.
[16:27]  KellySupahstar Catnap: what time are we meeting on sunday?
[16:27]  Spike Hammill: I just put the chat on the main page.
[16:27]  Vicki Vesuvino: the later on the better is good for me… around 8ish if thats ok
[16:28]  Vicki Vesuvino: unless you guys want to meet earlier
[16:28]  Spike Hammill: 8sh is fine with me
[16:28]  KellySupahstar Catnap: 8 ish works for me!
[16:28]  Helen Fierenza: me too
[16:28]  KellySupahstar Catnap: i’ll check ning tomorrow
[16:29]  Vicki Vesuvino: same here
[16:29]  KellySupahstar Catnap: see y’all around the interweb!
[16:29]  Spike Hammill: Katharine, you’re going to put something together for us to look over this weekend?
[16:29]  Helen Fierenza: kelly your an administrator now too
[16:30]  Spike Hammill: We all have power. power is good.
[16:30]  KellySupahstar Catnap: thanks Helen!
[16:30]  Vicki Vesuvino: thanks guys
[16:30]  Helen Fierenza: lol – indeed -
[16:30]  Helen Fierenza: what can the rest of us do?
[16:30]  KellySupahstar Catnap: ok. i’ll take a look at things tomorrow and come up with something to contribute!
[16:30]  Helen Fierenza: maybe look at other ning sites for ideas
[16:30]  KellySupahstar Catnap: bye for now!
[16:30]  Helen Fierenza: bye
[16:30]  Spike Hammill: Bye.
[16:31]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: bye see you sunday!
[16:31]  Vicki Vesuvino: bye everyone
[16:31]  Vicki Vesuvino is Offline
[16:31]  Spike Hammill: Bye vicki
[16:31]  Helen Fierenza: teh chat already has us in it
[16:32]  Helen Fierenza: nice job henry!
[16:32]  Helen Fierenza: very cool
[16:32]  Spike Hammill: in that case. I’m leaving this one. last one to log out pastes the conversation to the blog.
[16:32]  Helen Fierenza: lol – ok
[16:33]  Spike Hammill is Offline
[16:33]  Helen Fierenza: eek how do you do that
[16:33]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I can post it
[16:34]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: to the class blog right?
[16:34]  Helen Fierenza: ok – thanks!
[16:34]  Helen Fierenza: see you on sunday
[16:34]  Helen Fierenza: bye
[16:34]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: we don’t have a group blog do we?
[16:34]  Helen Fierenza: no – are we supposed to
[16:34]  Helen Fierenza: well theres teh vle blog
[16:34]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: I dunno…should probably just put it on VLE blog
[16:34]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: see you on sunday, I’ll do that now
[16:35]  KatharineJoann Threebeards:
[16:35]  Helen Fierenza: yea – that what henry did last time
[16:35]  Helen Fierenza: ok – bye
[16:35]  KatharineJoann Threebeards: bye bye!
[16:35]  Helen Fierenza: ! see you sunday

For Project #1: Integrating Curricula From Regions of Conflict, I don’t thing we’ve posted mutch on the class blog. Helen has started a Google group for us where we’ve been communicating about how to go about the project. We also met online last week in Second Life and Henry posted our minutes in our Google Group. As a result of the meeting we collected questions through our Google Group to ask Frank and Salman. Josephine was able to answer some of our questions and the rest I asked Frank and Salman via a Seesmic video.

Josephine contributed that our project is:

• completely created in Ning
• for high school students
• going to have text provided by Global Potential
• going to be structured as a self-paced lesson plan

The questions that remained for Frank and Salman:

• Are we to use the Global Potential Ning network? If not, what should we name the network?
• Are the Dominican Republic and Haiti just an example of conflictd regions or are we to focus on these regions specifically?
• Should we go about obtaining contacts from the Dominican Republic and Haiti? If so, how should we do this?
• How are we to obtain the text to be used in the Ning network? What would be a good source for supplemental materials?
• If this is to be a structured, self-paced lesson plan, what topics would you like us to cover and in what order?
• Should we post the information for each topic in a forum where students have an opportunity to respond and discuss or is there another way we should structure this?
• What types of rich media would you like us to include?