The Story of My “Second Life”

This amazing conference is just wrapping up its first day (they are exactly 12 hours ahead of US Eastern time) and it’s hard to describe the feeling of sitting here back in the states watching so many amazing people half a world away getting together to talk about the future of education.

You can catch YouTube presentation excerpts on the conference blog (Sheryl’s is particularly good, as is Chris’s), follow them on Twitter, or read postings on blogs like the one run by conference organizer/general visionary Jeff Utecht. It’s really inspiring to learn about their “GeekSquad,” (LOL – is BestBuy a sponsor?) – 50 students in grades 6-12 who are volunteering to keep the conference running smoothly. Think about that. It’s called putting faith in students – and it’s paying off, apparently, for all concerned. (Can you imagine the learning going on?)

The fun part for me (besides hopefully participating in Chris’ in-world presentation later tonight [tomorrow morning for them], if time and bandwidth permit) is knowing that I’ve helped four of the seven people on that banner get into/involved with/exposed to Second Life. Alan November, Will Richardson, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Chris Smith all virtual roomates with me in SL, and Gary Stager’s partner, Sylvia Martinez, is too. I’ve never met Jamie, but I’ve traded blog comments with Wes, and sense a possible future connection there.

Anyway, Sheryl’s presentation excerpt mentions SL/MUVEs, as does Chris’s, and its clear that the relevant conversation is not about Second Life per se but virtual worlds and their potential impact in education. It’s great fun to hear the excitement in Chris’ voice (and in emails) as he describes his foray into and fascination with Second Life. Sylvia and I will be focusing on Second Life in October when Sylvia and I present at K12Online 2007, so watch for that. It’s amazing to think how the connections one makes in a virtual world manifest themselves in the real one. That, to me, is the true power of Second Life.

-kj-