TLT Community Hubs

If you're experimenting with 3D, either for Second Life or some other modelling programming, there's a lot of new terms to master. This is a very basic site I found which describes some of the terms for 3D modelling. There are also links to more math oriented articles, like the history of the Bezier curve.
http://members.cox.net/mathmistakes/graphics3d-1.htm
 

I'm very bummed I missed the annual Games, Learning, and Society Conference earlier this month. However, Chris Stubbs from the EGC attended, and he will be posting his thoughts here.In the meantime, there's a great post on James Gee's Keynote Speech you might want to read. Gee talks about passion communities that spring up around games, a sort of social community outlet for the motivational forces that inspire people to play games. These communities give people status and power, IMO reinforcing the motivational aspects of games at a new level. Enjoy!

Journal of Online Learning and Teachinghttp://jolt.merlot.org/
More and more educators may wish to get involved with online teachinginitiatives, but they may not be sure where to start. That's where theJournal of Online Learning and Teaching (JOLT) steps in to provide a bit ofassistance. JOLT is published four times a year, and its objectives are toenable faculty to use technology effectively in teaching and learning andalso to enable academic programs to design and deploy academic technology.
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Hi Everyone.  There is a lot of momentum building around the Learning Design Summer Camp.  Currently, out 90-person attendee list is full and we have another 6 people on the waiting list.  My thanks to those of you who are jumping in to help shape the first incarnation in what looks to be an annual event.  As we get closer to August 12, I wanted to continue the countdown with a few more things that you can do to help get ready for camp:
1. Official Tag: LDSC08 is the official tag for the Learning Design Summer Camp.  Use this tag when uploading related photos or videos, making blog posts, bookmarking sites in del.icio.us, using Twitter, etc…  That way they will be easier to find and aggregate.
2. Blogs: During the Summer Camp, one of the discussion topics will be Carla Zembal-Saul’s investigation of blogs as ePortfolios.  Now is also a good time to sign up for your Penn State Blog if you don’t already have one.  If you want to find out more about blogs, I recommend these videos: Blogs in Plain English, RSS in Plain English, and the ETS Briefing on Blogs at Penn State.

Medicinal use of video games growing
Games are being used for anything from educating patients about diseases to fitness - would Hershey Medical Center be interested in this?

A guided tour of the Library Accessible IT Lab is scheduled for Wed., Aug 13 9:30 (the second morning of the Learning Design Summer Camp). Facilities include JAWS, braille printers, Zoom Text, Dragon Naturally Speaking, and devices for users with hearing impairments.
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Virtual world provides learning ground for KU med students
“A tanned surfer dude flies up to the floating operating room in the sky and begins to anesthetize a patient.
Several mouse clicks later, the patient is out cold.
Normally, this is a 30-step procedure for a nurse anesthetist, and one mistake can have terrible consequences. But here, in the virtual world of Second Life, students at the University of Kansas Medical Center are able to freely learn and practice in an environment that closely resembles reality.”

While you are visiting the Penn State Adobe Connect online community site, don't forget to check the forums for announcements and updates. Not all forum articles are promoted to the front page -- you have to go to the forums section to see the new articles. To access the forums, click the "Forums" link at the very top of the banner. If your browser window isn't wide enough, the links will wrap and the "Forums" link may be layered on top of (and partially obscured by) the Penn State logo.
Of special interest at this time is the forum with information about version 7 (http://meeting.psu.edu/Version7). You should also check out the Announcements forum (http://meeting.psu.edu/forum/announcements).

Ourworld is a neat mix of virtual worlds and gaming. You create an avatar, then earn "flow" or points to spend on clothing, rooms, etc. by playing games! I've only scratched the surface so far, but I love the concept. You can join for free, but can pay for a premimum membership. That gives you access to more games, features, etc.
I'd love to see a world like this for education, where you could have games on different subjects, earn certificates for subject areas, etc. By blending VW and gaming, you address the so-called weaknesses of both. So check it out and let us know what you think!

Students Know What Plagiarism is
Students say they know, but do they really? Study highlights need for early education on plagiarism.