PATINS PROJECT -Rapid Fire-

Occupational Therapy in SL! As most of you know, I’ve been blogging quite heavily about immersive environments the past 3 or 4 weeks.  Well, this week I came across an OT exhibit in Second Life (SL), that you should ALL take 15 minutes and visit!

The exhibit includes topics such as Universal Design, Healthy Aging, Assistive Technology, an Adapted Virtual Home, Carpal Tunnel, Backpack Safety and more!

I came across 3 avatars in SL (Second Life), named Zsuzsa, Alana, and Wrenna.  Zsuzsa is a professor at Jefferson College of Health Professions in PA. Alana and Wrenna are grad students of Zsuzsa’s doing much of their work in Second Life!

So, this Occupational Therapy exhibit in SL has 3 main goals, which are also stated on the projects’s blog (http://otsecondlife.wordpress.com/about/):

• to educate the public about the profession of Occupational Therapy
• to provide immersive experiences for Secondlife (R) residents, that provide information about health conditions and issues
• to collaborate with others with an interest in healthcare, rehabilitation, or wellness.

Check this out Indiana OT’s! Here is the SL Address (slurl) to visit: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland%20II/170/11/21

The entire exhibit was created by Zsuzsa and her students.  This is a quote from the creators, also on their blog about the experience in general: “Things did not go exactly as planned, but in the spirit of the Adaptation Home exhibit as well as occupational therapy, we ADAPTED and OVERCAME. We modified some of our original plans (using holodecks throughout the house) to an interactive, well-received display that illustrates typical problems and adaptations that can be made. “  …just like OT’s, adapting and overcoming barriers to the learning objective!   Open your mind, spend a little time here and try to imagine some of the possibilities of using an immersive environment in education and in therapy.

Online Etiquette 101: As much as we encourage the use of technology in a universally designed learning environment, mostly for it’s flexibility and efficiency, we should probably also consider teaching some common courtesies to our students.  One thing that drives me crazy is when people email me and use the wrong first name to address me!  I’ve been called 3 names (other than my own) just this week in emails!   I’m sure it can be chalked up to careless mistakes and nothing deliberate, BUT if our students made that sort of mistake, especially when my name is in my signature AND in the email address and just has to be copied, we’d be all over them as teachers with our red pens!

It’s like wearing a name tag at a conference and having someone walk up to you, read your name tag and proceed to greet you using some other first name!  So, this got me thinking about whether we, as educators in general, are ever addressing Online or Email Etiquette with our students at all?  Do we ever emphasize the importance of not being so careless online that we come across as insincere or rude when we do not intend to be?  In this exciting time of e-portfolios, social and professional online networking, online collaboration and self-publishing, these issues of common courtesy and etiquette should  be considered as we proceed through our daily lesson plans.  Here’s one website I found that might be a nice guiding resource as we all continue to think about this issue:  www.netmanners.com

I’ve also added a “Daily Online Etiquette Tips” widget to the right —>

CEC on Facebook!: Many of you probably already know that the Council for Exception Children announced this week that they are now on the popular social networking site, Facebook! (CEC’s Facebook page) I applaud CEC loudly for making this move at a time when many in education are still viewing anything “web 2.0″ as detrimental to students, let alone “Web 2.0″ and “Social Networking” concepts together in one url!

Facebook is currently considered by most to be the world’s most popular social networking site.  What a great way for CEC members to find one another and to meet new CEC members.  In general, I view this is a bold statement from CEC and a recommendation that educators should not necessarily believe everything they hear on the evening news about “web 2.0″ types of tools and should personally and professionally evaluate the efficacy of any and all online tools, before submitting their opinions and requiring our teachers and students to check the tools that engage them at the school building doors.  Visit CEC on Facebook!

Some Quick Hits:

(free) Create Mathematical Equations in Open Office with “MATH”: www.openoffice.org/product/math.html

SMART Table: What a cool concept from SMART Technologies, makers of one my absolute favorite classroom tools (smartboard). Check out this SMART Table which could potentially change many aspects of our daily lives in addition to student collaboration in classrooms: www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/Products/SMART+Table/default.htm?WT.mc_id=Table_spotlight

SMART Table TeacherTube Video: www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=db848fdbe9c6649502f3

Video on this “smart table” technology in general: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFEaXYrKmhY

More Videos Showing what Second Life can do for education/professional development (Thanks Vicki)