We had a really live and stimulating Nonprofit Commons meeting last Friday, December 2, featuring Kevin Feenan, CEO of Rockcliffe University Consortium. Please see below for the full chatlog transcript of the meeting.
Thanks everyone for your presence and participation, and especially Kevin for his insights and ideas.
NONPROFIT COMMONS MEETING
December 2, 2011
at the Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater
AGENDA
8:30am Introductions
8:40am TechSoup Announcements
8:45am Mentors Corner
8:55am Kevin Feenan, CEO of Rockcliffe University Consortium
Since November 28, our Second Life neighbors at OneClimate.net have been doing admirable work sharing information on "COP17" the latest round of climate change government negotiations taking place in Durban, South Africa. Set to conclude on Friday, December 9, the negotiations have been covered in great detail by the OneClimate environmental activists via live blogging and video simulcasting and reportage.
In addition, they have also been bringing their coverage to their island in Second Life, "OneClimate" island, where you can sit with other avatars to watch the proceedings on a giant screen. Click the link below to teleport to their island in Second Life.
Ellie Brewster shares the news that November 25 is the first day of the annual "16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence" an international campaign started by the Center for Women's Global Leadership in 1991. There are a wide range of activities being planned, from a march in Yerevan, Armenia, focusing on violence against women; a quilt exhibition in Alice Springs, Australia; student trainings and dialogues with media outlets in Lagos, Nigeria; and a military fashion show at Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA.
Meanwhile, the 16 Days campaign in Second Life kicks off, as these sorts of things often do, with a virtual concert on November 27, starting at 11am PT. The performers line up at publication time includes:
Here's a neat video profile of TechSoup Global and Nonprofit Commons member "Protect Yourself 1." In the video, PY1 director Monique Richert describes the various ways that her organization has benefited from being involved with TechSoup Global. Software from Intuit and Microsoft keeps things organized, Adobe products help create effective marketing campaigns, and the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life provides a dynamic way to engage youth and adults in HIV prevention.
For more information on how you can get support, software, and technical knowledge for your nonprofit, head to http://techsoupglobal.org.
On Friday, November 18, at the Nonprofit Commons, learn about SLOODLE a popular virtual learning management system and how it has helped educators around the world integrate their Second Life projects with a web-based learning system. Two prominent developers in the SLOODLE community, Fire Centaur and Edmund Edgar, will be speaking with us about what SLOODLE can offer for you and your students or other constituents. All that plus our regular updates, announcements and news relevant to nonprofits and virtual worlds.
See you on Friday November 18, starting at 8:30am PT.
UPDATE: the transcript of Fire Centaur's talk follows after the jump...
On November 11, the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life welcomed Mr. Lucas Gillispie, an Instructional Technology Coordinator in North Carolina, to talk about how he is using the sandbox digital game Minecraft in the classroom. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of the talk he gave and the resulting conversation.
[09:05] RikPanganiban : ...we should move on to our featured guest. Newton Apogee please come on down.
[09:06] RikPanganiban : Newton is known in the real world as Lucas Gillispie. Lucas Gillispie is an Instructional Technology Coordinator for Pender County Schools in North Carolina. I met lucas a couple of years ago at some games confreence?
[09:06] Newton Apogee: Games in Education, I believe.
[09:06] RikPanganiban : And I've been following what he's been doing in World of Warcraft with admiration for some time now
This Friday, November 11, the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life welcomes Lucas Gillispie to talk about his working bringing the sandbox game Minecraft into the classroom. Starting at 8:30am PST, come to the Plush Nonprofit Commons amphitheater (teleport link) for this interesting discussion on gaming and education, as well as announcements and news relevant to nonprofits and virtual worlds.
About Minecraft in School:
Lucas Gillispie is an Instructional Technology Coordinator for Pender County Schools in North Carolina. An educator for over a decade, Lucas is involved in several game-based learning projects in his district including the use of World of Warcraft to teach language arts, mobile gaming using iPads and most recently, using the independently developed building game, Minecraft.
Learners in Pender County Schools are tapping into creativity using Minecraft, a multiplayer, Lego-like sandbox game that allows players to easily explore the limits of their imagination. Fifth grade students from Topsail Elementary have been using the game as a foundation for discussing the elements of a functional civilization. Along the way, students are benefiting from a hidden curriculum in which they're developing teamwork, leadership, and digital citizenship in an engaging and relevant game world.
Lucas's website is http://edurealms.com and you can be follow him at @PCSTech on Twitter.
The "Imagine Peace Festival", a festival to celebrate the work of small organizations promoting peace around the world, will be taking place in Second Life and the real world from November 11-13. There will be talks, concerts, shows and exhibitions. Among the notable events are concerts by Avantegarde Frequency, Cylidrian Rutabaga, Mankind Tracer, and Ga Go Gigamon! a 7 Member Japanese band; tours of the virtual museum of Afghanistan; and various virtual art exhibits.
Proceeds from the events will go to support three organizations:
This December there will be a festive and fun series of events in Second Life called "Winterfest," happening in regions all over the grid. The Nonprofit Commons will be participating by inviting the public to participate in entertaining and awareness raising activities on our sims.
BrenaBenoir, one of the volunteer organizers of our Winterfest activities, shares this information about how your organization can participate! Give it a read and please respond to her request for information as soon as possible.
