This Friday, March 1st, Nonprofit Commons is happy to feature Liz Dorland (Chimera Cosmos) and Adriana Sanchez (Adrianne Lexico) who will discuss the theory and process behind the creation of the "Museum of Virtual Media", a Second Life sim built collaboratively by their University of Washington class in the spring of 2012. 

The museum is inspired by "Infinite Reality", a book on virtual worlds technology and education written by Jim Blascovich and Jeremy Bailenson and takes participants through the evolution of media from ancient cave paintings into the future. Each exhibit in the museum applies different 3D instructional design methodologies including storytelling, gaming and learning archetypes to stimulate learning through immersive experiences, exploration, tours, active participation and knowledge creation.

Immediately following the meeting, Chimera Cosmos and Adrianne Lexico will guide those avatars interested through a tour of different portions of the Museum of Virtual Media exhibits. 

• https://www.facebook.com/MuseumOfVirtualMedia
• http://youtu.be/cdwc_2LBU8k
• Museum SLurl:  http://slurl.com/secondlife/UW%20iSchool/111/128/43

About the book "Infinite Reality" that inspired the museum:

How achievable are the virtual experiences seen in The Matrix, Tron, and James Cameron’s Avatar? Do our brains know where “reality” ends and “virtual” begins? In Infinite Reality, professors Jim Blascovich and Jeremy Bailenson, two pioneering experts in the field of virtual reality, reveal how the human brain behaves in virtual environments and examine where radical new developments in digital technology will lead us in five, fifty, and five hundred years.

• http://www.infinitereality.org/
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvGyK6vKIPE 

Bios:

Adriana Sanchez (Adrianne Lexico in SL) holds a Certificate in Virtual Worlds from the University of Washington. She has been an EduNation Resident since 2010. She works at The Digital Trainer. Over 20 years' experience teaching English and Spanish for Specific Purposes to adults in multinational companies. Currently training educators on the use of web 2.0 tools, social networks and 3D virtual environments to enhance task-based learning. As an E.learning and Virtual Worlds Specialist, developing instructional and multimedia materials for online courses and providing consultation on how to integrate LMS and 3DVLE for distance education. 

Liz Dorland (Chimera Cosmos in SL) is currently the Communications Director for the Photosynthetic Antenna Research Center based at Washington University. Prior to moving to St. Louis in 2006, she taught general and organic chemistry for over 35 years, including 21 years in the Maricopa County Community College District in Arizona. She reviews frequently for the National Science Foundation and was a program officer in the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education, Directorate of Education and Human Resources (2003-2004). Areas of expertise include immersive virtual environments, social media, faculty use of technology, and research-based applications of visualization and history/philosophy of science in teaching. In July 2011, Liz was co-chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Visualization in Science and Education and is currently working with that community to produce an online report on lessons learned and recommendations for future research on visualization and learning. 

• http://visualcv.com/ldorland

Join us in Second Life!

Nonprofit Commons Weekly Meeting

Friday, March 1st, 8:30 AM SLT / PST

Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater

http://bit.ly/NPCinSL 

AGENDA

• 8:30 am Introductions
• 8:40 am TechSoup Announcements
• 8:45 am Mentors Central
• 8:55 am Liz Dorland (Chimera Cosmos) and Adriana Sanchez (Adrianne Lexico): The Museum of Virtual Media
• 9:30 am Open Mic / Announcements
• 9:45 am Guided Tour of the Museum of VIrtual Media

http://nonprofitcommons.org

The mission of the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life is to create a community for nonprofits to explore and learn about virtual worlds, foster connections, and discover the many ways in which nonprofits might utilize the unique environment of Second Life to achieve their missions.