The Times, They are A-Changing

I am very worried about the economic state of the country right now.  The concern is both personal and professional.  On a personal note, I now have probably one third of my closest friends (that includes one sibling) who have been let go recently and/or cannot find work.  What is going to happen to them and their families?  How long can the live off of the reserves they have in the bank - if any?  I am concerned because I have never seen so many people each day worry about whether they will be employed the next.

Professionally, I worry about the impact of the economy on education.  Teachers, teaching assistants, clerical staff, and even administrators are being let go because districts cannot afford to pay everyone.  What will this do to our children?  Will we be able to give our children the education they are entitled to in an environment conducive to learning?  How many students will be left behind and in need of academic intervention services because we cannot afford to give them the proper education in the first place?  Will we be able to teach them 21st century literacy skills to compete in a global economy?  What will this do to the drop-out rate?  I cannot fathom the answers to these questions.  

In half an hour, our district has an emergency faculty meeting to discuss this.  I am curious to hear what our superintendent has to say about all of this, and how our district will handle this difficult economic period. 

I am frightened for what feels like an impending crash of the our entire economic system and how my family will have to handle it.  I know we will have to live more modestly, help others when we can, and be just a little kinder than necessary to put smiles on otherwise worried faces.  This is Tikun Olam.  

SL in Schools

I have been toying with the idea of using SL as a platform for teaching various subjects and working on interdisciplinary projects. I first heard about SL at a Tech Expo for educators in New York. The workshop was given by a middle school library media specialist, who is the SecondLife facilitator at her school. She works with other teachers in all subject areas and across subject areas to teach her teachers and students how to teach and learn in a 3D virtual world.

There is a lot of discussion as to whether of not social networking sites, and especially virtual world, can enhance the learning process. Dr. Lisa Dawly has been studying using 3D virtual worlds, specifically SecondLife, as a learning tool. She defines Social Network Knowledge Construction as a framework for how students can interact and learn and actually impacts the learner's thinking process. She argues then that new pedagogies are needed to effectively integrate new ways of communicating into the learning environment.

My RL colleagues, and now SL friends as well, and I are putting together a grant to develop a SecondLife platform on the Teen Grid to use in our middle and/or high school(s). I'm looking to meet with/talk to anyone who has an interest in also developing such a platform or has already developed one. I think we would be still on the cutting edge of this form of learning, but would be among the first to produce students who are capable of creative and collaborative work, a necessary skill in today's and especially tomorrow's job market...