Tues August 23 in Second Life: Next Generation Learning in Virtual Worlds with Anders Grondstedt

You’re invited to join us next Tuesday, August 23 at 4pm eastern for our next Virtual Worlds for Stakeholder Engagement meeting.
This group is free and the meeting is open to anyone interested in attending; you must have a Second Life account (they’re free) to participate. The group is co-sponsored by PublicDecisions and Learning Times.
Please share this announcement with others you know who may be interested.

Topic: Next Generation Learning in Virtual Worlds with Anders Gronstedt
Date: Tuesday, August 23
Time: 16.00 Eastern/New York (see www.timeserver.com for your respective time zone)
Where: Squirrel Island
RSVP to Beth at Beth@PublicDecisions.com
We will be using Second Life Voice Chat for the audio; plug in your headset/mic or listen in over your computer speakers

This month’s program features Anders Gronstedt of the Gronstedt Group. Anders works closely with private sector and public sector organizations to create next-generation learning that uses virtual worlds and other technologies. Their customized learning programs employ next-generation digital simulations, podcasts, vodcasts, mobile learning, social media, gaming and virtual worlds; teaching people the skills they need in a context that's immersive and energizing.

Come hear Anders tell us about his recent City of New York Emergency Shelter Simulation, a 3-D immersive Emergency Shelter Simulation developed by the CUNY School of Professional Studies with the Gronstedt Group, for the City of New York Office of Emergency Management. It earned a second place in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Assisted Training category of the Federal Virtual Worlds Challenge from a pool of about four dozen entries.

He’ll also highlight how traversable 3-D spaces and how a new generation of browser-based virtual worlds are making 3D immersive experiences more broadly available and discuss the web-based virtual world they’ve created, Jibe. Developed with red-hot game engine, Unity3D, the Jibe virtual world can be accessed in any standard browser (no big software download needed, just a small plug-in) and even by the iPad, iPhone, or Android-based mobile devices.

About Anders Gronstedt
Anders Gronstedt, Ph.D. (anders@gronstedtgroup.com) is the president of Colorado-based Gronstedt Group, which helps global companies like Coldwell Banker, Deloitte, Dell, HP, Jamba Juice, Volvo Cars, Ericsson, Eli Lilly and United Healthcare improve performance with innovative learning approaches, including next-generation digital simulations, podcasts, vodcasts, mobile learning, social media, gaming and virtual worlds; teaching people the skills they need in a context that's immersive and energizing. His articles have appeared in the Harvard Business Review and he is the host of the popular weekly virtual world speaking series “Train for Success” (http://www.facebook.com/TrainForSuccess)

Virtual Deliberation on Economic Security on Wednesday, 27 July

Join us on Wednesday, 27 July for a deliberation in Second Life! 

This is part of a continuing discussion we're having on the topic Economic Security: How Should We Take Charge of Our Future? The program is cosponsored with the Center for Voter Deliberation of Northern Virginia.  This deliberation will focus on the key question: how can we best take charge of the future so families can feel reasonably secure, parents can help their children prosper, and everyone can move toward a financially stable retirement?

 

Participants in our earlier forums focused on how best to take charge of the future so families can feel reasonably secure, parents can help their children prosper, and everyone can move toward a financially stable retirement.  Please add your voice to this important conversation on 27 July.

Read the issue brief here:

http://store.nifi.org/issue_book/economic_security_iib.pdf

Date: Wednesday, 27 July

Time: 19:00-21:00 Eastern (New York)

See www.worldtimeserver.com for your respective time zone

No charge to attend

You must have a Second Life account (they’re free) to attend.

If you’re new to Second Life, we’ll offer a free orientation before the event.

Please register at this link

Virtual Ability July 23-24 Conf on Rights of People with Disabilities

Virtual Ability is hosting a July 23 and 24 conference in Second Life on the rights of people with disabilities.  Their "mission is to enable people with a wide range of disabilities by providing a supporting environment for them to enter and thrive in online virtual worlds like Second Life®."  Visit http://nonprofitcommons.org/content/disability-rights-conference-second-life-july-23-24 for information about the program or http://virtualability.org. 

New Article on New Generation of P2: Internet-based Participation Tools

Check out the new article entitled "The New Generation of Public Participation: Internet-based Participation Tools" by Jennifer Evans-Cowley, Ph.D., AICP and Justin Hollander, Ph.D., AICP in the latest issue of Planning Practice & Research.

Abstract
"Since the advocacy planners of the 1960s first brought widespread public participation to the planning process, there have been innovations and improvements. However, the participation practices in the real world, with its face-to-face politics of difference and unequal power relations, are flawed. Today, technology allows for an entirely new generation of forms and practices of public participation that promise to elevate the public discourse in an unprecedented manner while providing an interactive, networked environment for decision-making. This is occurring with asynchronous communities interacting with one another on a variety of planning subjects, which allows for more democratic planning and more meaningful participation. In this paper, we review the ways in which today's web-based virtual worlds, like Facebook and Second Life, provide platforms for public participation in planning in a manner distinct from previous formats. We explore the different ways that citizens and communities are using web-based technologies for citizen participation, including the use of Facebook for community organizing around planning issues and of Second Life for virtual workshops. We include case studies of communities that are using these tools. The paper concludes by exploring the contribution that virtual participation can make to planning and examines the challenges that it poses."

Click here to locate the article (if you do not have a subscription, there is a fee to download the article)

Engagement Game Lab of Wed 8 Sept Virtual Worlds for Stkldr Engmt Mtg

This month's special guest speakers for our September Virtual Worlds for Stakeholder Engagement Group meeting are Eric Gordon, PhD and Steven Schirra of the Engagement Game Lab at Emerson College (http://engagementgamelab.org). Join us to hear about Eric and Steven's exciting work on place-based digital communities, media and urbanism, and games for civic engagement.

When: Wednesday, September 8
Time: 16:00-17:00 Eastern (New York) / 20:00-21:00 GMT
Check www.WorldTimeServer.com for your respective time zone

Please RSVP by Tuesday, September 9 to beth@publicdecisions.com; Beth will send you the SLURL in Second Life so you can attend. *You must have a Second Life account (they're free) and an avatar in order to participate in this meeting*

About Eric Gordon and Steven Schirra

Eric Gordon, PhD, Director, is an associate professor of new media at Emerson College. His work focuses on place-based digital communities, media and urbanism, and games for civic engagement. He is the author of The Urban Spectator: American Concept Cities from Kodak to Google (Dartmouth College Press, 2010) and a forthcoming book with Adriana de Souza e Silva about location-based media (Blackwell, 2011). He edited a special issue of Space and Culture on the topic of "The Geography of Virtual Worlds", exploring the ideas of how location matters even in the most virtual of conditions. On related topics, he received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to study the use of digital backchannels in the classroom. He continues to explore how these significant shifts in the attention economy are changing the classroom, the community and the city. Visit him at placeofsocialmedia.com.

Steven Schirra, Project Coordinator and Researcher, handles the day-to-day workflow of the lab and our current project, Community PlanIt. He recently worked as a researcher and content developer for the Participatory Chinatown project, which had its community debut in May 2010. He is an instructor in Emerson College's Writing, Literature, and Publishing Department, from which he received his master's in 2009. He is interested in new media literacies, game studies, and the role that new media and games play in community/civic engagement processes.