nonprofit commons – Nonprofit Commons

October 11, 2018

October 12th – Nonprofit Commons 11th Birthday Celebration!

Join us Friday, October 12th to celebrate the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life 11th Birthday celebration!

Friday, October 12, 8:30 – 10:00 AM PT / SLT

Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater at http://bit.ly/NPCinSL

AGENDA (all times below PT)

8:30 AM Welcome and Introductions
8:40 AM The History and Future of the Nonprofit Commons
9:00 AM The Positive Impact of Virtual Good with Coughran Mayo
9:20 AM Tour of the Nonprofit Commons to conclude with Elder Voices “Connecting the Dots” Drums Experience

…Polka Dots Attire Encouraged…

Then join us on Sunday, October 14, 9 AM – 1 PM SLT

“Connecting the Dots!” Community Party

Aloft Nonprofit Commons CommonGround at http://bit.ly/2OM4Xhr

Celebrate how we connect the dots with our community partners! Dress up in dots and dance! This progressive party invites you to dance at Aloft Nonprofit Commons and take mini-tours of our partners’ sims to discover their unique missions.

Learn more about our partnerships Whole Brain Health, Rockcliffe University Consortium, Virtual Ability, Community Virtual Library, Etopia EcoCommunities, and Nonprofit Commons!

Thank you and please share!

The mission of the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life is to connect communities for social good through education, networking, and collaboration. http://nonprofitcommons.org

The Nonprofit Commons in Second Life is peer governed and funded! If you would like to help support NPC, you can donate via PayPal to donate@nonprofitcommons.com or send a donation in world to the avatar: NonprofitCommons Actor

#VirtualGood #NPSL

Written by: Rhiannon Chatnoir

February 17, 2017

Etopia EcoCommunity for the February 17th Nonprofit Commons Meeting

Join us this Friday, February 17th for the first Nonprofit Commons in Second Life meeting will feature a presentation from Gloria Kraegel (Namaara MacMoragh in SL) with an update on the Etopia EcoCommunity and other projects.

Namaara MacMoragh, aka Gloria Kraegel, has 30+ years independent consulting experience focusing on helping nonprofits and cooperatives develop capacity through training, information management, and organizational systems development. She is also the creative force behind Etopia EcoCommunity in Second Life. Established in 2007, Etopia is designed to showcase real-world ideas for living sustainably in social, community, business, and environmental contexts.

Gloria’s current project with the Brain Energy Support Team gives her an even greater opportunity to blend real life situations with Second Life experiences that raise awareness, model healthy living skills, and provide educational opportunities for individuals, professionals, classrooms, and businesses within, and outside of, the brain injury community. More on BEST at: http://brainenergysupportteam.org

You can learn more about Gloria’s work at http://greatkreations.com and http://etopiaisland.org

Join us in Second Life!

Nonprofit Commons Weekly Meeting

Friday, February 17th, 8:30 AM PT / SLT

Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater

http://bit.ly/NPCinSL

AGENDA (all times below PT)

8:30 am Introductions & Announcements
8:40 am Mentors Central – Team Building, Renne/Zinnia
8:50 am Featured Discussion – Gloria Kraegel (Namaara MacMoragh in SL)
8:40 am Discussion
9:50 am Community Open Mic

Following the NPC Meeting, there will be a tour of Etopia Island — beginning at the main landing area at: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Etopia%20Island/194/56/22 and then the Etopia Water Treatment Plant at: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Etopia%20Island/203/21/22

The Nonprofit Commons in Second Life is a program sponsored by Caravan Studios – http://caravanstudios.org, a division of TechSoup Global, http://techsoup.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.

http://nonprofitcommons.org

Written by: Rhiannon Chatnoir

March 4, 2016

Open Forum for the March 4th Nonprofit Commons in Second Life Meeting

This Friday, March 4th, TechSoup’s NonProfit Commons in Second Life we will have an open forum that will give us a chance to ask deeper question from our past week’s topics, discuss upcoming Nonprofit Commons events and others like the Virtual Worlds Best Practices conference. It will also be an opportunity to ask any burning tech or community questions you might have.

Join us in Second Life!

Nonprofit Commons Weekly Meeting

Friday, March 4th, 8:30 AM PT / SLT

Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater

http://bit.ly/NPCinSL

AGENDA (all times below PT)

8:30 am Introductions
8:40 am TechSoup Announcements
8:45 am Mentors Central
9:00 am Featured Presentation – Open Forum
9:30 am Open Mic / Announcements

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.

Written by: Rhiannon Chatnoir

September 3, 2015

Finding Service Providers for Your Projects for the September 4th NonProfit Commons Meeting

This Friday, September 4th, TechSoup’s NonProfit Commons in Second Life will feature Lea Tesoro (Opal Lei in Second Life) who will share her perspectives on current marketing practices in Second Life and other virtual worlds, with emphasis on service providers, such as custom builders, musicians, and event organizers. She will talk about the challenges of finding service providers in virtual worlds and how her new directory project (avahyr.com) might provide a viable solution to this problem.

As a content creator, Opal Lei has focused on marketing her products in Second Life since she started her Mer Betta brand eight years ago, and on marketing her book “Love, Like Dim Sum” since she published it 3 years ago. These days, she’s focused on marketing the services of other people in virtual worlds. In real life, Opal holds an MBA with emphases on entrepreneurship and international business, and she is currently pursuing a Digital Marketing certificate. She is extending what she learns from her certification classes to virtual reality.

Join us in Second Life!

Nonprofit Commons Weekly Meeting

Friday, September 4th, 8:30 AM PT / SLT

Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater

http://bit.ly/NPCinSL

AGENDA (all times below PT)

8:30 am Introductions
8:40 am TechSoup Announcements
8:45 am Mentors Central
9:00 am Featured Presentation – Opal Lei
9:45 am Open Mic / Announcements

http://nonprofitcommons.org

Written by: Rhiannon Chatnoir

February 13, 2015

Open Forum for the February 13th NonProfit Commons Meeting

This Friday, February 13th, TechSoup’s NonProfit Commons in Second Life we will have an open forum that will give us a chance to ask deeper question from our past week’s topic of curation tools, discuss upcoming Nonprofit Commons events and others like the Virtual Worlds Best Practices conference. It will also be an opportunity to ask any burning tech or community questions you might have.

Join us in Second Life!

Nonprofit Commons Weekly Meeting

Friday, February 13th, 8:30 AM PT / SLT

Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater

http://bit.ly/NPCinSL

AGENDA (all times below PT)

8:30 am Introductions
8:40 am TechSoup Announcements
8:45 am Mentors Central
9:00 am Featured Presentation – Open Forum
9:30 am Open Mic / Announcements

http://nonprofitcommons.org

Written by: Rhiannon Chatnoir

February 21, 2014

Using Community Wikis for the February 21st NonProfit Commons Meeting

This Friday, February 21st, TechSoup’s NonProfit Commons in Second Life meeting will focus on using wikis for community projects. Monique Richert (chayenn in SL) will go over how to create an account, and start your profile on our own NonProfit Commons wiki. And our featured discussion will discuss further options and ways to collaborate using a wiki, along with other wikis for reference and inspiration.

NonProfit Commons wiki: http://nonprofitcommons.wikispaces.com

Join us in Second Life!

Nonprofit Commons Weekly Meeting

Friday, February 21st, 8:30 AM PT / SLT

Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater

http://bit.ly/NPCinSL

AGENDA (all times below PT)

8:30 am Introductions
8:40 am TechSoup Announcements
8:45 am Mentors Central – NPC Wiki Profiles – Monique Richert (chayenn in SL)
9:00 am Featured Presentation – Using Community Wikis
9:45 am Open Mic / Announcements

http://nonprofitcommons.org

Written by: Rhiannon Chatnoir

October 24, 2013

Developing Mobile Apps from Idea to Launch: Case Study for the October 25th NonProfit Commons Meeting

This Friday, October 25th, TechSoup’s Nonprofit Commons in Second Life meeting is happy to feature Anna Jaeger (Sage Qvetcher in Second Life), who will share best practices and lessons learned in the development process of Caravan Studios creating SafeNight and other apps.

Anna will go through how the app idea came about, what the process looked like for engaging the community, creating the design, partnering with for-profit companies and nonprofit developers, and launching in the marketplace. If your nonprofit, charity, or library is interested in creating your own app, join us to learn more about developing mobile apps. You’ll come away with some key steps in the process, some best practices and pitfalls to avoid, and a look at the inside of creating an app for social good.

Bio:

Anna Jaeger, the CTO of Caravan Studios, a division of TechSoup Global, and her team create technology solutions, such as mobile apps, that are designed in partnership with nonprofit and community-focused organizations to meet the needs of their constituents. Prior to her work on Caravan Studios, Ms. Jaeger was the director of TechSoup Global’s IT Engineering department for five years, leading the group that implemented and maintained all enterprise software and websites. Ms. Jaeger has previously held positions in IT consulting, medical research and has been the treasurer of the board for a small California nonprofit.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/annasjaeger/

For updates from Caravan, go to http://caravanstudios.org/ and sign up for their newsletter at http://tinyletter.com/caravanstudios.

Join us in Second Life!

Nonprofit Commons Weekly Meeting

Friday, October 25th, 8:30 AM PDT / SLT

Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater

http://bit.ly/NPCinSL

AGENDA (all times below PDT)

8:30 am Introductions
8:40 am TechSoup Announcements
8:45 am Mentors Central
9:00 am Featured Presentation – Developing Mobile Apps from Idea to Launch: Case Study
9:30 am Open Mic / Announcements

http://nonprofitcommons.org

Written by: Rhiannon Chatnoir

February 15, 2013

NPC 2/15/13 Featured Presentation: Community Partnership Development Through Hackathons

Below is an edited transcript of the 2/15/13 NonProfit Commons in Second Life meeting, featuring Lyre Calliope on Community Partnership Development through Hackathons. To view the full transcript, go HERE.

Today we have as our featured presenter Lyre Calliope who will be discussing how hackathons can be used to develop community partnerships and for social good.

Bio: Lyre Calliope’s mission is to assist in the emergence of a globally collaborative society. His first work experiences came as a volunteer for futures oriented non-profit organizations where he was exposed to cutting edge thought leadership, technology, and had his first experiences as a community organizer. Lyre began applying these experiences in 2006 through work as a social media consultant in an Atlanta-based agency called ConceptHub where he learned how business ecosystems operate and just how challenging they can be when faced with change. In 2010 he cofounded C4 Atlanta, a non-profit organization dedicated to stewarding Atlanta’s creative economy by helping arts entrepreneurs build successful careers. Now in Boston, he’s turned his efforts toward growing an ecosystem of open innovation practitioners that learn and build in the Commons.

Let’s welcome up Lyre, please take a seat and start whenever you are ready.

[Lyre Calliope]

Thanks for inviting me back Rhiannon! It’s great to jump back inworld. 🙂

For some time I’ve been worried about how accelerating technological change also accelerates gaps within society: income, literacy, social equity, etc. ‘Disruptive innovation’ is often seen as the most valuable form of innovation, but there has to be a place for constructive innovation. There has to be a way in which innovation can occur that doesn’t disrupt whole communities, industries, or even economies.

How do we approach innovation as an act of renovation?

I believe a major piece of this puzzle involves tying technological advancement to learning. This is exactly what happens at hackathons.

So, what is a hackathon?

A hackathon is an event in which people involved in software development come together to collaborate on projects. They usually last one to two days, but weeklong hackathons are not unknown. The goals of hackathons can vary, but usually the aim is to develop working software. Hackathons usually have a theme such as a specific programming language, a product category, a community, an industry, or a problem space. You can think of a hackathon as a programming marathon.

As the number of API (Application Programming Interface) based companies have grown, the number of hackathons has gone up as a means of marketing their developer focused products. Some developers think there are too many hackathons. There’s also the problem that good software takes time and few finished products ever come out of them. As a result, hackathons are seen by many people as superficial. This is understandable when finished products are seen as the outcome.

The real value from hackathons comes not from software developed, but from learning: the new connections made neurally, socially, and webbily.

Done right, hackathons enable communities of practice to form. Communities of open innovation practitioners.

Arthur C. Clarke famously said: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Well, hackthons are like the new Hogwarts. They’re where you go to learn new magic.

So let’s talk about purpose driven hackathons.

After Hurricane Sandy, I began volunteering for CrisisCommons, a non-profit organization that stewards the CrisisCamp hackathons it grew from. CrisisCamps convene globally whenever there is a natural disaster to apply open source and open data capacities to disaster recovery efforts. More than just software developers, people of all stripes are invited to participate in data management tasks, communications, etc.

One of the lessons I’ve learned over the past few months is that unlike traditional hackathons in which developers start working on projects from the very beginning, CrisisCamps require something of an R&D process. The problems faced by crisis responders are unique, and often happen in real time. A successful CrisisCamp invites subject matter experts to share their knowledge and help guide the discovery process that informs the design and development of solutions.

At the end of a hackathon, it’s customary for groups to demo the projects that they have been working on.. even if their projects are only prototypes or mockups. During these demos, there’s often an a-ha moment that comes when subject matter experts see what is technologically possible. This can open doors to new opportunities for change within the organizations these subject matter experts operate in.

The division of labor for a team at the typical hackathon falls between designers working on the user interface systems and developers working on the back-end logic systems. For the purpose-driven hackathon, I’d like to add a third category of team participant: Storytellers facilitating problem discovery and solution documentation.

I imagine many of you hear actively identify as storytellers. 🙂

By introducing the storytelling role into the mix, hackathons can become a learning opportunity open to a much wider group of people. There’s a lot more that I’d love to say about the importance of storytelling in purpose-driven hackathons, but I should talk a bit about the role of data.

Innovation during the past decade can be largely attributed to the Open Source movement. Innovation during the next decade will be all about Open Data.

At the center of hackathon culture is the use of APIs: Application Programming Interfaces. APIs enable the flow of data between Apps and organizational infrastructures in a secure, structured, and accessible way. You may or may not realize it, but all of us are constantly using APIs every day. They are kind of like the web, but for all our apps. 21st century organizational partnerships are built through the exchange of data via APIs.

I could easily have spent this entire time just talking about the role of APIs play in facilitating powerful partnerships between organizations, but then the community learning piece would have been lost!

One of the best ways to really understand APIs if you’re not a techie is to go to a hackathon and help put them into action! Making is learning, and we learn best when we make together. The last thing the world needs is more Instagrams and Pinterests. Unfortunately, software developers are too often isolated from communities with real problems to solve.

Hackathons are the forums where bridges can be built to engage software developers in civic and purpose-driven problem solving. Hackathons are the place where communities can come together to not only learn where information technology is going, but actually direct its advancement toward solving the real-world problems they face.

That’s all I have prepared, but I can go into more detail and fish out some relevant links if ya’ll are interested. So, questions? 🙂

CarmenLittleFawn: how can a story teller get involved?

[Lyre Calliope]

First thing that brings real value: documentation. Most software developers hate creating documentation, but it’s really important for encoding knowledge as well as engaging others in building forward. Second, facilitating conversation and understanding with subject matter experts and helping developers think through application logic. Btw, when I say subject matter experts, I mean people with pain points within communities.

Jen (jenelle.levenque): Made my living as translator between engineering and users

Ozma Malibu: so the storyteller can interpret the problems to the designers and developers, and the storyteller can have the vision of a solution that holds everything together (yes Jen – I made my living similarly as translator but in education)

Ozma Malibu: Pain points! I had not heard that expression. very useful way to see the problem.

Glitteractica Cookie: My new work with Carvanstudios will be largely focused on hackthons and apps that come out of them. Lyre and the rest of you… @caravanstudios is our twitter handle. You may be interested in this hacker helper wiki: http://hackerhelper.wikispaces.com which identifies the probelms and gives corresponding data to hackers who build apps to help solve civis problems. We are hoping ppl add to the hacker helper wiki and edit it if they see fit.

Jen (jenelle.levenque): QUESTION: How do we find out about hackathons and what their focus is?

Gentle Heron wonders if there is somewhere a master list of upcoming hackathons and topics?

Glitteractica Cookie: there are thousands of hackathons going on, so I doubt there is one master list

[Lyre Calliope]

As for where to find out about hackathons, there are community calendars you can find. A friend of mine is trying to compile a semi-master list and I’ll share that link. Honestly, I’d try Meetup.com! Enter the social stream where developers reside and ask them where the hackathon calanders are. 🙂

Rhiannon Chatnoir: I have a question, how could you seem something like a Hackathon being carried out within a virtual space such as Second Life or otherwise, and within communities like NPC.

[Lyre Calliope]

So, the great thing about open source tools is that they allow for productive time and space displacement. Which makes them even more powerful when you get people together at the same time.

As long as you get people together within the same headspace and have effective communication channels in place, you’re good to go.

Horror story:

After Hurricane Sandy, I was at the MIT Media Lab at the local CrisisCamp while at least a dozen other hackathons were ongoing around the world. All sharing waaaaayyyyy too many communications channels. It didn’t just disrupt our ability to work with other events, it disrupted our room.

The physical space was disrupted by too much virtual distraction.

Rhiannon Chatnoir: so collaborative presence is key – even if virtual

Frans Charming: You know some the relief fundraising we did and do in SL can be viewed as a hackaton. Thinking back on the once I was involved in, though less about providing data/program.

Jen (jenelle.levenque): The key word with communications was EFFECTIVE.

[Lyre Calliope]

So yes. Collaborative presence. 🙂

And by past experience, hacking in second life is second only to actual physical presence.

Incidentally, hackathons are a great way for organizations to support their communities.

The presence enables conversations that wouldn’t occur otherwise. Fast looping and iteration. And helps form that core engaged community that supports itself. Kind of like what used to happen in the old days of yore right here.

One other comment!

I’m a big fan of inter-organizational collaboration. Communities exist between organizations. Hackathons are a great way to bring multiple organizations together and learning how their communities not only intersect, but can help facilitate organizational partnerships out in the open.

Like I said, it’s like Hogwarts! Especially for non-api savvy types.

Rhiannon Chatnoir: Any other questions for Lyre on Hackathons or how this could fit witing your org/mission? And, I have a question for all of you… what are your thoughts on somehow organizing a virtual hackathon?

CarmenLittleFawn: I would be interested in seeing how it would fit my organization

Jen (jenelle.levenque): Been mulling that over

Dancers Yao: sounds good….would like to learn more about this

Buffy Beale: I think it would be fun and interesting for those non-api savvy types too

CarmenLittleFawn: I would love it all though I am not a programmer but a storyteller

[Lyre Calliope]

Storytelling is the original programming.

Jen (jenelle.levenque): Someone needs to provide the story that shows the need to be addressed

CarmenLittleFawn: I would love too If I knew how I have a idea I would love to implement

Rhiannon Chatnoir: yes, the issue/mission/storyline comes first

CarmenLittleFawn: I can provide a story that show needs

Rhiannon Chatnoir: maybe we can work on that to come

Glitteractica Cookie: Are any of you going to build an app or enter an already built app to the win8 apps for social benefit contest?

Dancers Yao: want to enter…but it is at storytellng level

CarynTopia Silvercloud: I have an idea but don’t know how to get it actualized

Glitteractica Cookie: caryn, if you want to post yr idea to the wiki, we could maybe add the data to help a hacker build it

[Lyre Calliope]

And just as important as storytelling around need, is storytelling the activity at the hackathon. Publishing ideas, hypothesis, ideas and hypothesis thrown out for new ones.. code prototypes that didn’t pan out.. all valuable stories.

Rhiannon Chatnoir: so let’s thank Lyre for presenting today! Great to see you back in Second Life. and maybe we can drag you back if we can get a hackathon going 🙂

[Lyre Calliope]

Any time! I’m totally in!

Gentle Heron: Thank you Lyre. I learned a new word for “collaborative work”

CarynTopia Silvercloud: very interesting presentation

Buffy Beale: cheering! thanks Lyre

Glitteractica Cookie: Thanks Lyre! You are great

Beth Ghostraven: yay! Thanks, Lyre!

CarynTopia Silvercloud: would love to check out a hackathon

Jen (jenelle.levenque): Thank you Lyre, I was totally mystified about hackathons til today

[Lyre Calliope]

I’m still mystified. 😉

Written by: Rhiannon Chatnoir

February 11, 2013

Transcript of the February 8th NPC Meeting featuring Robert L. Todd

[08:33] Rhiannon Chatnoir: Welcome everyone to this week’s Nonprofit Commons Weekly Meeting!

[08:33] Oronoque Westland: @ Rhiannon, many thanks

[08:33] Rhiannon Chatnoir: The Nonprofit Commons in Second Life is sponsored by TechSoup Global and is a program of the TechSoup Global Community & Social Media team

TODAY’S AGENDA

• 8:30 am Introductions

• 8:40 am TechSoup Announcements

• 8:45 am Mentors Central

• 8:55 am Robert L. Todd: BreakThru: Virtual Mentoring for STEM Education

• 9:30 am Open Mic / Announcements

[08:34] Rhiannon Chatnoir: First a few links to start off the meeting.

Here are the many ways to can get involved with the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life:

– Nonprofit Commons Blog: http://nonprofitcommons.org

– Wiki: http://npsl.wikispaces.com

– Twitter: http://twitter.com/npsl

– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nonprofitcommons

– G+ Community: https://plus.google.com/communities/114212078390326305687

– Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/TechSoup-Second-Life

– Google Calendar: http://bit.ly/2tMEYh

– http://flavors.me/nonprofitcommons

About TechSoup the sponsors of the Nonprofit Commons:

– http://www.techsoup.org/stock/howtousetechsoup.asp

– http://flavors.me/techsoup

— INTRODUCTIONS —

[08:34] Rhiannon Chatnoir: Hello everyone, let’s start off with Introductions!

[08:34] Rhiannon Chatnoir: Please state your real name, location, org, and the ways we can find you online.

And if you are new to NonProfit Commons, how you found about today’s meeting.

[08:34] Buffy Beale: Buffy Bye, Bridges for Women, Victoria BC Canada, http://www.bridgesforwomen.ca @bridges4women

[08:34] Zinnia Zauber: Renne Emiko Brock-Richmond, Sequim Humanities and Arts Alliance and Peninsula College, Sequim, Olympic Peninsula, Washington. http://www.sequimartsalliance.org http://www.facebook.com/sequimartsalliance @renneemiko

[08:34] Dancers Yao: Kara Bennett, Elder Voices, Los Angeles, CA Human Rights and Health care

[08:34] Andy Evans: Andy Mallon, First Opinions Panel in SL & Social Research Foundation, NYC in RL http://www.socialresearchfoundation.org

[08:34] Ronnie Rhode: Denise Harrison, The Garden for the Missing featuring missing persons: http://www.gardenforthemissing.org/ and SLURL Remora (203,148,21), Project Jason, assistance for families of the missing, http://www.projectjason.org.

[08:35] Gentle Heron: Virtual Ability, Inc. www.virtualability.org

[08:35] Oronoque Westland: Roberta Kilkenny, Hunter College, City University of New York

[08:35] Keko Heckroth: Keith Jones, Cincinnati, OH. Adult and tech ed

[08:35] CarynTopia Silvercloud: Caryn Heilman of Topia Arts Center based in the Berkshires of NW, MA coming to you from NYC today. www.TopiaArts.org @TopiaArtsCenter

[08:35] Grizzla (grizzla.pixelmaid): Chris Robinson, metro Atlanta, Georgia Gwinnett College, Virtual Assistant

[08:35] Glitteractica Cookie: Susan Tenby, Director, Online community and Social Media Team, TechSoup Global, San Francisco, CA USA @suzboop @techsoup @caravanstudios @npsl

[08:35] Frans Charming: Jeroen Frans, http://VesuviusGroup.com, Amsterdam, @Frans

[08:35] CarmenLittleFawn: Lorna Hawkins, Drive By Agony/Keeping Kids Safe, Los Angeles California, Executive Director, GM everybody 🙂

[08:35] Beth Ghostraven: Beth O’Connell, middle school librarian in RL and owner of the Book and Tankard Pub in Victoria City, Caledon

[08:35] Coughran Mayo: Dick Dillon, Innovaision, LLC St. Louis MO @Coughran, @Innovaision

[08:35] Chayenn: Monique Richert, Protect Yourself 1, Inc., Baltimore Maryland, protectyourself1.org, facebook.com/PY1US, @PY1US

[08:35] Rhiannon Chatnoir is Joyce Bettencourt, Boston MA area (about to hit by the snowpocalypse), online community manager of NonProfit Commons, http://joycebettencourt.com, @rhiannonSL

[08:35] Brena Benoir: Brenda Bryan, Preferred Family Healthcare, Kirksville, MO www.pfh.org, @brenabenoir

[08:36] Rhiannon Chatnoir: any other introductions

[08:36] ditto (dikori): Iam ditto and found out about this group by just goin g through the picks

[08:36] Frans Charming: Welcome Ditto

[08:36] CarmenLittleFawn: Hi ditto

[08:37] ditto (dikori): thanks

[08:37] ditto (dikori): hi all of you

[08:37] Rhiannon Chatnoir: welcome ditto, and anyone else new here

[08:37] CarmenLittleFawn: yvw nice to have you with us Ditto

[08:37] Kali Pizzaro: me

[08:37] Kali Pizzaro: sorry kepp trying to get here

[08:37] Beth Ghostraven: Has anyone announced that the chat will be public after the meeting?

[08:37] Ozma Malibu: Sandra Andrews, Floaters Tech Outreach & Floaters Gallery, Arizona, Mexico and On the Road, @ozma.

[08:38] Rhiannon Chatnoir: no, but a good time to, we do archive the chat of this meeting so that we can publish our weekly meetings online

[08:38] Glitteractica Cookie: although I’m not sure we are actually doing that every week on our wiki these days, are we?

[08:38] Adalace Jewell: RoSa Library & Documentation Centre, Brussels, Belgium. http://www.rosadoc.be @adalace

[08:39] Rhiannon Chatnoir: well the chat log ends up on http://nonprofitcommons.org as the archive post

[08:39] Glitteractica Cookie: we used to but I havne’t been keeping up on whether it happens every week. Also not sure it was read by many folks

[08:39] Glitteractica Cookie: oh ok, cool. Rhiannon is such a rockstar, I tell you. She does all these things to keep this community running that we don’t even know

[08:39] Glitteractica Cookie: and she is super humble too. 🙂 We are lucky

[08:40] CarmenLittleFawn: 🙂

[08:40] Rhiannon Chatnoir: thank you – like a lot of long time people here.. we believe in the NPC community

[08:40] Beth Ghostraven: If anyone wants the URL for the chat later, let me know; I put it on my Google docs, but it’s not public unless you know the URL

[08:40] Frans Charming: yay Rhiannon

[08:40] Rhiannon Chatnoir: so let’s move on

— TECHSOUP ANNOUNCEMENTS —

[08:40] Rhiannon Chatnoir: It is time for TechSoup Announcements!

[08:40] Glitteractica Cookie: Yes, I have the announcements: Have you been using the new Google+ communities for your social good work? Sound off in our forums: http://bit.ly/WxHuP7

And remember, your input in our forums is always welcome. We know you all are super smart and have lots of techie know-how, so please share it with nonprofits, charities, NGOs, and libraries who have questions!

Next week on February 12, TechSoup’s Jim Lynch will be following in the footsteps of our own Glitteractica Cookie to testify in front of Congress, specifically with the US House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. He’ll be covering e-waste environmental policy, including the work being done in the humanitarian refurbishment field. More about the Committee here: http://1.usa.gov/XpPjnD and Jim may stop by at a future meeting to talk about the experience.

And speaking of TechSoup speaking engagements, back in November Chris Worman, director of communications and special projects for TechSoup Europe, presented:

[08:41] Glitteractica Cookie: Civil Society as We Know It” at TEDx Bucharest. It’s a short talk, but very cool. Watch it here: http://bit.ly/XbsIg9

And lastly, The Windows 8 Apps for Social Good contest deadline is fast approaching! Submit by February 28 and win the prize to hatch your bright idea. If the notion of using technology to help others – and win some cash in the process – excites you, this is your contest. Your creativity plus the capabilities of Windows 8 equals a world of inspired solutions to real world problems.

Read more about the contest: http://bit.ly/U6ZSYW

See what makes an ideal submission: http://bit.ly/TSmeid

Check out all the submissions to date in the Project Gallery: http://bit.ly/UjuIO7

[08:41] Gentle Heron: QUESTION: What is meant by “humanitarian refurbishment”?

[08:42] Glitteractica Cookie: And as you are reading all of that… I wanted to let you know that teh WIn8 contest is still accepting submissions, and btw you all (my friends) and me… There are not that many submissions

[08:42] Glitteractica Cookie: so if you know how to design a win8 app, or know anyone who does, please enter

[08:42] Glitteractica Cookie: and we also need folks to look at our hacker helper wiki. I mentioned this before

[08:42] Glitteractica Cookie: http://hackerhelper.wikispaces.com

[08:43] Glitteractica Cookie: This is a wiki to help those who are building apps to solve problems in civil society

[08:43] Glitteractica Cookie: please take a minute, so we can see if you think the data we grabbed is right, if you have additional info or links, please do not hesitate to add them, edit the wiki

[08:44] Rhiannon Chatnoir: and I think humanitarian refurbishment refers to working on solutions to recycle ewaste/electronics/etc

[08:44] Glitteractica Cookie: and if you have any questions about any of this, do not hesitate to ask

[08:44] Gentle Heron: Thanks Rhiannon… how is that humanitarian?

[08:44] Glitteractica Cookie: And if you know anyone who has a win8 app in the marketplace that would qualify as a social benefit app, tell them to submit it

[08:44] Glitteractica Cookie: Gentle, We are only relaying the announcements, as you know

[08:45] Glitteractica Cookie: We have not prepared the content

[08:45] Glitteractica Cookie: i’m happy to connect you with Jim Lynch who wrote it

[08:45] Rhiannon Chatnoir: well often ewaste pollutes soil, ground water, etc

[08:45] Gentle Heron: Thanks, I’d be interested in that Glitter.

[08:45] Glitteractica Cookie: in fact, i think he is coming here to NPC

[08:45] Rhiannon Chatnoir: so it is seen as a huge thing to combat in certain areas.. but yes, definitely follow up would be great

[08:45] Rhiannon Chatnoir: and yes, we would love to have him here

[08:45] Glitteractica Cookie: so, you can talk to him there, if you want

[08:46] Glitteractica Cookie: Rhiannon, you were on an email about this yeterday

[08:46] Glitteractica Cookie: so, let’s make sure to get him here

[08:46] Rhiannon Chatnoir: yes

[08:46] Glitteractica Cookie: he is actually the world authority on e-waste and what to do with dead electronic

[08:46] Glitteractica Cookie: he invented that stuff, computer recycling

[08:46] Glitteractica Cookie: ok, so that’s all i got

[08:46] Rhiannon Chatnoir: thanks!

[08:47] Glitteractica Cookie: sure!

[08:47] Rhiannon Chatnoir: great to have you present TechSoup stuff today

[08:47] Glitteractica Cookie: 🙂

— MENTOR’S CENTRAL —

[08:47] Rhiannon Chatnoir: so… let’s move on to Mentor’s Central!

[08:47] Glitteractica Cookie: I’ve only been working at techsoup for 13 years… it makes sense for me to present some time

[08:47] Rhiannon Chatnoir: Zinnia will be presenting for this week

[08:47] Buffy Beale: yay Z!

[08:48] Gentle Heron: Thanks Zinnia.

[08:48] Coughran Mayo: nice hat

[08:48] Zinnia Zauber: Hi there!

[08:48] Frans Charming: oh stars!

[08:48] Buffy Beale: hi Jac 🙂

[08:48] CarmenLittleFawn: Ji 😉

[08:49] Gentle Heron waves to Jacques.

[08:49] CarmenLittleFawn: Hi*

[08:49] Zinnia Zauber: Sorry, I am laggy today.

[08:49] Zinnia Zauber: Yes! Stars!

[08:49] Gentle Heron pours coffee on Zinnia’s avatar.

[08:49] Rhiannon Chatnoir: lol

[08:49] Zinnia Zauber: Thought I would remind you all that you’all are All Stars!

[08:50] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Bruce Hestley, Transgender American Veterans Association, Akron, OH, http://www.tavausa.org, http://www.facebook.com/#!/TAVAUS

[08:50] Coughran Mayo: or that we are ALL stars

[08:50] Zinnia Zauber: How many of you believe you are Mentors?

[08:50] Grizzla (grizzla.pixelmaid) laughs at Gentle pouring coffee

[08:50] Gentle Heron: Officially, or unofficially? That is the question. Whether tis nobler……

[08:50] Ozma Malibu: me

[08:50] Andy Evans: If I am, I am reformed, not conservative

[08:50] Buffy Beale: me

[08:50] Rhiannon Chatnoir: yes Gentle

[08:50] Gentle Heron laughs with Andy!

[08:50] Buffy Beale: lol did you get the pic Z?

[08:51] Sister (sister.abeyante): LOL

[08:51] Zinnia Zauber: hehe

[08:51] Zinnia Zauber: I mean that you all have something to share or teach?

[08:52] Zinnia Zauber: Can you see my photos?

[08:52] Andy Evans: y

[08:52] Keko Heckroth: Yes, see them

[08:52] Zinnia Zauber: Some of you may have seen this set on Facebook this week.

[08:52] CarmenLittleFawn: y

[08:52] Grizzla (grizzla.pixelmaid): y

[08:52] Zinnia Zauber: This is from a field trip that I did with my video students.

[08:53] Zinnia Zauber: Scottius was my guest speaker.

[08:53] Gentle Heron: a fantastic artist!

[08:53] Zinnia Zauber: How many of you know Scottius?

[08:53] Gentle Heron: I own his book!

[08:53] Frans Charming does not

[08:53] Sister (sister.abeyante) raises her hand

[08:53] Gentle Heron: and he has his art exhibited right now in the Cape Able Art Gallery for Virtual Ability.

[08:53] Zinnia Zauber: He is an amazing artist!

[08:54] Zinnia Zauber: ooo yes! Gentle please share that LM!

[08:54] Gentle Heron: Cape Able (182,171,22) if you want to visit after this session.

[08:54] Zinnia Zauber: thank you!

[08:54] Zinnia Zauber: He shared his work and also took time to review my students’ projects as well.

[08:55] Zinnia Zauber: His time really meant a lot to them.

[08:55] Zinnia Zauber: And, me, of course.

[08:55] CarmenLittleFawn: nice 🙂

[08:55] Zinnia Zauber: His insight was really thoughtful.

[08:56] Zinnia Zauber: And, his work helped changed my students thoughts of how they could tell a story.

[08:56] Zinnia Zauber: We all have stories to tell here in SL.

[08:56] Zinnia Zauber: Is part of your story how you become your best self while helping others?

[08:57] Zinnia Zauber: (hint: YES!)

[08:57] CarmenLittleFawn: yess

[08:57] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you, Carmen!

[08:57] CarmenLittleFawn: heheheh

[08:57] Sister (sister.abeyante) nods

[08:57] Zinnia Zauber: So often we forget that we are information booths of amazing data and gifts.

[08:58] Zinnia Zauber: I want to encourage you all to share what you know. Pay it forward. Be Mentors!

[08:58] CarmenLittleFawn: mmhmmm

[08:58] Coughran Mayo: Where do I sign up?

[08:58] Gentle Heron: Agreed, Zinnia. We are all teachers, and we are all learners.

[08:59] Zinnia Zauber: You don’t have to wear the name tag Mentor to be one.

[08:59] CarmenLittleFawn: nods head

[08:59] Zinnia Zauber: You are already all on the list!

[08:59] Grizzla (grizzla.pixelmaid): Yep – everyone teaches – well or badly 🙂

[08:59] Sister (sister.abeyante) wonders…what are some of the topics folks here would like to learn about or share about?

[08:59] Zinnia Zauber: Yes, like it or not. We all are.

[08:59] Brena Benoir: Each one teach one

[08:59] Zinnia Zauber: Yes Sister!

[09:00] Buffy Beale: Each one teach one reach two 🙂

[09:00] Zinnia Zauber: Mentor Central is a chance to teach, share and be an ALL STAR!

[09:00] Zinnia Zauber: You don’t have to be one of the NPC Mentors to share.

[09:00] Zinnia Zauber: Think about how what you have to teach us.

[09:00] Zinnia Zauber: Tell us what you want to learn.

[09:01] Zinnia Zauber: I live on a Peninsula.

[09:01] Zinnia Zauber: We have to support each other being at the end of the road so to speak.

[09:01] CarmenLittleFawn: it can be any thing Zinnia that you want to learn ?

[09:02] Andy Evans: Is there a list of mentors and their areas of expertise so the learner can choose the right mentor?

[09:02] Rhiannon Chatnoir: anything you think useful to the community at large

[09:02] Zinnia Zauber: Virtual Worlds let’s us have the whole world at the end of the road with us.

[09:02] Zinnia Zauber: We are updating the wiki Andy with that info.

[09:02] CarmenLittleFawn: all right ty rhia

[09:02] Zinnia Zauber: Yes, anything!

[09:03] Rhiannon Chatnoir: 🙂

[09:03] CarmenLittleFawn: ok great ty Zinnia

[09:03] Zinnia Zauber: Please contact me, or any of our NPC Mentors.

[09:03] Rhiannon Chatnoir: great Zinnia

[09:04] Zinnia Zauber: Your time, ideas, and questions will expand all our brains.

[09:04] Zinnia Zauber: I am grateful for having such clever people like you to work with!

[09:04] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you all! And, please remember, you are ALL STARS!

[09:04] Frans Charming applauds

[09:05] CarmenLittleFawn: ty as well , claps

[09:05] Buffy Beale: thanks Z

[09:05] Zinnia Zauber: Get your stars in the little gift box up front.

[09:05] Keko Heckroth: Excellent

[09:05] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you!

[09:05] Rhiannon Chatnoir: thanks Zinnia.. and for bringing out your stars today

[09:05] CarmenLittleFawn: how cute, 🙂

— FEATURED PRESENTATION: ROBERT L. TODD OF GEORGIA TECH —

[09:05] Rhiannon Chatnoir: Let’s move on to our Featured Presenter!

[09:05] Dancers Yao: thanks Zinnia as always…great!

[09:05] Rhiannon Chatnoir: Today we have as our featured presenter Robert L. Todd (RobertT Deluxe), who will be discussing the Georgia STEM Accessibility Alliance, BreakThru project.

[09:05] Rhiannon Chatnoir: About BreakThru:

The influence of digital media has changed the way students learn, play and socialize. As a result, researchers at Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia (UGA) have partnered to develop a virtual learning environment that combines creative avatars and social networking tools to help high school and college students with disabilities to succeed in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs. The universities work alongside Georgia Perimeter College and the school systems of Georgia’s Greene, Clarke and Gwinnett counties to serve targeted students.

http://georgiabreakthru.org/

[09:06] Rhiannon Chatnoir: If you want to come up and take a seat Robert

[09:06] Rhiannon Chatnoir: Bio: Robert L. Todd is a Senior Research Scientist and Director of the Accessible Education and Information Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access (CATEA). His research foci include accessible web design and universal design and accessibility of science and math education. He is currently PI on NSF and Dept of Education initiatives to provide accessible virtual education to students with disabilities and train post-secondary instructors to provide accessible online science and math courses. He leads research and instructional efforts via the Institute on the usability and accessibility of online resources and is a lead designer and instructor for Georgia Tech’s Professional Education certificate courses in Creating Accessible Web Sites and Usability Engineering. He teaches graduate level courses on accessible and usable web design and evaluation through Georgia Tech. He is the creator and former PI for the Assistivetech.net web resource

[09:06] CarmenLittleFawn: welcome Robert 🙂

[09:06] Rhiannon Chatnoir: thanks Robert, start whenever you are ready

[09:06] RobertT Deluxe: Thanks, Rhiannon, I’ll let everyone take a minute to absorb all that.

[09:07] Sister (sister.abeyante) is grateful! LOL

[09:07] Gentle Heron: Welcome to NPC, Robert.

[09:07] RobertT Deluxe: And while you are scanning the chat, here is our project URL: http://georgiabreakthru.org/

[09:07] Zinnia Zauber: Rah Robert!

[09:08] Rhiannon Chatnoir: if others can make sure to NOT touch the slide viewer

[09:08] Buffy Beale: yay Robert!!

[09:08] Gentle Heron: Rhiannon, lock the viewer.

[09:08] RobertT Deluxe: I’ll use the projector behind me to supplement my talk.

[09:08] Gentle Heron: Click the padlock icon on the far right side.

[09:08] CarmenLittleFawn: hehehe

[09:08] Gentle Heron: Then Robert can “touch” the padlock and you can grant him access to turn slides, but keep us from doing so.

[09:08] RobertT Deluxe: Our goal with BreakThru is to enhance STEM education for students, and lead on to STEM graduate work and employment

[09:09] Glitteractica Cookie: What is the twitter handle?

[09:10] RobertT Deluxe: We know that students with disabilities often don’t get a truly level playing field in that area, so we are using virtual mentoring (thanks for discussing mentoring, Zinnia!) to help solve that problem.

[09:10] RobertT Deluxe: And our project proves Ga Tech and UGA can actually get along. 🙂

[09:10] Gentle Heron: That is a major finding!

[09:10] RobertT Deluxe: We address all STEM education for students in high school and college

[09:10] Zinnia Zauber: 🙂

[09:11] Glitteractica Cookie: I just looked up the twitter handle @breakthruGSAA

[09:11] RobertT Deluxe: For those not familiar with STEM acronym, see behind me

[09:11] RobertT Deluxe: Thanks Cookie.

[09:11] Rhiannon Chatnoir: thanks Glitter

[09:11] RobertT Deluxe: Vesuvius (take a bow Rhiannon) has created the virtual mentoring islands which are our centerpiece

[09:12] RobertT Deluxe: BUT … we use all forms of electronic, mediated communication for the project

[09:12] RobertT Deluxe: Students choose which tools they prefer, freely

[09:12] RobertT Deluxe: SL is popular, but so are Skype and Google Hangouts, etc

[09:13] RobertT Deluxe: We base all our work on UDL principles, so we can impact students with and without disabilities

[09:13] RobertT Deluxe: Check out cast.org/udl for info on how Universal Design can assist in learning

[09:13] Glitteractica Cookie: UDL?

[09:13] Gentle Heron: Universal Design for Learning

[09:13] RobertT Deluxe: Universal Design for Learning

[09:13] Glitteractica Cookie: thx

[09:14] RobertT Deluxe: (All, let me know if you have trouble viewing the presentation behind me, so I can fill in the details)

[09:15] RobertT Deluxe: We have several partners/test beds right now, hoping to expand with time

[09:15] RobertT Deluxe: They include:

[09:15] RobertT Deluxe: Georgia Tech with the University of Georgia as lead institutions. Georgia Perimeter College and three Georgia public school systems are also critical partners in the project.

[09:15] RobertT Deluxe: And we want to address the 3 goals behind me on the projector

[09:16] RobertT Deluxe: Retention of students, entry into STEM fields, and or course increased numbers are important

[09:17] RobertT Deluxe: The Islands created by Vesuvius focus the overall efforts, one for post secondary students, one for secondary students

[09:17] RobertT Deluxe: But identical, and connected by a bridge that is a “shared” space between all groups

[09:17] Gentle Heron: Cute metaphor… the bridge.

[09:18] RobertT Deluxe: It really is a good metaphor, and it allows us to keep security high for the under age students, while allowing all to share and help each other

[09:18] RobertT Deluxe: As Zinnia, said, mentoring can be powerful, and the program is focused on matching students with effective mentors in STEM

[09:19] RobertT Deluxe: Mentors guide students through their studies, and especially at the critical junctures

[09:19] RobertT Deluxe: Such as high school to college, college to workforce

[09:19] Kali Pizzaro: transitional periods?

[09:19] RobertT Deluxe: Yes.

[09:20] Kali Pizzaro: which can be difficult

[09:20] Kali Pizzaro: 🙂

[09:20] RobertT Deluxe: We’ve found the transitions are where the students often get lost in the shuffle

[09:20] RobertT Deluxe: Especially students who need certain accommodations for learning materials

[09:20] Gentle Heron: Students on IEP are supposed to have “transition plans” in place well before those transitions occur.

[09:21] RobertT Deluxe: Heron, they are, yes – but you’d be surprised how man are still left floundering when the arrive on campus

[09:21] RobertT Deluxe: they arrive, sorry

[09:21] Gentle Heron: No, sadly, I would not be at all surprised.

[09:21] Kali Pizzaro: Notes the use of the word ‘meant’ by Gentle

[09:22] Coughran Mayo: 🙂

[09:22] RobertT Deluxe: So we and the mentors use many tools, including video case studies shared via SL and YouTube

[09:23] RobertT Deluxe: Modeling for empowerment of the students, for example, showing them in SL and via the videos how to work with campus resources

[09:23] RobertT Deluxe: Just for one example

[09:23] RobertT Deluxe: For those who like nerdy example, this is our Theory of Change, behind me on the screen

[09:24] Josain Zsun: Will these slides be available later?

[09:24] Gentle Heron: Robert, will you please put these slides on SlideShare so we can look at them later?

[09:24] RobertT Deluxe: As a research project, we want to help all students, but we also take data every day, for analysis

[09:24] RobertT Deluxe: Yes, I certainly will share them

[09:24] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you!

[09:25] RobertT Deluxe: As you can see, there are many steps, so a focus like SL helps us to keep it “all together”

[09:25] Oronoque Westland: oooops, sorry

[09:25] RobertT Deluxe: And regarding our UDL philosophy, see this slide

[09:26] RobertT Deluxe: We want to figure out what works best for the students with specific needs, via mentoring, but also what can help ALL students succeed

[09:27] RobertT Deluxe: These are some of the benefits our preliminary data set is showing for the use of virtual world mentoring

[09:27] RobertT Deluxe: For example, we have some mentor/student pairs that are separated by oceans

[09:27] RobertT Deluxe: But now they have access to the best fit for a mentor

[09:28] RobertT Deluxe: This is a rough map of the space

[09:29] Frans Charming smiles at our map

[09:29] RobertT Deluxe: And these are examples of outside STEM sources that we have used or discussed with our students

[09:29] RobertT Deluxe: Sadly, they don’t all stay available

[09:30] RobertT Deluxe: But we guide students to other SL resources on STEM every week

[09:30] RobertT Deluxe: And if you check out our site URL, you will see many learning modules to assist students at high school and college levels

[09:30] RobertT Deluxe: Hope you can see these

[09:31] Frans Charming nods

[09:31] RobertT Deluxe: But you can find them all at georgiabreakthru.org

[09:31] RobertT Deluxe: Feel free to use any of those resources with students who are struggling

[09:32] RobertT Deluxe: Time is short, but I want to add we addressed many accessibility and novice log-in concerns with the help of Vesuvius

[09:32] RobertT Deluxe: Like the registration API process in the slide

[09:32] RobertT Deluxe: We’ve tried to make use of SL as, well, foolproof as possible since many students, mentors and teachers had never encountered it

[09:33] RobertT Deluxe: Just one more thing … examples of some of the accessibility challenges in SL and other media we have addressed

[09:34] RobertT Deluxe: Rhiannon, time is running out, I think I’ll let folks ask questions

[09:34] Rhiannon Chatnoir: sure, if anyone has questions for Robert

[09:34] Sister (sister.abeyante): Question: When you say you’ve “addressed” those challenges- do you mean you have found solutions that work for all in SL?

[09:34] RobertT Deluxe: (just browsing through slide and will share them all)

[09:35] Zinnia Zauber: All of this is wonderful, Robert! Thank you!

[09:35] RobertT Deluxe: In some cases, yes.

[09:35] Buffy Beale: really great info

[09:35] RobertT Deluxe: Let me show a couple of examples

[09:35] RobertT Deluxe: These are some tools we have used for very low vision/blind students

[09:36] RobertT Deluxe: Some are easy, like changing SL preferences, some hard

[09:36] RobertT Deluxe: And some, like chat instead of mic, pretty obvious

[09:36] Gentle Heron: Although that makes it difficult for those who don’t type well or at all

[09:36] RobertT Deluxe: Aha, yes, good one

[09:37] Gentle Heron: Is there a state school for the deaf and blind in Georgia?

[09:37] Kali Pizzaro: Do you allow text chat 🙂

[09:37] RobertT Deluxe: Which is why we have students experimenting with a mix of mic and chat, and also voice input tech

[09:37] Kali Pizzaro: and emoticons

[09:37] RobertT Deluxe: Text chat, yes. Students choose which forms of communication they prefer

[09:37] Rhiannon Chatnoir: text chat is allowed

[09:37] Kali Pizzaro: Q: Did I miss the methodology, is this a mixed methods

[09:38] RobertT Deluxe: Mixed methods, yes

[09:38] Kali Pizzaro: so a vast amount of data 🙂

[09:38] RobertT Deluxe: Oh, yes, I have a bottle of Excedrin on my desk to prove it

[09:38] RobertT Deluxe: 🙂

[09:38] Josain Zsun: These ideas resonate with Marc Prensky’s ‘partnerships’ in “Teaching Digital Natives”

[09:39] Zinnia Zauber: lol

[09:39] RobertT Deluxe: Zsun, can you link me to that info. I’d love to see.

[09:39] Kali Pizzaro: Reading you slide now I have found similar findings in my study – the representation of self and when to disclose or not a disability

[09:39] Gentle Heron: Robert, Kali is a researcher you will want to connect with.

[09:40] RobertT Deluxe: One of the most interesting aspects of this project – when and why do students disclose or choose not to do so

[09:40] Kali Pizzaro: 🙂

[09:40] RobertT Deluxe: Thanks for that tip … I’m very interested in pursuing

[09:40] Kali Pizzaro: I will give Gentle the $LL later

[09:40] Kali Pizzaro: 🙂

[09:41] Gentle Heron: now now Kali!

[09:41] Kali Pizzaro: lol

[09:41] Rhiannon Chatnoir: ha

[09:41] Rhiannon Chatnoir: commission eh

[09:41] Sister (sister.abeyante): I am wondering… How open is Breakthru to collaborating with other nonprofits or SL based communities that also focus on inclusion of pwd?

[09:41] RobertT Deluxe: As you can see from the board, we could spend all day discussing aspects of accommodations, but I’ll share those slides so we can all communicate about that topic later

[09:41] RobertT Deluxe: Very interested.

[09:41] Gentle Heron: QUESTION Did you use the AAAS listing of scientists with disabilities to choose your mentors? Or how did you recruit them? And how do you train mentors?

[09:41] Kali Pizzaro: excellent

[09:41] RobertT Deluxe: We know we don’t have all the answers.

[09:42] RobertT Deluxe: Just LOTS of questions.

[09:42] Sister (sister.abeyante): Great! What is your preferred means for connecting with other groups, Robert?

[09:42] RobertT Deluxe: my email: robert.todd@coa.gatech.edu

[09:42] Sister (sister.abeyante): Thanks!

[09:42] RobertT Deluxe: Easiest way to reach me. And please do!

[09:43] RobertT Deluxe: Do we need to wrap up, Rhiannon? I think my big mouth has kept us way over time

[09:43] Josain Zsun: How does one become a STEM mentor in SL?

[09:43] Rhiannon Chatnoir: any last questions before we wrap up with Robert

[09:43] Frans Charming: I would like to add that we have been adding game based learning in to the islands, and are adding more.

[09:44] Frans Charming: One example is that we made animals interactive, and provide the students with information about the animals, and link to web resources about

[09:44] Sister (sister.abeyante): Can you provide (maybe you did and I missed it!) the LM or SLURL to the islands?

[09:44] Gentle Heron: QUESTION Did you use the AAAS listing of scientists with disabilities to choose your mentors? Or how did you recruit them? And how do you train mentors?

[09:44] Frans Charming: It’s a ongoing project and will be adding more interactivity to island, to encourage use of it.

[09:44] RobertT Deluxe: We love the animals and the other interactivity that Vesuvius is providing.

[09:44] Rhiannon Chatnoir: the islands are closed access due to privacy/minors

[09:44] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Question:How do you recruit your students?

[09:45] Gentle Heron: So Frans, you see that a major issue for these students is lack of content knowledge? Is that related to the education they received in public school?

[09:45] RobertT Deluxe: Mentor recruitment: We posted notices at Georgia Tech and UGA, and … we had an excellent response.

[09:45] Sister (sister.abeyante): Closed? So, how do new people get involved or sign up?

[09:45] RobertT Deluxe: They are grad students, faculty, and some STEM lab folks in the workforce

[09:46] RobertT Deluxe: One sec and I’ll post the contact info

[09:46] Gentle Heron: Do your mentors have disabilities?

[09:46] Beth Ghostraven: Robert, can you make the slides available online please?

[09:46] Jen (jenelle.levenque): QUESTION: Do you have anything set up to accommodate the special needs of veterans who are disabled?

[09:47] Frans Charming: Gentle, it is more about providing information/ science facts, and incorperating them in the island. I have no idea what the students knowledge is.

[09:47] Rhiannon Chatnoir: you can email Robert on possible collaborations and further questions robert.todd@coa.gatech.edu

[09:47] Namaara MacMoragh: And how do you meet the needs of those with cognitive challenges due to brain injury?

[09:47] RobertT Deluxe: I will do so. And some mentors, yes, have disabilities, but we found students are more concerned (usually) that the STEM interest take precedence over other issues of choice

[09:47] Gentle Heron: That is an important finding, Robert!

[09:47] RobertT Deluxe: And it surprised us.

[09:48] Sister (sister.abeyante): What a wonderful opportunity to involve scientists w/ disabilities in interacting with students with disabilities, though.

[09:48] RobertT Deluxe: We have a small number of those scientists

[09:48] Rhiannon Chatnoir: let’s try to wrap up this part of the meeting, not sure on Robert’s time, but please reach out to him after this and if he is ok sharing his presentation, we will put a link to it up on http://nonprofitcommons.org

[09:48] Sister (sister.abeyante): Are you interested in recruiting more? Gentle, what’s that list you mentioned?

[09:49] Gentle Heron: oh the AAAS used to publish a listing of scientists with disabilities.

[09:49] CarmenLittleFawn: very good information and ty for sharing, wow Robert generated a lot os interest have to go I will look into this futher for sure 🙂 thanks again Robert, bye for now everybody

[09:49] Rhiannon Chatnoir: If you took pictures today, please share them on our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/nonprofitcommons or G+ Community: https://plus.google.com/communities/114212078390326305687, that would be great. Otherwise, tag them #NPSL

[09:49] RobertT Deluxe: Folks, if you are interested in being a mentor or referring someone else, you can contact Gerri Wolfe at the address above

[09:49] Rhiannon Chatnoir: Let’s thanks Robert for presenting today

[09:50] Kali Pizzaro: Fantastic and important work – good luck with the future analysis! I look forward to reading the papers

[09:50] RobertT Deluxe: gwolfe@uga.edu

[09:50] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you Robert!

— OPEN MIC & ANNOUNCEMENTS —

[09:50] Rhiannon Chatnoir: Let’s move on to Open Mic & Announcements

[09:50] RobertT Deluxe: Sorry I skipped a few questions, my fingers don’t move so quickly

[09:50] Gentle Heron: Thank you Robert. As you can tell, many in our audience here have a deep interest in this subject.

[09:50] Rhiannon Chatnoir: anyone have any announcements

[09:50] Rhiannon Chatnoir: yes

[09:50] Keko Heckroth: Thank you for a very informative presentation

[09:50] RobertT Deluxe: But email me for any followup … I truly want to hear

[09:50] Buffy Beale: clapping for Robert, great presentation thanks!

[09:50] Frans Charming applauds

[09:51] Gentle Heron: Oh Rhiannon, you know Virtual Ability always has announcements.

[09:51] RobertT Deluxe: Thanks, and again, keep in touch with those questions/suggestions

[09:51] Rhiannon Chatnoir: lol, then go ahead Gentle

[09:51] RobertT Deluxe: robert.todd@coa.gatech.edu

[09:51] Rhiannon Chatnoir: yes!

[09:51] Gentle Heron: Thanks Robert, we’ll be in touch again.

[09:51] Gentle Heron: Some Virtual Ability events coming up today and this weekend:

TODAY!

11am SLT- Second Life’s Little Secret: A discussion with Saffia Widdershins about the age distribution in SL

Virtual Ability (53,172,23)

[09:51] Gentle Heron: TODAY!

noonSLT- What is One Billion Rising About? by Honour McMillan (It’s a world wide movement against violence experienced by women.)

Virtual Ability (53,172,23)

[09:51] Gentle Heron: TOMORROW (Sat)

8am SLT- Phelan Corrimal tells about Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education (VWBPE)- how it is becoming accessible, and how to participate.

Virtual Ability (53,172,23)

[09:51] Brena Benoir raises hand for open mic

[09:52] Gentle Heron: SUNDAY

noon SLT- Sister Abeyante talks about Self-Advocacy. She’s an expert!

Virtual Ability (44,138,23)

[09:52] Gentle Heron: Please join us for these and upcoming events of interest.

[09:52] Gentle Heron: (done for this week)

[09:52] Rhiannon Chatnoir: great and thanks Gentle

[09:52] Rhiannon Chatnoir: Brena, your up

[09:52] Brena Benoir: Please join us this Sunday February 10 at 6pm SLT at the Art House where Acoutisenergy Nitely will be performing

[09:53] Brena Benoir: This is a continuation of the fundraiser for ARTC, the creative arts program at PFH

[09:53] Zinnia Zauber: ART HOUSE Rocks!

[09:53] Gentle Heron: What a lovely concept!

[09:53] Brena Benoir: We will be wrapping our fundraiser up next Friday at 11am SLT where will will be doing the drawing for those who have entered

[09:54] Zinnia Zauber: http://secondlife.com/destination/artc-art-house

[09:54] Brena Benoir: Please join us from 11-12:30pm SLT for a the closing event, this is a PG event as we will be streaming it for the kids on the unit

[09:54] Kali Pizzaro: got to go do housework, I believe in these times of austerity that housework should have been one of the first things to be banned!

[09:54] Buffy Beale: wow that’s great Bren

[09:55] Brena Benoir: The kids have enjoyed hearing about people supporting them and encouraging their artisitc talents

[09:55] Kali Pizzaro: Take care

[09:55] Brena Benoir: We will be making a huge deal of this in RL for them and are doing a sober party while we have SL streaming and doing the drawing

[09:55] Rhiannon Chatnoir: great

[09:55] Brena Benoir: thank you for your support!

[09:55] Frans Charming: sober party?

[09:55] Zinnia Zauber: It has been wonderful to support the ARTC program!

[09:56] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you Brena!

[09:56] Brena Benoir: to celebrate their recovery efforts-they are in drug and alcohol treatment

[09:56] Frans Charming: Ah. 🙂

[09:56] Brena Benoir: 🙂

[09:56] Rhiannon Chatnoir: any other announcements

[09:57] Tori Landau raises hand

[09:57] Rhiannon Chatnoir: go Tori

[09:57] Tori Landau: Ty °͜°