Transcript of NPC Meeting with Elizabeth Dean of RTI April 27 2012

NONPROFIT COMMONS MEETING
April 27 , 8:30am PST

Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/88/126/26

AGENDA

• 8:30am Introductions
• 8:40am Elizabeth Dean on Virtual Worlds for Social Research
• 8:55am TechSoup Announcements
• 9:05am Mentors Central
• 9:30am OpenMic/ Announcements

INTRODUCTIONS

[08:30] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Hi all welcome. Let’s get started as people are rezzing in.
[08:31] Zinnia Zauber: Good morning!
[08:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Our guest has to leave a bit early, so I’m rearranging the schedule a bit.
[08:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Welcome to the Nonprofit Commons weekly meetup in Second Life
[08:31] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I’m Rik Panganiban, community manager here, working for TechSoup.org
[08:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): It’s great to be herre with you all thismorning.Joining me are my colleagues Glitteractica and Bulkalkak
[08:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Let’s begin, as we always do, with introductions
[08:32] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Bruce Hestley, Transgender American Veterans Association, Akron, OH, http://www.tavausa.org
[08:32] Zinnia Zauber: Renne Emiko Brock-Richmond, Sequim Humanities and Arts Alliance, Sequim, Olympic Peninsula, Washington. http://www.sequimartsalliance.org http://www.facebook.com/sequimartsalliance @renneemiko
[08:32] Panny Bakerly: Jeanne Booth, Freeport Historical Society, Freeport, NY www.freeporthistorymuseum.org; @FrptHisSoc
[08:32] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): please type into the text chat your real life name, organization, location in the world, URL and twitter handel, if you like.
[08:32] Em Ellsmere: Tina Walker, The ALS Association, Wash DC, http://www.alsa.org, @alsassociation
[08:33] Chad Mikado: Chad Gobert; National Service Inclusion Project; UMass Boston; www.serviceandinclusion.org
[08:33] Glitteractica Cookie: Hi, I’m Susan Tenby, Online Community and Social Director, TechSoup Global, San Francisco, CA USA @suzboop @techsoup
[08:33] Zotarah Shepherd: BEACH College, Santa Rosa, CA
[08:33] Ethelred Weatherwax: Dave Dextrer, Neenah Historical Society, Wisconsin USA
[08:33] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Rik Panganiban, Nonprofit Commons, TechSoup, Oakland CA, http://nonprofitcommons.org , @npsl @betterverse
[08:33] Ozma Malibu: Sandra Sutton Andrews, Floaters Org, Arizona, Mexico and On the Road
[08:33] Gentle Heron: Virtual Ability, Inc. www.virtualability.org You can learn more about this weekend’s Mental Health Symposium at our blog: http://blog.virtualability.org/
[08:33] Serene Jewell: Kathleen Watkins, Web Developer, Hypergrid Adventurer, San Francisco, CA
[08:33] bulaklak: Michael DeLong, Online Community Manager, TechSoup, @MichaelDeLongSF, www.techsoup.org @TechSoup
[08:33] Frances Meriman: Elizabeth Dean, RTI International, http://www.rti.org/
[08:33] Frances Meriman: @surveypost & @lizfrances
[08:33] alebez: Ale Bezdikian, Online Community Coordinator, TechSoup, SF, Ca. @TechSoup, @alebez
[08:34] jacmacaire Humby: Jacques Macaire HUMANBE http://www.humanbe.com ACTION TANK and Council on Sustainable Development France and International @Humanbe
[08:34] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Frances, come on down as we finish introductions
[08:34] Rhiannon Chatnoir: /me is Joyce Bettencourt in RL, chief creative of VesuviusGroup.com, co-founder of AvaCon.org (organizer of the yearly SLCC conference), Boston area, MA, @RhiannonSL & http://joycebettencourt.com
[08:34] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): you can sit next to glitteraactica
[08:35] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): welcome Rhiannon!
[08:35] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): any more intros?
[08:35] Red (talkwithmarie): Marie C.-talkwithmarie, aka Red., Greater Boston, Girls project/Girl TV/Talk!withmarie, http://youtube.com/girltvlive, http://youtube.com/talkwithmarie, @talkwithmarie
[08:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Let me introduce Frances Meriman
[08:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): aka Elizabeth dean , a program manager at RTI.
[08:36] Frances Meriman: Thank you Rik! This all came together pretty quickly so please ask questions as we go.
[08:37] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I wanted to ask her to speak briefly about their work doing surveying using virtual worlds and other online media.
[08:37] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): After Frances, we’ll do the regular TechSoup update and Mentors Central
[08:37] Frances Meriman: My colleage Katherine Cunningham has been recruiting for a survey in world the past few months. Some of you may have met her. I’ll give a broader overview of what we’ve been doing at RTI in the past few years.
[08:38] Gentle Heron: /me knows KCunning

ELIZABETH DEAN OF RTI RESEARCH

[08:38] Frances Meriman: Sorry to interrupt, shall I get started Rik?
[08:38] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): yes of course
[08:38] Frances Meriman: RTI has sponsored several research and development initiatives to derive best practices for survey research in Second Life. Our staff have tested a variety of survey methods in the virtual environment, including respondent recruitment techniques, in-avatar interviewing, and self-administered kiosk surveys.
[08:39] CarynTopia Silvercloud: Caryn Heilman, Topia Arts Center, www.TopiaArts.org in the Berkshires of NW, MA @topiaartscenter
[08:39] Frances Meriman: Here are some details about how we do surveys.
[08:39] Frances Meriman: • Respondent recruitment methods include classified ads within Second Life, online user forums and blogs, word-of-mouth referrals, and networking among targeted groups. Other recruitment strategies include interactive kiosks avatars engage to receive more information on how to participate in a survey. Interested participants can also receive a link to an eligibility survey they can complete in their private web browser.
[08:39] Frances Meriman: • In-avatar interviewing involves an RTI staff avatar conducting a scripted interview in the RTI virtual interviewing facility, much like an in-person interview.
[08:40] Frances Meriman: • Self-administered kiosk surveys are also hosted in the virtual interviewing facility where an avatar interacts with an automated survey interface delivered at a kiosk.
• RTI is also conducting studies on the utility of virtual worlds for conducting cognitive interviews between avatars representing the interviewer and the respondent, recruiting and gaining survey cooperation from hard to reach populations, and measuring sensitive behaviors.
[08:40] Frances Meriman: Here is the link to our facility. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Labro/127/159/42
[08:41] Frances Meriman: We blog about our research in Second Life on our blog SurveyPost. https://blogs.rti.org/surveypost/
[08:42] Frances Meriman: At SurveyPost, we blog about using other new forms of communication to enhance survey research methodology.
[08:42] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): So what have you found to be the most effective methods of surveying in Second Life?
[08:43] Frances Meriman: Well, a combination of methods. The most useful for us has been targeted networking and recruitment of specific groups to complete external web surveys. That is the work Katherine Cunningham has been working on.
[08:44] Frances Meriman: We have been looking for residents with different health conditions to complete that survey.
[08:44] Frances Meriman: I am leading a different project right now which is really interesting.
[08:45] Frances Meriman: In survey research, one method we use to pretest surveys is called cognitive interviewing. Usually it involves face to face interviews with research participants who basically test out yoru questionnaire for you.
[08:45] Frances Meriman: They answer questions, and the researcher asks things like, “How did you determine your answer?” and “What was unclear about that question.”
[08:46] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): so a survey and meta-survey
[08:46] Frances Meriman: Yes! And we are typically limited to people in our regional area to test our questions.
[08:46] Frances Meriman: I live & work in Durham NC so there can be a regional bias or limitation.
[08:47] Frances Meriman: But with this current research, we are recruiting SL residents from all over the world to participate in teh cognitive interviews in world.
[08:47] Frances Meriman: We are also doing some interviews via video Skype and in person in our lab in NC as comparison groups.
[08:47] Frances Meriman: The work is just in the data collection stage, so I can’t really say anything about different findings across groups.
[08:47] Zotarah Shepherd: Are your findings being published in a journal?
[08:47] Ozma Malibu: fascinating
[08:47] Frances Meriman: Some of our previous research has been published in journals.
[08:48] Frances Meriman: let me get the links for you
[08:48] Zotarah Shepherd: Thank you
[08:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): How does recruitment in SL compare to recruiting for real world respondents?
[08:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Do you pay people in Linden Dollars?
[08:48] Frances Meriman: a body image study of avatar interviewiers in JVWR: http://journals.tdl.org/jvwr/article/view/621/495
[08:49] Zotarah Shepherd: Thank you
[08:49] Frances Meriman: SSCR: survey recruitment methods in SL: http://ssc.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/05/23/0894439311410024.full.pd…
[08:50] Frances Meriman: Our early research paid people in Linden Dollars. That was during the SL boom in 2008-2009.
[08:50] Frances Meriman: The cognitive interveiwing research is paying people in Amazon gift cards – so it is similar to RL lab research in that way.
[08:51] Frances Meriman: I think Katherine’s study is also paying in Linden dollars. It just depends on the burden associated with the interview.
[08:51] Frances Meriman: here is one last publication: http://www.rti.org/pubs/rr-0014-1012-murphy.pdf
[08:51] Zotarah Shepherd: Thank you
[08:52] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): For our nonprofits interested in surveying our members or the public, do you have any advice on how to conduct an effective survey strategy?
[08:52] Frances Meriman: I have about 4 minutes. Any specific questions? I apologize for the rush job on this, it was very last-minute. Do other participatns in hte NPC conduct research? Or are people here service providers?
[08:52] Frances Meriman: There are two posts on our blog about this.
[08:52] Ozma Malibu: Hi Frances, I just retired as an edtech researcher at ASU
[08:52] Serene Jewell: Are you doing research in virtual worlds other than Second Life?
[08:53] Frances Meriman: https://blogs.rti.org/surveypost/2012/03/13/how-to-grow-your-virtual-rol…
[08:53] Gentle Heron: Those are not mutually exclusive, Frances (research and service provision).
[08:53] Frances Meriman: https://blogs.rti.org/surveypost/2012/02/09/5-tips-for-recruiting-resear…
[08:53] Frances Meriman: That is absolutely true Gentle Heron! 🙂 One of the reasons my research career is satisfying!
[08:53] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): great. we’lll post those to our blog later
[08:54] Gentle Heron: Service provision is improved by a little customer surveying!
[08:54] Frances Meriman: Serene – we are not doing research in other VWs yet but I am trying to understand how the other VWs work so we could consider that.
[08:55] Frances Meriman: Basically our view (amongst the RTI researchers who blog) is that social research should adapt to emerging communication technologies.
[08:55] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Frances, I know ou have to rush. But we’d love to have you back to talk more about your methods and findings
[08:55] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): We all want to know more about our target populations and constituents as nonprofits
[08:55] Frances Meriman: I would like to see us have an approach to virtual world/virtual reality data collection that includes other platforms that SL.
[08:55] Frances Meriman: That is a great point Rik. Do you meet every Friday?
[08:55] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): let’s thanks Frances for her time though.
[08:56] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you, Frances! This is great and helpful for us.
[08:56] CarynTopia Silvercloud: thanks frances
[08:56] Serene Jewell: This is great info. Thank you for your time and all the links.
[08:56] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Frances, yes we do
[08:56] Ozma Malibu: Thank you, Frances! And, it was great to meet you.
[08:56] jacmacaire Humby: Merci Frances!!! 🙂
[08:56] Zotarah Shepherd: Thank you Frances Great work!
[08:56] Frances Meriman: thank you so much for having me. Goodbye!
[08:56] Gentle Heron: /me applauds Frances and RTI.
[08:56] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): very interesting, thank you Frances!
[08:57] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Ok that was a stimulating way to kick off our meetup today

TECHSOUP UPDATES

[08:57] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Now let’s move on to TechSoup updates
[08:57] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Bulaklak?
[08:58] bulaklak: Hi, folks!
[08:58] Glitteractica Cookie: hi
[08:58] bulaklak: So first up today, I’d like everyone to put on their thinking caps.
[08:58] Panny Bakerly: „ã°
[08:58] Gentle Heron: /me waves to Bulaklak.
[08:59] bulaklak: Today is Day Two of a two-day “sprint” to dream up some creative app ideas to solve food access and civic engagement issues
[08:59] bulaklak: What we would love is one of the following:
[08:59] bulaklak: If you are on Twitter, please tweet out your bright idea and tag it with #appitup some time today
[09:00] CarynTopia Silvercloud: oh, how fun
[09:00] Glitteractica Cookie: For example, the documentation of urban blight in a point/click/fix type of app
[09:00] bulaklak: If you are not on Twitter and you have a bright idea rigth this minute, please start shouting them out popcorn style and I will collect the ideas now
[09:00] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): so iOS and Android apps?
[09:00] Glitteractica Cookie: or matching food sources from restaurants and grocery stores to shelters in need
[09:00] Glitteractica Cookie: yes Rik
[09:00] Glitteractica Cookie: and also windows OS app
[09:00] bulaklak: If you don’t have a bright idea now but one comes to you some time today, please email them to community@techsoupglobal.org and put App it Up in the subject line
[09:01] Glitteractica Cookie: it’s not really the OS we are asking you to concern yourself with
[09:01] bulaklak: Okay…smartypantses start your engines
[09:01] bulaklak: Whose got ideas?
[09:01] Glitteractica Cookie: we want your ideas to send to the hhackers
[09:01] Ozma Malibu: I asked a class of young children about food access & they said: better delivery system (they thought a pipeline might work but were open to other ideas)
[09:01] Glitteractica Cookie: so, Ozma, we are looking for a more specific type pf idea
[09:02] Ozma Malibu: 🙂
[09:02] Glitteractica Cookie: or you can just tell us the need, and we will try to brianstorm
[09:02] CarynTopia Silvercloud: for small towns suffering with truck traffic, it might be nice to aggregate deliveries of restaurant supplies
[09:02] Glitteractica Cookie: Great idea Caryn
[09:02] bulaklak: Cool, Caryn
[09:02] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): app(s) that help teach & link to urban farming/homesteading & cooperatives content
[09:02] DyVerse Jeffery-Steele (dyverse): an app to find farmers markets
[09:03] Glitteractica Cookie: We were talking about having a way to document graffitti in neighborhoods and have ppl sign up on an app to paint over it
[09:03] Ozma Malibu: for hungry and homeless, a system of getting food where it’s needed within a city for instance.
[09:03] CarynTopia Silvercloud: for the farmer’s market app having recipes and info on the foods in season at the moment would help
[09:03] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): @DyVerse, wonder if it would be possible to find local farmers via Square?
[09:03] Buffy Beale: whispers Buffy Bye, Bridges for Women, Victoria BC Canada, http://www.bridgesforwomen.ca @bridges4women
[09:03] Glitteractica Cookie: maybe an app to report potholes in streets
[09:03] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Monterrey Bay Acquarium has a sustainable seafood app
[09:03] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch/web/sfw_iphone.aspx
[09:04] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): for potholes in the UK: http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/
[09:04] Ozma Malibu: getting food where it’s needed could definitely use an app in which those with donations could say so. that kind of thing.
[09:04] DyVerse Jeffery-Steele (dyverse): an app to find local resturants that serve sustainable green meals
[09:05] jacmacaire Humby: Great!
[09:05] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): a more general reporting app is seeclickfix http://mashable.com/2011/06/29/seeclickfix/
[09:05] Zotarah Shepherd: Food banks work in this area also food stamps EBT cards that work like credit cards available at most food stores. Not for restaurants or cooked items which might be harder for homless who have no way to cook. ‘
[09:05] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): @Ozma, or also maybe one that updates in real time the status of other resources as well, e.g. beds open at shelters & qualifying requirements, food shelf status, etc.
[09:05] CarynTopia Silvercloud: with that in mind with the app for sustainable meals if it can calculate the impact of going local in terms of saved gas, emissions, etc. that would be cool – and a metric for green economy value
[09:05] Glitteractica Cookie: yes Rik, but Marnie mentioned that the FIX part of see click fix isn’t really working
[09:06] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ah!
[09:06] Ozma Malibu: Ah Jerry that would be so useful yes.
[09:06] Glitteractica Cookie: Caryn and Jerry, YES
[09:06] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): too bad, I liked that app
[09:06] Rhiannon Chatnoir: nod
[09:06] Glitteractica Cookie: they are looking at it, but it’s not really effective
[09:07] bulaklak: Great! You guys are full of good ideas. I’ve tweeted some of these out from @TechSoup with the #appitup hashtag
[09:07] bulaklak: If you think of more, please tweet them out and tag them #appitup or email them to community@techsoupglobal.org and put App it Up in the subject line
[09:08] DyVerse Jeffery-Steele (dyverse): a city tour walking app that shows the routes how many calories you would loose and uses gps to give facts about buildings and historic areas you pass
[09:08] CarynTopia Silvercloud: for those sensitive to hazardous chemicals (MCS, on chemo, elderly and children), it might be nice to have an app that could connect people with spaces that are clear or with people who are naturally nontoxic
[09:08] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): @Ozma, and perhaps include educational content that would also be relevant, especially to those who may not find resources, e.g. content & tips from others about good & safe locations to sleep & weather the cold, foraging, etc
[09:08] Red (talkwithmarie): ooh cool idea @Dyverse
[09:08] bulaklak: That’s neat, DyVerse. Augmented reality
[09:08] Jen (jenelle.levenque): I apologize, but I have another meeting to get to RL
[09:08] Glitteractica Cookie: remember, these are for mobile devices and folks with limited tech/internet access
[09:08] Red (talkwithmarie): tc Jen
[09:09] Jen (jenelle.levenque): I love brainstorming
[09:09] Glitteractica Cookie: Jen– please send us your ideas
[09:09] Jen (jenelle.levenque): Apps might not be appropriate for a homeless person with no phone, but could be very useful to service providers to connect them with other services
[09:10] Jen (jenelle.levenque): So a food pantry might know where empty beds were at another provider
[09:10] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): @Dyverse, yes & gps could be used for navigation maps to identify resources
[09:10] Serene Jewell: How about a project that collects anonymous stories from hungry people about what it is really like to be hungry and where they try to find food and why it’s not working and what needs to change.
[09:10] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): @Glitteractica, would assume app could also go cross platform so could be accessed via public libraries as well?
[09:11] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Locavore app for iOS http://www.getlocavore.com/
[09:11] Red (talkwithmarie): how about train and bus stations?
[09:11] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): does anyone know if there are pay as you go smartphones?
[09:11] Glitteractica Cookie: Jerry yes, but remember that often homeless folks are not allowed in public access lbs, and if they are they are limited to one hour sessions
[09:11] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): free wifi is pretty broadly available
[09:12] Glitteractica Cookie: anyway, that is not really what we are discussing. I just wanted to make a point, that we are not necessarily looking for augmented reality, since it’s not going to help those in immediate need
[09:12] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): can often pick up a signal in the parking lot of a coffee shop
[09:12] Glitteractica Cookie: we are looking for IDEAS to solve prblems
[09:12] Glitteractica Cookie: that is what I’d like to have you all focus on
[09:12] Hour Destiny: Ideas is one of my main strengths. 🙂
[09:12] Glitteractica Cookie: and we are fcosuing (at this time) on food and civic actions
[09:13] Serene Jewell: How about an app that lets people chip in to provide shelter and food for one particular person for a month.
[09:13] CarynTopia Silvercloud: if there is a site for carpooling that is like air b and b that has info about the person, if there were a localization connection in real time for people near each other it might be good
[09:13] Glitteractica Cookie: Hour — I mentioned you in the meeting yesterday
[09:13] Glitteractica Cookie: i knew you’d have ideas!
[09:13] Glitteractica Cookie: Serene… great idea!, Caryn… awesome!
[09:13] Hour Destiny: I’m all ears, so to speak. 🙂
[09:13] Ozma Malibu: yes Jerry and often someone in a group has a way to connect. I know a kid who uses a phone to find the best place to stand when hitchhiking
[09:13] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): INBloom helps you find organic, sustainable businessses http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/inbloom-preview/id486125682?mt=8
[09:14] Glitteractica Cookie: i love serene’s idea about carpooling a la Air BNB
[09:14] Glitteractica Cookie: Rik– fantastic
[09:14] Glitteractica Cookie: you guys are so full of great app ideas
[09:14] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Avegodriver does taht http://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/avego-driver/id369681885?mt=8
[09:14] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): “make your car into a bus”
[09:15] Serene Jewell: That was Caryn’s idea about carpooling fyi
[09:15] Hour Destiny: I’m currently working on an app that’ll function as a “second memory”.
[09:15] Glitteractica Cookie: Oh great idea Caryn… 😉
[09:15] Ozma Malibu: Hour, what does the app do?
[09:15] DyVerse Jeffery-Steele (dyverse): an app that gives the homeless population in the city or area you are in through gps and local ways to help and/or volunterr
[09:16] CarynTopia Silvercloud: cool rick, does it rate the passengers and offer any kind of insurance?
[09:16] Glitteractica Cookie: DyVerse… such a gr8 idea
[09:16] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): @Ozma, Yes I think that social componet in an app could be very powerful, so allowing the homeless community to also contribute to the sharing of resources & useful info via the app
[09:16] Ozma Malibu: DyVerse. very nice.
[09:16] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): caryn, no idea. but seems well recommended
[09:17] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): yes, like that idea DyVerse
[09:17] CarynTopia Silvercloud: cool with definitely check it out
[09:17] bulaklak: Okay, great. Thanks, everyone.
[09:18] bulaklak: Remember if you think of something else later, tweet it out with the tag #appitup or email it to us at community@techsoupglobal.org
[09:18] Ozma Malibu: DyVerse, the reason I like it so much is that In any situation, people can help, and helping others is the best and quickest way to improve one’s own life.
[09:18] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): how about a smartphone recycling/donation program?
[09:18] Serene Jewell: How about an app that sends you an alert when there is an urban blight cleanup project in your area that needs volunteers.
[09:18] Glitteractica Cookie: Jerry, say more on that one plz?
[09:19] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): people cycle & upgrade smartphones as the newer & better ones come
[09:19] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): so why not start a program that takes donations and then dirstributes to those who might be able to use them
[09:19] Glitteractica Cookie: oh yes, gr8 one
[09:19] Hour Destiny: Most organizers or personal assistants uses a calendar or a list. My app is more like a mindmap or a radar that changes as you move around and/or time passes.
[09:19] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): especially pay as you go smartphones
[09:20] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): (we should probably warp up this section. We still ahve mentors Central)
[09:20] jacmacaire Humby: An app to let us know if any product or service is eco!! 🙂
[09:20] bulaklak: Okay I have one more announcement from TechSoup!
[09:20] Glitteractica Cookie: Great brainstorm, folks!
[09:20] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): awesome idea jam!
[09:20] bulaklak: In the same vein, TechSoup’s Glenn Fajardo wrote a great piece on the Stanford Social Innovation Review
[09:21] Serene Jewell: Many of these app ideas revolve around matching need with resources in a geographical way.
[09:21] bulaklak: He attended a gathering of the *Weekend Movement in Malaysia
[09:21] bulaklak: Please read about it here: http://bit.ly/IdE6Up
[09:21] bulaklak: The *Weekend Movement does much the same as what we were jsut brainstorming
[09:21] bulaklak: They address civil society issues in brainstorms and fix problems quickly
[09:22] bulaklak: So that’s the TechSoup news for today
[09:22] bulaklak: Thanks, all
[09:22] CarynTopia Silvercloud: nice
[09:22] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): awesome
[09:22] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): awesome
[09:22] Hour Destiny: http://www.mind42.com is useful for brainstorming via mindmaps.
[09:22] jacmacaire Humby: For those who is interested to make an app to make our project of ECCOPLANET http://www.eccoplanet.com let us know..
[09:22] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Always good to do those idea jams “in avatar” on occasion here

MENTORS CENTRAL

[09:23] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok so lets move on to Mentors Central
[09:23] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): who speaks for the Mentors today?
[09:23] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you! Today we have Rhiannon, Ozma, and myself sharing about project teamwork.
[09:23] Ozma Malibu: We’re going to talk about a project we just finished outside the NPC: one that demonstrates three members of our very own NPC mentor team working together, each contributing different skills: Rhiannon, Zinnia and Ozma. It’s a good example of how mentoring works. The skills were:
[09:23] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): sweet
[09:23] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): also, an open source collaborative mind-mapping tool In the same vein, TechSoup’s Glenn Fajardo wrote a great piece on the Stanford Social Innovation Review
[09:21] Serene Jewell: Many of these app ideas revolve around matching need with resources in a geographical way.
[09:21] bulaklak: He attended a gathering of the *Weekend Movement in Malaysia
[09:21] bulaklak: Please read about it here: http://bit.ly/IdE6Up
[09:24] Ozma Malibu: (sorry, trying to hurry..)
[09:24] Ozma Malibu: OK, again -We’re going to talk about a project we just finished outside the NPC: one that demonstrates three members of our very own NPC mentor team working together, each contributing different skills: Rhiannon, Zinnia and Ozma. It’s a good example of how mentoring works.
[09:24] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): (yes mee too, got rushed … my bad)
[09:24] Buffy Beale: cheering!
[09:24] Ozma Malibu: Teamwork! Ozma: design the project, write the grant proposall
[09:25] Ozma Malibu: Rhiannon: along with my colleague Amulius Lioncourt, help design and build out the overall virtual experience for participants. And, additionally I helped with graphics/web/video support and documenting the project
[09:25] Ozma Malibu: Zinnia: help orient, train and was often the front line of onboarding and troubleshooting for all project participants
[09:25] Ozma Malibu: The project was funded by the Helios Education Foundation & titled IDEAL-ITQ.
[09:25] Ozma Malibu: And: Purpose of the project: to take existing, innovative, face-to-face science courses and put them online for rural teachers, using appropriate technologies for each area. SL was used for Science Inquiry, which is collaborative and hands-on (and obviously wouldn’t work well in something like Blackboard.)
[09:26] Ozma Malibu: Now I turn this over to Joyce!
[09:26] Ozma Malibu: Rhiannon that is.
[09:26] Rhiannon Chatnoir: either works.. and thanks
[09:26] Rhiannon Chatnoir: I will talk a bit about the overall virtual experience and some of the choices we made there…
[09:26] Rhiannon Chatnoir: The project had five key discipline areas: Science Inquiry (Problem Based Learning), Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Technology & Engineering
[09:26] Rhiannon Chatnoir: For IDEAL-ITQ, the Moodle based online courseware was also organized via these five areas.
[09:27] Hour Destiny: Why not MIT OpenCourseWare at http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm ? There are free science courses there.
[09:27] Rhiannon Chatnoir: We had a key infographic we were using that was in essence a central sphere, with 5 smaller, color coded spheres spoking off of it.
[09:27] Rhiannon Chatnoir: We decided it was key to carry over this structure to the virtual experience and made the overall virtual build have a central meeting/gathering area, with five breakout meeting spaces.
[09:28] Second Life: Grace Cuthbertsson is online.
[09:28] Rhiannon Chatnoir: i moved the graphics over to show this evolution
[09:28] Rhiannon Chatnoir: .. and we can chat more on questions at the end, but am sure Ozma can ansewr that better then
[09:28] Rhiannon Chatnoir: Each break out area was color coded to coincide with the Moodle web experience so participants could login to SL and meet in their corresponding color area, there were also private meeting spaces assigned to each colored area, in the sky.
[09:28] Rhiannon Chatnoir: This unity in user experience design helped ease the jump from the web to Second Life.
[09:29] Rhiannon Chatnoir: … now will turn it over to Zinnia to talk on her part of things 🙂
[09:29] Zinnia Zauber: thank you
[09:29] Zinnia Zauber: Effective virtual world mentoring requires two main themes for me. 1. Encouraging an individual to express their best self through intent, action, and appearance. 2. Building an environment where participants actually feel like they are a unique and vital part of a community.
[09:29] Zinnia Zauber: On this project, I created two sets of slides for participants to review before logging in.
[09:29] Zinnia Zauber: The goal was to introduce them to Second Life before they entered and taught them how to befriend me once they entered. That way they knew they were not alone and would have a helpful guide to light the path for them.
[09:30] Zinnia Zauber: Assurance is key.

You can view those two sets of slides here: http://www.slideshare.net/renneemiko
[09:30] Zinnia Zauber: I gave the participants several times to meet with me for their introduction and custom avatar creation. We know that our avatars are an important expression in virtual worlds.
[09:30] Zinnia Zauber: Because most of our participants were science teachers, I created lab coats for them. This piece of apparel created unity and identity for them.
[09:30] Zinnia Zauber: But, it is important for them to also have unique appearances. As part of my skill training in Second Life always involves shopping to customize their avatar’s look.
[09:30] Glitteractica Cookie: This is fantastic Zinnia
[09:30] Zinnia Zauber: Once the participants feel comfy in their new virtual skins then they become bold and curious to learn more skills and explore more places in virtual worlds.
[09:31] Zinnia Zauber: Which was great because then I got to teach this group even more skills!
[09:31] Zinnia Zauber: It was great because they lead what they wanted to learn.
[09:32] Zinnia Zauber: That let Rhiannon to continue…
[09:32] Ozma Malibu: back to Rhiannon!
[09:32] Rhiannon Chatnoir: thanks.. another key area was making sure we shared what we were doing…
[09:33] Rhiannon Chatnoir: It is hugely important to share work with stakeholders, those who would be interested and your community at large.
[09:33] Rhiannon Chatnoir: During the project, we took lots of snapshots documenting the development of the project and it’s use

– building out the project: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joystudios/sets/72157629545268576/

– presentations: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thevesuviusgroup/sets/72157627533621594/
[09:33] Rhiannon Chatnoir: and will see some of those to our side, in the flickr show on a prim 🙂
[09:33] Rhiannon Chatnoir: We also documented fully via machinima capture the end problem based learning project presentations that took place in Second Life

– Roller Coaster Physics presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4U9hC69kPE

– Geoliteracy – the Grand Canyon presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ladDYLMwh58
[09:34] Rhiannon Chatnoir: those are links to the full, almost hour long presentations each.. if want a full view of the resulting end work that came out of this project from the participant teachers
[09:34] Rhiannon Chatnoir: and from all of this documentation, along with writing an accompanying concise/informative script, we created a 1 minute digital story of the overvall project.
[09:35] Rhiannon Chatnoir: Beyond the importance of sharing all of this media back with all of the stakeholders; project leads, participants and the grantees, we also took part in events such as Tech Soup’s digital storytelling contest. This helped to further hone the end story of the project and was a great opportunity to share, outreach, get more people aware of our work.

Look for synergy like this to share your message and work!
[09:35] Rhiannon Chatnoir: I will change the web on a prim to be our end digital story – a quick minute long video and we can take questions if there is time still
[09:36] Ozma Malibu: Questions?
[09:36] Serene Jewell: Wow. That was a great presentation.
[09:36] Ozma Malibu: Or the video first, Rhiannon?
[09:36] Buffy Beale: Fantastic work!
[09:36] Ozma Malibu: anyway…@Hour, good question, thanks. We were looking appropriate technologies for the various areas of science and also forming a community of science teachers so we chose technologies that we thought would ensure the continuity of the community. For content did use parts of one MIT course in a physical science course, along with google maps. We also used some Pearson content. But for the inquiry & problem-based learning, SL worked far better than anything else because the students got to learn by doing, and doing together.
[09:36] Gentle Heron: Great teamwork, gals.
[09:36] jacmacaire Humby: Great!!
[09:36] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): weshould do the video and then wrap. but great stuff!
[09:36] jacmacaire Humby: Bravo 🙂
[09:36] Ethelred Weatherwax: It’s great to hear about the exciting projects being undertaken by our NPC residents
[09:37] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you, Gentle! That is what it is about teamwork!
[09:37] Gentle Heron: Hear Hear, Ethelred!
[09:37] Ozma Malibu: we really did learn a lot about using SL properly in a course
[09:37] Rhiannon Chatnoir: and the video is up on the web on a prim now
[09:37] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): awesome project
[09:37] Zinnia Zauber: We all have different skills and superpowers. This project let all of us use ours and in turn helped others to shine.
[09:38] Rhiannon Chatnoir: gives a good idea on how to create a overall message about your project that can combine the work you do in real life and here in second life
[09:38] Ozma Malibu: and this really is how mentoring works – teamwork – you can be a mentor!
[09:38] Rhiannon Chatnoir: http://youtu.be/-VyWMRmTyT4 if want to watch it later
[09:38] Buffy Beale: Will you be doing this again or was it a one time only?
[09:38] Ozma Malibu: well, we had some funding for this, but we are working on a second proposal
[09:38] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Awesome guys. This was more of a featured presentation than Mentors Central!
[09:39] Zinnia Zauber: Thank you, Rik! We have a lot to share and want to encourage folks.
[09:39] CarynTopia Silvercloud: nice to see how teamwork can produce great results
[09:39] Serene Jewell: What kind of feedback did you get from the participants?
[09:39] Gentle Heron: Rik, this kind of presentation would make a good “feature”.
[09:39] Rhiannon Chatnoir: aww thanks – we tried to make it as quick we could though.. thanks RIk, Glitter, etc 🙂
[09:40] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): @Gentle, Agreed
[09:40] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): In the future we’d love to feature these kinds of elaborate multi-media projects more. So if you need more time and promotion, just ask
[09:40] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): but we should wrap for now and move on
[09:40] Buffy Beale: thanks for sharing
[09:40] Ozma Malibu: and thanks, team!! Zinnia and Rhiannon are the best of the best, seriously..
[09:41] Serene Jewell: Great work.
[09:41] Zinnia Zauber: It was a honor to work with you guys!

OPEN MIC

[09:41] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok who has items for the Open Mic ?
[09:41] Em Ellsmere: raises hand
[09:41] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): please put up your paws and I’ll call on you
[09:41] Gentle Heron: I do also.
[09:42] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Em go ahead, and then Gentle
[09:42] Em Ellsmere: thanks..
[09:42] Em Ellsmere: Next week starts ALS Awareness Month in May. There will be a variety of activities held in SL, including events with the Flying Tigers at Amelias on May 4 & 6, a hunt starting on May 1 that includes gifts from 20 quality shops; and my yearly candlelight vigil, though this year I have a booth outside my office where people can light candles all month long.
[09:42] Em Ellsmere: woud love to see you all joining in when you have time
[09:42] Em Ellsmere: ty 🙂
[09:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thants great Em
[09:43] Buffy Beale: sounds fun Em
[09:43] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Gentle, you are up
[09:43] Gentle Heron: This weekend, please consider attending the VAI Mental Health Symposium- TOMORROW SATURDAY April 28 8am-5:30+pm
Find the full schedule on our blog: http://blog.virtualability.org/
[09:43] Gentle Heron: 8- Cognitive Rehabilitation
9- “Vodka and Saliva”
[09:43] Gentle Heron: 10- Pathways to Mental Health
*11- Why Virtual Counseling Is Advanced Telemedicine (keynote by Coughran!)
[09:43] Gentle Heron: 12- Counselor Education in Second Life
1- Neurobiology of PTSD
3- Mental Health & Peer Support
[09:43] Gentle Heron: 4- Mental Health Isn’t All Mental
*5- Mental Health & Minority Communities (presentation by DyVerse!)
[09:43] Gentle Heron: 5:30+ Celebration: Music & Dancing

Please join us for discussion and fun. Details in notecard that I can give you if you IM me.
[09:44] Gentle Heron: And, now that we in the Northern Hemisphere are getting into sun season, it’s time to think about protecting ourselves from melanoma. Please consider attending a fun and informative session by a Mayo Clinic surgeon today at noon.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mayo%20Clinic/34/195/28
Learn Not to (sun)Burn!
[09:44] Gentle Heron: (done!)
[09:44] Zinnia Zauber: Awesome!
[09:44] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): great! we posted this to the NPC blog too
[09:44] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok anymore announcements?
[09:45] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Do you guys agree I should have Frances back to talk more about how SL can be used to survey our members and the public?
[09:45] Buffy Beale: sure Rik
[09:46] Serene Jewell: yes
[09:46] Rhiannon Chatnoir: i have one quick
[09:46] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): go Rhiannon
[09:46] Gentle Heron: Please do invite Frances back. She has a lot more to share.
[09:46] Rhiannon Chatnoir: There have been a group of educators and edu techs exploring/learning together in a post VWBE online open courseware class that just wrapped up looking at virtual worlds and games based learning.
There will be two followup courses coming up. One a machinima camp: http://bit.ly/P2PUmachinima and also a ARG workshop: http://bit.ly/P2PU-ARG
[09:46] Zinnia Zauber: Wonderful!
[09:46] Rhiannon Chatnoir: a couple of of from nonprofit commons are part of this… so join us if interested
[09:46] Buffy Beale: ohh nice one Rhi
[09:47] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): thank Rhiannon
[09:47] Rhiannon Chatnoir: … oh.. and I am wearing rigged mesh feet here in SL (has toes!)
[09:47] Rhiannon Chatnoir: 😛
[09:47] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): ok that’s it for today I think
[09:47] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): lots of great intel for this morning
[09:47] Buffy Beale: lol wiggle your toes
[09:47] Rhiannon Chatnoir: sadly cant.. but intrigued by the detail to avatars rigged mesh can give
[09:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I hope you have a great Friday and a restful weekend
[09:48] Rhiannon Chatnoir: wont see it unless you have a mesh enabled viewer 🙂
[09:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): Mentors meeting after this?
[09:48] Rhiannon Chatnoir: thanks Rik
[09:48] Zinnia Zauber: Mentors Meeting in 5 minutes
[09:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): cool
[09:48] Zinnia Zauber: go get that refill
[09:48] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): woot! back in 5
[09:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): I have to bounce I’m afraid
[09:48] Rik Panganiban (rik.riel): but it was great seeing everyone again
[09:48] Buffy Beale: have a great weekend everyone
[09:48] Zinnia Zauber: See yah Rik!
[09:48] Jerry Buchko (jerrybuchko): bye Rik
[09:49] Zinnia Zauber: Take care everyone!
[09:49] Em Ellsmere: bye everyone
[09:49] Zinnia Zauber: Mentors in 4 minutes
[09:49] Serene Jewell: Great information everyone. Thanks for sharing and doing the wonderful work you do.
[09:49] Serene Jewell: Bye for now.

Written by: rikomatic