Avatar Action Center Blogs http://www.avataraction.org/twiki/tiki-blogs_rss.php Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:51:37 +0100 Tiki CMS/Groupware via FeedCreator 1.7.2.1 http://www.avataraction.org/twiki/img/tiki/tikilogo.png Tiki 3.0 http://www.avataraction.org/twiki/tiki-index.php en-us sage@avataraction.org sage@avataraction.org Some more developments on the Wiki by Sage http://www.avataraction.org/twiki/tiki-view_blog_post.php?blogId=9&postId=9
Dark Sequent and Sage Truss have been busy behind the scenes making improvements to the Avatar Action Center web site/wiki, and we wanted to let you know what you can do and find up there now.

The AAC wiki is used as more than just an information area for web users interested in learning more about the organization. It was really developed to be both a collaboration and sharing space for members of the AAC group and an opportunnity space for people outside SL to interact with and contribute to our space.

Until today, much of the functionality that allows people to create, edit and update materials on the site has been limited to those with "Editor" privileges, but that has been changed. Now any registered user has the ability to:

- Add and edit pages on the wiki
- Upload images to image galleries
- Start new threads in forums
- View, download and attach files associated with wiki pages
- Upload pictures to wiki pages
- Upload files to file galleries
- Use the messaging system and broadcast messages to all users
- Use tasks, send tasks to other users and receive tasks from other users

In addition, a new tutorial has been posted explaining how to create a new wiki page, and how to use a template when doing so. There are templates available for:

- Proposing a new project for AAC
- Proposing a course
- Proposing a game

Templates will help us maintain a consistent approach to how we implement new things at AAC, as well as help us organize the resources to do so.

You can find the tutorial once you log into the site by clicking the "File Galleries" link in the menu on the left, and then going into the Wiki Tutorials file gallery. We will be putting more tutorials up there as we get time to complete them, and feel free to ask for tutorials on things you would like to learn.

Please direct questions about the wiki to Sage Truss, and in the meantime, happy creating!

- Sage

]]> Sat, 05 Apr 2008 22:02:56 +0100 Wiki http://www.avataraction.org/twiki/tiki-view_blog_post.php?blogId=9&postId=8 http://www.avataraction.org/twiki/tiki-list_articles.php there are two more additions, from actual publication in an SL magazine known as Seventh Sun.

1. Sustainability Girls - The Avatar Action Center
2. Irony Meets innovation - Earth Day 2008

Have a look....
]]> Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:01:23 +0100 Developments at the AAC http://www.avataraction.org/twiki/tiki-view_blog_post.php?blogId=8&postId=7 The AAC Wiki.
image

Well this is the first blog posting on the developments of the wiki, developments on other aspects of the AAC’s work will follow. If you have the RSS feed already you may well have a good idea of what the wiki has to offer, if not please read on.

So what has been going on our Wiki?

Well let me go through the sections of the wiki and what we have on offer. I will just highlight some of the main areas for now, but it has a lot more to offer than my initial outline below.

The AAC Image Galleries

We have a number of picture galleries to wonder through they are

  • AAC General A View into Second Life and what is there to be seen
  • Building For Sustainable Development Pictures that inspire, demonstrate or simply inform, on building, facilities and equipment.:
  • Earth Day 2007 The AAC earth day was hosted on the 22nd April 2007. A massive amount of effort went into this event by the team, and it was a great success, with many events such as presentation, demonstrations, talks, music concerts and a party for all at the end of the day.
  • Places of Note in SL : Second Life has some places that are really wonderful, and many are working to help the world and its people become a better place. These pictures show some places worth a look.
  • Solstice Event 2007 : A rising awareness event for the AAC held on the 23rd June 2007 Sun 24 of Jun, 2007
  • The AAC Crew : Pictures of the AAC Team in SL (well some of them, please send me yours or contact me or post them yourself… please)

Add your own or contribute to the ones above

AAC Articles

This area is a place to put anything you want to present to the group, and can be used to develop ideas that can be implemented or worked on by a group.

The AAC Blogs (these can be posted and linked in to the RSS web browser feed)

This is the chance to spread your messages to the users and to help bring people up to date with goings on.

  • Thoughts from the Dark Side : This is a report type posting on technical progress and developments of the AAC areas, these include: Wiki, Moodle, Sloodle, Education Stations, The island etc.
  • Media Space : Those wishing to upload media i.e video, mp3 etc, can claim a free username and password from me for my site. just let me know what username u`d like and specify a password then IM or e-mail me and i`ll give you ftp access
  • Sustainable Development. : What key features should a centre in virtual reality have to provide the required impact on visitors to the centre, so as they question there real world environment they live in and the actions they can take to work towards sustainable development in there on personal sphere of influence and eyond…....
  • Sage Truss : Notes… Chronicling work and virtual community in of the Avatar Action Center.

The AAC Members Forums.

  • AAC Developments : Use this area to talk about ideas pertaining to content development for AAC, including games, courses, events, and discussions, both new practices and ideas for improving existing content.


This is a new area that has just gone on line, so please have a look and contribute!

AAC Members Community : This forum is for members of the AAC community in SL to talk about anything at all that you think would be of interest to the group


The AAC Public Forums

These forms are open to public viewing from the Wiki home page.

  • AAC Event Forums : Posting, planning and discussion for AAC events goes here
  • Sustainability : Use this forum to discuss sustainability issues in all their permutations, including resources, opinions, articles, and thoughts.
  • Virtual Education Discussion : This topic is for discussing education and learning in a virtual world platform including possibilities, effectiveness, drawbacks, ideas, resources, and other related commentary
  • General Comments : Welcome to the AAC discussion board. As a registered user of the site, feel free to share your comments and participate in posted discussions.

The AAC Directory

This area holds links both into SL on other sites, both managed by the AAC, associated with us or useful links.


This area has only just been established so watch this space.

This is just a small introduction of what the Wiki has to offer. I will keep you posted on further developments.

Remember more can be added in any area, and you can contribute too many of them directly and some if you are a member only. Contact me for any assistance you may require.


Dark.sequent

contact me in world by the same name, or post a communication on the wiki.
]]> Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:01:07 +0100 Islands, News Shows, Earth Day and More! http://www.avataraction.org/twiki/tiki-view_blog_post.php?blogId=1&postId=3
First bit of big news is that we've finally gotten our fiscal sponsorship application approved by the Tides Center, and as soon as their board of directors signs off on it, we will be officially operating under 501(c)3 nonprofit status! This will, as far as I know (and I've been asking around), make AAC the first nonprofit to emerge from SL. In any case, big thanks are due to the Tides Center for working so hard to help our little virtual world-based organization think bigger by extending sponsorship.

We are also working on a brand new media initiative called Avatar Action Education Network, which will be a weekly show approximately 15 minutes long featuring sustainability issue news and interviews from the field, both in SL and RL, of people promoting sustainability awareness in both worlds. Our shows will be archived and distributed as podcasts from this site, so keep an eye out for those. Come visit the set if you get a chance:


AANN Studio Set


Our permaculture display is under construction on the upper level inside the new megadome at Undulosa. This will be a small version of the display we will be putting together on the AAC island and will show how permaculture can be applied on a small scale for a home that has just a little property (picture suburbia). You can stroll through the gardens taking shape:


Permaculture Garden Display


I'm excited to announce our 2008 Earth Day event will be happening April 19th from 8am to 8pm, so save the date for that. We will have a great lineup again this year of performers and presentations to honor our beautiful and ailing planet, so come out and help celebrate with us, or help create the event even! We need volunteers to help with building, display setup, programming, promotions, and assisting with tours and security on the day of the event, so do lend us your time and talent if you feel inspired.

Finally, a note about our delayed deployment of the Education Station system. We hit a couple of snagsor limitations, reallywith the programming of the system, but I think we figured ways around them now and will be testing the system over the next couple of weeks. Another interesting exploration we are making on the educational front is in SLoodle, an integration project between SL and an open source learning management system called Moodle, which promises yet another way to set up web-based educational materials for delivery in SL as well as on the web. This is yet another way that AAC will be able to reach out from SL into the real world to make a difference!

In all, lots of new and exciting things going on at AAC, as we continue to grow the organization in service to our mission to encourage people in the real world to live sustainably and take action.
]]> Sat, 23 Feb 2008 06:56:22 +0100 Summer of Sustainability http://www.avataraction.org/twiki/tiki-view_blog_post.php?blogId=1&postId=2
Although I did not spend too much time in Second Life over the summer, I have continued working to design programs to fulfill the AAC mission of raising awareness about sustainability issues and encouraging people to take action in real life. This is a tall order for an environment focused mainly on providing entertainment for its visitors. For us at AAC, it means making learning about serious issues fun and engaging.

One of the innovations I recently introduced to the staff is a program to award Certificates of Awareness. We will be constructing a series of Education Stations that will each familiarize its user with an aspect of sustainabilityincluding renewable energy, corporate responsibility, organic agriculture, food production, building local economies, climate change, peak oil, economic globalization, and many other topicsthrough text description, slides, video footage, and interactive simulations and models. When a student feels educated about an issue, she can then take a ten question quiz. After passing ten different quizzes with a score of 80% or better, the student is awarded a Certificate of Awareness and is entered into a monthly drawing to win L$2500. We hope to have the first station operational by October 5th, with at least one new station following each week.

Another exciting opportunity emerged just two days ago. I went to the 3rd Annual Symbiosis Gathering this past weekend and was introduced to the visionary crew of the Sustainable Living Roadshow.
Sustainable Living Roadshow Crew
In addition to performing amazing educational puppet shows and hosting information booths with games and printed materials, this passionate group is gaining support for the creation of a caravan of awareness-raising activities designed to teach student groups in colleges to hold sustainable living events on their own. Visit their website to learn more about these very talented people and their activities.

I had the opportunnity to talk with two of the group's co-founders, Jonathan Youtt and Zach Carson, and it turns out they had been talking about creating a presence in Second Life, and I am hopeful that we will be able to host a virtual rendition of Sustainable Living Roadshow...I'll keep you posted!

Finally, I have been working on securing fiscal sponsorship from a nonprofit organization, which would allow the AAC to lease an island in Second Life at a discounted rate as well as increase the possibility of raising funds to expand our reach across SL and other virtual worlds as feasible. In any case, I hope to have more news about fiscal sponsorship shortly. In the meantime, to the AAC staff, I say keep up the great work! We are making a difference!

]]> Tue, 25 Sep 2007 06:26:39 +0100 Avatar Action Center - Bridging the Virtual and the Real http://www.avataraction.org/twiki/tiki-view_blog_post.php?blogId=1&postId=1
In Second Life, our avatars can run and fly, dance and throw tantrums. We can shop for clothes, build a house, skydive, and rollerskate. All kinds of possibilities for fun and frolic exist, but when it comes to creating spaces for document sharing and collaboration, course delivery and information management, the space falls very short on functionality. In response to those shortcomings, we are excited to offer this web space as the newest major component of the AAC.

I'm proud to say that thanks to a core team of dedicated volunteers, the AAC has been gaining momentum, and as our community grows, so does our desire to get the word out and provide other ways for people to join in the conversation! We are starting this web site to talk about what we are doing in the virtual space, provide a collaboration platform for AAC members to develop content and courses for implementation in Second Life, and open a forum to discuss topics relevant to our work: sustainability, virtual education, community, and taking action. My hope is that the web site will draw more people in both worlds together into conversation not only about using virtual world technology for educational purposes, but more importantly about saving the resources and diversity of our planet through virtual community.

So, welcome to all, and please feel free to jump in! Let us know what you think about using virtual worlds and the feasibility of connecting virtual world citizens with real life issues...can this really work? We think so, but what do you think?
]]> Wed, 21 Mar 2007 06:52:24 +0100