Email on FB by Fire about sloodle 0.4 launch

Hello great Educators interested in Second Life!

I'd like to formally invite you all to our SLOODLE 0.4 release party tomorrow Wednesday April 8th on SLOODLE Island in Second Life.

We are thrilled to announce our latest release including a Quicktime presenter, a postcard blogging tool and refinements throughout which make this the most stable and thoroughly documented version yet.

We are hosting demonstration sessions this Wednesday to explain the new features. Immediately afterward we will have an "install party" where experts will show how the tools function and how you can put them to work immediately.

These meetings are:

o) Wednesday April 8, during the afternoon and evening Second Life time
- 2-3:30pm SLT (10-11:30pm GMT)
- 8-9:30pm SLT (4-5:30am GMT)

o) Located near the SLOODLE Island Sandbox in the SLOODLE Showcase Hall! You can teleport directly there by going to the following SLURL:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sloodle/232/214/72


To prepare for the interactive workshop portion of the event, you are welcome to register for the 0.4 launch demo course:
http://www.sloodle.org/moodle/course/view.php?id=49
(Click on "Create new account" on the bottom right of the login screen)

Key features for 0.4:

- Presenter: Uses the Quicktime channel to send images, video and web-pages to your audience. You build shows on the Web and control them in SL. Eliminates fees for uploading image textures and also allows for creative collaborations on the Web before the show begins. (new for 0.4)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVrd4V6KjHM

- Postcard blogger: Students mail SL postcards to the LMS, which automatically converts the photos and text into blog posts. Great for scavenger hunt assignments. (new for 0.4) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiXrXA1A_ok

- WebIntercom: Synchronizes live chat in-world with the LMS chatroom and stores chat transcripts on the Web. Students may participate from the web with certified Section 508-compliant controls. Tested on iPhones!

- Toolbar: Heads-up-display sends blog posts to the LMS, lets students animate their avatar and lists nearby authenticated classmates

- Quiz Chair: Turns multi-choice quizzes into a fun physical simulation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqfBRfwkkrQ

- Pile-on Quiz: A multi-user quiz game show for groups of students

- Prim Drop: Accepts prim objects and logs transactions in the LMS

- MetaGloss: Query the course glossary from in-world. Good for illustrating lectures with stored text descriptions

- Choice: Give a survey and show results in 3D charts

- Vending Machine: Place your handouts and objects in the tool and then distribute the objects remotely from the Web or students may collect objects with their avatar.

- Administrative tools: Allow direct avatar-to-LMS account authentication. You will know who your students are and only they will have access to your tools. Enables graded activities and cuts down on confusion with avatar names and griefing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhXdUUVNiWI

All of these tools are documented here:
http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/sl/index.php/SloodleUserDocs

What is SLOODLE?

SLOODLE is an Open Source project which integrates the multi-user virtual environment of Second Life® with the Moodle ® learning-management system.

SLOODLE provides a range of tools for supporting learning and teaching to the immersive virtual world; tools which are integrated with a tried and tested leading web-based learning management system.

The SLOODLE project online home is at http://www.sloodle.org, where you'll find news and discussion forums, the blog, and many more resources.

--The Sloodle team: Peter Bloomfield, Edmund Edgar, Jeremy Kemp, Daniel Livingstone, Paul G. Preibisch, Gia Rossini, Chris Surridge

SLOODLE is funded and supported by Eduserv and hosted by SJSU School of Library & Information Science. All code is available for free and is licensed under GNU GPL.

If you can't come to the event,
I'd like to also invite you to the weekly SLOODLE 101 Classes which are held every Tuesday at 1:30PST. Each week, avatars meet us in world, where Fire Centaur talks about SLOODLE / MOODLE / LMS, and the basics of installtion / operation of our tools.

We hope to see you at the party or in our SLOODLE 101 Classes!

Come for some fun!