From Mars to Margaritaville_an EM 825 Summer 2013 Intergalactic Tour

It is with great delight that I showcase the accomplishments of my Emerging Media 825 Strategic Use of Virtual Worlds class.  Most of them began the term new to virtual world design and came from diverse backgrounds, yet rose to the challenge admirably!
EM 825 Summer 2013




Our visual tour begins with the Psych project team with its Cultural Center and Tzion, a place of comfort to victims of human trafficking. The Info Center blended a Welcome Center, wonderful Physics experiments, including an astronaut who stands between Earth, the Moon and Mars holding a hammer and a feather, a Virtual World Orientation Center, an Immersive Aquarium and Blue Visions, a sensory experience.

Margaritaville featured the Save the Manateee Project, complete with the Tiki Fun Hut, the Surf Shop, The Museum, the Underswater evolution from the Frill to the Manatee, and the Pirate Cove.

From there, we visit Virtual Golf and the Castle Pro Shop, that depict memorable golf moments that embody Csikszentmihalyi's mental states of Flow and Celia Pearce's notions of emergence in these learning spaces.

The Mad Scientists project took us on a tour of the Martian World's Faire, and the wealth of interactive content dazzles the mind.  From Buckydomes and intergalactic communication devices to Human Cell Avatar measurement instrumentation, there is something for everyone!

The Virtual Tour of the Mall blends with DC's famous structures and the Hall of Presidents to a quirky Presidential trivia game and a Dragon tour guide.

I am very proud of my students and thank them for working hard to provide a memorable close to our Emerging Media 825 excursions in Second Life. I will miss you!

For invites to doctoral defenses in 2013, please write me at calongne@pcisys.net

Smoke and Mirrors The Magic of Emerging Media

The Association for Information Technology Professionals (AITP) invited me to speak on a variety of topics related to Emerging Media and reversible business models at INTERFACE Denver 2012. Highlights from the talk are depicted in my presentation on Slideshare.



To complement the topics that were showcased during this one-day conference, the session blended social media, social networks, reversible business models and the impact of IT, augmented reality, QR codes, creating streaming video, using hash tags in Twitter, mobile apps and easy app generation tools, designing simulations in virtual worlds, games, and game-based cultures in the workplace.

Many thanks to Randy Storm and Kathryn Schnepple for the invitation! *cheers*

Skewer's Police Cart

Skewer's EM 210 Creation in Second Life

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Futurist Larry Johnson visits CS855

In February 2011, we were fortunate to have Dr. Larry Johnson, CEO of the New Media Consortium, join us in Second Life just prior to the launch of the NMC's Horizon Report on innovation and the future of technology in education.

A Human Barometer for the Future

In a lively game show style, Larry asked the students to vote for the next five year's top technologies. During our human barometer exercise, the class and guests from CTU's emerging media doctoral program, via their avatars in Second Life, took a stand and voted with their feet as they stood by the areas that represented each of the technologies.

Visit the Horizon Report Wiki

This was my first opportunity to narrate and simulcast to an Adobe Connect session. I was repeating Larry's wonderful narrative style like a United Nations translator, and let me tell you, I have a great respect for them. *cheers* It is not easy to listen and repeat the content while participating during the session as an avatar.

QR codes are hot and are part of the augmented reality technology featured in the Horizon Report. To the right is a QR code from the Horizon Report wiki - scroll down their page to see the QR code on the bottom left!

Many thanks to Larry Johnson, CS855 and the emerging media students who shared their ideas and participated in this lively session!

Back to the Future

It is great to see you again during our Fall term at Colorado Technical University. Thank you for posting your research plans and accomplishments in your class introductions.

On Saturday, October 10th, I gave a workshop on Emerging Media as a Mind Amplifier at the Doctor of Management Symposium. I'll be holding an abbreviated version of it during the DCS Symposium this week. The photo shows William Kamkwamba demonstrating a windmill that he created out of a bicycle as noted in one of the Ted Talks videos.

During this Fall 09 term, I am teaching two of my favorite classes, CS 820 Usability and Interaction and CS 855 Futuring and Innovation.

CS 820 uses an empirical testing approach to identify how to understand and support people and their interaction with systems better.

CS 855 examines the future by reviewing past forecasts and predictions, examining think tank processes, and studying what scholars use today to strategize and impact the future.

I'll post notes on this blog for both classes and highlights from my research for you to enjoy.

Our Second Life sessions include 30 minutes of course content, 20 minutes of Second Life skills and 10 minutes for research discussions and tips. If you wish to meet after our sessions, let me know.

And now, back to the future! *cheers*