Transcript of the Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable: February 28, 2019
Topic: Pursuit of Happiness
Photos by Beth Ghostraven
The Pursuit of Happiness – what brings you joy in virtual worlds?
Kali Pizzaro: this week i have set the theme as the Pursuit of Happiness – what brings you joy in vws? who wants to kick off?
Kali Pizzaro: have we done intros? or do we all know each other 😉
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): no intro yet
Marly (marly.milena): Niela Miller, M.S. Ed/Communications. Multi-artist, Gestalt & Jungian therapist, educational designer, coach, trainer, oh hell. Go to my website if you want the whole enchilada: http://www.peoplesystemspotential.com
Kali Pizzaro: Evelyn McElhinney PhD, Vw researcher, nurse and VWER; Scotland
Beth Ghostraven: I’m Beth Ghostraven, middle school teacher-librarian in RL and owner of the Book and Tankard Pub in Victoria City, Caledon in SL; owner of Ghostraven Professional Attire, classic clothing for educators in SL (http://bethghostraven.com); Communications Chair for the VWBPE Conference; Communications Chair and Focus Sessions Producer for the ISTE Virtual Environments Network; and unofficial liaison between education groups in SL. For information on events for the educational groups that I work with, see the ISTE VEN Massive Open Online Calendar at http://venetwork.weebly.com/calendar.html; Twitter: @booklady9 I’ll be taking photos to publish with the transcript and recording this session on video; if you have any objection, please IM me.
Wisdomseeker (lissena): is Lynne Berrett, NYC Metro area, owner of Inspiration Island, CEO of Whole Brain Health – Ageless Mind Project. FB: Virtual Inspiration Island; website: http://virtualinspirationisland.org. Board Member NonprofitCommons
Beth Ghostraven: The intros are helpful for the transcript
Kali Pizzaro: yep
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): Alyse Dunavant-Jones, MLIS — Community Virtual Library, Assistant Director — Virtual Center for Archives and Records Administration (VCARA) at SJSU iSchool, Alumna Member. I hold office hours at CVL on Wednesday 10am-11am SLT
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): Selby Evans, blogger
New educational term: Batch Registration: for schools and organizations in virtual worlds https://virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com/2019/02/2019-edu-new-educational-term-batch.html
Teaching a class in a virtual world (MUVE)? Why you don’t want your students to arrive on time. https://virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com/2019/02/2019-edu-teaching-class-in-virtual.html
Web Writers Workshop, the writers group that meets in your browser. https://virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com/2019/02/2019-write-ww-edu-web-writers-workshop.html
Kitely offers themed “grids”. Independent websites using Kitely tech but managed by an organization https://virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com/2019/01/2019-biz-theme-edu-kitely-offers-themed.html
Visit me on the web. Drop by my web offices Weekdays: 12:-12:30 Central time (US)
Cybalounge and 3DWebWorldz (Orientation room). I will be in both places, so you may need to speak to get my attention. Web-worlds, 3D virtual worlds running in a browser. And we can visit the Writer’s Workshop on the Web Don’t register — enter as guest.
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): What brings me joy is reaching my goals
Josain Zsun: aka Budd Turner, retiree, currently maintaining Expedition Central sites, and presenting Trusted Friend talks
Kali Pizzaro: What goals would that be? Maybe actually I should ask what your definition of joy is? ‘:-)
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): whatever goals I set; Currently the genre is promoting education in virtual worlds,
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): Joy is not to be defined, it is to be felt
Kali Pizzaro: fantastic Selby
Kali Pizzaro: happy evoked emotions : 😉
Beth Ghostraven: I agree, Selby; maybe “overwhelming happiness”
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): joy: I would define as something that uplifts me and brings me happiness/purpose/comradery/peace in some way
Josain Zsun adds Selby’s “Joy” to Siglines list
Beth Ghostraven: Hi Susan! We’re just getting started
Susan Toth-Cohen (zsuzsa.tomsen): hi! great to see you all
Kali Pizzaro: so if that is your feeling about what Joy means how is that enacted in VWs? What places or people give you joy?
Marly (marly.milena): Joy is an internal state not really controlled by outside influences. The externals are a reminder of an eternal capacity we have for joy
Beth Ghostraven: I feel joy in SL when I see a friend inworld who I haven’t seen in a long time
Marly (marly.milena): Honestly, I can’t separate VW joy from the rest of my life since what I am doing here, I have done all along in some form in my regular life. What makes me happy is creative process. Making art, music, new programs, facilitating other people in discovering their own abilities, especially in creative expression. I love collaborating with people on developing programs. Have done that a lot with Liss. Also collaborating with Alyse on a new music library and a SymMod platform for literary pursuits!
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): oh–beth’s dress brings me joy! 😀
Beth Ghostraven: thank you, Alyse!
Kali Pizzaro: lol Alyse
Beth Ghostraven: This is from Caledon’s 13th Anniversary celebration on Tuesday
Kali Pizzaro: great answer Marly, is this because it is all ‘real’ regardless of place….? 😉
Wisdomseeker (lissena): The people here bring me great joy…..mostly 🙂 The variety and interest and real friendship they provide that enhances my life outside as welle
Beth Ghostraven: I feel joy when I put together an outfit that I really like
Marly (marly.milena): @Kali et al It is because it is an internal state not bounded by place but arrived at by awareness regardless of where we are
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): “it is all ‘real’ regardless of place…?” ← I would definitely say yes
Beth Ghostraven: I agree, Alyse
Kali Pizzaro: sure but would you not say that what you or others do can evoke the feeling of joy, or seeing a place? and being reminded of memories and emotions?
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): I am with Marly also on creating–I love getting lost in creating–when your right brain takes over and you lose all sense of time. I did this recently while building in SL. It is a form of art, and art certainly brings me joy
Susan Toth-Cohen (zsuzsa.tomsen): agree, building and enjoying the creative process brings me joy, too
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): i also love dressing up my avatar–it makes me feel beautiful even when I’m having a bad hair day in the physical world LOL
Kali Pizzaro: 🙂
Wisdomseeker (lissena): exploring the beauty others create–especially natural beauty–brings me joy
Kali Pizzaro: yes me too
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): In positive psychology, a flow state, also known colloquially as being in the zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.[1] In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting loss in one’s sense of space and time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
Kali Pizzaro: i am amazed at some of the builds
Kali Pizzaro: thanks Selby
Beth Ghostraven: Selby, thank you, I was trying to think of that
Kali Pizzaro: exactly, so that can be promoted then by what we and others do or even by a memory
Wisdomseeker (lissena): thinking of Marie Kondo–I could use her concept of joy to declutter my inventory!
Kali Pizzaro: lol
Beth Ghostraven: I get into a flow state when I’m creating too, whether it’s decorating with things from my Inventory or building things myself
Marly (marly.milena): I am a <here-and-now> person so my references are like what Selby is talking about. I make choices to be involved in activities and with people where Presence and Resonance are happening energetically and my joy is a vibration I can feel when that happens
Kali Pizzaro: nods
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): I would also add that a sense of pride in my creations and accomplishments and contributions in virtual worlds adds to my joy in virtual worlds (and the physical world 🙂
Kali Pizzaro: yes Alyse so a sense of purpose of authorship?
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): yes–you could say that
Kali Pizzaro: are there things you would do here that you do not or can not do in the physical world that evoke joy?
Josain Zsun: fly
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): i was thinking the same, Josain!
Wisdomseeker (lissena): 🙂
Marly (marly.milena): I love having one on one conversations with kindred spirits and going deep and wide
Kali Pizzaro: And you are also leaving behind a digital legacy – digital artifacts that can and do evoke joy in the rest of us????? 🙂
Kali Pizzaro: this is something one of the folks in my study said, and it really made me think
Beth Ghostraven: I love exploring beautiful places in SL, whether it’s by myself or with others–actually that goes for Minecraft too
Kali Pizzaro: yes Beth
Kali Pizzaro: we have discussed that before and something i found am going to be talking about in a conference in New Zealand soon lol
Kali Pizzaro: so ok we have fly
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): larger than life creations
Kali Pizzaro: is there anything else you can do here that brings you joy that you can not do in the physical world?
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): and the ability to express oneself through an avatar
Kali Pizzaro: tada thank you Alyse
Marly (marly.milena): My daughter and son-in-law are in NZ as we speak and are sending wonderful pix . That gives me joy, to see them in a beautiful place
Kali Pizzaro: that is so true
Kali Pizzaro: yes Marly
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): teleporting is another fun one 😀 and the feeling of sitting in a room with people from around the world
Kali Pizzaro: yes that would be so amazing in the physical word
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): Virtual worlds let us be creative without leaving a mess
Kali Pizzaro: yes the sense of community
Wisdomseeker (lissena): things we can do here that we don’t/can’t do outside? Interact in real time with people I would never meet in my daily life
Kali Pizzaro: lol Selby maybe some people make a mess…..
Susan Toth-Cohen (zsuzsa.tomsen): lol so true Thinkerer
Kali Pizzaro: yes Wisdom
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): hahah the ability to block people bwahahahaha
Josain Zsun often wishes for TP ability in meetings
Beth Ghostraven: at least if they make a mess in your space you can return it all :o)
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): and to log off whenever i’d like
Wisdomseeker (lissena): lol
Beth Ghostraven: lol Alyse
Kali Pizzaro: I actually think it helps create a better understanding of global citizens; changes the way we think about community, and the assets we can get from a global community
Wisdomseeker (lissena): for me it does Kali
Marly (marly.milena): some things one can do here, like going dancing whenever one feels like it, is a mixed blessing if you happen to encounter a stranger who is hard to connect to. But it’s great fun when you are on the same wavelength
Susan Toth-Cohen (zsuzsa.tomsen): true, Kali
Kali Pizzaro: yes Marly
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): I haven’t explored this side of virtual worlds myself, but I know there are ways to experiment and explore oneself in a relatively safe way
Kali Pizzaro: those social resources also spread through our networks and networks of networks
Marly (marly.milena): I have loved getting to know people from other cultures and really getting into the differences in our communication styles. So much to learn!
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): or an even simpler way of doing that, I can have tattoos here that I wouldn’t want to get in the physical world
Kali Pizzaro: yes Marly and that in itself can bring happiness
Wisdomseeker (lissena): for someone like me, who is very curious, there are so many things I can learn here because of the range of activities and even the challenges that come from trying new things beyond my comfort zone
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): definitely
Marly (marly.milena): @Liss, I’m curious. What is a new thing you’ve tried recently? 🙂
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): something that I have wanted to get into for a long time in SL is the dungeons and dragons groups 🙂
Beth Ghostraven: Kali, do we need to distinguish between affordances of VWs and those that bring us real joy?
Kali Pizzaro: if you wish @beth but what do you mean by ‘real’ joy is it not all real?
Beth Ghostraven: @Kali I mean that things that are convenient affordances, like teleporting, might not actually bring us joy–if we’re talking about joy, it makes a difference
Kali Pizzaro: lol it might depend on where you land @Beth 😉
Wisdomseeker (lissena): learning all about lag and land impact; I thought I would hate that but it has put me in contact with new people and taught me new skills
Marly (marly.milena): Heehee, does it bring you joy?
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): oh–and a great example from a group I heard about from Selby (but haven’t gotten to visit yet!!) is a writing group in OpenSim I believe where they build environments to inspire writing
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): ^is that right, Selby? that is very difficult to do in the physical world
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): right alyse
Wisdomseeker (lissena): I love developing new skills
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): and you can create models here of physical projects you’d like to create for work or for art, etc. and test them out before investing a lot of resources–that is a big advantage 🙂
Wisdomseeker (lissena): yes Alyse!
Marly (marly.milena): @Alyse,, I’ve done that a lot with SymMods to inspire storytelling. We should tell all these great people here about our new Literary SymMod platform at CVL!
Wisdomseeker (lissena): Someone here told me she built her rl dreamhouse here first–doing that saved her a lot of money
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): My blog leads me to try new concepts–today I started on the concept of the virtual campus as distinct from the virtual class
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): and I have my own home on iSchool Island as part of their student housing program. I recently bought a house in the physical world, but before that, it was nice to have my own large virtual space when physically I was living in a tiny apartment
Wisdomseeker (lissena): and it was a lot of fun for her to see it here first
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I started and article explaining that
Wisdomseeker (lissena): interesting Thinkerer
Stranger Nightfire: I used to know a woman in SL who’s RL job was designing displays in museums, she would come and build them first in SL to develop her ideas
Marly (marly.milena): How multi-something we need to be here to follow three or more conversations at once!
Wisdomseeker (lissena): so true Marly~
Beth Ghostraven: Stranger, I know a professor of theater who builds prototype stage sets in SL
Kali Pizzaro: fab all great input
Kali Pizzaro: lol Marly
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): @Marly–oh yes! I’m looking forward to start implementing the SymMod for storytelling 😀
Marly (marly.milena): I have brought in a few R.E. [real estate?] agents and architects to stage their ideas.
Kali Pizzaro: that has helped me facilitate groups
Susan Toth-Cohen (zsuzsa.tomsen): Back to Kali
Marly (marly.milena): Now there are a number of ways one can do that on the web
Kali Pizzaro: this nice illustration of the five ways of wellbeing i think sums up many of the assets of VWs https://issuu.com/neweconomicsfoundation/docs/five_ways_to_well-being?viewMode=presentation have a wee look
[Also see http://neweconomics.org/2011/07/five-ways-well-new-applications-new-ways-thinking]
Susan Toth-Cohen (zsuzsa.tomsen)’s question – @Selby – in Czichzentmihaly’s discussion of joy and flow, doesn’t he distinguish between happiness and joy/flow?
Kali Pizzaro: except not local for community lol
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): @Selby–your blog is super helpful!! I’ve gone there for many things as a first resource. It is where I heard about OBS, which has worked great for me for recording vw events 😀
Marly (marly.milena): @Kali- I give myself 100% score on your five steps! LOL
Kali Pizzaro: So what are your thoughts on the five ways of wellbeing link and how they are reflected in VW? https://issuu.com/neweconomicsfoundation/docs/five_ways_to_well-being?viewMode=presentation
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): One of my goals is to be helpful, Alyse
Kali Pizzaro: Marly tada
Marly (marly.milena): I have had to be really intentional on the Connect piece since my family and some of my closest friends live very far away
Marly (marly.milena): VW makes it somewhat easier to connect but there is still the challenge of how much time people have and how high they put Connection or Friendship as a value!
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): I will say that as an introvert, I find it much easier to connect with people in virtual worlds than in the physical world or even online
Beth Ghostraven: I’m reminded of the KonMari method of organizing a household–has anyone tried that on their Inventory? https://konmari.com/
Wisdomseeker (lissena): agrees with Alyse
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): I joined the VCARA student group in SL after moving across the country and feeling isolated as part of an online school. It helped a great deal, and my professional and social network has grown a great deal since I joined that group in 2015! and the relationships I’ve created here have lasted far longer and led to more friendships than relationships I created in other online students groups or the one that I participated in that was face-to-face in the physical world on campus
Wisdomseeker (lissena): that’s what I said above, Beth 🙂 we should try that
Beth Ghostraven: oh, I must have missed that, Liss–I’ll read back
Wisdomseeker (lissena): create our own KonMari Inventory Declutter Group
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): hahahah
Beth Ghostraven: Josain, you’re our Inventory whiz :o)
Marly (marly.milena): The three closest friends I have in SL are people I have known for a long time (never met out there) and with whom I collaborate. Doing projects with people is very inspiring and satisfying
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): haha, “you can’t take it with you, so you might as well organize it and declutter so you can use it now”; goes well with Josain’s ACRL talk the other day!!
Kali Pizzaro: Alyse do you think that has anything to do with the avatar and the ability to do things together – in collaboration or to experience multiple places together
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): it absolutely does 😀
Kali Pizzaro: thanks Marly you answered my Q as i asked it
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): Issuu is trying to force me to install something. I don’t accept (or trust) forced installs
Kali Pizzaro: lol
Kali Pizzaro: nods Selby
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): We are building a persistent world together rather than meeting in temporary spaces and online rooms that disappear when we leave, and we are sharing a “physical” space together with our avatars
Wisdomseeker (lissena): good point Alyse, both of them 🙂
Kali Pizzaro: nods so the creativity of the five ways to wellbeing with the connect ‘-) and learning; 3 out of five right there lol
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): re: “be active”, there is a psychology to watching your avatar do activities that helps you feel more able to do those activities–or even accomplished in having done them
Kali Pizzaro: this can then of course lead to a sense of belonging, reduce isolation and build freindship and trust
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): I love placing my avatar on CVL’s tai chi pose balls, or having my avatar dance
Josain Zsun: Sorry, I was distracted, digging through my Inventory. On “can’t’ take it with you”…I am giving Trusted Friends talks to pass digital legacy control along when we can no longer login.
Kali Pizzaro: true and can actually inspire you to become more active as discovered by research
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): i can be so low energy! and seeing my avatar do things helps me be more active in RL, and more accomplished even on days that I don’t do much in RL, because I’ve accomplished things in the virtual world at least 😉
Beth Ghostraven: sometimes when I’m dancing in SL the music is so compelling I get up and dance in RL
Kali Pizzaro: there you go Josain and what about when you are no longer here …… you can be digitally immortal……
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): haha, love it, beth!
Marly (marly.milena): I do get up out of my chair when I am dancing in SL! Love the World Music dances Sunny does (haven’t seen them for awhile)
Kali Pizzaro: 😉
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): Note: we are doing something that you would find in a virtual campus, but not in an online class.
Kali Pizzaro: so does anyone have a house here?
Marly (marly.milena): Yes
Beth Ghostraven: I do, have you all been to my pub?
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): yes 😀
Marly (marly.milena): Yes, Beth. Fun
Wisdomseeker (lissena): I see that we all respond to the idea that we do find joy in SL and virtual worlds 🙂
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): I think i’ve been to your pub for a VCARA tour–but I don’t know that I’ve been for a while, beth
Beth Ghostraven: I’ve been to Sheila’s house in SL, but I don’t think I’ve been to any of yours
Marly (marly.milena): Please imagine, for a moment, how your life would change if SL disappeared?
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): I’ve been to Marly’s house as a fox, and the poor thing was worried I’d eat her peacocks 😉
Beth Ghostraven: I really like having a place that I can call home here
Marly (marly.milena): Hahahaha, Alyse!
Kali Pizzaro: So what do you feel about your house? What do you get from having a house? and what does home mean?
Susan Toth-Cohen (zsuzsa.tomsen): feeling of belonging
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): oh gosh, if SL disappeared, it would be very difficult to rebuild the social connections I’ve made here
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I don’t have a house, but I have a comedy place
Susan Toth-Cohen (zsuzsa.tomsen): like you are meant to be here
Kali Pizzaro: yes Marly – a sense of loss?
Beth Ghostraven: Marly, I don’t want to think about it–it might feel like going blind suddenly
Josain Zsun: Single click escape spot
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): that is the biggest one for me
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): if OpenSim was still around (and other VWs), that would help, as I’m sure there would be a movement to port over
Susan Toth-Cohen (zsuzsa.tomsen): sure
Wisdomseeker (lissena): My home is my whole sim, a house with many rooms and all different sorts of friends
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): @Beth–yes–it would be like losing a body part
Kali Pizzaro: so Beth said a home, Susan belonging we may all feel a sense of loss if SL disappeared
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): Valibrarian has spoken about how “plugged in” we are as a culture, and about how dependent we are on tech–not in a bad way, but as something we need to acknowledge as digital citizens
Kali Pizzaro: nods
Kali Pizzaro: what about your home as a place of safety, security do you feel that?
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): oh my gosh–yes, my home is my safe space in SL; that is where I go when I first log in usually, especially if I’m feeling overwhelmed or antisocial on a particular day
Marly (marly.milena): Since my “working” island does not have residence capability, I was offered a parcel on my tech assistant’s quiet island. It has been lovely to retreat there, create gardens, have a separate little tea house to see people for coaching occasionally, invite friends over. Really nice experience
Beth Ghostraven: our kids are constantly connected, always on their phones–that’s a benefit of tech for them
Susan Toth-Cohen (zsuzsa.tomsen): sounds lovely Marly
Wisdomseeker (lissena): Several years ago we all feared that SL would disappear–then the Lindens seemed to show more interest in keeping it going — so I fear that less
Susan Toth-Cohen (zsuzsa.tomsen): same, Lissena
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): I’ve spoken at other events about how difficult it is for me to be bombarded by people when I log in and am not expecting it
Beth Ghostraven: Marly, yes, I do like having a retreat
Susan Toth-Cohen (zsuzsa.tomsen): and they seem more supportive of educators, too
Kali Pizzaro: so solitude @Beth
Beth Ghostraven: Kali, yes
Susan Toth-Cohen (zsuzsa.tomsen): yes! solitude!
Wisdomseeker (lissena): good to hear Susan
Beth Ghostraven: sometimes I’ll spend over an hour in my skybox just making outfits
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): my brother has high-functioning autism, and I suspect it is a feeling akin to how overwhelming social situations are for him on a regular basis
Marly (marly.milena): Can I ask my question again? If SL disappeared, would it radically change your life? Would you grieve?
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I don’t worry about SL staying — I use OpenSim and web-worlds
Susan Toth-Cohen (zsuzsa.tomsen): I think I’d just move to another VW
Beth Ghostraven: Marly, I thought we were discussing that
Susan Toth-Cohen (zsuzsa.tomsen): but if none were available then I would grieve
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): *radically change… I’m not sure how much it would affect my physical life, that is, if “radically” would fit
Wisdomseeker (lissena): opensim allows us to create our own worlds
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): the lack of connections would be difficult, but i am adaptable
Josain Zsun: Living in the middle of nowhere, I gotta have my SL more than my MTV
Wisdomseeker (lissena): and I would invite SL friends there
Kali Pizzaro: it is something many of the folks who took part in my PhD said when places dissapeared in SL they felt a sense of loss
Susan Toth-Cohen (zsuzsa.tomsen): lol Josain
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): so it would be difficult for me and I would have to seek out another way of making professional connections, but i’m pretty resourceful!
Wisdomseeker (lissena): places disappearing is different–yes, that is often sad
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): G+ is closing — we are adjusting to that
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): i would definitely feel a sense of loss though
Kali Pizzaro: so there is place identity in VWs which are important to wellbeing similar to the PW
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): especially if it disappeared suddenly
Josain Zsun: I have yet to find a suitable alternative to G+
Beth Ghostraven: Selby, yes–that’s more an inconvenience than a grief, though
Wisdomseeker (lissena): I like having other ways to connect with people I have met in SL–beyond SL
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): If SL announced tomorrow that they would close in 6 months, I would be okay because I know our communities would persist and find another platform
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): Many are shifting to MeWe https://mewe.com/
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): but if it was suddenly just gone, that would be hard
Kali Pizzaro: we have 4 mins
Josain Zsun: Before SL is Gone?!!
Wisdomseeker (lissena): that’s probably true of anything we enjoy that disappears suddenly Alyse–things we have no control over
Josain Zsun: To me MeWe is too vertically compartmentalized
Wisdomseeker (lissena): what other choices, Josain?
Marly (marly.milena): Liss and I have been on four different venues but what persists is the desire to provide lifelong learning, creative pursuits, mental flourishing, body and spirit nurturance….so, that’s true regardless of where we are in VW
Josain Zsun: Reddit is the proverbial firehose
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I agree, Josain — But I don’t control the choices of my friends
Josain Zsun: FaceBook is……FaceBook
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): oh, I do have an example of grieving for a virtual world. When InWorldz closed, I lost my avatar, and I really identified with that avatar. But I only have some pictures of her now. I hadn’t really done much in InWorldz and I hadn’t realized it was closing until it was gone. But yes, I do sometimes grieve (if only simply) for that avatar and for the experiences I missed there since I was so new to the world when it disappeared. And the library there was so beautiful. The Director hopes to rebuild in Kitely, but getting ahold of the files from the creator may be difficult/impossible for her
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I use Facebook, Twitter, Mewe, and LinkedIn.
Beth Ghostraven: There’s a book about the Uru diaspora that’s really an interesting look at a VW closing (Communities of Play by Celia Pearse https://www.amazon.com/Communities-Play-Emergent-Cultures-Multiplayer-ebook/dp/B004GGT17M)
Josain Zsun: In my search for Expedition Central links, I am surprised & saddened when a place I really liked is gone.
Wisdomseeker (lissena): interesting, Beth!
Kali Pizzaro: So we have discussed the people, places, activities, social resources and assets that allow us to connect, build community and friendship, learn, be creative, build a sense of belonging to people and place, and give something back to the community which are all important to wellbeing.
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): The only one I really like is LinkedIn
Marly (marly.milena): @Liss, what was the name of that other world we were in that disappeared? 3D something, where I met Fran.
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): I recently joined the Educators in VR community in Discord. I like the way it is set up, but if we used Discord as a G+ alternative, we would have to have a server, etc. So I know it’s kind of been tossed away as an option for that reason
Wisdomseeker (lissena): trying to recall
Marly (marly.milena): That was the beginning of experimenting with new projects, etc so that we could transfer stuff over to SL when we had a new sim
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): At the Internet Archive, there is some beautiful machinima of a virtual world closing, and the end of the world party that was held, and when the screen suddenly terminates, it is heartbreaking
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): I use discord, also, but it is only people I know already
Kali Pizzaro: ok we are out of time…..
Wisdomseeker (lissena): so glad I could make it today
Kali Pizzaro: this has brought me joy! it has been so long since i have been able to see you all
ThinkererSelby Evans (thinkerer.melville): useful discussion
Kali Pizzaro: so I am very happy to be back
Susan Toth-Cohen (zsuzsa.tomsen): 🙂
Josain Zsun: I’ll look into Discord…I’ve long practiced that…
Marly (marly.milena): Yes, Kali, I’ve missed you!
Wisdomseeker (lissena): and especially when Kali is here
Wisdomseeker (lissena): lol Josain
Kali Pizzaro: my January was a washout at work 😉
Wisdomseeker (lissena): Kali uses Linkedin well!
Wisdomseeker (lissena): at least I see you there
Alyse – CVL Assistant Director (alysedunavantjones): this is the machinima channel that was created by Stanford: https://archive.org/details/machinima for documenting virtual worlds and games; that is where the end of the world video i had seen is 🙂
Wisdomseeker (lissena): ty Alyse!! great to have these
VWER Meeting Transcripts by Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://vwer.info.
VWER - Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable 