Meet Scottlo Scorbal

MSS Podcast #18 - Good Luck Now

2010-03-12T11:02:00.003+09:00

I recorded this 25-minute eighteenth episode of the Meet Scottlo Scorbal podcast a bit differently than with recent episode. In so doing, I found myself unable to upload it to any of the micropodcasting services I've been talking about of late. It is therefore being hosted on blip.tv under the old Tokyo Calling account.

All of this is to say that I'm going to need to come up with a more reliable work flow in the near future.

Topics covered include:

SL Conversation Partner program between two universities in Tokyo
JJ Madrigal's Cybermedia class
Week 3 of the IATEFL Virtual Pre-conference
My first real blog post
Sound Off - the segment & the parcel

An Upcoming Segment

2010-03-08T23:23:00.008+09:00

As my third year in Second Life begins, I've finally come to accept that there is no rule book to be found and that the game really has no objective. How it is played and experienced is to be determined by each user. I can finally stop worrying about whether or not I'm doing it right. I suppose this is a liberating realization.

Looking back on my two initial attempts at getting started in Second Life, I'm embarrassed by the over-inflated sense of self-importance I assumed in feeling the need to chronicle the experience in blog and audio form. Fortunately I'm well aware of my limitations at written expression. This awareness had the governing effect of limiting blog entries to announcing and describing the various bits of audio put on offer as podcast. For better or for worse, there is no such controlling mechanism once the microphone is hot and the tape is rolling. The net result of this unregulated need to spray my thoughts, impressions and ideas as digital utterances has been a podcast currently called Meet Scottlo Scorbal.

I continue to wonder how or why anyone can endure programming so devoid of a premise. I've repeatedly offered the excuse that I'm doing this as a self-reflective exercise solely for myself. If that were a genuine sentiment, why then the need to distribute it in a podcast mechanism? That's just it, it's not a genuine sentiment. At heart, I am a ham (or a hack, perhaps). Whether or not anyone ever listens really doesn't matter. What matters is that this is how I choose to do it and it keeps me from roaming the saloons.

And this perhaps brings us to the point of this post. In an effort to produce audio that is somewhat more compelling than the droning monologue that has heretofore characterized MSS, I'm in the process of developing a new segment for the podcast. The segment will share the same name as the parcel I've just begun renting on Corona Cay that appears in the snapshot above: Sound Off.

Sound Off, the segment, will feature a co-host with computer-generated voice and me reading aloud selected holy scriptures from the world's great religions before a studio audience. The readings will be followed by musical renditions of the selected readings by various SL musicians with interpretative dance routines performed by multiple avatars in period costumes from the studio audience that have been scripted and choreographed by Aubie Audion.

Sound Off, the parcel, will feature consciousness experiments, poetry slams, barbershop quartets and AV petting booths that are intended to stimulate both the mind and the economy.

I don't know if the tenant association at Corona Cay will permit such dubious public performances on the sim. There is after all a certain standard that must be maintained. I'll probably have to appear before the CoronaVerse Star Chamber to humbly request permission to chase this dream.

While the specific details for the Sound Off segment are getting sorted out, the droning monologue that is the Meet Scottlo Scorbal Podcast will continue. Also continuing, will be my efforts to figure out how best to inhabit the Sound Off parcel. Feel free to drop by and tell me how I'm doing on either score.

MSS Podcast # 17 - Three Birds, One Stone

2010-03-02T10:17:00.007+09:00

The three birds referred to in title of this 22 minute seventeenth installment of the Meet Scottlo Scorbal podcast are the topics I set out to cover. The stone is the recorded monologue. Whether or not the three birds were sufficiently struck by the stone is such a tedious question that it calls in to question your host's choice of metaphor.

But there is no turning back, the audio is there for those with the time or inclination to listen.

Here are the three talking points:

An update on items previously mentioned on the podcast:

JJ Madigal's will present on #linsl project in his CyberMedia class at the March 12, 2010 Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference
Encouraging developments for our online campus radio station

A few words about CinchCast for participants in the IATEFL LTSIG Virtual Pre-Conference Event
Cypris Village: English Learning Community in Second Life - SLURL

Thank you for listening.

MSS Podcast #16 - Game On

2010-02-23T01:08:00.002+09:00

This sixteenth episode of the Meet Scottlo Scorbal podcast is 18 minutes long and features a bit of reflection on an upcoming class. I'm hoping to make use of a newly discovered web application called Our Story with students in a computer studies class. Please get in touch if you're using or intend to use the service in a collaborative capacity.

Meet Scottlo Scorbal Podcast #15 - Floating Ideas

2010-02-18T13:47:00.003+09:00

This 20 minute fifteenth episode of the Meet Scottlo Scorbal podcast features early and rough thoughts on a couple of ideas that were born while listening to a recent story telling event in Crap Mariner's tree house.

Perhaps it was the psychedelic liquid goo that flowed from the ceiling onto the floor and over the sofa down toward the sewer drain that got the mind a sparking. Or it could have been the effervescent wit and mirth displayed by the host, or the cheerful and good-willed banter among the small assembled "audience" that jump-started a previously stalled thinking cap.

My own hunch is that a magical bit of LSL code from the big book on the pedestal under the window cast a spell on the scottlo Scorbal avatar. This spell worked its way through the tubes of the internet into my finger tips via a wireless keyboard all the way to the core of the sack of mush between my ears causing me to shout aloud, "Where's my plate of shrimp?"

Regardless of the reason, a decision was made to record and release these errant thoughts as a podcast titled, "Floating Ideas." Please, enjoy.

MSS Podcast #14 - Take a Number

2010-02-16T15:49:00.002+09:00

Just a quick bit of reflection from the kitchen before heading to class make up this 11 minute fourteenth episode of Meet Scottlo Scorbal. Perhaps the only item of note is that my various micropodcasting "projects" will be brought under the Google Buzz tent of this Google Profile.

MSS Podcast #13 - Be Careful What You Wish For

2010-02-04T20:57:00.004+09:00

The follow up to the Chinese proverb in the title of this is post is, "because you just might get it." That seems to be the case.

Lot's of exciting stuff went down in tonight's radio class. Two items related to SL and one related to micropodcasting and locative media are discussed in this 12 minute episode.

MSS Podcast #12 - A Basketful of Possibilities

2010-02-02T03:19:00.004+09:00

This twelfth installment of the Meet Scottlo Scorbal podcast was originally intended to be about one thing. It wound up being about something entirely different.

I realize that it would be preferable to provide some sort of descriptive entry to this blog entry regarding the nature of the recorded content that is in store for listeners. At present, the best I can come up with is that it consists of nearly a quarter of an hour of reflection and thinking aloud.

It is advisable to refrain from working around or thinking about heavy machinery while listening.

MSS 11 - Stepping Out

2010-01-31T07:16:00.003+09:00

Suddenly scottlo Scorbal has a full plate in Second Life. Seems like as good a time as any to roll out the podcast again. I'm still trying to reacquaint myself with the process/workflow.

In this eleventh episode of Meet Scottlo Scorbal, I try to describe a trial run for a project that could involve a virtual working partnership between students at my school and a language school here in Japan.

Fortunately CinchCast makes it easy to record and host the audio. The episode URL above should generate an RSS 2.0 enclosure for those of you subscribed to the feed. The embedded player below is, well, an embedded player.

MSS - Back in Action

2010-01-26T22:22:00.001+09:00

If all goes as hoped, this mp3 link to the Cinch recording should be available on the podcast feed.

MSS Podcast #10 - Meet Daffodil Fargis

2009-03-29T06:19:00.008+09:00

Second Life ESL educator and teacher trainer Daffodil Fargis (RL: Nergiz Kern) was gracious enough to join me on board the Xiphos Starship high above Corona Cay to talk about her thoughts and experiences related to teaching in virtual worlds. The result of our meeting is this tenth installment of Meet Scottlo Scorbal which is 35 minutes long.

Daffodil is making a name for herself as an influental and innovative language educator in Second Life. She recently wrote and has had published a case study account of how she began teaching English in SL for English Teaching Professional in an article entitled "Starting a Second Life." She was also a co-moderator in the 2009 Virtual Worlds and Language Learning session that was offered as part of the this year's Electronic Villege Online professional development series.

She is a founding member of the SLexperiments group and helps maintain that wiki. Her Teaching in Second Life blog was nominated as a Top New Blog in The EduBlog Awards for 2008.

I'm grateful to Nergiz for the chance to talk and hope you enjoy hearing what she has to say.

Asia Team Teaching - encore lesson

2009-03-10T08:35:00.002+09:00

I nearly forgot about this great video CarolRB made for us of our second round of the Team Taught lesson at the end of the EVO VW&LL session. A big thank to teaching partners Lynn and Olam for such smooth and easy collaborative work.

I continue to think about this experience. Though I'm not doing much publicly with the blog or podcast, the experiences gained through the entire EVO session have greatly focused my thinking about possible uses of SL. These ideas will eventually find their way to these pages.

Until then, please enjoy this short excerpt of what was a fun and challenging lesson to "teach."

Thanks for sharing the video Carol.

Now what?

2009-03-06T08:24:00.004+09:00

Through the support of a more senior faculty member who wants to bring his classes into Second Life, one of the institutions where I teach has tentatively agreed to purchase an island sim. As he is even less experienced with SL than I am, and as I am the one who has beem planting seeds and dropping hints about the potential and possibility of virtual worlds in an educational setting for the past half year, it appears that management of the estate will be my responsibility.

This is an exciting opportunity. It is one that I've been hoping for for many months. But as the Chinese are alleged to have said, "Be careful what you wish for - you might get it." The more I try to imagine my way through the path ahead, the more I realize how little of a clue I have as to how to proceed.

So here's the question - or the plea for help: what resources exist to help would-be estate managers gain the necessary knowledge to get such a project rolling?

I'd particularly be grateful to hear from anyone who's recently gone through the process.

Operation Accomplished

2009-02-13T11:38:00.006+09:00

Going in to our Team Teaching session in the Edunation II sandbox, I felt that the 10 day experience of planning, preparing and practicing the lesson would go down as a success even if the lesson itself were to go down in flames. I think I tried to convey that deep impact that the opportunity to work with my group members sparked in my own thoughts on teaching and learning in virtual worlds in MSS #8.

Now that the lesson is over and I'm trying to make sense of it, I must admit to feeling a school-girlish sense of giggly-glee. The students responded enthusiastically to the tasks we'd set out for them. Situations arose and were dealt with. Kind words and praise were shared at the end. It has been a long time since I've had such a rewarding and enjoyable "classroom" encounter.

As inept as I am with written words, I feel the need to escape to recorded audio. At least that's not a permanent record, right?

With hope and luck, my co-conspirators will come together for a recorded conference call in the coming days. It is my intention to release that recording as MSS #09 sometime next week.

But first I need to do some more giggling: tee-hee, tee-hee....

MSS Podcast #8 - The Nutty Absent-Minded Professor

2009-02-10T13:07:00.006+09:00

The eighth installment of Meet Scottlo Scorbal weighs in at roughly 32 minutes. Below is a list of the main points covered and approximate time-points in the recording.

Introduction - (00:00-06:55)
Message of appreciation to the moderators of the EVO Virtual Worlds & Language Learning Session - (06:55-12:49)
Thoughts on our Team Teaching project - (12:50-19:35)
Idea for project inspired by Zotarah Shepherd's Multiple Intelligences build on Koru - (19:38-26:00)
Fishing for ideas & final thoughts on Non-Virtual World teaching matters - (26:00-32:15)

Note: Posterous is the name of the web service I mentioned at the end of the recording. Though it wasn't suitable for creating an enclosure in the RSS 2.0 feed (wound up using Blip.tv), it is still an excellent web-application which I recommend highly. Those interested can hear how our radio class are trying to use Posterous by following the link on our class blog.

MSS Podcast #7 - Waiting for Something to Happen

2009-01-27T14:15:00.006+09:00

All credit goes to Daffodil for giving me the gentle prodding to explain the couple of recent twitter tweets that comprise the intended mainpoints of this 7th installment of Meet scottlo Scorbal.

I'm afraid I overshot my target of a 15 minute recording by 16 minutes. Even with all of that extra time, I was only able to cover the first of my two intended main points.

The bulk of the rambling monologue recounts the experience of sitting in an actual classroom with 17 students as they were introduced to and took their first steps in Second Life under the caring guidance of Professor In Yan (pictured above in the lab coat). Professor Yan is involved with both the virtual Digital Hollywood in SL as well as the actual campus based in Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan.

I imagine that some co-participants in the EVO Virtual Worlds and Language Learning session will come across this recording. All of you are cordially invited, as I mention at the end of the recording, to visit me at Waiting for Something to Happen to discuss matters related to this episode or anything else going on in the VW&LL session. If you do come by Corona, you'll certainly want to check out the Destination Station, too.

Where's the mic?

2008-12-03T10:17:00.004+09:00

Once I can find a darn microphone and am able to remember how to connect it, we'll be back in business. Out of nowhere, lot's of interesting and interconnected SLish stuff bounced my way. An opportunity and a chance are knocking, the next installment of MSS will be an attempt to open that door.

Meet Scottlo Scorbal #6 - "Welcome Back"

2008-07-22T22:36:00.003+09:00

Things felt a bit rusty in putting together this sixth installment of Meet Scottlo Scorbal. Fortunately, the semester is nearly finished. It would be nice to pick up some momentum with audio production for podcasting and/or streaming during the break.

Perhaps there will be some classmates in group 3.1 of the Webcast Academy who are interested in exploring SL related streaming. If so, we might try to use an upcoming TalkShoe session to discuss things.

For those interested in learning about some of the amazing podcasters in SL (past and present), give a listen to Crap Mariner's iPodjacker series.

Meet Scottlo Scorbal #5

2008-06-12T09:32:00.003+09:00

This awkward recording marks the end of my self-imposed SL and SL podcasting exile. Again, I failed to make a local recording so the sound quality is sketchy. Eve more sketchy are the varied turns in the monolog's topic.

Not much is going to be happening vis-a-vis NARCO and Scottlo Scorbal until the current semester winds down in a few weeks.

I will try to do a podcast when opportunity allows and will continue to post blogHUD pics to the Field Notes blog when I can.

Here then are a couple of links mentioned in the recording:

Demb Oh's blogpost describing the process followed in his streaming video into SL demonstration at DEN
KerryJ's write-up of her mobile streaming video kit
Crap Mariner's Podcasting exhibition for SL5B
iPodjacker: Podcasting in Second Life
Standup in SL: an example

Demb Oh presents at DEN

2008-06-12T09:14:00.002+09:00

Demb Oh gave an amazing presentation on video streaming and SL at a recent DEN weekly seminar. I was profoundly blown away by the experience and hope to someday recreate a demonstration of his successful attempt to stream video from RL in SL live. If nothing else, this will be among the topics in a future MSS podcast.

MSS Podcast #4 - More excuses

2008-06-03T10:57:00.004+09:00

This fourth installment of the Meet Scottlo Scorbal podcast brings us one step closer to where we hope to eventually get. Fortunately there are a couple of other podcasts out there focusing on educational uses of SL that provide a glimpse of what that eventual goal might look like. Two such recent podcast finds are discussed in the first segment of this episode.

An audio update which once again tries to explain why there is no audio from InWorld on offer this week begins the second segment. The segment concludes with an explanation of what sort of premise/format I have in mind for these long awaited audio features. Sandwiched in between, are a couple of brief thoughts regarding the ethical and technical considerations of recording voice InWorld.

A hat tip to a few listeners I've met or communicated with recently makes for the bulk of the third segment.

The fourth segment features a building report which concludes the episode. In it I dismantle the NARCO tower and recommend a real tower. Also, a big thank you is sent out to daughter #1 who provided some artwork that has made it's way InWorld in an effort to spruce up the NARCO plot.

All in all, this 4th episode will take up 2/3 of an hour. Hopefully, it's not found to be a total waste of time.

Relevant Links:

Crap Mariner's Weekly "Podcast Roundup"
RezEd podcast #3 - featuring an interview with Peggy Sheehy
Inside the Lab Podcast #4 - Offical SL pocast featuring a discussion on education in SL between Katt, Pathfinder & Claudia Linden
Stepping Into History: Exploring the past through virtual worlds - event taking place June 10, 2008

MSS Podcast #3 - The Big "Mo"

2008-05-28T23:12:00.006+09:00

This 3rd installment of The Meet Scottlo Scorbal podcast is evidence that there is a long way to go and much work to be done before this would be a podcast worth recommending to others. Long-winded, facile and circular are descriptors that came to mind as I listened back to the preceding episodes during this past week.

Still, I can't help but feel that things are getting closer and closer to the way I'd like for them to eventually be. I'm actually quite pleased with the way things are going and would only ask for little more patience from the listeners.

Here are few links mentioned in the show:

MSS Podcast #2 - Where I'm Coming From

2008-05-21T00:42:00.002+09:00

This second installment of The Meet Scottlo Scorbal podcast is a nearly 45 minute behind the scenes look into my teaching context and vocational situation. It also includes some early reflections on how I hope to bring of institutional web sites I'm involved with into Second Life. Winding up the recording is a building report about how the reel-to-reel recorder shown in the image for this podcast wound up InWorld.

MSS Podcast #1 - A whole new era

2008-05-13T23:17:00.004+09:00

A rough and hectic week prevented me from capturing any InWorld audio to share in this first episode of Meet Scottlo Scorbal: The Podcast. The thirty minute recording features a recap of the most recent week for Scottlo Scorbal and the NARCO project in Second Life.

Links Mentioned:

RezEd Podcast
Quest Atlantis
EduSquare Development Project Wiki on Jokaydia
HeyJude Jenns
NARCO plot on Jokaydia II

RezEd Podcast #2: Quest Atlantis

2008-05-07T14:20:00.003+09:00

The second installment of the RezEd podcast is even more impressive than their excellent maiden voyage a couple of weeks back. The gang from Global Kids have put together an informative and thought provoking interview with Sasha Barab who heads the Quest Atlantis project.

Quest Atlantis is an international 3D educational environment for kids between 9 and 15. QA is a controlled environment that appears to function as a "game." Students operate in the world under supervision of classroom teachers who have undergone professional development and training as part of the QA program.

I would like to find teachers who are involved in or hoping to get involved with the Quest Atlantis project. This is something that I think would be very fun and interesting to talk about. Please get in touch if you feel the same.

This most probably will be a topic segment in episode 1 of Meet Scottlo Scorbal, scheduled for next week.

FRB,Til! #7 - End of an Era

2008-05-06T23:42:00.005+09:00

This seventh and final installment of F%#k Reality Bif, This is Life!" was perhaps the most well organized and nearly cogent episode of the series. Why then am I pulling the plug on it? An explanation is provided in this thirty minute recording. The following topics are also covered:

Meet Scottlo Scorbal the podcast: the premise and initial format
An audio breakthrough
M. Linden vox-pop idea and request for listener audio comments
Building update and unfolding notion of presence in SL
Scottlo Scorbal's emerging roles in a virtual world

And would you believe, I'm even able to provide some links to stuff mentioned in the recording this time:

Freudbot from Athabasca University Centre for Psychology
Guy David's "Night Guy" podcast episode on Surrealism, Virtual Worlds and the Future
Konrad March's Virtual Classroom Project
The Virtual Classroom Project's first Educator in Residence: Leigh Blackall
BotGirl's "The ongoing quest for SLurpose" blog post

And with that FRB,TiL! wanders off into the sunset. But stay tuned, the Meet Scottlo Scorbal podcast will take its place next week.

FRB,TiL! #6

2008-04-30T00:18:00.002+09:00

And now it begins. I don't think I was ready to offer this podcast/blog to a wider audience. From its inception, this effort has been intended as a space for personal reflection. But now that the URL has been mentioned and linked to as Scottlo Scorbal's webspace, the need arises to "be for real."

My recent decision to become a resident on the islands of Jokaydia is both the cause for this need to "be for real," and the frame of reference for the 30 minutes of seemingly random babbling I offer in this sixth installment of "F#%k Reality Bif, This is Life!"

Had I known an actual audience might discover this, I'd certainly have chosen a less salty title. As it is, we'll keep things as they are until I get a better grasp on the snowballing endeavor I now find myself in.

As mentioned in the podcast, the name of the group associated with the plot of land I'm renting is the Narrative Analysis Research Central Office (NARCO). My humble initial efforts at building are on display in the image accompanying this blog post. Feel free to experience it InWorld and offer any feedback, critique or suggestions that occur.

I clearly don't know what I'm doing. Any guidance or support would be most welcome.

FRB,TiL! #5

2008-04-23T00:25:00.003+09:00

Episode #5 of "F%#k Reality Bif, This is Life" is not one you'd want to take with you to a deserted island. Scorbal dropped the ball on the day of the big game. Our new sponsor Coca-Colonic is not pleased and is rumored to be looking for a new messenger to spread the word.

Word is, this podcast is being given one last chance to make good on the original promise. That chance will take place with episode #6 on April 29, 2008. Free hot-water bottles with the Coca Colonic will be distributed to the first 7 visitors to the Talk Shoe chat room. Maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones.

FRB,TiL! #4

2008-04-18T22:25:00.000+09:00

This was just supposed to be a quick Friday evening announcement of the new day and time for FRB,TiL!

Things however went a little sideways once the words started flowing. Suffice to say, much is afoot. As show notes and links don't seem to be appearing, the only choice is to listen for yourself.

And one more thing:

FRB,TIL! #3

2008-04-05T02:10:00.004+09:00

Here's the third episode of "F%#k Reality Bif, This is Life!" It was recorded on April 4, 2008.

(once again, notes and links will follow shortly...)

FRB,TIL! #02

2008-03-30T10:28:00.003+09:00

Here's the second episode of "F&#k Reality Bif, This is Life!" It was recorded on March 29, 2008 on Talkshoe.

(Details and links mentioned will follow.)

FRB,TIL! #01

2008-03-26T10:17:00.001+09:00

This is not so easy as I'd thought it would be. The difficulty is not for lack of interesting, fun, and thought-provoking experiences Inworld. Rather, it's been a challenge to find the voice with which to pursue the chronicle project.

For the sake of getting something done, I've decided to focus first on the audio journal format. The hope is that this will help me get unstuck with the writing.

Here is the first podcast episode of F&#k Reality Bif, This is Life!. It was recorded on TalkShoe on March 25, 2008. In it I grapple with some of the issues that have been challenging me with the "Meet Scotlo Scorbal" project.

(A list of links mentioned will follow.)

Hello World

2008-02-27T10:50:00.000+09:00

I was born in Second Life 5 days ago. I decided to set up a blog and podcast to help me make sense of the experience.

More later.