Wk 4_Publishing Leadership Project

Created by Luz Infante

Introduction

Introducing Second Life (SL) as an immersive educational environment and delivery method for corporate training was a successful action research project from many points of views. The experience gained through all the process has been uncountable and the outcomes that surged could be used for further research.  Participants of this ARP considered SL an educational platform that promotes collaboration, sharing, problem solving, critical thinking, and a time and money saver technology. On the other hand, differences in broadband capabilities and access, language, and age made each participant experiment this 3D virtual world in a different way and have divided opinions about using SL in their training environments. Taking on account this immersive educational environment characteristics and the results from this ARP a paper has been created with the goal to redefine a new approach on how to train participants on how to use SL and also make them experiement in their own skin the engagement and enrollment they can produce in their trainees creating educational tools in world. The new approach encloses the creation of a game as an engaging, training, and assessing tool. 

This are the links for my think out loud blogs
Think out Loud #1 Talks about my Leadership Project
Think out Loud #2 Talks about where do I want to be published and why.


This is the link for my Leadership Project
Infante_Luz_PubLeadProject.docx 

MAC_Week1_ Comment 2_ Sandra Colby

   

@Sandra Colby Blog Text


Week 4 The Art of Possibility

The art of possibility has a lot of wisdom between its pages.  I was finishing the reading and was thinking about Dvorzak’s New World Symphony.  It is one of my favorite pieces as well, thinking that I have a copy on tape somewhere in my collection of music.  It was another gem that we performed either in high school or in college or both.

The Art of Possibility actually reminds me of spring flowers coming up through the earth and giving others the chance to start again. 

In the coda, the authors suggest: The book had no intentions of solving your problems or even letting you browse”.  (p. 198) I read it all the way through and thought there were more gems that I missed.

What they may have meant that is this book has a lot of suggestions for you to take into your life to help you, but it is in no way a solution to how you live your life.  For me I think that there are enough guidelines that I can use to move from this point forward.  I will think of myself as a new spring flower getting ready to greet the sun and turn myself into a different direction.  That is something that Full Sail University has given to me.

My Comment @Sandra Colby

This book has helped us to open our eyes to things that may have been always there but because of our busy life we have not had the time to reflect on them. I totally agree with you, when you say, “ that there are enough guidelines that I can use to move from this point forward”. I think that reading this book has been a great chance for us to be reflective about the things that we have done well and wrong in the past so we can improve them but also to create and seek for new opportunities to move forward now that we are going to begin a new stage in our professional lives. I think that this Masters has been such an incredible adventure that has enriched us personally and professionally.  Try to always think of yourself as you described “as a new spring flower getting ready to greet the sun and turn myself into a different direction”. We are the only ones that have the power to create our own story!

MAC_Wee4_Comment 1_ Tamika Davis

      

@Tamika Davis Blog Text

Week 4 The Art of Possibility

Have you ever noticed the fiery burn that illuminates before a match reaches its full potential?  That is where we as future EMDT graduates exist right now.  We are on the brink of a beautiful existence but like a match, it can end in a moment if we do not allow others to see our spark.  This is what the final section of the Art of Possibility speaks on.  We have the tools but just as Dr. King had his dream, we must also create a vision to create a ‘framework of possibility’ for the students and colleagues we encounter.  By moving from I to We, we begin to focus on being inclusive and something very unlike the only child in me, consider what is best for all that we encounter. 

As we end the near of our journey, cohort, remember the words of Mahatma Gandhi and “be the change you wish to see in the world.”

I wish you the best of luck.

My Comment @ Tamika Davis 

I loved your analogy! And I totally agree with your words “we need to let others see our spark” and I would like to add that we also need to allow others to show us their spark since we are living in a world where “we” have to work hand to hand in our vision about the world we want to live in. Nowadays and more than ever we need to know that real success comes from working in a community which needs to be supported by inclusiveness, commitment, collaboration, and sharing.  

MAC_Week4_Free Choice

Created by Luz Infante

Reflecting about my Leadership Project

The Leadership Project has been a wonderful way to make us compact and summarize our whole ARP. I decided to create a Leadership Project about a Cycle 3 proposal. To revise and summarize all I have done through my ARP has been an excellent exercise of self - criticism and an incredible opportunity to see things how they are and open the universe of possibilities to improve. Through the process I have realized that there are things that are far from my reach to change such as the broadband quality in different countries. So what I have decided to do is to improve what I consider can increase enrollment for my participants on using Second Life as a delivery method. It is not about trying to convince them it’s about persuading them to see Second Life as a promising and alternative delivery method they can use. I don’t know which outcomes will derive from implementing this 3^rd Cycle but what I know is that it will be full of incredible learning experiences for participants and also for myself. Wish me luck! 

MAC_Week4_Reading_ Art of Possibility

Created by Luz Infante

Art of Possibility

I want to share that I have found incredibly useful the Art of Possibility book. It really brings a philosophy of life  to consider and one which can embrace our personal and profession lives.

Chapter 9

In this chapter the philosophy is to know that to enroll people in the practice of sharing collaborating and contributing you need to inspire them. I think that the base of any human interrelation is communication but not only communication by saying things you need, you also have to know how to say things in a simple, clear and caring way so the message you want to deliver can be received. Also you need to integrate passion in order to connect and persuade others. Sometimes good communication is not about language is about attitudes that attract and connect people. We always think that a negative answer is a closed door but is a possibility and opportunity to rethink and improve our dialogue and approach.

Chapter 10

Everything in life has risks and life consists on choosing and deciding, which brings risks but also possibilities and opportunities. We can’t control everything that surrounds us. So things are not always going to be or develop as we would like them to be or planned and we have to accept things the way they are and develop. But what we can control is our attitude towards life in general. Being realistic, positive, open, proactive and having hope always makes possibilities to be present anywhere.

Chapter 11

You can communicate in many ways the things that you need and want. You can do it using language, by action and by example. I think that the best way to communicate is saying the positive first and then you communicate the facts.

To enroll and inspire people it is important that you communicate your vision, so people can see the whole forest and not only a tree. So you are giving them a universe of possibilities where they can feel included and inspired to participate.  

Chapter 12

As I mentioned before today is all about community, contribution, and inclusiveness and that increases the universe of possibilities much more.

The communication patterns have to be established so if there is any conflict you can approach it as something that concerns and affects “us” not just them or me. So this becomes a pattern to approach and give solutions to conflict in a positive way and could make people really feel a sense of belonging to the community and creating in them a commitment to solve any given conflict. 

Month 11_Week 4: Publish_ Leadership Thinking out Loud #2

Created by Luz Infante

Would you like to be published? Why? Where?

I would love to be published because I think that I have invested so much work and time in this ARP that I would like others to know about the process and the data I have collected. I would like to inspire others to commit themselves and do research about this fascinating emergent technology as an immersive educational environment.


I would like to be published in the Simulation & Gaming: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Theory http://www.sagepub.com/home.nav


I surfed their website for a bit and I found out that the articles they publish have a very user friendly style and their requirements meet the expectations of our Leadership Project. They accept different kinds of articles. One of the styles completely fits what I am thinking to create that is more of a conceptual paper, which has the goal to define or redefine a new approach or framework. I think my Leadership project also meets the requirement of being a subject that could interest educators on how to use simulations and gaming in education. The way they expect the article to be written is simple and clear. So I think that my work could fit such profile.


I also would love to be published by the Journal of Interactive Learning Research (JILR) http://www.aace.org/pubs/jilr/


I found that their work is full of validity and reliability. The guidelines for the authors that would like to submit their work are easy to follow. The Journal of Interactive Learning Research (JILR) publishes papers that need to include theoretical support (literature review) and cover the design, implementation, and the impact on education and training of different kinds of learning environments such as interactive learning environments, simulations and games. So the topic of my Leadership project could fit their required profile and could contribute in some way to the research that focuses on the use of emergent technologies like 3D virtual worlds as Second Life as educational environments, active learning platforms, and delivery methods for corporate training. 

Month 11_Week 4: Publish_ Leadership Thinking out Loud #1

 Created by Luz Infante

What are you thinking to do for your leadership project?

What should I do for my leadership project . . . a presentation… no! A report of my ARP? No! … I got it!  Now I know what I want to do… I want to do something that I can share with others but at the same time could help myself to continue all the work I have done in my Action Research Project (ARP) … yes!


So, I am sitting in my chair, looking at my computer trying to start my leadership project and I still do not know how to start. The only thing I know is that I would like to talk about what I would do if I have the opportunity to do a third cycle for my ARP.


Since my ARP is about introducing Second Life (SL) as an immersive educational environment and delivery method for corporate training. I am thinking about a third approach to make my participants learn in a deeper way how to use this 3D virtual world and also to demonstrate and show them the important role that creativity plays when this 3D virtual world is used as a learning platform. Further I would like to address the importance that the design and creation of in world educational tools plays in this incredible learning platform that opens a universe of possibilities to teach and learn. So designing and creating a game will be a perfect way to highlight the several benefits of using SL as an immersive educational environment such as critical thinking, problem solving, learning by doing, collaboration, sharing, and create or recreate things that in real life could be impossible to do or very costly. I also want that this game to serve as part of the training of knowing how to use the different SL features as currently a huge learning gap exists. Maybe that could help reducing frustration and engaging participants while learning in a fun way.