3D Virtual Hanukkah Competition: Finalists announced

A 3D Virtual  Hanukkah Competition: Finalists announced!  

 

My students at Sehnkar College's Virtual Lab participated in a 3D Virtual Hanukkah competition in using their avatar in the 3D Virtual world of Second Life. Their challenge was to design and program a 3D interactive hanukkiah, hence, becoming interactive architects and entrepreneurs 

[watch the short video clip I made above]. 

 

Adding fun for meaningful and engaging learning is a big challenge that needs to be crafted very carefully. 

 

Gamify education is not a magic solution that will work every time and in every context. 

 

Thoughtful learning goals planning, envisioning the player/ learner interactions activities, and designing the appropriate learning outcomes assessment rubrics are needed, to name a few.

 

Given all of the above, video games and 3D virtual worlds such as Second Life can serve as a robust playing ground for higher education in particular and education in general.

The 3D Hanukka Competition winners will be announced this Wed 8.12.2010. Save the date!

 

The event was broadcasted live streaming from Second Life and projected on Shenkar's Main Building 

following the Hanukkah [real] candles lighting ceremony !-)

The winner of the competition will gain a special opp from one of

the most interesting biz vendors in Second Life today.

 

This year our joy is mixed with deep sadness due to the tragic life lose of the braves on Mount Carmel's forest fire. Wishing for better days to come.

 

Happy Hanukkah! 

Dr.G. @VRider

 

"My work is a game, a very serious game (and I LOVE it)." - M. C. Escheris (and me). 

Special thanks to Dr. Lea Goldin, Head Software Engineering Department

at Shenkar College of Engineering and Design for supporting my games based learning projects and ideas. 

How we can work for Middle East Peace by Making Entrepreneurs Play Biz @ISEMI_IL

More then ten years ago we were naive thinking that good will and mutual trust from both sides of the academia can make a change in the Israeli - Palestinian conflict. I took an active part of a joint collaboration initiative by Tel-Aviv University and Al-Quds University headed by Sari Nusseibeh  to build the first West Bank Science Museum. The project supported by the European Union was promising. After several visits and face to face productive meetings the second Intifada broke up killing all lines of interactions and possible progress.

That is why I was so trilled to meet entrepreneurs at the ISEMI and the  IPCC Israeli – Palestinian IT seminar organized by Prof. Liora Katzenstein. The aim of the seminar sponsored by the Portland Trust, HP Indigo division and @MercyCorps was to discuss the challenges and opportunities of making business in our region. Thanks to ISEMI CEO Proj. Liora Katzenstein and IPCC CEO Mr. Avi Nudelman for making the seminar possible [see event pics here]. The seminar was a great opportunity to make face to face interactions and learn from peers entrepreneur experience. I’m looking forward to collaborate and make fruitful biz in the future, whether in the real life or in virtual spaces. More important, to contribute to the overall goal of achieving prosperity, security and hopefully peace to our region.

For those of you that followed my Immersive Education Grant winning People 2 People (P2P) Project: Using Virtual Worlds for developing Leadership and Conflict Resolution Skills among Arab and Jewish Israeli Students set a sure that the closure of the Sun Microsystem 3D platform Wonderland did not put an end to it. Over the last months we  @MetaverSense are building the project on an open source 3D world platform using our own resources. Preliminary alpha testing with our teens players are promising and now we are looking for institutes and organizations interested to join the game arena. Moreover, currently, I’m developing a conceptual framework of a 3D Virtual park that will afford businesses and brands of our region to set up virtual venues to make connections and trade bridging over time and space using avatars. 
Feel free to contact me if you are interested to learn more about the educational trajectory or the business trajectory.

During the semiar I thought of new ways of bringing fun and engagement to conferences and events by combining gamification mechanism and interactive technologies for our clients. This service is under development at juloot.co Hub and I invite you to join us @julooting.
 

This post was written on my iPhone. Yes, on top of meeting P2P during the ISEMI seminar breaks, I went multi-tasking using my iPhone as an interaction and production tool. Here's how:

* Announcing via foursquare and twitter : Peace starts when People meet People to make biz!

* Finger tapping my ideas and write this post using my Notes app.

* taking photos and upload it via Plixi app in real time.

* Showing my fellow participants the magic of @julooting QR code biz badge using Paperlinks and RedLaser apps.

Hanan Gazit, PhD

MetaverSense CEO

juloot Owner

My work is a Game

Press Release: MetaverSense Ltd teamed up with British Council Israel to best utilize Virtual Worlds and Second Life for Education

Here we are in the Center of [Virtual Second Life ] Town Look!

British Council Israel and MetaverSense Ltd have signed a strategic partnership to offer a new learning and teaching virtual experience in the British Council's Second Life Island for Israeli teachers and students. The parties will work together to promote the use of virtual worlds for education by raising the awareness of the British Council’s Second Life islands and MetaverSense's professional educational services. MetaverSense Ltd will promote the British Council Second Life teen and adult islands at lectures, workshops and courses given by MetaverSense Ltd within the Israeli Educational System and British Council will promote MetaverSense's professional services among teachers.

MetaverSense Ltd offer Israeli Institutes and teachers professional development, training and consulting services in Second life and other related virtual worlds platforms for engaging instruction and learning. The Two parties will work together to establish a coherent pedagogical and technological framework to support effective educational use for Israeli education High Schools, Middle Schools teachers and teens.

[in the picture above, Mrs. Nicola Crowley, British Council Israel's ELT Project Manager deliver a virtual presentation in Second life for MOFET institute event lead by Dr, Hanan Gazit, MetaverSense Ltd CEO]

"When the Internet and the Middle East meets" a New @AvatarAcademy course

MetaverSense Ltd is offering a new virtual @AvatarAcademy course entitled: "When the Internet and the Middle East meets" in which participants will explore and learn the complexity of Middle East themes using an avatar in Second life.

Lecturer: Dr. Tal Pavel

Dr. Tal Pavel is an expert in technology and internet usage in the Middle East and the Islamic world. He holds a Ph.D. in Middle Eastern Studies from Bar-Ilan University, Israel. His MA thesis studied the image of Hezbollah, as reflected in its websites. In his doctorate, Pavel evaluated the changes in governmental restrictions on Internet usage during 2002-2005 in four Middle Eastern countries: Egypt, Syria, The UAE, and Saudi Arabia. Dr. Pavel is a research fellow at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, the Netvision Institute for Internet Studies, and the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism.

For more information and registration [Hebrew]

Online Games and Virtual Worlds in Education UnConf 2009

Online Games and Virtual Worlds in Education UnConf 2009

When DiGRA ISRAEL and GameIS meets

Were [Host] : Afeka Tel Aviv College of Engineering, Auditorium, TLV

www.afeka.ac.il

When: Tuesday, 29^th of December 2009

Location: http://www.afeka.ac.il/reaching_way.aspx

Cost: Free!

Speakers [tentative]

ICTs Cooperation and Dialogue: Serious Games between Israel and Brazil

keynote: Prof. Gilson Schwartz | Academic Director, City of Knowledge, Institute of Advanced Studies, U. of São Paulo, Brazil

http://www.cidade.usp.br/english/gilson.php

Second Life, Education and the Middle East

Dr. Tal Pavel | Research fellow at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, the Netvision Institute for Internet Studies and the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

http://www.middleeast-internet-monitor.com

Webkinz Avatar Gerilla and the Educational System

Dr. Hanan Gazit | MetaverSense Ltd CEO, DiGRA ISRAEL Chapter

http://www.metaversense.com

WOW Guild conflict Management: Lessons for Organizations and Education

Ziv Levee & Dr. Hanan Gazit | DiGRA ISRAEL

http://www.digraisrael.org

Opening for other presenters [10-20min each unconf style] and Panel  

plz contact Or-Tal and Hanan for more info

or RT DM via twitter @lemino and @VRider

E-mail: chapter[at]digraisrael[dot]org

Plz RSVP via facebook

http://www.facebook.com/events.php?ref=sb#/event.php?eid=201960855784&index=1

Bryant & Stratton College First Second Life Graduation

On June 10th, the virtual campus of the 150 year old Bryant & Stratton College will hold the first college graduation in the Virtual World of Second Life.

Snap-shots from the event together with other innovative apps such as Daden Limited Pivote and 3D Virtual War room, to be included in MetaverSense CEO, Dr. Hanan @VRider Gazit 's Virtual Worlds Petcha Kutcha 4:20 min #SL tour #Innovation session at the Israeli Annual Instruction and Learning in Organizations Conference, to take place on the 16-17 of June 2009.


MetaverSense Ltd is proud to sponsor of the Israeli Annual Instruction and Learning in Organizations Conference 2009.

Dr. Hanan Gazit to present at VWBPE'09

I have the pleasure of attending and presenting at the Virtual Worlds Best Practice in Education 2009 Conference (VWBPE). The three days conference is a great opportunity to join, learn and share ideas about the current state and future of education in virtual worlds, the metaverse, and Second Life in particular.

My presentation on Sunday, 09:30AM [SL time] entitled: Start your Engines! Real-Virtual Worlds Engaging Interactions will focus on real - virtual worlds engaging learning interactions by using video games. Several Mash-up and video games concepts developed based on game engines and social networks developed at the Instructional System Technologies Department at H.I.T-Holon Institute of Technology will be presented.

Lessons from my Games4Girls Academy Project at H.I.T-Holon Institute of Technology will be shown together with the coming SLACTIONS 2009 conference second call.

חוויות למידה חדשות בתוך עולמות וירטואליים תלת מימד במו ידיך! מצגת בכנס מופ"ת

New Learning Experiences in Second Life 3D Virtual Worlds! MetaverSense

View more presentations from MetaverSense. (tags: second life interactions)

חוויות למידה חדשות בתוך עולמות וירטואליים במו ידיך!
איך עולמות וירטואליים תלת ממדיים כמו סקנד לייף מאפשרים לך ליצור חוויות למידה חדשות ומרתקות במו ידך .

מצגת של ד"ר חנן גזית, מנכ"ל מטאוורסנס בע"מ בכנס מורים, תלמידים ועולמות וירטואליים במכון מופ"ת, 21 לינואר 2009 .

חברת מטאוורסנס בע"מ נותנת החסות הראשית לכנס.

-----------------------------------------

Dr. Hanan Gazit, MetaverSense Ltd CEO presentation: New Learning Experiences in 3D Virtual Worlds: Second Life in your hands! at the "Teachers, Learners and Virtual Worlds" Israeli Education Conference at MOFET Institute, 21 of Jan 2009.

MetaverSense Ltd Conference Sponsor.
http://www.metaversense.com

StarLogo TNG v1.0 Released ! download it now

StarLogo TNG , The Next Generation of StarLogo modeling and simulation software Version 1.0 Released today!

StarLogo is a tool which affords to create and understand simulations of complex systems. Through TNG the MIT developers team lead by Eric Kloper [which I had the pleasure to meet at M.I.T few years ago] and Andrew Begel hope to:

* Lower the barrier to entry for programming with a graphical interface where language elements are represented by colored blocks that fit together like puzzle pieces.

* Entice more young people into programming through tools that facilitate making games.

* Use 3D graphics to make more compelling and rich games and simulation models.

Follow the link below for more info and free download & Start buliding your 3D simulations!

http://education.mit.edu/drupal/starlogo-tng

ViMentors Academic: Web3D for Higher Education Workshop

Dr. Hanan "Vrider" Gazit, ViMentors.com CEO to mentor and deliver a workshop: Using Web3D for Higher Education at MEITAL the Inter-University Center for e-Learning (IUCEL), which is part of the Israeli Inter-University Computation Center (IUCC), located at Tel-Aviv University.
MEITAL assists Israeli institutions of higher education, universities and academic colleges in advancing the use of e-learning technologies and creates opportunities for institutional connections and collaboration among academic institutes in Israel.

Main Goal:

The workshop will focus on using virtual worlds such as Second Life for meaningful instruction and learning.

Audience:

Israeli Universities and academic colleges' instructional designers' staff.

When: 10th of September 2008.
Were: Open University, Ramat-Aviv, Israel.

Personal note:

I regard the workshop as an important step for creating Israeli Academic institutes presence in Second Life and other relevant virtual worlds for meaningful instruction and learning.

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Dr. Hanan "VRider" Gazit serves as the Israeli Games Research Association (DiGRA) Chapter. A researcher & lecturer at the Instructional Systems Department at H.I.T-Holon Institute of Technology. Entrepreneur, owner of a start-up company specializing in delivering services for Israeli investors, companies and organizations interested in using virtual worlds and video games for business, marketing & instruction. His research interests include: Analyzing virtual worlds and video games interactions; Designing effective serious games; Skills acquisition and virtual-real world transfer and New Media. He holds a Ph.D. degree in the Learning Sciences and a Magna Cum Laude M.A. degree in Science Education, both from Tel-Aviv University. A former post doctorate fellow researcher at the Virtual Reality Lab, Institute for Interdisciplinary Applications of Computer Science, University of Haifa. Dr. Gazit serves on the Association of Virtual Worlds` Advisory Board and on the Editorial Review Board of the International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations.

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