I love ISTE meetings. There are at least two a week that I regularly attend; KJ Hax's Speaker Series on Tuesday nights, and the ISTE Social on Thursday nights. Then there is the biweekly Sunday Tour which I sometimes attend. This week the "social" was more of a meeting, but as you can see, was well attended.
Corinne led us in a discussion of what should be included in freebie resource packages for new teachers coming in-world. It led to a discussion of what we more mature "avies" want as well.
Teachers have many different purposes for being in SL. Some are here to learn to teach students so they can make a move to the teen grid and have the skills necessary to engage and enrich their students' experiences. Others are here to network and find collaborators for real life school projects. Still more would like to learn how SL can be used for staff development. Then there are the professionals working on advanced degrees that are studying the use of SL by teachers and students. All of us, I think, appreciate the social aspects of SL, enjoying the discussion and times we find to play.
I'm not sure how ISTE can meet all of these needs but I know it will try. We need to start, I think, with some basic SL skills for newbies. That's my specialty. I love mentoring.
I find myself wondering how VSTE, the ISTE partner I'm associated with, can help. What can we offer that ISTE isn't already doing or planning to do? What skills do we have? What resources can we offer? What needs are there not already being served?
