https://www.jumpstart.com/free-online-3d-virtual-world-for-kids.aspx?pid=js&cid=games_content_seo
https://www.symbaloo.com/mix/homeschool11
https://games.sense-lang.org/EN.php
https://www.remc.org/21things4students/
http://www.21things4teachers.net/
Create Magic in your Classroom – MetaverseApp – Medium
Wopoli.com is a public website. For the sake of transparency please be aware that all comments, once accepted are also made public. This site may be viewed by children. All posts will be monitored and content that is not family-friendly will be blocked. No personal information is collected by myself or shared with others unless you or a child of yours is a student I am working with. Please be aware if you choose to sign into WordPress as a registered member, they have their own policies and it is your responsibility to research these policies. Viewing the site does not require a WordPress subscription.
Wopoli.com has been designed as a learning resource environment. When I make available research-based methodology, proper citations will be included. It is my goal to adhere to copyright and attribute material to the original authors. Please respect copyright and attribute any resources you post to the author as well.
I have been teaching for over twenty years as a parent and for private institutions. I am not currently certified in any state as a teacher. I have an associate degree in Creative Marketing and a bachelor’s degree in Media Communications. Many posts were created to fulfill educational requirements for my master’s degree in Learning in Emerging Technologies, and my certificate for Teaching in Emerging Technologies through Empire State College, part of the SUNY network. Much of my work is also based on personal experience and exploration and serves as examples to guide others.
Wopoli.com is an access point for my student(s) and is made public to specifically provide examples and resources for other parents and educators. Wopoli.com has curriculum examples that have self-guided as well as guided activities. The lessons are intended to be adaptable or serve as examples and may not be appropriate for all ages or students. This environment maps out expectations in the formulation of achievable goals and motivational rewards through participation in virtual environments.
It is my goal when using technology as a teaching and learning tool to help students and educators understand how emerging technologies can enrich the learning experience for younger students and help achieve future student success in the real world of higher education, employment, or life goals. It is also essential to educate on the risks and best practices for online safety by exploring and sharing resources. It is also important to educate other adults within my network to the process involved as well as the reasoning behind the methodologies that I am incorporating on this site and companion sites. Please use the resources provided as well as your own inquiries to educate yourself concerning the benefits and risks involved with new technologies, especially when working with children.
Examples of companion sites and resources are included in the site such as YouTube, virtual world viewers, other blog sites and other educational websites. My use and recommendations of these sites are based upon my own research, experience and opinion. Please independently research these sites, their privacy policies and security practices before using them with your students.
Throughout my varied careers and experiences is a thread of commonality, the desire to see others achieve their goals. This desire has manifested itself in my pursuit of leadership and teaching opportunities in my careers, personal pursuits, and in volunteer work. Removing barriers such as the limits poverty and distance have on individuals is a focus of mine as these are personal barriers I have faced. Technology and distance learning as well as virtual employment have been beneficial in this. I myself have achieved my education only do to the availability of distance education. In addition, my virtual employment has overcome the barrier of limited local resources in employment.
Through self-reflection and analysis of my experiences key words that express my personal goals, how I wish to impact others are: to uplift and inspire, broaden horizons, deepen understanding, enlighten, strengthen and support, inform, increase awareness, protect human dignity, share beauty and joy, challenge people to think – to examine their beliefs and the effect these have on themselves and others, and to minister on a spiritual level of truth. This is likely why my future goals fall into a desire to teach and to express myself in creative fields through technology.
God has brought to mind a specific memory, repeatedly, that he calls to be shared. It is the day that Jesus gave me a hug. It started weeks before the actual event…. In a time when euthanasia was being pushed in the medical field and legal arena in our country, I went to a seminar, back when I specialized with the elderly and those impacted by Alzheimer disease. In this seminar the speakers were pro ending the life of elderly patients in nursing homes. The social worker from our site also joined me and sat with me in the audience. She casually glanced over as I wrote notes and thoughts on the conversation. At the end of the presentation I stood up and countered with the risks and ethical implications, not religion based, very respectful. I was proud to have offered the counter aspect. It wasn’t easy and was not received well however I thought it to be my ethical responsibility to offer another perspective on a one sided seminar discussion. The next day at work I was called into the social workers office. I was reprimanded for speaking publicly at the conference in opposition to euthanasia. I was told I was “suffering from belief system syndrome” as if I had a mental illness. The social worker convinced the administration I needed additional exposure to alternative beliefs and I was required to attend an 8 hour seminar on spirituality in the health care field. Out of all the presenters that day only one was “christian” but it focused on the power of prayer as the power positivity and belief has on healing, not the power of God to heal. The others were about other religions, meditations, and controversial beliefs and practices. Driving home that day I felt I had just left a war zone and would be expected to report back “what i had learned” All the way home I spoke with God, my faith had not been shaken, I knew what i believed, I understood and accepted others have different views, but it was still upsetting realizing that I was expected not to have an open discussion and to condone all beliefs and practices, even euthanasia, in the least by simply remaining silent and that my own professional concerns and personal ethical beliefs were not respected. This was something I did not feel I should be asked to do ethically. Morality is a much deeper level, however even on the surface of professional ethics I felt this was not appropriate. As I neared my village I was no longer talking to God I was yelling. Tears streaming down my face. (I really should not have been driving at this point.) I wasn’t yelling at God. I was not angry at God. I was just hurt and wanted God to take the pain away. He spoke in soft thoughts in my mind and I snapped back. That wasn’t good enough. I needed more. I could envision Jesus in my mind sitting in the car with me. I knew God was with me and listening and I felt his love but I yelled back still…. No! I need more. I don’t want thoughts in my mind to sooth me, I do not want visions in my mind to comfort… I want a hug. I said to Jesus directly, you are God and nothing is impossible for you. I know it is not reasonable for me to expect you to appear in the flesh and give me a hug but that is what I need. I need a hug NOW. My God who can move mountains and bring nations to their knees. My God who loves me as a daughter, I needed a hug from my father. It didn’t matter how ridiculous my request sounded. I was like an inconsolable child. I was hurt. At this point I was driving into my home village. The village was empty on a Tuesday evening with everyone at supper. Then I saw them at the little church that was only occupied a few hours a week on Sunday morning and occasionally on a Wednesday evening. There was no reason for them to be there, on the sidewalk with their car doors open, about to get in and drive away, at the exact moment as I approached…. If the car had been there without seeing them, I would not have stopped, and a moment later they would have been on their way home, far outside of the village…. but there they were, on the sidewalk. I pulled over to the side of the road and literally jumped out of my car, I didn’t even have time to think about it. It was automatic. I think, by the looks on their faces I scared the dickens out of them with tears on my cheeks and stuttering as I approached them. I don’t even remember what I said but I told them I was there for hug and I got one. They offered to speak with me, they hadn’t even eaten supper yet, I tried to decline but they insisted. They had only stopped by the church on chance, a last minute thought as they were driving home, past the village church for some quick cleaning… I don’t even remember what we talked about. What I do remember is that I asked God for a miracle of a Hug that day. That is all I wanted but everything I needed and God moved a mountain just for me…..
For those who do not know me I have been isolated by poverty and distance since childhood. Technology has freed me from those bounds. I have been a virtual student since 2001 and have been a virtual employee for almost as long. I am forever surprised at the fear of technology that exists in our schools and in our professions. I worked for five years as a teacher and was daily faced with having to defend technology and argue its value and importance. Even as a Masters student I am still shocked at how slow educators and professionals are to accept technology due to misconceptions and fear. So here are my thoughts on the benefit of hybrid meetings using technology to facilitate networking and engagement.
While students and employees continue to benefit from face to face networking in a function room, new technologies are increasingly advancing with the ability to draw in participants who would otherwise be isolated. New technologies, not subject to physical boundaries are becoming increasingly more accessible.
This can be accomplished through personal mobile devices or virtual meeting environments, technology is the key to expanding outreach and the way content is communicated, both in conjunction with and separate from face to face communication. Not only are people who are limited by distance or other boundaries drawn into the discussion where they would otherwise be excluded, but those within the physical environment have access to a more engaged degree of interaction.
Overcoming fear of new technologies as taboo has always been a challenge. From the onset of telephonic conferences, rejected as impersonal, to video conferences rejected as intrusive, the taboo of having any electronic device in a classroom or meeting, all these taboos have been overcome and can now be looked back upon as the fear of change that slowed networking progress. 3D environments is the current taboo that professionals face in all fields that require networking and collaboration.
Mobile technology and social media are the current most active trends. 3D environments are quickly catching on, from virtual worlds to the development of walk in 3D web pages. The use of 3D environments are proving to increase engagement with the ability to learn and collaborate in meeting spaces. It is becoming common place to see layered meetings, even with face to face interaction, combined with distance communication and participants, live streaming, recording, gamification within the presentations, and multiple levels of interaction with links, slide shows, and even independent exploration of all of these options inside virtual environments.
Virtual meeting technology is efficient and cost effective. It eliminates travel, saves time, reduces expenditures, and increases convenience for the participant. It is also more environmentally friendly and quickly being adopted in the business fields, even as an alternative to the brick and mortar work space for all of the reasons mentioned above.
Companies have virtual employees using adobe rooms, Skype, Zoom, messenger, virtual networks and remote desktops because it is cost effective and convenient on a global scale. Colleges are needing to help students embrace virtual technology not only as a social and educational venue, but in career preparation in order to encourage future success.
Hybrid or blended meetings are the bridge for those still uncertain when it comes to improvements that require open mindedness towards newer technologies. Hybrid meetings have real time face to face components as well as virtual components, such as live streaming a conference or meeting with a group to experience a 3D immersive tour and discussion. Back channel conversations on social media, twitter, Facebook, or even meeting platforms such as Zoom, can work in conjunction with live events or live virtual immersive events.
Virtual meetings and immersive environments will never replace face to face interaction but they can greatly enhance them. We are social beings and physical proximity will always be a major aspect of networking and engagement. Emerging technologies merely enhance the experience and remove the boundaries that prevent many from participating. Those individuals who would otherwise feel isolated due to financial, physical, distance or other challenges, through blended environments are able to contribute and collaborate. The exploration of these interactive and immersive formats challenge us to become more relevant and more engaging. What a great opportunity to continue developing relationships that may start at a college or business event and be able to be nurtured and continued through the use of virtual and immersive technology.
Would you think me ill if I laughed to loud?
Would you shame me if I cried?
If the truth would hurt and could not help,
would you blame me if I lied?
Would you pick me up if I fell down
and would you join me on the ground
if I couldn’t get up and I was afraid,
would you love me anyway?
Who do you see when you look at me?
Do you see who I am and who I hope to be?
Who do you see when you look at me?
that you would condemn or hope to admire?
If you’re looking high, look lower.
If you’re looking low, look higher.
I am a child of anger with a ones of her own,
A loving mother whose children adore.
Do you see a harlot, a disgrace to her home,
a devoted wife who could not be more?
Is that what you see when you look at me?
That you would condemn or you would admire?
If your looking high, look lower.
If your looking low, look higher.
Lazy in deed, even at play,
A loyal worker doing her best,
ashamed and alone, forgetting to pray,
A faithful Christian never at rest?
Whomever you see when you look at me,
do not condemn or hope to admire.
For all of who I am, it is all of me,
If you’re looking high, look lower.
If you’re looking low, look higher.
Am I the flesh I see, dieing? Am I the me others see, trying? Am I the
me the shop keeper sees, buying? Am I the me the devil sees, lying? Am I
the me my pastor sees, crying? Am I the me my teacher sees, “Why-ing”
Am I the me my boss sees, Sighing? I am the me, God sees- Flying.
One,
One,
Then two.
Then it’s three.
Five syllables Yah!
A Fibonacci poem for me!
Mathematical poetry. If you want to learn more visit WOPOLI.com
Piem love letter 2016
I love you.
Me,
That’s who loves you.
Do you love me too?
Why do I even ask, I know you do.
Tell me.
That’s what I want from you.
Tell me, “I love you,”
“I love you.”
Don’t say, “I love you too.”
(A Piem poem uses sylables that align with Pie 3.14….)
