I was talking to the king of techies yesterday and in a moment of transparency admitted he didn’t know how to get rid of Facebook invites without rejecting peeps.

There’s a tiny link below the “Yes/No/Maybe,” options that says “Remove from my Events.” If you don’t know what I’m talking about or are having trouble locating the link here’s a video.

Check out CrossLoop. It’s free screen sharing software that is super simple to set up and install. Plus, it makes it easy for me to help people with their web communication needs and teach them how to fend for themselves. If you’re a computer genius, you can sign up to be a “helper” on the site. Folks can pay you through crossloop (they take a cut) and they give you free advertising for your services. This is a great way to generate additional income, which is something my buddy Erik seems to think is a good idea.

If you’re too ashamed to admit that you don’t know what people are talking about when podcasting is mentioned, you should check out CommonCraft videos. They will inform your pants off and allow you to grasp concepts that you should own already. 

You may want to check out their most poplar videos first:

• Twitter in Plain English
• Social Bookmarking in Plain English
• RSS in Plain English
• Wikis in Plain English

These videos are pretty easy to make, though the set up would take some time. Most of it is simple video with voiceover; when something is moving by itself they’re using stop motion. This is a great way to convey a message in an informative and strangely educational way.

Back in the day, I posted about the beauty of keeping your social networking sites at your fingertips. With the new release of Flock (v 2.0) I decided to do a little how-to screencast outlining the features of Flock.

 
 
Go get your free copy of Flock, install it, and then tell me how much you love it. I got into Flock for the one stop picture uploading capabilities, but you may like it for another reason. You may even be using Flock in some creative way that may not have been thought of until now. Let us know what you’re using it for.

I just received a thank you email from eye4you alliance, the organization that hosted the Second Life college fair on the teen grid. There are a couple of links in the email that I though would be of interest.

Pictures from the fair
An Article by a teen volunteer.
Some thoughts from students who attended the fair

The college fair went well. I wasn’t able to generate any immediate responses (inquiries, apps, etc.) but the interaction with the teen volunteers was great! We talked about college and planning ahead, which is why I do what I do. In one conversation I was helping students from Colorado, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and the United Kingdom prepare for college. Even better, they were helping me to get acquainted with Second Life.

Also, there are opportunities to volunteer with eye4you, and in turn they can help me organize and publicize events that my institution hosts.

I’ll say this again–it’s not original, but it needs to be reiterated: there is an untapped market here for online learning. Sure, there are institutions taking advantage, but Second Life has incredible potential for revolutionizing online programs for higher-ed.

Well, today’s fair is wrapping up. This is a picture from a lecture by a Linden. Linden Labs run second life and their employees have the last name Linden in SL. They’re a pretty big deal. Claudia Linden was lecturing about plans to make a Main Grid area specifically for Professors and students under 18 to interact.

It’s still a bit new. For now, students must interact with a special avatar that is trapped in the teen world. It’s a bit difficult to interact because my character in the teen world cannot give objects, set up buildings etc. with items from the Main Grid (MG).

So I’ve had a couple of great conversations with students who I’ll be contacting with more information from my institution. They were showning a one of our podcasts in the theater as well. Very Cool stuff. Back to the fair.

Go Ahead! Tell me to get a life… I am nerding out, Admission style. Here’s my story:

History Lesson

So my VP calls me up and he’s all stoked because there’s a college fair in Second Life and he wants our institution in the mix (I’m listening to hip-hop while I type, so if I get soulful you’ll know why). I had a month to learn the program and two days to get started on a background check. I also have been working on some materials for the fair—the ones in the picture. Our booth isn’t the high tech kind, but there are some schools represented at the fair that have been “in world” for two years. They’re pros. I’m not.

So I was setting up my booth and I noticed there was a group forming behind me. I turned around and started talking to these kids. The group had volunteered to help reps set up booths and we started talking about tacos and video games. It turns out that these kids are brilliant. I have a feeling SL (second life) in the teen world is filled with brainiacs. One of them gave me a gasmask that he made so I could look trendy in the teen world (apparently you’re cool if you wear one occasionally).

The fair starts tomorrow at 10am psl (PST) and I think it will be moderately attended, but it’s been worth it just to speak with the teen volunteers. I’ll write more about how my experience went. First, a note on second life and how it relates to the rest of technology for higher-ed.

Just like iTunes, Universities use this stuff for educational purposes… not recruiting.

You can take any class that MIT offers for free with iTunes. The whole semester’s worth. You can get the syllabus and the assignments. You’ll think like an Aerospace Engineer, but you just won’t have the paper to back you up. Seriously, I’ve been looking… There is not more than 2 schools using iTunes for recruiting. Airing your chapel services doesn’t count. I’m talking serious Podcastage! How to apply videos, residence hall tours, slideshows, updates… Blam!

Second Life is the same way. Universities could blow this stuff up with their online programs, and some have been doing this stuff. But no one has been actively recruiting through the interface. I’m not too sure how this recruiting thing should look, as this is still new to me, but I’m excited to have something new to write about

Here are some helpful links

College Fair in Second Life

eye4youalliance

And Finally:

My three way powerlink:Skoolaborate, Second Life Resources, and a great Blog about this stuff.