Caliburn Susanto – SANCTUARY!:
This function is not a boon, it is a source of derision. A mistake. Voice has always been available OUTSIDE of Second Life for use by whoever needs it for education, entertainment, or business. Adding it to the SL Client is NOT necessary and not good. Second Life will now be divided between those who will only communicate via voice chat and those who prefer the charm that is inherent in, and the civility that is at least partially enforced by, the slight inconvenience of typing everything. So those of us that don’t want the degradation of our former fantasyland will leave voice communication de-activated, and therefore be left out of whatever interesting conversations might be going on because we don’t want to have to be forced to listen to the attendant garbage.

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I’d add that it ruins the educational situation too… as it requires proximity to be used, and well, when the world is the classroom where you can talk to each other in im over thousands of meters, why are you standing together.. talking, looking at each other? it is like… ‘we could go outside and look at flowers…. but i’ll just sit here and draw a flower on the board’…. dumb.

‘Middle School Syndrome’ Undergoes a Reversal – New York Times:
“There are superintendents who want to avoid teaching to the test,” Dr. Lodovico said. “I say, we’re going to provide the kind of instruction that the state standards want us to provide. If that is teaching to the tests, so be it.”

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and this is why the students might be able to take a test, but not be considered learned, or otherwise educated. teaching to the test is to teach failure in everything other than the test.

so, if you’ve not heard yet… Barring incident, I’m leaving NYC in late July and moving to Chicago to work in the Department of Communications at UIC. I am really excited about the opportunity, it should be great fun. I cannot say that I’m looking forward to the move, as I’m not a big on moving, but.. I’m lovin the possibilities of the new job:) SLCC and NCA are in chicago this year and I will be at Internet Research 8.0 too:)