eLearning 2.0 Report

Around 30 people in Stockholm and 25 people at the Second House of Sweden (with a few overlaps) gathered for an all-day eLearning 2.0 conference today, organized by Åke Nygren of the Swedish Association for Information Specialists (SFIS). Events in real life were broadcast live into Second Life, and vice versa:

The two main speakers were D.I. von Briesen, discussing the integration of Moodle and Second Life for elearning (presentation), and Angele Giuliano discussing tips and tricks for creating a successful elearning experience (presentation). Several web meeting tools were also demoed, including Adobe Acrobat Connect, the free DimDim and WiZiQ.

Thanks to everyone who participated.

Watch EuroPride live at the Second House of Sweden – 16.30 CET, July 30

Can’t make it to EuroPride in Stockholm? You are hereby cordially invited to join the Pride festivities at the Second House of Sweden, Sweden’s virtual Embassy in Second Life.

Not only have we draped the embassy in Pride colors, we’ve also set up a giant screen to broadcast live video and audio from Pride Park. Come watch with us on the embassy lawn as you share a virtual cocktail with friends and meet new people from all over the world.

The party starts at 16.30 CET (7.30 SL time) on July 30, 2008. (If the planned Second Life rolling restart hasn’t been completed by then, we’ll start as soon as the sim is accessible.)

Thanks once again to Tina (Petgirl) Bergman for donating the fine picnic equipment for the lawn and for installing the gigantic Pride flag and screen.

(You can also watch the live streaming video on the web at the Stockholm Pride website, but in Second Life you can watch it and simultaneously discuss it with other online viewers. And that’s not possible in real life:-))

(PS: Sorry about the late announcement, but the time of the start of the live video feed was only just confirmed.)

September 5: eLearning 2.0 live in Second Life

On September 5, join us at the Second House of Sweden auditorium for a live video simulcast of the eLearning 2.0 conference being held in Kista, near Stockholm. The conference, organized by SFIS, the Swedish Association for Information Specialists, will present a roster of speakers describing the latest elearning tools, including Second Life. You can find out more information on the official eLearning 2.0 blog.

The conference will last all day from 9am to 6pm. We plan to be there and broadcast all the sessions live into Second Life.

Multilingual Literary Language Café, 18 June 2008

We’re happy to announce that the Language Café will be holding at session at the amphitheater of the Second House of Sweden on June 18, 2008, starting at 19.30 Stockholm time (10.30 SL time).

The Language café is part of LiteraTour in Library 2.0, an ongoing project sponsored by the European Union’s Grundtvig lifelong learning program, and is organized by Åke Nygren, the coordinator of the Lifelong Learning Initiative at the Stockholm Public Library.

Language Café is multilingual, drop by for a visit and see how easy it is to discuss literature in a virtual environment, no matter where you are or what your best language is.

Below are some details for the June 18 meeting. Do visit the home page for more information.

Agenda
7.30pm Introduction to LiteraTour 2.0 (English)
7.45pm Identity, Memory and Territory in literature (English)
8.00pm Discuss in the language of your choice!
(English, Swedish, German, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese)
8.20pm Summary of the discussions (English)

See you there!

Second House of Sweden inaugurated one year ago today!

One year ago today, on May 30, 2007, Sweden’s foreign minister Carl Bildt inaugurated the Second House of Sweden, Sweden’s “virtual embassy” in Second Life. We’ve had quite a year since then: Art talks, film fesivals, masked balls, a new Linnaeus exhibition, Swedish lessons, World Book Day, an installation piece in the real House of Sweden, nonstop showings of “Sweden – Open Skies Open Minds”…

And we’ve learned alot about this medium, and how to use it to conduct public diplomacy. Look out for more interesting interactive projects coming in the next year — beginning with a big party on June 6 for Sweden’s National Day celebrations.

Virtu-Real on TV:-)

House of Sweden goes Virtu-Real made it to the morning news on Fox News in Washington DC. Click on the image below to get to the site where the video plays. It gives you a very good idea of what we’re doing here.

The Sweden.se Short Film Festival in Second Life: Three films, two days, one virtual screen

On 22-23 November 2007, the Second House of Sweden is hosting a series of three critically acclaimed Swedish short films at its amphitheater in the virtual world of Second Life. The producers and directors of the films will be on hand to introduce their work; after each viewing, join them in a discussion of their films.

Anyone in the world with a broadband Internet connection can take part. Here’s the programme:

Thursday, 22 November, 7AM Second Life time (4PM Stockholm time, 11PM Shanghai time):

Music for one apartment and six drummers (10 minutes — 2001)
Six drummers participate in a well-planned musical attack in the suburbs. As an elderly couple leaves their apartment the drummers take over. On everyday objects they give a concert in four movements: Kitchen, Bedroom, Bathroom and Living room.
Kostr film

Sweden/Sverige (8 minutes — 2000)
On the Swedish south coast a man is gazing out at sea. He pulls out a compass and finds north. He starts to run. Three days and three nights later he reaches his goal: Treriksröset. He has passed the state of Sweden.
Kostr film

The directors of these two films, Ola Simonsson och Johannes Stjärne Nilsson, will be present at the viewing to discuss the films.

Friday, 23 November, 7AM Second Life time (4PM Stockholm time, 11PM Shanghai time):

Punkspark (29 minutes — 2007)
Three young punks (the Sex Pistols kind) occupy the garden of an Upper- class family to organize a punk rock music festival…
Audience award for best short story film at the Gothenburg Film Festival, Audience choice for best short film at the Jönköping Film Festival
Stavro Filmproduktion AB

Both the director, Johan Löfstedt, and the producer of Punkspark, Patrik Axén, will be present at the viewing to discuss the film.

How to visit the Second House of Sweden:
First-time users of Second Life: Get a free account at http://www.Sweden.se/secondlife. Download and install the viewer (Windows, Mac or Linux), log on and you will be instantly transported to the Swedish Institute’s island. There, a short orientation course teaches you the basics of navigating Second Life. After about 15 minutes of training, you’ll be ready to join the activities at the Second House of Sweden.

Seasoned users of Second Life: Using the map, search for “Swedish Institute” and teleport there. You can also use this SLurl.

Contact info:
International media:
Susanna Wallgren, susanna.wallgren@si.se, +46 8 453 79 65

Swedish media:
Jenny Hagblom, jenny.hagblom@si.se, +46 8 453 79 22

About the Swedish Institute:
The Swedish Institute (SI) is a public agency that promotes interest in Sweden abroad. SI seeks to establish cooperation and lasting relations with other countries through active communication and cultural, educational and scientific exchanges.

Download this press release as a PDF (3MB)