We did it! Welcome to the new virtual office.
A
great deal has happened since 1999 when all this began. I have
become much more clever about how to use the tools of technology
to communicate effectively and facilitate learning. What was a
part time self-funded research effort has become the main focus
of all my work today. Personally I moved from a city-type environment
with water views of the harbour to a rural property with views
of my horses. It was time for a change in my virtual world too.
One that reflects the learning I have done and the changes I made
over these past few years.
If
you were never a visitor to the original virtual office and this
is all new to you then please skip down and read the brief history
below before you enter the site for the first time. It provides
a bit of context for what you are about to experience. Then follow
the tips for new visitors at the bottom of the page. It will help
you make your first step into the environment an effective one.
I will see you inside.
For
the rest of you .. let's get a wiggle on. You have 2 ways to
enter the office from the crystal ball in the field. The stephanieburns.com
button in the top row of buttons will take you into the new
office and at the same time enable the right margin menu. The
menu will help you to learn where everything is in the office
and I'd suggest you start with the menu activated. When you are
comfortable in the office then you can enter without the menu
by using the far right button in the top row. When you roll your
cursor over that button it'll turn red. When it does, click your
mouse.
Remember,
it's a new site you have not loaded into your browser before.
Give the pages a minute to load the first time.
When
you first get into the office you might have a glance at the orientation
page if you have a minute. You will learn most quickly to get
around the new place from that page. Then, you might take a look
at the crystal ball on the shelf. There is new information on
the designs I am doing found within it. The articles are in the
computer now and all have been updated!
Well, what do you reckon? Time to turn out the lights on the old place and move on?
I think so and I am ready to invite you into the new office.
Welcome!
return
to the field to enter the office
Here's
a bit of history you might appreciate if this your first exposure
to this work
Since
August of 1999 I have been tackling some of the difficult problems
related to using technology as a method for facilitating adult
learning. Since then I have completed many research projects each
designed to advance the development information-delivery and teaching
methods for use in technology-based learning.
My
team and I have made great strides in understanding this new phenomenon.
Much of the work over this past 18 months has been focused on
teaching what has been learned to others.
These
projects began with the construction of a unique on-line newsletter
that contained both articles and status reports on major projects
surrounding my work. The first of those newsletters went 'live'
in December 1999. The intention of these first newsletters was
to test a unique style of writing and method of delivering educational
content to a broad audience. We needed first to discover how to
hold a on-line readers attention for long enough to delivery quality
information on a topic. We also needed to discover how to generate
the states of mind needed to self-motivate a return the newsletter
in the future.
In
each issue of the newsletter it was suggested that I was constructing
an virtual on-line office. This idea started innocently with the
image of a construction site on the homepage used as an index
to the first newsletter. We (the thousand or more visitors and
my colleagues) then began to search for a suitable front door
to the virtual office in the next two issues. Many images of "doors"
were received in my office. Finally a suitable office was found
and the packing boxes were delivered to the empty virtual office
in July 2000.
The
boxes were unpacked on the night of the Opening Ceremony for the
2000 Olympic games and I sent a note to all the visitors on the
email notification list that they were welcome to use the office
for their own learning process.
The
original office environment was very intuitive and everyone seemed
to find their way around quite easily.
For
your first visit you will find the following tips useful.
1.
To
enter the office the first time I'd suggest you use the stephanieburns.com
button. Accessing the site this way will enable a menu of features
to appear on the right side of the office image. These text links
are descriptive and will help you learn about the items in the
office for your first few visits.
To
go to any area of the website you can either click the item in
the office or the related text link.
2.
Once you know where everything is you may wish to view only the
virtual office. You can do that by selecting the button in the
top row on the far right. Rolling your cursor over that button
turns it red so you will remember this feature in the future.
Accessing the site via this path removes the right margin menu
and makes the image of the office fill more of your screen.
If
you use this path you will use the items in the office to access
the various areas within the site.
3.
It is absolutely worth going visiting the orientation page on
your first (or second or third) visit. It is very graphic and
will explain the items in the room in more detail. You will learn
about all the features of the site and begin to make the mental
connection to the items in the office.
There
you go, wipe your feet, click the button and make yourself at
home. You are more than welcome as my guest.
Sincerely,
Stephanie A. Burns
enter the site
