Tees Valley Community Media

The Video below was recently re-dicovered on a CD lying at the bottom of a drawer. In 2000 seven Tees Valley communities represented themselves on the Internet as Tees Valley Communities Online. At the same time the University of Teesside’s Virtual Reality department worked with these communities to develop a vision for their regeneration and future development. These environments could be viewed in the University of Teesside’s innovative “Hemispherum” and each community visited the Hemispherum to see this. Another hybrid VR model was built to represent all the communities and artefacts and creative objects were placed within it. The video of this place can be seen below

Or Click Here

Now, Skinningrove are doing something very similar but in Second Life (see bewlow)

How many schoolchildren do you know can tell a story of spending a night in the mine to avoid a German Zeppelin or of being sent home as mines washed up on the local beach and lost roof tiles on their school when one blew up? Check out Whitecliffe Primary School's first podcast at Radio Skinningrove as they read from the 134 year old Skinningove School logbook.

(right) Whitecliffe Podcasters with Barry Hunt (Click to enlarge)

Well it's quite hush hush at the moment but we do indeed have plans. Take a look at the picture gallery and then enjoy this movie.

With thanks to the people who gave us permission to use these. NB click on an image to enlarge and then click at the top to see the very largest version.

The Skinningrovers

An interesting session was had by all at The BBC today. The Skinningrovers were presenting their ideas for the Ochre Trail and the Virtual Tour that would accompany it. Several Skinningrove youngsters from Whitecliffe primary school had come along. The kids were delighted to see that the grown ups were just big kids really when they were shown the movies "Tommy's Plight" and "Skinningrove - Welcome To The Future".

My assistant helps with the powerpoint

The Skinnigrovers told of a boat they had rescued from Whitby where it was due to be disposed of. They brought it back to Skinningrove and refurbished it.

They sited it on the seafront where it will be a monument to the fishing industry which is now sadly in decline. The picture shows an artists impression of two sculptures that have been commissioned to be added to the boat.

Remarkably the boat has ended up across the street from the house where the old fisherman's daughter lives and today his two grandchildren were there to hear the story of their grandfathers boat.

Next it was the Adults turn to be astonished when the Head Teacher from Whitcliffe School, Mrs Shannon produced the 130 year old log book from the Skinningrove School

The beautifully written Skinningrove School Logbook

Several of the children read extracts from the book including one where the children of the day had to be evacuated from the school when a German Zeppelin arrived overhead.

It's now planned that Tommy and Barry will take a more "executive" role at Radio Skinningrove and the children will take over producing podcasts of readings from the old book plus reporting on current events. The adults and the kids will work together on the Virtual Ochre Trail.

There was some jocularity when we realised that later editions of the Skinningrove log book would include reports of the doings of Tommy's school career.

Tommy Evans: This is Your Life !

A new concept in Theatre and Movie Making. Well, not entirely new, the concept of making movies in games and virtual worlds, (Machinima) is not new but the Straad Players with a Second Life island and a Sky Platform Backlot to shoot movies (animations) on is new. Check the promo movie below.

Anyone wishing to become involved should email s.d.thompson@tees.ac.uk

Actors
set designers **
set builders
costume designers
script writers **
camera crew
editors **
post production **
audio technicians **
Voice characterisations **
directors
musicians **

Unfortunately because we're using Second Life children can not engage with
it (in world) but they can look on whilst production is happening and
they can be directly involved in the activities above marked thus **

The Straad Players blog can be found here

Margrove Park Village Hall have been successful in a funding bid to develop their "Digital Village" and will sustain the Village Hall Internet connection beyond the current project and provide them with their own bank of laptops. We're quite excited at the prospect of developing the Digital Village concept further and in the bid we spoke of creating a virtual Post Office, Corner Shop, School and Job Shop as the village has none of these things.

The saying goes that the best websites start with a piece of paper. This is just that the core team (below, minus one missing person) have been doing to design their new Digital Village website.

Virtual Post Office - All the things you can do online such as apply for a TV License, RE-tax your car. Taxing your car online for instance is far more efficient than going to a post office.

Virtual, Job Shop - job search online, pointers and advice, CV's etc - closely connected to ..............

Virtual School - The Digital Skills Network currently in development. Online support and learning on a range of subjects including how to run your virtual post office.

Virtual Corner Shop particularly useful to older residents, they club together to form a consortium to be able to place an order sufficiently large to warrant a Tescos/Iceland - whoever Groceries delivery

Virtual Volunteering A new idea. More details later.

Read the MyWeb2@Margrove Park report

Visit the Margrove Park website