User:Maksmom13



Briarmelle Quintessa started working in WikiEducator. In real life her name is Merle Hearns. Briarmelle is her educator's avatar in virtual worlds. Merle is commonly known as maksmom13 on various Internet sites. Merle Hearns is a Senior Lecturer in the Tertiary Teaching Unit at Manukau Institute of Technology. She previously worked in foundation (enabling education). Merle (then Lemon) was a Lead Educator for the 2009 Second Life Education in New Zealand (SLENZ Project), funded by the NZ Tertiary Education Commission Encouraging and Supporting Innovation Fund. Merle is currently engaged in PhD research focussing on the transference of skills learned in virtual worlds to the real world. Merle has a literacy game called The Mythical World of Hīnātore, available on a Kitely sim 24/7. Merle is involved in the Virtual Worlds Working Group (VWWG) which assists in facilitating collaborative research and informing best practices in the use of virtual worlds for teaching and learning.

Merle has four sets of lesson plans on WikiEducator: The available lessons are:


 * Foundation interview skills in Second Life


 * Foundation Exemplars


 * The Mythical World of Hīnātore


 * Teaching Te Tiriti o Waitangi