The NMC Campus is an experimental effort developed to inform the New Media Consortium’s work in educational gaming.

Now fully operational, the NMC Campus has been carefully constructed to provide researchers and students dozens of prebuilt settings for experiments in social interaction in 3-D space. Expressly designed to encourage explorations both formal and informal, traditional and nontraditional, real and surreal, and serious and playlike, the spaces are flexible and will lend themselves to additional uses, yet to be defined. The campus has a variety of places for these interactions, from the serious to the fanciful, each designed to support an optimal group size; these range from 2 to more than 75. The campus also supports a wide variety of traditional media, including posters, PowerPoint slides, photographs, charts/graphs, videos, and weblinks, and these resources continue to be added on a regular basis as a core component of the project. All of these resources are available to NMC members who may wish to bring classes to the campus for a visit, as part of a research project, or for a full term. Complete details on using the campus are available on the NMC Campus wiki. Also available is the complete Second Life toolset of sophisticated building tools and the LSL scripting language, with which all of the NMC Campus and Second Life has been created. These allow the creation of virtually any simulated situation, process, or environment, and the incorporation of sophisticated interactivity. For the latest information on the project, see the main pages in this blog,

one idea for a gateway activity might be a show-and-tell for clothing and avatars, so people see what is possible

the personal communication really teaches more than signs and object chat [9:24] CDB Barkley: What do you think will be the impact of the voice capability? Have you tried the beta? [9:25] Ravenelle Zugzwang: so as Teachers leading your students into SL, you can relieve some of the new enviroment anxiety by familiarizing yourself and being there as a connection for you students when they come in? [9:25] Ilene Pratt: Voice is going to be very interesting! It works remarkably well! It'll be like an Elluminate session but you'll really BE there with others!

[9:25] CDB Barkley: If you had to share 1 or 2 top places with a colleague new to Sl, where would you send them? [9:26] Lizzy Saintlouis: Edu Island and Info Island [9:26] Ravenelle Zugzwang: I think people will be nicer to one another when they can hear the others intentions through voice inflection, or not but more opt to be polite. Text is really misread often [9:26] Robins Hermano: NMC, NOAA, Terra Incognita [9:26] Ilene Pratt: The International Spaceport Museum is great! [9:26] CDB Barkley: But text is so much more information dense

One of my challenges with talking about SL to colleagues is in explaining its value in terms of the traditional work environment - it seems like most of the online meetings and conferences I attend in SL are “about SL” - do you know what I mean - it can be elusive. smoke and mirror stuff. One interesting thing about people’s conceptions of what is possible in sl - is that sl can be used as some magic pill that will transform the structure of community/learning/teaching…. I think that’s interesting as my experience of SL so far is that it can accentuate RL experiences and emotions. Most students I kow are stressed about school - so why add more stress in a virtual environ! This is our challenge - how to make the experiences new…

[SLED] Grad Colony - Demo Sloodle Web interfaceParticipantsBlogs Page:  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  (Next)Add a new entryBlog from the top of the libraryby Grant Potter - Friday, 20 April 2007, 11:40 PM Anyone on this sitePosted from Second Life: SJSU SLIS Hello again. Live from the top of the San Jose Library...by Grant Potter - Friday, 20 April 2007, 11:06 PM Anyone on this sitePosted from Second Life: SJSU SLIS Sitting on the edge of the prim... Top of the world!by Grant Potter - Friday, 20 April 2007, 10:46 PM Anyone on this sitePosted from Second Life: SJSU SLIS Sitting on a prim on the top of the library. Blog Post #1 - Posting from SLby Grant Potter - Friday, 20 April 2007, 10:44 PM Anyone on this sitePosted from Second Life: SJSU SLIS Here I am on top of the San Jose Library sitting on a prim. Posting with the 2 in 1 Toolbar...very handy!by Grant Potter - Thursday, 19 April 2007, 10:26 PM Anyone on this sitePosted from Second Life: Campus I dropped the HUD to the ground and resized it. I put it back in my inventory and attached it to the center of my HUD. Works (and looks) great now that is it larger. Testingby Kip Yellowjacket - Monday, 16 April 2007, 08:28 AM Anyone on this sitePosted from Second Life: Hyperborea asfdjasldjlasjdlajsdlasldjasldjlasdjlaösjdlöasjdlas Greetings from Sloodlevilleby Clark Shah-Nelson - Thursday, 29 March 2007, 07:14 PM Anyone on this sitePosted from Second Life: Hyperborea Testing the Sloodle Toolbar from Hyperborea, 56, 179, 22 Sloodleville! 12 Sloodle Toolbars have been served. I can't quite figure out what to do with the Sloodle Box... Clark Sakai signing out. Blog 2by Clark Shah-Nelson - Thursday, 29 March 2007, 07:08 PM Anyone on this sitePosted from Second Life: Hyperborea

[SL] Best Practices For Education in Second Life The following best practices were developed by Global Kids, Inc. through the summer 2006 Camp GK in the teen grid of Second Life. Over four weeks, 15 teens spent three hours a day, five days a week, participating in interactive, experiential workshops about pressing global issues. Over the course of the program the teens picked a topic of concern -- child sex trafficking -- and built a maze to educate their online community and inspire them to take action. In its first eight weeks, the content-rich maze was visited by 2,500 teens, amongst whom over 450 donated money to an international organization committed to eradicating this global crime against children. Below is a review of general concepts. For more details download the pdf. Best practices for working in TSL 1. What happens in the teen grid stays in the teen grid. 2. Create multiple places of meaning. 3. If you build it, they will come. 4. Go beyond TSL. Best practices for bringing a youth development model into TSL 1. Build, build, build! 2. Don’t just build; design and manipulate avatars. 3. Think globally, act locally. 4. Know when teens know best. Best practices in workshop design and facilitation in TSL 1. Use real world content when addressing real world issues. 2. Don’t wait until someone has the floor to start typing. 3. Don’t fear multiple communication channels. 4. Incorporate processing into the activity, not just as a final step. Best practices in program design for TSL 1. Employ effective, rigorous, targeted recruitment. 2. Replace the dominant TSL culture with the GK Island culture. 3. Carefully design and build the tools required. 4. Ensure the program is designed for the recruited participants

Second Life features hundreds of fascinating locations for learning and teaching. This is the list of "top" locations as decided by Wiki consensus. Feel free to add and subtract from the list but let's keep this to 20 places - this format ensures the most up-to-date list. Click the "history" tab at top to see previous versions.

Are you or someone you know looking for a low-cost way to get started in virtual worlds — or Second Life in particular? As of today, the New Media Consortium (NMC) is offering land parcels in Second Life that are part of three unique custom-designed educational communities. These parcels are available now for lease exclusively to bona fide faculty, educational departments, or learning-focused institutions. The new sim NMC Campus, “Teaching”

The land is full-permissions, and can be used for almost any purpose consistent with research or teaching in Second Life. The parcels come in sizes from 1024 sq m to 8192 sq m. Costs are roughly 10 US cents per sq meter per year. This works out to $100 US per year for the smallest plot (32 x 32; 1024 sq m; 235 prims) and $800 per year for the largest (64 x 128; 8192 sq m; 1875 prims). There are no hidden or additional costs. Common area on the new sim NMC Campus, “Teaching 2″

Each educational community has a beautiful central area which has a number of spaces that all the residents on the island can share — these include a multi-media amphitheater, a conference room, a large classroom or other meeting space, a gallery suitable for exhibiting student work, and a resource center that has been stocked by the folks who run the highly regarded ICT Library in Second Life. Scene on NMC new sim available for lease, “Teaching 3″

We’re excited to be able to offer and host a new workshop that will take place in Second Life. Dan Undertone, a.k.a Dan Zellner in real life (Northwestern University), will lead this 8 session workshop that will use the new theater and studio on NMC Campus, the Machinima Building on the Learning sim. We had a small taste of this last October, when Dan led an activity that was part of the Symposium on Digital Media. Participants in a movement activity led by Dan Undertone, October 2006 Here is the information for the new workshop Dan is offering. Description This workshop will focus on using improvisational theatre games and other drama techniques to familiarize users with Second Life and its creative possibilities. Participants will plays the roles of author, actor and audience as various games are played and scenarios created.

n January 2007, Eslteacherlink.com constructed English Village,  an immersive 3D simulation for language learners and teachers across the globe!  At English Village teachers meet students in REAL TIME, using an avatar, Virtual white boards, VOICE, 3D objects, and role playable holodecks to provide 21st century learning.

Futuristic, yet Practical Instead of keeping our island flat, and having the majority of our buildings  on the ground level, we have situated 13 glass classrooms along a 120 meter high, horse-shoe shaped mountain ridge. Below the steep mountain ridges, lies a welcoming sandy beach that reaches out into a c resent moon shaped bay area. This large open space is used frequently by our teachers for special learning activities, such as market place and carnival role play scenarios.

The Onion Our meeting area is in the shape of an Onion, and is constructed of 100% virtual pink stained glass.  We actually never planned to use a giant onion as our central meeting area... but it actually does a great job of representing  the organic nature of our island ~ We build. We make mistakes. We learn.... and sometimes we cry!  So.. an onion - is perfect. Everyone begins in the onion. When an avatar teleports to our island for the first time, thats where they land - smack dab in the center beautiful pink wonder.  Around the edges of the onion are several multi colored hamster tubes sprouting out - connecting to each holodeck classroom. Inside the hamster tubes are convenient People Movers - you know, the ones you see at the airport.  Here, avatars just click on the red loading ball, and they are instantly moved along the pathway 100 meters to their destination.  This saves virtual transport time.

SL Projects Ideas for RL Students

International Spaceflight Museum (ISM) Location: Spaceport Alpha (sim name) Contact: Troy McLuhan (SL name) Project Ideas: Take publicity photos for the ISM Make a press packet for the ISM Design a temporary exhibition on "Spaceflight in fiction" Plan and publicize an event, like a debate on whether the US should abandon the ISS Design an exhibit on how orbits work Make an exhibit about spacewalks (EVAs) Create an exhibit about how technologies developed for spaceflight have come into everyday use Design and implement a game, like "Dock the spacecraft without breaking it" Build an exhibit about the local galaxies, where they are, and how they are moving Create a memorial to tragedies that have occured with spaceflight Write a glossary of terms used in space exploration Build an astronaut/cosmonaut/taikonaut "Hall of Fame"

Today Angel Learning, in conjunction with the Second Life Educators Community (SLED), will unveil a brand new island in Second Life dedicated toward educational experimentation. Campus Technology had a chance to teleport to the new island ahead of its May 15 public debut to bring you this exclusive preview.The idea behind Angel Learning Island is to provide a space for educators to experiment with learning scenarios, meetings, and other kinds of interaction with students (and each other) in a virtual world. The island is free for all (not just Angel LMS customers), so educators can learn about Second Life--the basics, as well as advanced techniques--before investing any campus resources and before committing to any one particular approach to learning in a virtual environment.Ray Henderson, chief products officer at Angel Learning, told us he thought that educators did not need "experimentation in isolation, but more open places where there's a ladder up, so to speak, a way to [educate instructors in the ways of Second Life] so they can do experimentation on their own."

Collective Tagging of Places in the Multi-user Virtual Environment of Second Life

Life is a multi-user virtual environment, i.e., a world made up of virtual places and avatars that move among and interact in those places. Thirty-one users of Second Life were surveyed about one place in which they are members: Terra’s Nude Heaven, a virtual nude beach. The purpose of the survey was to determine what types of terms users would select if they could tag a particular place and how these terms correspond to the tags actually assigned by the owners of the place. The questionnaire data was also analyzed for difference in tag selection by gender, educational level, age, and country of residence. The data indicate that keywords rated as most important by the users of a place differ considerably from the keywords selected by the owner of a place. The data, moreover, demonstrate that the choices of the study population remain consistent across groupings by gender, educational level,age or country of residence.