Building Educational Support Objects in SL

"Create Once, Experience Everywhere" In the context of Immersive Education the term platform refers to any virtual world, simulator or 3D game-based environment that may be used for teaching or training purposes. The Immersive Education platform has evolved considerably over the past decade and the 3rd generation ("next generation") is now under development. Whereas the previous two generations of Immersive Education were based on specific client-side platforms tied to proprietary server-side infrastructures, the future of Immersive Education revolves around multiple client-side platforms working in unison through the server-side Education Grid. Based upon open source technologies and open standards, the Platform Ecosystem and Education Grid will provide educators with a comprehensive end-to-end infrastructure for a new generation of virtual world learning environments, interactive learning games, and simulations. To this end the Immersive Education Initiative has a mandate to design, develop and promote open and platform-neutral file formats that enable interoperable learning objects and experiences to be seamlessly deployed across a wide variety of virtual world and game platforms (e.g., Second Life, Croquet/Cobalt, Wonderland, and other 3D/VR platforms)