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Here is an article that I found interesting re: Second Life and Cinematography students at USC. They feel that the thing that Second Life does best is facilitate social interaction. So their goal is to design a setting where people from all over the world can come together and talk. Unfortunately, the site is still under construction.

This location takes a famous concept from geology of using a spiral timeline to illustrate the history of the Earth. As you walk through the interactive exhibit you get a sense of the passage of time as well as the slow and gradual evolution of life on Earth. I really like the idea of walking through a timeline and interacting with exhibits and can see how this would work with a class. There are many opportunities for discussion and demonstrations along the way. I also think this type of collaborative site would make a really great class project. Constructed by students at the University of Arizona.

One of the greatest challenges we face as high school physical education teachers is getting our students to be motivated. Although it is costly to have this sort of virtual reality equipment at our school, it is something that we can possibly plan for the future and have as an activity for days in which our teaching areas are affected by rainy day, construction, testing, or for students who cannot have long exposure to the sun. Sounds fun ☺

Yeah, I think in PE (or in any content area), finding a way to connect with our students and motivate them is crucial. I envision being able to integrate a Wii game system with a 3D Muve so that our students will actually have to be physically active in order to move their avatar in the virtual world,

Carolina, Does the P.E. curriculum call for daily physical activity? Perhaps one or two days a week students can meet in a computer lab and work in SL. They could build a gym, and post fitness goals on its walls. Also, there are many web sites out there that they could use to calculate calories in and calories out. Just a thought... Great article. ;)

I have always wanted to visit Morocco because of what I've heard of the outdoor markets, mosques, food, beaches, and the culture from friends who have traveled there. This virtual space was actually constructed by students from Johnson & Wales University who had visited and in collaboration with the Moroccan Ministry of Tourism. When I teleported, I arrived in front of a fez booth. I took and wore one that allowed me to obtain information about my virtual surroundings as well as provide tips; it did warn me of monkeys. As I wandered thru the open markets, it was devoid of avatars but there was a gentle roar of a large crowd when walking in a specific area, and some of the stalls were empty with a couple of them with For Sale signs. Many of the stalls were offering garments, rugs, spices, kabobs, and baskets for sale. There were notecards, photo slideshows, and videos available that included tourism information and website links. I took a walk/fly thru stone-lined streets and walkways around the quaint residential buildings situated by ocean front views and I noticed that all the buildings have satellite dishes. This was a detailed little city with soccer fields, orange tree gardens, beach, outdoor café, and a mosque. I noticed two monkeys on a stand and I was expecting something to happen when I clicked them on and sat next to them; nothing happened.