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For those of you interested in using virtual reality in teaching mathematics, here is a paper written by four professors about their experience in trying to find ways to make mathematics more interesting to their engineering students. They designed a virtual reality math lab to be taken with a math class. One of the most popular lab components was the flight of a soccer ball. In a 3D setting, the students could stop the ball in time and then practice their mathematical skills by plugging in coordinates that would project the flight of the ball. 20 out of 20 students said that they felt the lab had helped them to enjoy math more. The professors felt their overwhelmingly positive response would lead them to develop more math labs for their students in the future.

OpenSim demonstration of lab demo. The author admits that this is somewhat futuristic example. However, it DOES indicate where virtual worlds are heading in the very near future. (perhaps 2 years?) Good to show science educators in particular.

Silly me. I thought the only controversy in Second Life might be the excessive time some participants spend in world. Wrong. There is a group of users now calling themselves the Second Life Liberation Army, serious about protesting the encroachment of big companies like Sony and IBM into SL. They carry on in world protests and counsels, deliberately "griefing" other groups they resent, mostly corporate entities. They are demanding that Linden Lab (SL's creator) put an end to "corporate control" as they wish to set up their own independent, virtual government including voting rights. Linden Lab doesn't respond, assuming their activites are done tongue-in-cheek. But the movement is gaining momentum and attention. This YouTube video is a BBC news article about the controversy (and yes there are equally venemous right-wing groups). Just when you thought it was peaceful in paradise...(by the way, listen close and you'll get a chuckle out of the female newscaster's pronunciation of the word "avatar" in the introduction)

WOOOOOW. I don't know if that's funny or sad or strange or all f the above. I think people are taking their Gaming a little too seriously. I wonder what these people do in the real life to have enough time to 'protest' ads and corporate placement in SL. DId they really think something that is this big and gaining in popularity would remain untouched by Big Biz forever? Come on now, everything is for sale! Linden needs to make money some how to keep it all up and running. I think people need to step away from the computer once in a while and go outside and live life....

This is a blog about the use of Second Life in teaching science, especially biology. It is meant to document my Second Life activities and development efforts leading up to and including my upcoming Sabbatical in Spring 2009. My sabbatical is to develop hands on modules in Second Life that could supplement either lecture or lab classes. Photosynthesis

Make a point of checking out Rich White's Greenbush Labs blog for some fascinating and relevant ideas. See the augmented reality ZooBooks-http://bit.ly/9pUQNt, the 3D desktop, Bumptop, and Google 3D map view http://roots.greenbush.us/?p=924.

we're here because we can tell stories, we can be inside art, we can give context to conversation and learning and collaborating in ways that are, simply, impossible in nearly every other medium, including reality. Dusan Writer blogs of interactive, collaborative narrative (storytelling) as the compelling reason for virtual worlds such as second life.

State Curriculum Content Standards and Virtual Worlds New Jersey becomes the first state to incorporate virtual worlds (and the ability to use them) into their "Core Curriculum Content" state standards…. Via New Jersey State Dept. of Ed. web site at http://www.nj.gov/education/aps/cccs/2009/tech/index.html Particularly "….. collaborate adeptly in virtual environments and incorporate global perspectives into problem solving at home, school and in structured learning experiences with the growing realization that people in the 21st century are interconnected economically, socially and environmentally and have a shared future."

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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. ;)