Group items tagged

Interview highlighting the Tech Museum's use of Second Life in prototyping effective museum exhibit design

I was excited to see that The Tech, a wonderful museum in San Jose, CA, has a virtual exhibit. I found it interesting that they have very few traditional exhibits on display. Instead, they share free materials and teach visitors how to make virtual exhibits and display some user-generated exhibits - and there is the possibility that your user-generated exhibit could be displayed in museums in flatland. It's an interesting approach to a virtual museum, and I enjoyed the visit.

Profiles of 5 Second Life users with rich life experiences that contribute to the community in Second Life: Holocaust survivor, Grandson of slaves, Broadway singer, Obama's tech chief, etc. Highlights interesting demographics (age, accomplishment)

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."

Given that Congress has the lowest approval rating of any branch and that most sessions are broadcast on CSPAN (zzzzz....), I'm not sure what good a Second Life for Congress will accomplish, however if teachers want to have students in a government class explore. At the sim-hearing that took place, Congress people posed questions about the dangers of the second life community (e.g. safety for children, etc.). This was back in 2008, but doesn't Congress already have enough on it's hands than to worry about hte dangers of second life?

This is an article about utilizing Second Life to teach ESL. From language courses I have had, I know it makes a big difference for learners to be able to learn language in the context in which it is normally spoken. I can see how Second Life could have some applications to demonstrate to learners language spoken in context. "Second Life English" has an island devoted to teaching English. You may want to check it out.

I haven't gotten a chance to check it all out, but this page offers a link to a math playground in SL as well as another website that utilizes web 2.0 to teach math. I think it is funny that we are learning about all of these in our educational technology program, yet my district blocks all the pages from being viewed. I wonder if in the world of cyber bullying we will ever be able to convince the district that there is use for programs like this in the general education curriculum.

I couldn't find the math playground in SL, but I loved the one on the website! If that site isn't blocked in my district, I am using it on Monday! This will be a great way to get my kids' attention and let them practice some skills they need work on.

Potential legal issues dealing with "land" ownership in SL. Not sure what this means for the future, but as the article states, vitrual world are basically lawless. It compares the legality of virtual world to the 16th century. The only problem with this comparison, is that in the 1500s people were being murdered for only being suspected of wrongdoing (or in the case of Muslims and Jews, "wrongbeing"). SL does seem like an anything goes type of place... I wonder how this pending legislation will affect SL. I'm not sure a federal, state or local government has any rights over a virtual space. have to wait to see the results of this legislation.