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Helpful page from "Puritan's Guide to Second Life" blog, for the newbie SL users in our group. I know I still won't know everything once this class is over...

Another blog by an educator who is bringing her middle school to Secondlife. Suffern Middle School in Second Life A running account of the process of the proposal, acquisition, development and integration of a virtual presence for education at Suffern Middle School, Suffern, New York, USA.

The Literature Alive! group creates immersive and interactive literary locations in SL. The maze-like dungeon of this address, for example, has the visitor explore archetypal literary themes. I think upper middle schoolers and high school students would enjoy this adventure. The note cards and objects contain instructions, quizzes and information. Passage through the mazes requires answering quiz questions. Comparisons to modern literature and movies keeps the content relevant. You can also discover links to additional websites about the topic and teaching literature. Here is a link to the Literature Alive blog: http://literaturealive.blogspot.com/ and wiki: http://literaturealive.wikispaces.com/

I've been following Kathy Schrock since the mid-1990s when I began using computers in the classroom. I have numerous bookmarks of her helpful websites filled with classroom resources as well as her blogs. She is the technology administrator for the Nauset Public Schools in Massachusetts. An earlier YouTube video has Kathy Schrock aka Kathy Dryburgh (in Second Life), gives a brief overview of what Lighthouse Learning Island is all about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7IC-JeK4Mc&feature=related. In a more recent video, Kathy along with other educators, explain how the Lighthouse Learning Island came to be and what it is currently doing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlwsXsTptbs. The original occupants of the Lighthouse Learning Island was the Nauset Public Schools but since then, several other school districts have joined this virtual learning platform. I was really excited how school districts are utilizing Second Life to offer professional learning development for their educators in Web 2.0 for teaching and learning. Additionally, educators from outside the district have attended these sessions. I'll be looking into how I am able to attend some of these professional development workshop sessions. Unfortunately, on August 1, 2010, Lighthouse Learning Island will be closing due to budget constraints. Kathy has rented a small plot of land on Eduisland 6 (SLURL) and will be announcing any upcoming professional development opportunities through the "K-12 Educators" group in SL. Her new spot is called "Kathy Schrock's Kaffeeklatsch".

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.

Excellent Ning-based resource for teacher and student cross-collaboration. Its aim is to promote the use of virtual worlds as educators. Blog, video, photo, and SLURL meeting locations make this a great one-stop shop for ideas on incorporating second life into the curriculum.

Game challenge learning applying Learning in 3D book principles

This short article is an interview with John Lester, the former Education Ambassador for Second Life. Most noteworthy is the link within the article to ReactionGrid, the open source Second Life alternative. In the comments section there is a link to Indiana Wesleyan University's virtual world for its MBA students -- done virtually and completely online. Cool!