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This article discusses students needs in education in the 21st century and the successful emerging virtual learning communities out there in Web 2.0.

Second Life Viewer 2.0 (now the default viewer for Second Life users) allows new capabilities to share and embed many types of online media. This blog post explains and points to some beginning examples of this powerful feature.

Thothica Community is a place where people come together to discuss philosophy, poetry, psychology, culture, mathematics, computer science, physics, cosmology, artificial life, education, and second life. When I first arrived there was a nice schedule of times with topics that would be discussed. Some of the topics included evolutionary psychology and quantum economics, all presented by community sponsors and members. Also listed were poetry readings and philosophy games. This might be a good way for students to join in a discussion or share their own writing.

Games: Six engagement elements, examples and applications. Community, Competition, Completion, Creativity, Puzzle-solving, Narrative EDTEC700: What elements make sense for YOUR 3-D learning design? Any of them? Something other?

The Virtual Worlds Story Project (TVWSP) utilizes "Questing" to develop interactive, immersive, and educational journeys designed to explore specific ideas/themes, teach vital 21st century learning skills, and generate Narrative Synergy™ through story.    The goal of every Quest is to help each individual experience and express his or her Narrative Thread™ - that special spark of spirit that makes each of us unique.  Once identified and articulated, these threads or "strands of story" form the warp and weave of larger communities of practice*.

An avatar is a graphical representation of one's self, personality or alter-ego while engaging in online communication.  Avatars can range from simple, static 2D graphics to complex, animated 3D forms controlled by the user. First of a great series on avatars. Clear, concise.

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)

RezEd (BETA), an online hub providing practitioners using virtual worlds with access to the highest quality resources and research in the field to establish a strong network of those using virtual worlds for learning.

Welcome to RezEd (BETA), an online hub providing practitioners using virtual worlds with access to the highest quality resources and research in the field to establish a strong network of those using virtual worlds for learning.

Here is another community for educators using virtual worlds for learning. I just submitted an application ... we'll see whether or not they accept me! It appears to be a Ning network with many resources. I think joining these communities is important ... reducing the learning curve by listening to those who have already learned things the hard way is a skill I'm trying hard to cultivate! Dana

Hospitals, medical schools and health foundations are staking out space in the online community Second Life, in order to train medical and nursing students in clinical skills and to improve hospital efficency and response to emergencies.

Edmonton prototypes possible changes to city center and gains citizen input through Second Life. Thought: How could students use a virtual world with building capabilities to suggest urban (and suburban) planning options in their own communities?

I found this YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGMH_1VnnaY) about a virtual museum exhibit created by teens. It showcases "Kristallnacht," or "The Night of Broken Glass" from the holocaust. Teens from the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. worked with teens from New York and museum staff via Skype, SL, & phone (sound familiar, COMETEERs?) to discuss issues, storyboard, and even create a design document (future COMETEERs!) to create the exhibit in SL. Interestingly, it seems that the build was done by an SL company called "Digital Refinery," "...an all teen in-world development company," headed by a 15 year old CEO. Teens visiting the site are placed in the role of an investigative reporter in order to find out what people did during Kristallnacht. They can click on cutouts of people to get information and learn about the choices that ordinary people faced during this event. Visitors also observe the environment; broken storefront windows, a before & after Kristallnacht replica of a synagogue, and just general destruction of the Jewish community. When they are done, they reflect, discuss and write about what they have seen & learned, and post notecards to share their experiences. I love that this is all built by teens, but that they also had to work with adults in RL to learn how to cooperate and communicate intelligently. I am big on making history interactive, otherwise it just seems boring to many kids. SL holds so much potential for this sort of activity; time for textbook companies to look into this instead of making ridiculously expensive, environmentally unfriendly textbooks that bore kids to tears. Ok, I know I'm dreaming, after all, if the textbooks weren't expensive, those companies would go out of business. Hmm.

An excellent introduction to machinima with a great list of links for examples and further reading.

The volunteer librarians of Info Island provide actual reference service for people's questions both inside and beyond Second Life. "Ask the Librarian" is a virtual reference service where you can chat with a librarian to get assistance. The multi-lingual service is international in scope. There is a very useful library of free Second Life scripts and educational tools. This is a great resource for educators.

Stagecoach Island is an online virtual world created by Wells Fargo. You can explore the island and its hidden secrets, connect with friends and make new ones, and at the same time learn smart money management.

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

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?

"The Education Arcade explores games that promote learning through authentic and engaging play. TEA's research and development projects focus both on the learning that naturally occurs in popular commercial games, and on the design of games that more vigorously address the educational needs of players." I joined this community and hope to learn a lot!