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Best practices and lessons learned in building Second Life Operating Room simulation. KUMC

Edtech in 3D group notes: Site Description: Imperial College's virtual hospital where professionals can train and rehearse and patients can learn about healthcare facilities and procedures that they might need to use. Overall impressions: We were immediately impressed with the Medical School. The grounds were beautiful, and the buildings were designed with learning in mind. We liked the patient rooms, and the introductory podcast was a useful start to the experience. Unlike Vassar Island, we felt that we wanted to spend more time in this location - and we were left with a desire to return and learn more. How learning is taking place: Tour guides give visitors a wide range of ways to discover the island. Visitors can visit patients and learn about various medical conditions. From what we could see, lectures and demonstrations are also a large part of learning at the medical school. Likes: We liked the podcast that started playing as soon as we arrived. There were numerous tours and visitor aids, making it easy to get started. We also liked the immediate access to information. This set expectations up front, helping us to enjoy the experience. Dislikes: Because the island is full of information and is very immersive, the user has to go through several layers (tours, walking around, searching) to get to things. Applications to learning in virtual worlds: The patient rooms take advantage of the virtual world to create an experience that can't easily be created in the real world. They are a great example of how Second Life allows deeper learning than can be found by simply reading a book or listening to a lecture - without endangering an actual patient. Other learning experiences could apply this same tactic to become more immersive.

Anyone interested in CSI? What about forensic science to stimulate your science classes? It has posters that give information about the basics of forensic science, as well as scheduled lectures. Inside the examining room, there are pictures (both avatar and real life) of autopsies. In the morgue you can open and close the drawers.

This is a Star Trek museum that looks like the real Enterprise. You can go to the bridge, teleporter, engineering bay, the Captain's ready room, and everywhere else on the ship. Most of the rooms have either Star Trek trivia or they have interactive science activities. There is a planetarium, information about different parts of the universe, and short tests (more like games) to assess learning. One of the tests requires the test-taker to correctly identify different categories of craters on Mars.

Had to mention this one. I was greatly impressed with this location. It starts you off in a room that is black and white. Gives you a sense that its old. There are artifacts lying around that belong to someone. The room looks trashed and there are propaganda posters all around. It really gives you a sense of place and time. Then you can explore what looks like a German town. The town has been ransacked by the nazis. You can go inside the buildings and looks through peoples belonging, including journals. Its very eye opening and I imagine that anyone that visits would learn something.

When I first heard about this--I think someone mentioned it in class--I thought, "Well, you can just take a virtual tour of the museum. What would be different in Second Life?" Well, it is different. I just got back from the museum in DC and this is just like you said, Veero, like visiting a scene back in time. A place like this would really help my student understand and feel what it must have been like to live and die in this time. We read The Diary of Anne Frank and The Book Thief and this SLURL brings these settings to life. The voices of the survivors was such and excellent touch.

This site's purpose is to "promote an active dialogue concerning aging, the elderly, seniors, health care, policy issues, caregivers, decision makers, educators, and getting older." When you arrive at Gerontology Education Island, you can take a quick tour in a virtual wheel chair. There are also "holodeck" rooms (shades of Star Trek) where you can experience being a health care practitioner working with the aging. This simulation focuses on a different subject matter and demographic than one would generally expect in Second Life, and it demonstrates how adaptable and useful the educational tools of Second Life can be.

This is a faithful reproduction of the Spanish-built presidio in Santa Barbara from 1786, created by a grad student named Shelly Long from Cal State Northridge. The buildings are beautifully done, but the rooms are mostly empty. It is worth the trip to see the chapel. It's interior is very detailed including intricate artwork, wooden furniture, and lighted candles. You can even kneel at a prayer bench and recite the Lord's prayer! I picked up a free set of archaelogist's tools. Young students might enjoy this exposure to a piece of early California history, following up with internet research into the lives of the people who lived here, including their lifestyle and sustenance.

I agree with Robert this is a great way for students to be exposed to a piece of California history. I'm wondering if there are more presidios or missions just like this? I enjoyed the aesthetics of this simulations too. It is very well done with lots of interesting details, such as the burning fireplace. The local radio music however, was a tad annoying. I'd like to have seen a few interactive opportunities included, such as creating notecards that outline "what you've learned".

There is a lot here! Multi-leveled world with plenty of interesting visuals. It feels much like any science museum would...you walk around to various rooms/exhibits that have some sort of hands on or interactive display that has something to do with space or science in general. Plus there are artifacts from start trek that you can explore.

This is an excellent site that would be great for educators or business people who want to improve their virtual skills, expand their virtual contacts, or hold meetings. This site was created and is maintained by a university in the UK. I found a place for educators to make appointments to get help for improving their skills in the virtual world, many educational tools such as interactive slide shows and art exhibits, and a group I could join that connected me with other like-minded educators. The site was easy to navigate, well-designed, and loaded with content. Even though I spent nearly two hours here, I felt as though I barely scratched the surface. The only thing that I still find a bit odd is that I do not know why the title is Sexual Health SIM. I did not find anything related to health care. But again, there is so much more that I did not search.

This is the best site I found. You are greeted by a sign and welcome notecard that describes the origins of the project and how it has grown to over 100 region and explains the vision of the project:"… has been to inspire and influence future development, to expand working knowledge, to showcase creativity and ideas, and to encourage collaboration both inside and outside of Second Life." You can instantly access a map that allows you to teleport to the location of your choice including four different teaching sites, one for the arts a conference center, Learning, and Red Rocks. There are a multitude of resources here for the educator. Everywhere you turn around there are billboard that advertise upcoming events, signs that connect you to groups, and free things to collect. There are many places to hold meetings from small and intimate rooms to large amphitheaters.

I liked the idea of this second life campus created by Free-Ed.net. Free self paced courses are provided for students who are interested in learning a variety of higher level topics. I like this idea because it gives people a taste of study in another major. For example, if you are interested in pursuing a degree in history, the courses through free-ed give you a taste of what work in that degree may entail. There is even content for students preparing to take the GED, AP, or SAT exams. The second life forum also allows students to meet in rooms to study for exams or discuss course content.

This place was great! It was huge. First, I got on an airplane and took a Splo tour. It took me to different places. I explored the pi area, observed the moon's orbit, and lastly went to see the optical illusions at the exhibits. There were many exhibits. Most of the exhibits I visited had optical illusions. In science, I teach my third graders to observe by looking. There was the face/vase illusion, the distorted room, and lots of other cool illusions. This reminded me of the Exploratorium in San Francisco. With budget cuts, this would be a great place to show students without leaving school campus!