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Ernst & Young Simulation using Second Life. Nice video showing the entire process. Very good example of using 3D social simulations to train in processes and procedures. Notice the coaching opportunities.

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

It's no secret that the US Government and Military have been investigating virtual environments for some time, and Second Life has been a popular playground for both simulation research and recruiting.  In an interview on Second Life's blog, Douglas Maxwell from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) talks about how they've integrated Second Life into their environment.

Lengthy, but interesting article on sims and virtual worlds. Reminiscent of Bernie & Karl's game course.

University of Kansas Medical Center asynchronous simulations. Interesting case study.

I've created this wiki to help teachers use simulation and game in the classroom. Please help me by suggesting articles, resources, and videos or sharing this with teachers at your school and/or via your blog. Thanks and hope you enjoy!

Medical training programs are springing up in virtual reality, and they may bring big changes to the way health-care professionals learn their craft. Example of medical school training simulation in Second Life

Examples of workplace uses of virtual worlds for training simulation and prototyping. Links and examples.

This is a simulation of an archeaological dig in Turkey. The site represents a Neolithic village where many generations lived, one building on top of another for over a 1000 years. The textures are appealing and realistic, and there's a lot of information on the patient and reverential process of uncovering bones (generations of families buried under each house) and artifacts of this ancient Neolithic people. "Team OKAPI and Berkeley archaeologists mirror the prehistoric village, museum and archaeology in action at Catalhoyuk, Turkey. Take a guided video walk, visit the museum, explore reconstruction of Catalhoyuk, build your own Neolithic reconstruction and remixes, and much more."

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.

PIVOTE project at St. George's University (England). Scenario based training (paramedic) examples. SLURLs listed in blog

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.

This SLURL has potential for any U.S. or World History classroom if teachers want to show students what trench warfare might have been like. Students can see a simulation of a trench with rats crawling around, mustard gas being deployed, explosions, rain, etc. Users can click on various sound boxes and video links to learn poetry of soldiers and historians who have researched trench warfare. You can also transport to a camp where you can change clothing to a soldier or a nurse--and it's free! Very educational and highly recommended for history teachers.

In Orlando, Florida a school district has created virtual field trips that allow students to travel to a variety of different areas without leaving the classroom. The field trips are a combination of real video, animations, interactive games and people. These simulations are geared for a younger audience.

At a young age, children believe the earth is flat. The simulation allows students to discover the shape of the earth and its implications. For instance, students can see how movement and the relativity of up and down works on the earths surface.

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".

This SLOODLE (Simulation Linked Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) blog comments on and gives examples of using the plug-in SLOODLE to interface and integrate SL with Moodle. This is an open source project. The blog provides excellent tutorials explaining how this application works, and as you watch them, you start to imagine all the different ways you might apply these tools to the classroom. This site contains many ideas and examples for the classroom use of a VR as well as other web-based tools. One example of this is the dropbox for leaving notecard assignments. Once dropped, the notecard appears in the teacher's Moodle account. Once graded, the student immediately receives an email. Another paper describes using SL to teach engineering and then using the SLOODLE to track students' in-world laboratory participation and link it to the teacher's moodle. So we are seeing the virtual world integrating with the real world. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sloodle/126/94/23