"This is an initiative from the University of Otago, the University of Auckland, Wellington Institute of Technology, the University of Canterbury, and supported by Telecom NZ. It is an open access national virtual world grid based on open source software. It operates on NZ-based servers hosted at Otago, Auckland and Canterbury Universities, and leverages other national investments in IT infrastructure through deployment on the high-speed KAREN (Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network).
The grid has been set up with an academic focus and will be used for research and education, as well as for proof-of-concept application deployments and testing.
The objectives of the NZVWG initative are to:
Undertake both experimental and routine use of virtual worlds in teaching and research;Develop engaging, interactive in-world content customised for NZ use; andDevelop new context-specific plugins enabling interaction between the virtual and real (non-virtual) worlds. "
Interesting idea designed to codify pedagogy and encourage discussions about teaching values. That last bit reminds me of Auckland Uni's Heart project.
Thought you WCELers might be interested in this...
Dean
ICT Education: Australia vs NZ by Prof John Hosking, Formerly Auckland Uni, now Australia National University Auckland University's Professor John Hosking was a leading figure in New Zealand's Computer Science community. However in 2011 he followed Phar Lap, Russell Crowe and Pavlova across the ditch, in his case taking up the role as Dean of the College of Engineering and CS at the Australian National University in Canberra.
(Short presentation given at NetHui, Auckland, 29 June 2011)
"What does digital literacy even mean? I seem to be at odds with most people using the word, who are keen to push Microsoft Word training at schoolkids and the unemployed."