The Island of Macbeth: Shakespeare Taught Immersively

Fiend Ludwig of the Second Life Herald has an intriguing write-up of Macbeth Island, an SL installation for teaching the Scottish play (as actors call it, for fear of cursing themselves):  "On the island you are wholly immersed in the look, feel, sound, and text of Macbeth. The clever layout of the props leads you sequentially to a series of interactive 'scenes', each designed to elucidate a facet of the play."  Designed by Anya Ixchel, created by members the New Media Consortium, and partly funded by the arts council of the Australian government, Ms. Ixchel reports it's also quite popular, attracting 7500-9000 visits a week.  (Which this week, includes me.)  It's very cool, though I'm also curious if it's an effective teaching tool. Will students gain more understanding of the play if they experience Macbeth Island, as opposed to just reading the text and watching a performance? 

In any case, read more about it here, and visit it in-world by clicking this direct SLURL teleport link.

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[Paisley Beebe]

Last Weeks Tonight Live with Paisley Beebe also featured Anya Ixchel talking about the Macbeth Sim and how it came about and what it is all about. Watch last weeks show at http://www.slcn.tv/tonight-live-paisley-beebe