Launching This Saturday in Second Life: A Massive Education Campus Bringing Together Many Projects Into a Shared Serendipitous Space -- UPDATE: Added Teleport Links for This Weekend's Opening

UPDATE, May 20: Bumped up post for the weekend launch. Teleport to the welcome sim here. SLurls to the Eduverse sims up now are:

• Science Circle: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Science%20Circle/72/129/30
• Virtech: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtech/127/126/31
• Community Virtual Library: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cookie/201/212/21 
• Mayo Clinic:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mayo%20Clinic/121/170/34
• Whole Brain Health:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Inspiration%20Island/82/100/23
• University of New Mexico (at Rockcliffe): http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Rockcliffe%20Village/48/42/23

In the first flush of general interest in the Metaverse, literally hundreds of colleges and universities opened up a virtual campus in Second Life -- up to and including Harvard -- but most of that enthusiasm has drifted away in recent years.

Starting this Saturday at 11am PT, however, a group of dedicated educators are soft launching a new Second Life-based project with the help of Linden Lab: The Virtual Worlds Education Consortium: Click here to teleport. 

Unlike that previous era, where universities each had their own isolated (and usually empty) SL campus, these educators are creating an expansive, shared campus:

"[S]o that there is always something going around, green dots on the map, people come to check something out, see something else nearby, etc.," as VWEC member George Djorgovski (a professor at Caltech), explains it to me. "This alone can help the groups already in SL, increase the collaboration and resource sharing, etc. "

 

And they have strong buy-in from Linden Lab:

"They designated someone (Madori Linden) to help with this initiative, reserved a big chunk on the map where the edu sims can be moved at no cost, with all of the links and LMs still working, and donated a central, welcome sim where the newcomers can arrive and there will usually be someone to greet them and help them make the first steps," says George. "There is a plan to have an education-related portal for the new users to create new or institutional accounts, and land them at this sim instead of the standard welcome island."

Launching this weekend, the sims will include:

• Cookie and the Community Virtual Library
• Science Circle
• Virtech (from Caltech)
• Rockcliffe
• Cag University
• Inspiration Island
• Genome Island

And yes, the VWEC members are very much aware of the issues that have plagued previous virtual world education projects, including a steep learning curve, impromptu appearances of Adult content that might seem harassing to some, and SL's high hardware requirements.

 

"[T]he time is ripe for those who realize tech has revolutionized learning and life," librarian and VWC member Valerie Hill tells me.  "A generation of Minecrafters has arrived. VWEC will provide helpers, hopefully on a global 24/7 scale, to help newcomers. Adult areas will be better avoided because we are in the educational neighborhood. " 

 

As for the hardware requirement, she says that's offset by the gains: "The persistent sustainable sense of presence still provides deeper learning and critical thinking."  And perhaps cloud streaming and other technology may become an option in the future.

Here's all VWEC's main social media platforms.

Comments

[Kaylee]

It's a lovely region.

[Luther Weymann]

Maybe we can get the Lindens to help out the struggling NCI school campuses. NCI has done so much for at least eighteen years to help newcomers and those wanting to learn scripting, building, and other skills through NCI teachers.

[Geek]

Love it, Long live Second Life!

[Iggy 1.0]

I wish them well, as well as consistent Linden policies going forward. That was what ended my school's involvement. The hardware requirements we handled and griefers or adult content rarely an issue (at least on our sim).

[Razitra]

All power to them. I was part of the University of Texas System attempt that launched in 2009. That one hung on for a couple of years but couldn't sustain momentum and the university deans were a hard sell. Maybe that was ahead of its time and that this one will have greater longevity. I hope so!

[Gwyneth Llewelyn]

Back to school! (or rather: back for LL to support education & academia in SL — again)

[Niela Miller]

The turnout last Saturday for this SL Eduverse opening was great! Circa 80 educational entities showed up. We are hoping that many more educators discover this virtual plethora of representations, both academic and lifelong learning adult education and the great spirit of collaboration which has brought this about. Come to one of our quarterly gatherings! The next one is Wed. July 6. The contact person in SL IM is elli pinion.

[April Nelson]

Wow, that sounds amazing! A massive educational campus in Second Life is such an innovative idea, especially when it brings together multiple projects in one collaborative space. Adding links to the teleport on opening weekend is a great way to make it accessible to all interested. It will be interesting to see how this shared space fosters chance encounters and learning opportunities. If you need someone to write an article review on this fascinating concept, contact the essay writing service with request write my article review for me feel free to explore and delve into her potential influence and experience!