From jokaydia: Exploring Virtual Worlds and Games in Education

Higher Education

Second Life is being used by a wide range of universities and colleges as a space for distance education, collaboration and the exploration of virtual worlds for learning.

Explore the projects below or Return to the Educational Uses of Second Life Homepage.

Princeton University in Second Life

Princeton University's Campus (SLurl) in Second Life was opened in 2007, and is designed to provide a virtual space for students to experiment with the potentials of Second Life for education and research. It is used by staff and students for various class projects, research activities and conferences and meetings. The islands include a number of spaces designed for collaboration and communication including Nassau Hall, the Front Campus, Alexander Hall, the Chancellor Green Library, an Art Gallery, Prospect Gardens and the Princeton Island Conference Center, and includes a mix of creative and replica builds.

As well as supporting a range of teaching and learning activities on the Island, the Princeton community supports a number of special interest groups including:

• Princeton Campus Community - which is open to all current Princeton students
• Princeton Alumni in SL group - designed as a social networking community for Princeton Alumni.

For more information visit the Princeton University Island website,read a blog post about Princeton's Islands on 3pointD, read a blog post on Princeton's IT's Academic Blog, view images of Princeton in Second Life via Flickr or watch a video about 'Diversity' - one of the group mangaged spaces on Princeton University's Campus in Second Life on Youtube.

SLENZ - Second Life Education in New Zealand

The Second Life Education in New Zealand (SLENZ) project was launched in late 2008 and is funded by the Tertiary Education Commission, NZ. It is based on the beautiful Koru Islands (SLurl) which are owned by Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT). The project seeks to design, develop, build and pilot learning activities that could add educational value to the experience of NZ tertiary students. The project originally created by Arwenna Stardust, Isa Goodman and Tere Tinkle, but now includes a number of educational institutions in New Zealand including The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, Universal College of Learning (UCoL) Library Services, Otago Polytechnic and Massey University (Albany).

The SLENZ project is currently supporting two key pilot projects which explore educational uses of Second Life:

• a Virtual Birthing Unit, being developed by staff from at Otago Polytechnic in collaboration with midwifery educators in Christchurch and Auckland with the goals of designing, building and evaluating a virtual birthing unit
• Manukau Institute of Technology, with a foundation learning project.

The SLENZ project also supports the Kiwi Educators group inworld - an informal community of NZ educators who are interested in virtual worlds. The group meets on a regular basis in Second Life to share ideas to share ideas, and generally to investigate some aspect of Second Life.

For more information visit the SLENZ project blog, read Arwenna Stardust's Second Life blog, watch a video about Massey University's space on Koru Island via Youtube or visit the NZ Education in Second Life pages on Eduforge.

Terra Incognita - University of Southern Queensland in Second Life

Terra Incognita (SLurl) was created by Lindy McKeown aka Decka Mah in 2007 and was funded by the University of Southern Queensland, State Government of Queensland and Education Queensland. It was originally designed to support McKeown's PHD research in action learning, a strategy that involves a cycle of explore - plan - act - reflect. It has hosted a number of action learning programs and also supported a network of virtual worlds designers during the development phase of the project.

Terra Incognita includes a range of engaging spaces which are designed to support learning including:

• the Visitors Centre which is the hub of the island and includes landmarks, and news and events information
• Spotter Square - a village like space which incldues meeting places and shops
• the University of Southern Queensland's Law Courts and Information Centre
• Skoolaborate's Headquarters which supports professional development and promotion of the Skoolaborate Teen Grid project on the main grid
• Poinky Peak - a remote gazebo, ideal for a group meetings and small informal gatherings
• Harlan Bay which hosts a range of activities designed to assist educators and their students in developing Second Life skills
• Hideaway and Daydream Islands - informal spaces for relaxation and socialising
• the Treehouses contain the offices of our staff and facilitators as well as a small meeting room.
• Decka's Decks - a scripted teaching space which was built by Biran Gould and includes audio tools, notecard distribution and collection facilities, chat recording and capable of small group breakout session in scripted flying pods.

Terra Incognita has also hosted a wide range of events and learning activities inworld including the EdNA 10th Birthday celebrations, the 3D Technology Education Symposium 07, the award winning USQ Career Fair 08 and the Australasian Virtual Worlds Workshop 08.

For further information visit the Terra Incognita Moodle Site, read an article about Terra Incognita in the Metaverse Journal, visit Lindy McKeown's website, watch a machinima of an event held on Terra Incognita via Youtube or listen to a podcast with Decka Mah from EdNA.