From jokaydia: Exploring Virtual Worlds and Games in Education

Historical Re-creations and Re-enactments, Living and Immersive Archeology

The Second Life platform allows for the creation of amazing, immersive environments based on historical places and events. These environments can be used for a range of learning activities including role-plays, action learning and research and historical study.

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

Confederation of Democratic Simulators - Neufreistadt and Colonia Nova

The Confederation of Democratic Simulators (CDS) is the over-arching government and administrative body that manages the Neufreistadt (SLurl), Colonia Nova (SLurl), Alpine Meadow (SLurl) and Locus Amoenus (SLurl) regions. The focus of the project is on enabling ownership of high-quality public, private, and open-space land; creating a themed community of public and private builds; and implementing democratic forms of self government within Second Life.

The CDS includes:

• Neufreistadt (SLurl) is a medieval Bavarian themed region and is modelled after a real life Bavarian city with a surrounding valley. It was the first region in the CDS. There are many intersting spaces worth visiting at Neufreistadt including: the Neufreistadt Museum of Contemporary Art which aims to support the culture of the CDS community, the Schloss (Castle) which includes a grand ballroom and the Kirche (Church) which is a community space used for many purposes including weekly discussions on religion and philosophy.
• Colonia Nova (SLurl) opened in October 2006 and is a a Roman themed region. It includes a range of interesting Roman themed venus including the Thermae (Roman Bath) and the Amphitheatre. Within the city walls, a number of plots are available for rent to Second Life residents, arranged into separate classes, including stalls (strictly commercial land) and "insulae", which are a mix of commercial and residential plots meant to represent the dwellings where the lower classes would reside.
• Alpine Meadow (SLurl) was the winning proposal in the sim design competition held from May - June 2007 by CDS. The sim includes beautiful alpine slopes and the Alpine Meadow Monastery which aims to hold activities connected to wisdom, meditation, knowledge. It is a non-religious and a non-ideological group.
• Locus Amoenus (SLurl) which is adjacent to the Colonia Nova sim and is also inspired by a Roman Empire theme and includes a river theatre for staging nautical battles, a popular sport in roman times.

For further information visit the Confederation of Democratic Simulators website or  view images of Neufreistadt's 6th Term Opening Session on Flickr. You can also read the article Colonia Nova: Civilization on the frontiers of Second Life, or read the blog post - Museum of Contemporary Art at Neufreistadt.

The Independent State of Caledon

The Independent State of Caledon (SLurl) is a 19th Century steampunk themed estate owned by Second Life resident Desmond Shang. Generally, period clothing and behavior are encouraged and welcomed, but not required. The welcome notecard which residents receive on arrival at Caledon states 'the Independent State of Caledon is a 19th century themed nation-state...a small, windswept forested country at a temperate latitude. Wild creatures, country estate life, sights and sounds that were common well over 100 years ago are the hallmark of the land. 19th century period clothing, politeness, and activities are smiled upon, but 'just being yourself' is more than good enough.

The government of Caledon is described as 'an expansionist monarchy, supported by a strong aristocracy (i.e., residents)'. It can sometimes described as a micronation, and currently spans more than 30 different sims and is supported more than 300 residents.

To find out more, read a blog post - The Independant State of Caledon, read about the Independent State of Caledon on the SL History Wiki, read about the history of this community via the Caledon Community forums or watch My Home in Caledon, watch Caledon the Musical - a community created machinima which was made by Caledon's residents to support Relay for Life or watch Caledon - My Own Tribute by Erich Templar on Youtube.

Okapi Island - Çatalhöyük, Turkey in Second Life

Okapi Island (SLurl) is an immersive virtual environment designed to provide visitors with a 3D experience of Çatalhöyük (”cha-tal-hu-yuk”) in central Turkey - the site of a Neolithic farming community that flourished from 9,400 until 7,700 years ago. It is part of the Remixing Çatalhöyük project at University of California, Berkeley and is coordinated by avatars Ruth Galileo and Zed Marseilles. The project is supported by Open Knowledge and the Public Interest (OKAPI) - an organisation that brings together faculty, students and staff to promote open knowledge and free culture at Berkeley and internationally, and the Department of Anthropology at Berkeley.

Okapi Island is modeled after the East Mound at Çatalhöyük, and represents the site as it exists today and as it may have looked in the past. Visitors are invited to engage in a number of spaces and resources including a guided video walk, the Okapi Virtual Museum, 3D reconstructions of Çatalhöyük, a virtual excavation area and the graffiti wall. They are also invited to build their own neolitic reconstruction and remixes in the Okapi Island sandbox, where a collection of images, objects and resources from the project are provided for further playful, creative learning.

To find out more visit the Okapi website or the Remixing Çatalhöyük project website, check out the Okapi Island wiki or watch a video tour of Okapi Island with Professors and students from the project.

Roma - Ancient Rome

Don a toga and learn about living in ancient Rome on the Roma sim (SLurl) created by Torin Golding. Roma is an immersive space which allows visitors to explore ancient rome via their avatar. 

The space has been designed to allow for events and rituals as well as incorporating displays and immersive spaces including:

• the Roman Forum (Fori Romani) and Senate
• the Roman Baths
• Caligula's Palace
• the Gladiator's Arena,
• Chariot races
• the Temple of Zeus,
• the Legion Fortress
• an open marketplace.

Displays and notecards give background information on the structures and on the lifestyles and politics of its inhabitants.

To find out more visit the Roma Blog, watch A tour of Roma: virtual ancient Rome build on Blip.TV, read Jo Kay's photo tour - Learning at Virtual Roma or read a review at Real World Places in Second Life #13: Ancient Rome.

Temple of Isis

Created by Second Life resident Aura Lily, the Temple of Isis (SLurl) is an immersive replica of the real life Temple of Isis of Ancient Egypt.

Using maps drawn by one of Napoleon's artist engineers, she's also working on an accurate recreation of temples and buildings on the Island of Philae.

The temple includes:

• a range of Egyptian wares for sale,
• the throne room,
• the upper temple which contains Egyptian artifacts, statues and detailed hieroglyphs
• a secret mummies tomb.

For further information view Pathfinder Linden's flickr photo set - Temple of Isis - the architecture and culture of Ancient Egypt or read the blog post Visit with Aura Lily.

The Virtual Alamo

Created as part of the International Society for Technology in Education's (ISTE) online activities for National Educational computing Conference (NECC 08), the Virtual Alamo (SLurl) is virtual recreation of real life San Antonio landmark, the Alamo. It includes historically accurate buildings, virtual recreations of historical artifacts and extensive information about the real life site via notecards and signs spread throughout the build.

This project demonstrates how a historical monument can be recreated in a virtual world, giving students from all geographic locations a chance to historically significant sites. The Alamo site in Second Life also incorporates the Alamo History Hunt which allows visitors to test their knowledge about the Alamo and learn more interesting facts about the Mission San Antonio de Valero.

For more information watch a slideshow on Animoto, or watch a video of Alamo Tours (in costume!) on ISTE Island on TeacherTube.