Australasian Virtual Worlds Workshop: call for participation
May 22, 2008
After last year’s successful ‘Discover Your Second Life’ session, a number of educators have banded together to organise the first Australian Virtual Worlds Workshop (AVWW).
It’s scheduled for the 28th and 29th November 2008 at Swinburne University in Melbourne. The organising committee are currently calling for participants, so if you’d like to get involved, check the AVWW website.
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Popularity: 5% [?]
$100,000 in virtual learning prizes up for grabs
May 19, 2008
The New Media Consortium (NMC) have announced they have 100 thousand US dollars available to fund up to twenty “innovative open-source learning experiences”.
Read all about it here - I get really inspired by the momentum that’s behind education in virtual worlds now.
Popularity: 6% [?]
SBS: enter the machinima
May 12, 2008
The island touted for SBS may have been shelved, but they are still steaming ahead with their work within Second Life.
A blog has launched on the SBS site with the focus being on helping people to make their own machinima. Documentary-maker Shelley Matulick (SL: Mixin Pixel) is behind the blog and will provide weekly tips.
It’s certainly a hands-on approach for SBS and if the blog delivers on what it’s promising, it’ll be a useful Australian resource on machinima.
Popularity: 7% [?]
‘Envisioning the Educational Possibilities of User-Created Virtual Worlds’
May 4, 2008
The title of this post is the title of a fascinating article, which was recently published in the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AAEC) Journal.
You can get the full-text (PDF) version online by clicking here.
The abstract for the article:
Educational games and simulations can engage students in higher-level cognitive thinking, such as interpreting, analyzing, discovering, evaluating, acting, and problem solving. Recent technical
advances in multiplayer, usercreated virtual worlds have significantly expanded the capabilities of user interaction and development within these simulated worlds. This ability to develop and interact with your own simulated world offers many new and exciting educational possibilities. This article explores the technical capabilities and educational potential of these new worlds. Additionally, it presents and illustrates a model, which uses interaction combinations, to identify course content and topics having educational applications in virtual worlds.
Popularity: 5% [?]
A year ago on The Metaverse Journal
April 16, 2008
We interviewed one of Australia’s most controversial Second Life residents, LukeConnell Vandeverre, who runs the World Stock Exchange (which has now been out of action for close to three months).
Popularity: 6% [?]
Murdoch University Island in Second Life
April 15, 2008
Veteran Australian Second Life resident and Murdoch University Library staff member Kathryn Greenhill, has created a very interesting video of Murdoch University’s presence in Second Life. It covers the management, ongoing activities and challenges that running an island in Second Life involves.
Another good reason to have a look is that the island is closed to the general public.
Click here to view the video on YouTube.
Popularity: 7% [?]
Second Life Remembrance Day: April 17th
April 5, 2008
A community-drive event, the first Second Life Remembrance Day is being held on April 17th 6am to 11pm SLT (from Midnight on April 17th AEST).
Linden Lab have donated two sims for the event and the call has gone out for musicians, builders and scripters who’d like to be involved. Check the Remembrance Day site for details.
Popularity: 5% [?]
