Virtual+Worlds

=Virtual Worlds=

For more than a year now I have been intently interested in the educational possibilities of virtual worlds/environments. I Joined [|Second Life]with the view to meeting other educators who were interested in teaching and learning or even better, who might be doing things I could observe and get involved with. I created my avatar Tempest Nitely and set off on a journey to find all things educational in what I believed to be largely an oversized chat room, full of people frittering away thier leisure time online.

After only a short time in Second Life I met HeyJude Jenns and Slammed Aabaye (their Second Life avatar names). These people turned out to be Judy O'Connell, well know for her [|blog ,Hey Jude] and [|Dean Groom], now Head of Teaching and Learning Design at Macquarie University. Together they introduced me to a host of other teachers and educators through their network on the islands of [|Jokaydia] ,an Australian built and owned educational space on the main grid.

I learned a lot about virtual environments from all the generous people on the islands of Jokaydia and through various groups I joined inworld, some of which run classes for people like me who are interested in how it all works.

The next step was to join up to a highly moderated, pedagogically geared, primary school virtual enviroment called Quest Atlantis. I had to undergo some fairly intensive teacher training to do this (a requirement of the program). After spending some time in QA as the locals call it I can highly recommend it.

Some time later I signed up for a post graduate course through [|MUVEnation] in an attempt to look at all aspects of teaching and learning in virtual worlds. This has been an eye opening experience which has pushed me to learn all manner of skills and to meet some fascinating people. As part of the course I have been keeping [|a blog], documenting and reflecting upon the various activities we have been working through.

Since I began my journey, Linden labs, the creators of Second Life now acknowledge and support a thriving educational community with a [|link about this]on their website. There is still a lot to learn and a lot to discover so watch this space.