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University of Melbourne seeks Second Life residents for research

January 23, 2008 by Leave a Comment

I received a message today from Greg Wadley, a researcher at the University of Melbourne. In his words:

“I would like to interview Second Life residents about their reactions to communicating by voice in-world. I’m looking for any SL residents, whether they like voice, hate it, or have not tried it yet. Interviews can be in SL, RL, email, phone, with coffee (if in Melbourne) — whatever is convenient. However I cannot pay interviewees. There is an official project description at my uni staff page. Thanks in advance, Greg”.

If you’re interested contact Greg on phone (03) 83441586 or email greg.wadley@unimelb.edu.au

Filed Under: Australian News, Education, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: ,

Griffith University in Second Life

January 14, 2008 by 3 Comments

Griffith University, located over 5 campuses in the real world between Brisbane and the Gold Coast in Queensland, is yet another Australian tertiary institution entering Second Life. It could be considered their sixth campus.

The island presence of Griffith University is the brain child of Jason Zagami, a lecturer in the School of Education and Professional Studies. One of Griffith’s e-learning fellowship recipients, James has chosen to initiate their presence in Second Life as a means of exploring e-learning in a way that promotes a more social experience. A full explanation of his goals can be found on the External Relations page.

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The island involves a number of areas for small group tutorial and class sessions along with a large North East Research Zone and another one called the South East Zone.

I’ll check back with the Griffith presence as it evolves. Deakin University has a Second Life presence in development right next door to the Griffith build so the Australian university contingent is a burgeoning one.

Check it out in-world

Filed Under: Australian News, Education, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: , ,

Social Science and virtual worlds – 2008 is the year

December 29, 2007 by Leave a Comment

If you’re kicking back and planning your intellectual stimulation for next year, this post on Terra Nova is worth a look. Education and social science have strong communities in virtual worlds, particularly Second Life.

We’ll be covering developments in those areas as always. If you know of some great work being done, let us know!

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , ,

Growth of Australian educators in Second Life continues

December 24, 2007 by Leave a Comment

One of Second Life’s intrinsic strengths is its education community and the Australian contingent of educators is well and truly up there. Three new presences are on the horizon:

1. Jokay Wollongong’s two Jokaydia islands are developing well – expect a launch in the new year with an accompanying profile here on TMJ.

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2. Right next to Jokaydia is an island called Riverina. It’s apparently going to be developed by Riverina TAFE – we’re hoping to catch up with someone from that project in the near future.

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3. Finally, Koala Island is in development by Swinburne University of Technology. Again – we hope to get more details soon.

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There’s quite a list of Australian tertiary education presences in Second Life now. Notice how nearly all of them are the ‘newer’ universities. The sandstone universities like the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney are conspicuous by their absence.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , , ,

Time to take out the intellectual trash?

December 6, 2007 by 4 Comments

Malcolm King is a former media adviser to the ALP and Australian Democrats. He’s written a piece on virtual worlds and it’s fair to say he’s scathing of their potential.

Once you wade through the hyperbole King himself engages in while condemning the excesses of virtual worlds, there are some valid points made. However, one point that seems totally over the top is the claim that virtual worlds are “not the place for serious dialogue”. I doubt Mr King has ever had any involvement with some of the health and education projects in Second Life if he believes that. The fact he called Linden Lab ‘Linden Corp’ tells me direct familiarity with Second Life is limited at best.

Filed Under: Education, Virtual Worlds, Virtual worlds in the media Tagged With: ,

Melbourne 2051

November 29, 2007 by Leave a Comment

Victoria University have a burgeoning presence in Second Life and one of their projects is Melbourne 2051. It’s a small but fascinating build revolving around a segment of Melbourne in, you guessed it, 2051. It’s been created by the 2007 Interactive Storytelling Class (Advanced Diploma of Multimedia – Games) at the University.

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The associated website gives the full storyline behind the project and it’s an impressive example of the learning opportunities virtual worlds like Second Life provide. Spend some time flying around the areas surrounding Melbourne 2051 – there’s some fascinating works in progress.

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Check it out in-world

Filed Under: Australian News, Education, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: ,

‘edna’ arrives in Second Life

November 21, 2007 by 2 Comments

Terra Incognita is a veteran education presence in Second Life that we’ve covered previously. It’s an area that next week will be hosting the launch of a new service by edna (Education Network Australia).

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The full announcement:

“Education Network Australia – better known as edna – is celebrating ten years of service to the Australian education and training sector on Tuesday, 27 November and is inviting educators from across the country to jump online and in-world to join the celebration.

From 3pm Adelaide time education.au, the company that manages the edna web site and related services, will be doing a live broadcast of presentations and the unveiling of the new myedna service on the island of Terra Icognita.

Pick up a free t-shirt, indulge in some virtual cake and champagne and, following the formalities, your avatar can rock out to popular Second Life band Space Junky.

For educators that don’t have the broadband or hardware to participate in Second Life, there is a parallel being held in edna’s Sandpit Groups using Live Classroom web conferencing software.

For more information, visit the 10th birthday page on the edna web site.”

Check it out in-world

Filed Under: Australian News, Education, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: ,

Monash Uni: closed island?

November 16, 2007 by 16 Comments

In an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald this week, I was a little surprised at a quote attributed to Monash University’s Dr Melissa de Zwart: “our area won’t be open to the public; you will need to be on an authorised list to get in”.

I try to avoid real-world comparisons but it’s difficult in this case: this is the equivalent of putting a barbed-wire fence across the entrance of the local university. Doesn’t a total closed-door policy from a taxpayer-funded entity go against its purpose as a community facility? RMIT Island has blocked off most of its island from general access but it at least has a public welcome area. As Gary Hayes says in the same article, it’s not hard to prevent damage to a Second Life presence. So why the lockdown?

Perhaps someone attending this event can ask.

Filed Under: Australian News, Education, Op-ed, Virtual Worlds, Virtual worlds in the media Tagged With: , ,

Victorian universities run Second Life event

November 11, 2007 by 4 Comments

Discover your Second Life is an event hosted by Monash and Swinburne Universities. It’s being held Saturday 17th November at Monash Uni in Caulfield, Victoria.

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Registration is required but free.

The speakers arranged are:

Dr. Suku Sinnappan

Gary Hayes

Dr. Mandy Salomon

Jo Kay

Dr. Melissa DeZwart

Debbie McCormick

Glenda McPherson and Malcolm Jolly

Lindy McKeown

Kim Flintoff

Chris Yeoh from IBM

Filed Under: Australian News, Education, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: , , , ,

Education & Non-Profit Organisations in Second Life

October 21, 2007 by 4 Comments

One of the problems we encounter in this information age is the enormous quantity of information encountered each day and the danger of overlooking the bleeding obvious.

Checking out the home page of Second Life every now and then to see what is happening can throw up some interesting gems. If you’re like me that may be every blue moon, but this week I happened to notice over in the right side margin an item labelled; “Education & Non-Profit Organizations“.

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A perusal of this link will show there is an enormous wealth of information, web and SL based resources for those interested in either setting up an educational or non profit presence in SL. Or for those looking into the opportunities that SL offers in various educational areas.

At the educational level a click on the More… link towards the bottom of the page opens the wiki listing a pretty full list of universities and other education providers in SL.

A quick scan down the list shows that the “Australian Film TV and Radio School: Sydney, Australia” but no others from our neck of the woods. Perhaps its time for someone from the Australian Universities we have featured here on SLOz to pay a visit and add their details…

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , ,

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