With recent media attention on performance pay for Australian teachers, it is fitting that SL has an event coming up on May 25th where “the educators in SL are gathering for the first 24-hour best practices conference in Second Life.”

The event is billed as having “REAL colleges and universities, and this is a REAL conference including keynotes, breakout sessions, and vendors.”

A 24-hour conference for education community members is indeed a first. This is but one example that highlights cutting edge approaches many educators, and a small number of Australian universities, are taking to integrate the technology of SL into teaching and learning.

A unique approach to this conference will be the use of multiple venues to cater for prim counts and avatar attendees. However the main venue is Hyperstring’s “Huge Conference Center” with a number of other venues used for breakout/overflow areas, poster sessions and vendors. Expect to teleport to various places as the conference progresses.

In-world you can contact Desideria Stockton for more information on this first for education or visit the Second Life International Best Practices in Education Conference website.

On the island Second Nature there is a science build called the Jean-Claude Bradley Center for Open Notebook Science, which is linked with Drexel University.

Dr Jean-Claude Bradley is a chemistry professor and coordinator of e-learning for the College of Arts and Sciences at Drexel University. Along with his highly skilled team (check out the credits sign next to the main door for a full listing), they have built a main island with two smaller bridge-linked ones and a gazebo over water that aims to provide visitors with information bays on chemistry, microbiology, the human genome and a number of other scientific areas.

The displays are interactive and 3D model based. Along with poster board displays, links to websites and notecard grabs covering exhibit models and processes, visitors can engage with the content of the displays in a way not often experienced in a classroom. My favourite in this regard was the Eukaryotic cell, created by SL resident Max Chatnoir, a teacher of genetics at a small private university in Texas.

Visitors can enter this cell and be treated to a feast of Mitochondria, Centrioles, Endoplasmic Reticulum and Lysosomes that surround and float past you. As Max said, “I love that cell. It’s sort of restful just to stand in there with the ATP…”

To find out what ATP actually is, like me you will have to visit and enter the cell.

For some time now I have been following the developments of three particular universities that have established islands in SL. The RMIT island known as Ormond Island, the USQ island of Terra Incognita and the amazingly designed Esperance Island of the Australian Film TV and Radio School.

These three islands are relatively easy to locate by a simple use of the “Place” tab in the SL search window an using the term “University”. For the AFTRS presence searchers need to use “AFTRS”. I feel that AFTRS would benefit in using the term university in their descriptor, as the average person may find locating them difficult.

The resulting 49 hits from a “university” term search will give the sum total of serious contenders on the SL Education market. To date Ormond Island, Terra Incognita and Esperance are the only three Australian universities that have actively sought to allow non-student visitors to explore and consider the options of tertiary education experiences via the SL medium.

This is a vitally important aspect to consider in relation to the global marketing of education. Many Australian universities provide distant education courses yet currently we have only three exploring the provision, practising or marketing of their product via SL.

With the launch of the BigPond islands and the soon to be launched ABC Island, there will be an increased number of Australians exploring this strange, bizarre and somewhat perplexing world. All of these newbies will have one question on their minds: “What is there to do here?”

For USQ, RMIT and AFTRS their answer is simple – come and do a course with us! Without such provision of subsidiary offerings, SL becomes just another form of chat forums for people with ‘interesting proclivities’.

I dropped in to the RMIT island the other day and bumped into the island’s director John Guffey. As the students start this coming week, further development will take off as much of the building and design work will be undertaken by the students themselves. John indicated that access to the island will not be limited to students alone. In fact, they are going to open more space – and there is already talk of another island.

John had an interesting view that “we want aussie unis to clump islands together”. That kind of scenario would be extremely interesting from two points of view.

Firstly, the competition for students and research funding would dictate that “clumping” all Australian University SL islands close to each other sounds to be a curious goal as universities are traditionally seen to be vying with each other.

Secondly, the concept of an SL Archipelago of Australian Universities could attract interest from the global marketplace of students. It would set it apart from other countries with tertiary education presences in SL.

It will be interesting to see how the current Australian Universities in SL respond to this proposal and whether those without an SL presence are prepared to come on board if the Archipelago happens.

A few years ago I did a trip through the Macquarie Marshes over an October long weekend. Whilst the marshes are technically speaking under the control of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, much of the public access is conducted only on October long weekends through the Discovery programs run by the locals of Quambone and surrounding properties.

This stunning area of Australia which, like most places in recent times, is being sorely tried by our prolonged drought, is well worth the visit. Not only to see the effect man and nature has made upon this wetland area but to also enjoy and meet a local community that takes pride. Pride in the area’s natural beauty and ecological importance including pains to try and preserve and manage the area sustainably.

The small general store, 2 teacher school and community hall are at the “town” centre – not to mention the pub, of course! With the area’s race course a short stroll from the town centre you can’t help but appreciate the importance of these communities to Australia’s heritage.

What does this have to do with SL? Well, whilst wandering around the other night I came across an area called The Woodland Virtual Nature Center and it reminded me of the many places in Australia that have a similar message to tell.

Woodland Virtual Nature Center isn’t a great place – yet! However, the idea behind it has some major potential to those important nature areas of Australia where people cannot visit either for reasons of mobility or the sheer distances involved to get there.

As you look at Woodland, consider the view behind you after you teleport in. It gives pause for thought.

RMIT University, Melbourne have embarked on a construction project in SL that allows people to drop in and view their progress from a lookout area that affords a view across their island.

The contruction zone of RMIT Island is off limits to people apart from a small square atop a hill. From there visitors can see how things are going or relax in a deckchair watching some old 1930s style cartoons.

This quirky little piece of interest is probably a result of the makeup of the team that is putting the RMIT sim together. A mix of students from the faculties of:

School of Architecture and Design
School of Creative Media
School of Property, Construction and Project Management

The in-world contact is John Guffey and no doubt he will be able to answer further questions but I think the ability to drop in and watch progress may be even more revealing than a straight up Q & A from him.

With the growing number of universities from Australia embarking upon, dare I say it, “campuses”, in SL, and already conducting lessons in-world, education is about to embark upon an incredibly transformational journey.