[News] Project to Build Virtual Learning Platform Within PopularOnline Worlds Wins Financial Support

[Ron Teitelbaum]

How's this?

http://news.squeak.org/2007/12/10/virtual-education-a-reality-for-aaron-e-wa
lsh/

Ron

> -----Original Message-----
> From: news-bounces at lists.squeakfoundation.org [mailto:news-
> bounces at lists.squeakfoundation.org] On Behalf Of Klaus D. Witzel
> Sent: Monday, December 10, 2007 3:32 PM
> To: The mailing list for the Squeak News Team
> Subject: [News] Project to Build Virtual Learning Platform Within
> PopularOnline Worlds Wins Financial Support
> 
> <quote> from ACM's news service,
> 
> Chronicle of Higher Education (12/10/07); Foster, Andrea L.
> 
> Boston College instructor Aaron E. Walsh is leading a multimillion-dollar
> project backed by the Federation of American Scientists and the Kauffman
> Foundation to develop virtual-reality software that can be used for
> educational purposes.
> 
> Researchers are working with an international consortium of colleges,
> research institutes, and companies to develop standards and best practices
> for the virtual-reality platform.  The project, called Immersive
> Education, will build on Walsh's experience teaching Boston College
> students online in virtual spaces.
> 
> Immersive Education includes plans to create mini-games and interactive
> lessons within virtual spaces, including Second Life, Croquet, and Project
> Wonderland.
> 
> At a conference announcing Immersive Education, Walsh demonstrated how
> virtual worlds can be used to teach students about real-world places,
> events, and ideas.  During the demonstration, the virtual avatar of a
> student, standing in front of a digital jackal, explained that to the
> ancient Egyptians the jackal helped transport the dead to the underworld.
> Three-dimensional models of archaeological sites and tombs in Egypt,
> developed by the Theban Mapping Project, provided a virtual tour of an
> otherwise inaccessible site.  Meanwhile, Gene Koo, a fellow at the Berkman
> Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, described how
> students at Emerson College and Boston residents are using Second Life to
> foster civic engagement, and how virtual worlds are being used to design
> real-world spaces.
> http://chronicle.com/daily/2007/12/925n.htm
> (Web Link May Require Paid Subscription)
> </quote>
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