Have just completed (well on Tuesday night that is) a very full on two day consultation session down at the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology. As many of you will know NMIT are in the process of purchasing their own island in Second Life and with the generosity of the eCapability fund I was sent down there to assist in introducing a number of academic staff to the SL platform, to help develop the skills of those already on board and to commence discussion on possible projects for the upcoming island.
I have come back physically drained I must say but also incredibly invigorated as well by the enthusiasm of those involved and the willingness that was exhibited to the possibilitites of educating in a virtual environment. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that all of those who attended the sessions were really thinking outside the box in terms of their ideas for using SL with little reference to virtual classrooms, raised hand animations and other RL recreations.
Unfortunately two days were really not long enough to get into the nitty gritty of our intentions but the train has left the station nonetheless. Am really looking forward to where it will take us. For those interested in some of the ideas we discussed a brief version of them is available near the end of this presentation document delivered at the Second Life Australasian Showcase last night.
Regards/>
Aaron/Isa Goodman