T.H.E. SmartClassroom :: July 12, 2007

  • 07/12/07

Viewpoint

Second Life: Do You Need One?

Part 3: Virtual Bacon Talks Second Life

By Patricia Deubel, Ph.D.

Second Life (SL) is a massive 3D virtual world that a growing number of colleges and universities is exploring for its educational possibilities. In the first two parts of this series, I introduced some resources to help you learn about SL, join, and get the basics about navigation and communication. I alerted you to some frustrations that you might experience getting your feet wet. I discussed learning opportunities, mentioned some ongoing initiatives, and raised some concerns for using virtual worlds in education. My discussion has been based on the "newbie" perspective through the adventures of Amareal Jewell, the inworld avatar that I created when I joined SL....

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Ed Tech News

Video Game Tournament Tests Middle Schoolers' Math Skills

Pac Man's okay, but can he solve for "x?" Riverwatch Middle School (Suwanee, GA) eighth grader John Pickering won the June 26 National Multiplayer Educational Game Tournament, the first competition of its kind, which was held at the 2007 National Educational Computer Conference in Atlanta. The inaugural tournament used three-dimensional video games to test the algebra skills of middle schoolers from across the country....

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Tabula Launches Multiplayer Algebra Video Game

A new educational video game has been launched by Tabula Digita, an education software company, designed with multiplayer capabilities allowing students to compete, individually or in groups, with other students outside the classroom....

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Adobe Ships CS3 Master Collection, Production Premium Suite

Adobe last week launched the Creative Suite 3 Production Premium and Creative Suite 3 Master Collection, the two final installments in the Creative Suite 3 rollout....

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Renaissance Adds Wireless to Latest NEO 'Sub-laptop'

Renaissance Learning (Wisconsin Rapids, WI) has released the AlphaSmart NEO 2 sub-laptop for the education environment....

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Lawrence Township Licenses Haiku LMS

The Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township in Indiana has adopted learning management system Haiku LMS from software developer Haiku Inc., the company reported last week. Teachers will begin using it in the fall. Also announced was a new version of Haiku LMS--2.0--which adds functional and UI enhancements....

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Web Notes

Q&A-Based Ed Site Launched by ePals

ePals, a developer of learning collaboration products, has launched Ask ePals, a Web service designed to answer questions about education. The company collaborated with Yedda.com, a question and answer search platform, to provide the education question-based Web site....

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