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

Viewpoint

Second Life: Do You Need One?

Part 3: Virtual Bacon Talks Second Life

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....

Read Complete Article | Back to top

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....

Read more | Back to top

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....

Read more | Back to top

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....

Read more | Back to top

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....

Read more | Back to top

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....

Read more | Back to top

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....

Read more | Back to top

Events Calendar

Find more events at THE Journal's online Conference Calendar.

THE Journal Opportunities

Share Your Best Practices

T.H.E. Journal is currently looking for the following types of articles for future issues and for our eNewsletter, T.H.E. SmartClassroom:

  • School Perspectives - discuss a specific topic, trend, or concern about education technology.
  • Case Studies - have you implemented technology and learned a lot from the experience? If so, share your efforts about what worked -- and what didn't.

If you have a potential article, or questions about the above topics, please e-mail [email protected]

EduHound.com

The site boasts thousands of visitors per week, as well as a weekly newsletter, EduHound Weekly.

Awesome Clipart for Educators

Awesome Clipart for Educators offers educators FREE clipart, backgrounds, fonts, icons, worksheets, wallpaper and more. Click here to see how easy searching for clipart can be!

Featured

  • laptop displaying a glowing digital brain and data charts sits on a metal shelf in a well-lit server room with organized network cables and active servers

    Cisco Unveils AI-First Approach to IT Operations

    At its recent Cisco Live 2025 event, Cisco introduced AgenticOps, a transformative approach to IT operations that integrates advanced AI capabilities to enhance efficiency and collaboration across network, security, and application domains.

  • cloud icon with a padlock overlay set against a digital background featuring binary code and network nodes

    Cloud Security Auditing Tool Uses AI to Validate Providers' Security Assessments

    The Cloud Security Alliance has unveiled a new artificial intelligence-powered system that automates the validation of cloud service providers' (CSPs) security assessments, aiming to improve transparency and trust across the cloud computing landscape.

  • robot brain with various technology and business icons

    Google Cloud Study: Early Agentic AI Adopters See Better ROI

    Google Cloud has released its second annual ROI of AI study, finding that 52% of enterprise organizations now deploy AI agents in production environments. The comprehensive survey of 3,466 senior leaders across 24 countries highlights the emergence of a distinct group of "agentic AI early adopters" who are achieving measurably higher returns on their AI investments.

  • laptop with AI symbol on screen

    Google Launches Lightweight Gemma 3n, Expanding Emphasis on Edge AI

    Google DeepMind has officially launched Gemma 3n, the latest version of its lightweight generative AI model designed specifically for mobile and edge devices — a move that reinforces the company's focus on on-device computing.