Second Life Education/Resources

This list is maintained by Second Life™ (SL) educators as a resource for the community, and includes:

Links to websites with information and videos about education in SL

SLURLs - "teleport" hyperlinks that lead directly to locations in the virtual world (VW)

Networking

Email lists and groups are free; listen to the conversations or join in. Make connections with others sharing best practices, common mistakes, and quick tips. Questions asked to the group draw on many years of experience.

• Second Life Education Forum
• Educators -- SL Educators (The SLED List)

Virtual World Skills

With time and effort, one can improve the ability to navigate and build content in the virtual world. The following can help.

General Information

• Second Life Knowledge Base
• Video Tutorials (SL Wiki)
• New Resident Resources in the SL Destination Guide
• Second Life Glossary

Places in Second Life

• Orientation Center, Virtual Ability (SLURL) (Basic operation)
• Ivory Tower Library of Primitives (SLURL) (How to build objects)
• Texture Tutorial & Libraly (SLURL) (How to use textures)
• College of Scripting Music & Science (SLURL) (How to use Linden Script Language)
• The Particle Laboratory (SLURL) (How to use particle effect)
• The Vehicle Laboratory (SLURL) (How to build vehicle physics)

Education in SL

Blogs

• Virtual Center for Archives and Records Management (VCARA), SJSU/SLIS—virtual space for those interested in archives, records, and special collections to network and collaborate
• Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable (VWER)
• International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
• Nonprofits in Second Life (NPSL)

Videos

• CNDG’s Virtual Learning Environments
• Istanbul University
• Nonprofit Commons
• Texas A&M University Virtual Chemistry
• Nova Southeastern University in Florida Virtual Health Adventures
• International Spaceflight Center
• NMC Campus
• Second Life - Heart Murmur Sim
• Bobcat Village: Texas State's Second Life Campus Tour
• The Second Life Project: An Interview with Douglas Danforth

Campuses and Communities

Non-Profit / Community

• Chilbo Town Hall and Plaza (SLURL)
• New Media Consortium Campus (SLURL)
• Nonprofit Commons (SLURL)
• The Science Circle official site / The Science Circle (SLURL)
• American Cancer Society (SLURL)

Academic

• Arkansas State University (SLURL)
• Ohio University Campus (SLURL)
• Saint Leo University Virtual Campus (SLURL)
• Stanford University Libraries (SLURL)
• The Open University, UK- Deep Think (SLURL)
• University of Western Australia (SLURL)
• Rockcliffe University (SLURL) / [1]
• University of Edinburgh (Vue) (SLURL)
• University of Washington- Virtual Biodome (SLURL)
• Valdosta State University (SLURL)
• Second Life Destination Guide: Education & Nonprofits Category

Museums

STEM and Astronomy

• The Exploratorium (SLURL) / The Splo (SLURL)
• The Tech Museum of Innovation (SLURL)
• Oddprofessor's Museum and Science Center (SLURL) (National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology)
• STEM Island (SLURL) (University of the Incarnate Word)
• International Spaceflight Museum (SLURL)
• Explorer Island (SLURL) (NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
• Spaceport UK (SLURL)

Biology and Health

• Genome (SLURL) (Texas Wesleyan University, Biology, Genetics)
• Anatomica, American Cancer Society (SLURL)
• OSU Medical Center (SLURL) (Ohio State University, Testis and Ovary tour)
• Tox Town at Virtual NLM (SLURL)

Geology, Oceanography and Natural history

• David Rumsey Maps (SLURL)
• Field Studies Centre at Bowness - Direct SLurl) (National Institute of Education, Singapore)
• Museum of Natural History of Vienna (SLURL)
• Abyss Observatory at Second Earth 3 (SLURL) (JAMSTEC)/ at Farwell (SLURL) (National Institute of Education, Singapore)

Social Science and Humanity

• The Modern Museum (SLURL) (Historical relation of Art, Architecture, Literature, Science & technology, society)
• US Holocaust Museum (SLURL)
• Cold War Museum (SLURL)
• SL Democide Museum (SLURL) (Plush Nonprofit Commons, History of genocides by governments)
• Museum of Sacred Art (SLURL) (Kira Institute, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Daoism, Shintoism, Islam, Judaism)
• The Aho Museum, New Media Consortium (SLURL)
• Museum art Nouveau (SLURL)
• The Museum of Surrealism (SLURL)
• Artsea Muzeum (SLURL) (L$ 8 famous paintings in Art history)

Other Science and Health Resources

• List of SITES and teaching resources in Second Life, Dr. Sharon Collingwood (Ellie Brewster in SL), The Ohio State University.
• Science Related Places in Second Life (Yan Lauria, Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Clinic, Health, Astronomy, Geology, Oceanography, Archaeology)
• Educational Places in Second Life List of Destinations from Teleport Hub System ”Gateway to Thinking” (Yan Lauria, Above + Rehabilitation, Art History, Literature, Architecture, Learning resources, creator's resources)
• Second Life Health Care Wiki (SLURL)
• UC Davis' Virtual Hallucinations (SLURL)
• HealthInfo Island (SLURL) (Information of over 120 peer support organizations in SL)

Miscellaneous

Sites/locations that do not fit the categories above yet may be of interest.

• Second Life™ Destinations - Educators and Non-Profits in the SL Destination Guide
• Cypris Chat - A not-for-profit virtual world English language learning community
• S.L.O.O.D.L.E - Simulation Linked Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment
• Blackboard Integration (Video)
• Useful Links about Second Life (Lehigh University, YouTube and Long/Short list of Art, Humanities, Sciences and Social Sciences)
• Worlds of Education - Lesson Plan Database
• Expedition Central (SLURL) (ISTE SIGVE, Landmarks of Science & Education, Quests, Scifi & Steampunk, International & Exploration, Art & Culture)
• Community Cultural Hub (SLURL) (Landmarks of Spiritual, Arts, Countries, Soial Services, Historical, Educational, Others)

Reference

• Minocha, Shailey & Reeves, Ahmad (2010) "Design of learning spaces in 3D virtual worlds: an empirical investigation of Second Life", Learning, Media and Technology, Vol. 35, No. 2, 111–137
• Minocha, Shailey & Hardy, Christopher (2011). "Designing navigation and wayfinding in 3D virtual learning spaces", 4th Annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference, Second Life.
• Wimpenny, katherine, et al. (2012). "Unpacking frames of reference to inform the design of virtual world learning in higher education", Australasian J of Educational Technology, 28(Special issue, 3), 522-545
• Nishimura, Hajime, Lim, Kenneth & Koyamada, Koji (2012), "The Abyss Observatory - Designing for Remote Collaboration, Self-directed Discovery and Intuition Development in Multi-user Interactive 3D Virtual Environments", J of Virtual Worlds Research, Volume 5, Number 2, Asian Perspectives
• Sequeira, Luis & Morgado, Leonel (2013) "Virtual Archaeology in Second Life and OpenSimulator", J of Virtual Worlds Research, Volume 6, Number 1, The Metaverse Assembled
• Nussil, Natalie & Oh, Kevin (2014). "The Components of Effective Teacher Training in the Use of Three-Dimensional Immersive Virtual Worlds for Learning and Instruction Purposes: A Literature Review", J of Information Technology for Teacher Education, 22(2):213-241.
• Oh, Kevin & Nussil, Natalie (2014). "Teacher training in the use of a three-dimensional immersive virtual world: Building understanding through first-hand experiences", J of Teaching and Learning with Technology, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 33 – 58
• Tate, Austin, et al. (2014) "Virtual Collaboration Spaces: Bringing Presence to Distributed Collaboration", J of Virtual Worlds Research, Volume 7, Number 2, Assembled 2014