Using grant funding, the entire University of Texas system is about to become involved in Second Life. Basically, the state's higher education system is going to have multiple Second Life islands to outreach the school's offerings in the world's best and most popular virtual world environment for adults. This involves 16 major universities each of which, is required by the state of Texas to have a Second Life representative.
At a presentation in Second Life today, the project lead did not give highly specific details of what "being involved" translates to. But, one may assume research, and teaching and learning will be at the core of all activities.
Read the BLOG article HERE.
This is huge and bolsters both a higher ed presence in Second Life and, solidifies the Linden Lab lead in the virtual world arena.
Spread the news...
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Breast Cancer "Pink" event a Hit in Second Life
The Pink event, held October 16 at the Disney fan park in Second Life called Mouse World, was a hit and demonstrated the burgeoning power of virtual worlds. Money was raised for breast cancer research and awareness.
I recently read an article from the Journal of Information Systems Education (refereed) titled Extending the classroom through Second Life. The authors report a figure from 2007 that states "80 percent of active Internet users will have a virtual presence in the form of an 'avatar' in at least one virtual world by the end of 2011." If true, online 3-D virtual worlds will indeed become the second great Internet revolution, possibly as great in magnitude as the world wide web itself.
So what does this all mean and why is virtual world technology becoming such a sociocultural phenomena? Since the Romans introduced the concept of a world wide web by building their extensive road system, human beings have reached out with manifest destiny-like ventures to extend life to and beyond all possible borders.
Once we learned to use email we extended societal borders greatly but lost some human touch in the process. Now, we are claiming it back and virtual worlds is one way we are doing that. Nonverbal communication cues are part of Second Life and similar environments, unlike practically any other medium on the web right now.
This morning in Second Life I attended a live Folk concert broadcast from the U.K., then attended a class on basic building in Second Life, both broadcast in real time. These are great technologies that will eventually be present on Wyoming Entrepreneur island.
Stay tuned.
I recently read an article from the Journal of Information Systems Education (refereed) titled Extending the classroom through Second Life. The authors report a figure from 2007 that states "80 percent of active Internet users will have a virtual presence in the form of an 'avatar' in at least one virtual world by the end of 2011." If true, online 3-D virtual worlds will indeed become the second great Internet revolution, possibly as great in magnitude as the world wide web itself.
So what does this all mean and why is virtual world technology becoming such a sociocultural phenomena? Since the Romans introduced the concept of a world wide web by building their extensive road system, human beings have reached out with manifest destiny-like ventures to extend life to and beyond all possible borders.
Once we learned to use email we extended societal borders greatly but lost some human touch in the process. Now, we are claiming it back and virtual worlds is one way we are doing that. Nonverbal communication cues are part of Second Life and similar environments, unlike practically any other medium on the web right now.
This morning in Second Life I attended a live Folk concert broadcast from the U.K., then attended a class on basic building in Second Life, both broadcast in real time. These are great technologies that will eventually be present on Wyoming Entrepreneur island.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
ReactionGrid and OpenSim, Far from Prime Time
While I believe strongly in competition, I also have some understanding of consumer behavior.
When I first logged onto Second Life I downloaded a file for a minute or so, then launched and was in-world within one minute.
Today I went to check out ReactionGrid and OpenSim considering there is some buzz in higher ed about them.
I had to download 2 files for ReactionGrid, neither of which were described well, and the list of instructions was outrageously long. Then, the system rejected my password after all that. So, okay, what a pain but I reset the password and the system then rejected its own password.
At OpenSim, I clicked on the download file, after confusing to non-existent instructions, and the file would not download.
With all its problems, Second Life is supreme and there is no close second, nor is there any evidence that a viable competitor is on the horizon.
Back to consumer behavior; consumers don't want or need a hassle or a bunch of geeky instructions. They want a product delivered, with the consumer in mind.
Anyone disagree or agree? Leave a professional, informed comment.
When I first logged onto Second Life I downloaded a file for a minute or so, then launched and was in-world within one minute.
Today I went to check out ReactionGrid and OpenSim considering there is some buzz in higher ed about them.
I had to download 2 files for ReactionGrid, neither of which were described well, and the list of instructions was outrageously long. Then, the system rejected my password after all that. So, okay, what a pain but I reset the password and the system then rejected its own password.
At OpenSim, I clicked on the download file, after confusing to non-existent instructions, and the file would not download.
With all its problems, Second Life is supreme and there is no close second, nor is there any evidence that a viable competitor is on the horizon.
Back to consumer behavior; consumers don't want or need a hassle or a bunch of geeky instructions. They want a product delivered, with the consumer in mind.
Anyone disagree or agree? Leave a professional, informed comment.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Terraforming in Place
The land is taking shape and tomorrow, some structures will arise from the dust. Very cool.
One may now see the major areas of our island.
Today I have been shopping a little for horses and trains. Our steam engine train will carry people around the island, past all of the attractions and locations. Horses are a little trickier. A good horse for a Second Life island, can be quite expensive. I would like our horses to be rideable without someone attaching them to the avatar, and, I would like them to return to their parcel once someone gets off, and start grazing. Plenty of horses, but a good one is so far is about L$10k which is too much.
One may now see the major areas of our island.
Today I have been shopping a little for horses and trains. Our steam engine train will carry people around the island, past all of the attractions and locations. Horses are a little trickier. A good horse for a Second Life island, can be quite expensive. I would like our horses to be rideable without someone attaching them to the avatar, and, I would like them to return to their parcel once someone gets off, and start grazing. Plenty of horses, but a good one is so far is about L$10k which is too much.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Island Build Markers in Place
Met with our builder today for 90 minutes going over the artist's concept (ha ha, mine), resources for images of Wyoming, and some of the legal stuff.
She (our builder) has placed markers around the island in preparation for the build. When setting a timeline, and assuming we do not broaden the scope of the project, the initial build will be finished December 1, 2009. This will be Wyoming Entrepreneur Island 1.0.
Wyoming Entrepreneur Island 2.0 build will take place in 10 months from now and include much more interactive objects on the island that teach entrepreneurs business basic through fun activities and games.
She (our builder) has placed markers around the island in preparation for the build. When setting a timeline, and assuming we do not broaden the scope of the project, the initial build will be finished December 1, 2009. This will be Wyoming Entrepreneur Island 1.0.
Wyoming Entrepreneur Island 2.0 build will take place in 10 months from now and include much more interactive objects on the island that teach entrepreneurs business basic through fun activities and games.
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