Educators as Innovators

While there are many for-profit companies touting themselves as innovators for the Internet, it is instead educational organizations and non-profits are leading the way in using Second Life as a tool.

One would think that it would be tech companies leading the way, since they are in such a highly competitive field and need to have every edge they can. Excepting Google (which is into everything, nowadays), we find that it is the educators and non-profits experimenting with virtual worlds and pushing the Web 3.D*, who are much more cooperative than competitive with one another.

To highlight a few projects:

- A SL Developer group, The Magicians, has been working with Global Kids to create an online environment on the SL Teen Grid.

- Aimee Weber has done what may be the first educational machinima, and works with The Exploratorium, whose last collaboration on the 2006 solar eclipse was a real treat to attend.

- Speaking of astronomy, the International Spaceflight Museum is opening Sunday on Spaceport Alpha sim. I have a small involvement - a gift shop and the dome over the main stage.

- I've also been very busy developing the Landing Lights 3-D Wiki, part of Democracy Island, sponsored by New York Law School's Do Tank. It's a "Build your own park" for local people in a real location in Queens, NY, to have direct input into what they think should be done to improve their park. The 3-D Wiki will be used for actual feedback to the city's planning board, and the board has been aiding a great deal in providing feedback to allow us to meet their needs.

- New York Law School of course provided a great deal of support for Second Life Community Convention last year, which was a huge success. (Okay, more self-promotion. Guilty as charged.)

- There's also Brigadoon Island, which has been around for a while now, helping Asperger's patients interact in social situations.

- And speaking of the health and mental health industry, the American Cancer Society put on the very successful Second Life Relay for Life last year with aid of a number of SLrs, and this year Jade Lily and Aimee Weber are heading up the massive 12-sim in-world event. I've volunteered to help in a small role.

- I've also heard from Danielle Damone (SL name) who co-developed a team-building experience in Second Life for an undergraduate class at Seton Hall University she is teaching.

- Entire classes are being mixed into SL as well. I was able to personally help with a university class this past Spring. I played a sort of virtual-lab-tech role for a small team for USC's 400-level class on Designing Online Multiplayer Game Environments. Teams of 4 or 5 each made their own multiplayer game in SL. I've also heard about something on the order of 16 or 20 other university-level classes participating in SL, all with last names.

And I'm sure there's plenty of which I'm not even aware. (Please do feel free to respond in comments with more programs.)

Why is it educators get SL? I suppose when it comes down to it, the people in charge tend to be more open-minded than corporate executives. That's my theory. I'm interested in your theories, so please post them in comments, readers.



* Web 3.D is a term coined either by Phillip Torrone or Mark Wallace who both said it in the span of a few hours in the same evening. We're not sure whom actually said it first, though Mark runs the website. :)