Virtual Worlds Terraforming Demo
We’ve been exploring the possibility of using virtual worlds in Weber School District. With this, teachers could create learning experiences that they can’t do in an ordinary classroom.
It’s a ways off still, and nothing is set in stone, but last weekend I installed and messed around with a new "WeberSim." I borrowed a couple models from some sims others made — namely the ship and the castle — but it’s pretty cool how easy it is to create vibrant landscapes. Here’s the first video of undoubtedly many more.
The real power is being able to script your own objects and events. With this, the virtual world can be shaped into anything you can imagine. I scripted a couple things: The rippling mountain pond water, and a flashlight (not shown), and tried to model a couple bridges (they need work).
I’ll be experimenting more with scripting in future videos.
I can see testing students 3rd-7th by asking them to create various landforms. I did this with clay in groups while they were learning, but to do this as partners, or individually would be simply awesome. This is why I joined Second Life, but that environment was to “adult” for any k-12 use.
That would be a great use for the tool. The landscaping controls were pretty easy for me to figure out (it may differ depending on the viewer you use, too), but I wonder how elementary students would fare. Maybe I should try it with my kids.
With Linden Lab’s recent announcement of Teen Second Life closing down, they also stated they wanted to work directly with educators in figuring out how to make the Second Life adult grid a suitable and safe environment for classroom use. I think we’ll only see progress in that direction.
I would love to see Second Life being used in our schools, and I’ve been trying to figure out ways to do it. Our filter isn’t sophisticated enough to filter by region. One way I can think of is to edit the SL Viewer code (it’s open source) and provide a whitelist of approved regions. It would simply disallow access to any region NOT in the list. That way, a student can only choose from a very limited list of destinations while they’re exploring the virtual worlds…unless, of course, they install another viewer.