Media Grid standards, technologies and initiatives (such as Immersive Education) are developed by an international collaboration of universities, colleges, research institutes, consortia and companies (see MEMBERS page for details). To join, or for more information, contact the Media Grid standards group director.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Upcoming Events:

• Immersive Education, South America: BRAZIL pending

Archived:

• Immersive Education, Asia: JAPAN

• Open File Formats Technology Working Group launch

• Immersive Education, South America: COLOMBIA

• SLEDcc Immersive Education Workshop

• Education Grid launches with Project Wonderland

• BIRTHDAY PARTY! Immersive Education Turns ONE

• High resolution avatars, objects, and environments

• Platform Ecosystem and Education Grid status/review

• The role of surface (touch) input devices in Immersive Education

• Immersive Education content review, ranking, tagging, and vetting

• Avatar tracking and analysis meeting, demonstrations, discussion

::: IMMERSIVE EDUCATION: ASIA LAUNCHES IN JAPAN :::

WHAT: Immersive Education Initiative Launches Asia Series of Events in Japan
WHEN: November 18th-20th, 2008
WHERE: Japan (Aizu Wakamatsu and Nagaoka)
DETAILS: <<read the press release and view the schedule of events>>

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JAPAN - November 14, 2008 - The Immersive Education Initiative today announced that it will launch its series of Immersive Education: ASIA events in Japan this month. Immersive Education Japan (iED Japan) begins with "Immersive Education Days at University of Aizu", which features two days of Immersive Education presentations, lectures, workshops and related events presented by faculty, teachers and researchers from around the world who are participating in the event in person and remotely using virtual worlds technology. During the event, which spans November 18th through the 20th, Immersive Education Initiative members from Boston College, University of Aizu, National University of Singapore, Keio University, Smithsonian Institution, Montana State University, Southeast Kansas Education Service Center at Greenbush, University of Essex and Sun Microsystems will give a series of presentations and demonstrations to provide attendees with an in-depth overview of Immersive Education, the Education Grid and related technologies... <<read the press release and view the schedule of events>>

::: OPEN FILE FORMATS TECHNOLOGY WORKING GROUP LAUNCH :::

WHAT: Open File Formats Technology Working Group (OFF.TWG) [LAUNCH EVENT]
WHEN: Friday October 10, 2008 from 12-1pm ET (9-10am Pacific / SL time)
WHERE: Second Life (Beachlot: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Colona/199/95/24)
STREAMING LIVE AT: http://tv.greenbush.us/
TRANSCRIPT: >>VIDEO ARCHIVE WILL BE POSTED AFTER THIS EVENT <<

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"Create Once, Experience Everywhere"

The Open File Formats Technology Working Group (OFF.TWG) is responsible for defining, evolving and maintaining open, platform-neutral file formats that enable learning objects and experiences to be seamlessly deployed across Immersive Education technology platforms.

In the context of Immersive Education the term 'platform' refers to any virtual world, simulator or 3D game-based environment that may be used for teaching or training purposes. The Immersive Education platform has evolved considerably over the past decade and the 3rd generation ("next generation") is now under development. Whereas the previous two generations of Immersive Education were based on specific client-side platforms tied to proprietary server-side infrastructures, the future of Immersive Education revolves around multiple client-side platforms working in unison through the server-side Education Grid.

Based upon open source technologies and open standards, the Platform Ecosystem and Education Grid will provide educators with a comprehensive end-to-end infrastructure for a new generation of virtual world learning environments, interactive learning games, and simulations. To this end the Immersive Education Initiative has a mandate to design, develop and promote open and platform-neutral file formats that enable interoperable learning objects and experiences to be seamlessly deployed across a wide variety of virtual world and
game platforms.

Today's virtual world and game platforms are essentially walled gardens; users are not able to interact with the same objects or experiences from different platforms, nor are users of one platform able to interact with users residing in another platform. Although the Immersive Education Initiative does not plan to address the latter concern (user interoperability across platforms), through the Open File Formats Technology Working Group we are actively standardizing cross-platform content interchange by adopting and promoting open, platform neutral 3D/VR file formats that enable the promise of "create once, experience everywhere."

::: EDUCATION GRID LAUNCHES WITH PROJECT WONDERLAND :::

WHAT: Education Grid launches with Project Wonderland [Education Grid LAUNCH]
WHEN: Friday June 20th, 2008 at 4pm EST
WHERE: Sun island http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sun%20Microsystems%201/127/165/71
TRANSCRIPT: >>LISTEN TO THE AUDIO TRANSCRIPT NOW<<

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On Friday June 20th at 4pm EST the Immersive Education Initiative will launch the Education Grid with an array of Sun Wonderland virtual world servers ("nodes") hosted by Essex University (United Kingdom), University of Oregon, St. Paul College, New Media Consortium (NMC), and Sun Microsystems. Faculty and staff from each host organization will join faculty from the Woods College of Advancing Studies at Boston College to guide visitors through the Wonderland virtual worlds that debut on the Education Grid this Friday.

The Education Grid is provided free of charge to the general public and Immersive Education Initiative members. Starting this Friday, Immersive Education Initiative members can conduct classes and meetings within Wonderland virtual worlds on the Education Grid. Initiative members can also use the Education Grid to build custom Wonderland virtual learning worlds, simulations, and learning games.

Immersive Education's virtual world Platform Ecosystem and corresponding Education Grid provide educators with an open and comprehensive end-to-end infrastructure for a new generation of learning worlds, interactive learning games, and simulations. Sun Microsystems Laboratory's Project Wonderland is an official Immersive Education virtual world platform. Wonderland is now being enhanced to utilize the Education Grid, which is being designed to deliver a rich library of learning objects, digital media assets, learning games and collaboration services from which a wide variety of Immersive Education experiences can be assembled. Friday's event will give educators an early preview of the emerging Wonderland client-side platform and corresponding server-side Education Grid.

This event starts at 4pm EST (1pm pacific / Second Life time) in Second Life and
then moves into the Education Grid's Wonderland virtual worlds

::: BIRTHDAY PARTY! Immersive Education Turns One :::

WHAT: BIRTHDAY PARTY! Immersive Education Turns One [Music/Dance/Socializing]
WHEN: WEDNESDAY June 4th, 2008 from 9-11pm EST
WHERE: The "Odd Ball": http://slurl.com/secondlife/research%20center/122/142/651

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On June 4th 2007 the Immersive Education Initiative was launched as an official activity of the Media Grid standards group (see http://mediagrid.org/news/2007-06_immersive_education.html for the original news release). The Immersive Education Initiative has made a lot of progress in the past year, and the best is yet to come.

Join us in the "Odd Ball" (http://slurl.com/secondlife/research%20center/122/142/651) at Oddfellow Studios as we look back at the year behind us and forward to the year ahead. Bring your dancing shoes! Dance and socialize the night away while master illusionist of virtual worlds Tuna Oddfellow spins tunes and conjures up magical visual effects for this special birthday event.

This special event runs from 9pm to 11pm EST (6-8pm pacific / Second Life time)

::: HIGH RESOLUTION AVATARS, OBJECTS, AND ENVIRONMENTS :::

WHAT: High resolution avatars, objects, and environments [MEETING and DEMOS]
WHEN: FRIDAY May 9th, 2008 from 4-5pm EST
WHERE: Graphics sphere: http://slurl.com/secondlife/research%20center/122/142/651
TRANSCRIPT: >>LISTEN TO THE AUDIO TRANSCRIPT NOW<<

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Join us in the graphics sphere (http://slurl.com/secondlife/research%20center/122/142/651) at Oddfellow Studios to discuss how high resolution graphics will soon transform Immersive Education. Support for high resolution avatars, objects and environments is a requirement for the next generation (3rd generation) of Immersive Education that is now under development. During this meeting we'll discuss and see examples of: high resolution avatars; high resolution objects and environments; photo-based modeling technology that enables high resolution avatars to be automatically created from a photograph of your face; current and next generation graphics rendering engines and game engines; open file formats and open art paths that enable "CREATE ONCE, EXPERIENCE EVERYWHERE". << see related materials below >>

This meeting starts at 4pm EST (1pm pacific / Second Life time) and ends at 5pm EST, with additional time beyond that allocated to questions and further discussion.

MEETING MATERIALS: 

>> AVATARS: High Resolution Avatars <<

>> SCALABLE GRAPHICS: Static and Dynamic Level of Detail (LOD) <<

>> PHOTO-BASED MODELING: Instantly Create High Resolution Avatars From Photos <<

>> OBJECTS & ENVIRONMENTS: High Resolution Objects and Environments <<

Graphics capabilities of today's "average" personal computer:

Watch this QuickTime video directly (outside of this Web page)...

>> GAME ENGINES: High Resolution and High Performance Rendering Engines <<

Graphics capabilities of today's high-end computers and game consoles:

1) CryENGINE 2 game engine video #1 (click the 1:1 button on video for actual size)

Open file format: CryEngine 2 supports the open COLLADA file format

2) CryENGINE 2 game engine video #2 (click the 1:1 button on video for actual size)

Open file format: CryEngine 2 supports the open COLLADA file format

Grand Theft Auto 4 (GTA 4):

BioShock:

>> OPEN ART PATH: Enabling "Create Once, Experience Everywhere" <<

A few of many content creation tools that import/export X3D and/or COLLADA:

A. Maya and 3D Studio Max (commercial tools)

(1) http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=7635018

(2) http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=5659302&siteID=123112

B. Poser (commercial tool)

http://graphics.smithmicro.com/article/articleview/1156/1/281?sbss=281

C. Blender (open source)

http://www.blender.org/

Hand-made models vs. photo-based modeling

Alien Guy Web-based workbook (basic character modeling with Maya):

http://www2.bc.edu/~nagelh/exploring.3D.character.development/Start.html

::: PLATFORM ECOSYSTEM AND EDUCATION GRID STATUS AND REVIEW :::

WHAT: Platform Ecosystem and Education Grid status and review [MEETING]
WHEN: FRIDAY April 18, 2008 from 4-5pm EST
WHERE: Second Life (Splenda: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Splenda/117/210/29)
TRANSCRIPT: >>LISTEN TO THE AUDIO TRANSCRIPT NOW<<

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Join us in Splenda island (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Splenda/117/210/29) to discuss the status of the Immersive Education Platform Ecosystem and Education Grid. This January the Immersive Education Initiative announced the Education Grid and corresponding Platform Ecosystem. Based upon open source technologies and open standards, the Education Grid and Platform Ecosystem will provide educators with a comprehensive end-to-end infrastructure for a new generation of virtual world learning environments, interactive learning games, and simulations. During this meeting baseline requirements for the next generation (aka "3rd generation") of Immersive Education platforms and the Education Grid will be reviewed. << see related materials below >>

This meeting starts at 4pm EST (1pm pacific / Second Life time) and ends at 5pm EST, with additional time beyond that allocated to questions and further discussion.

MEETING MATERIALS: 

>> ANNOUNCEMENT: Platform Ecosystem and Education Grid <<

During the 2008 Boston Digital Media Summit the Immersive Education Initiative announced the Education Grid and corresponding Platform Ecosystem. Based upon open source technologies and open standards, the Education Grid and Platform Ecosystem will provide educators with a comprehensive end-to-end infrastructure for a new generation of virtual world learning environments, interactive learning games, and simulations. Read the complete news release at:

Immersive Education Initiative announces Education Grid and Platform Ecosystem [PDF]

>> COBALT: The future Immersive Education end-user application built upon Croquet <<

The first build of Cobalt, an emerging open source and multi-platform metaverse browser and toolkit application being built using the open source Croquet SDK, happen during the 2008 Boston Digital Media Summit in January. Whereas Croquet is a software development kit (SDK), Cobalt is the application that end users (teachers, students, etc) will run to access Immersive Education learning environments. The Immersive Education Initiative will soon launch its Cobalt community (for developers and end users).

Visit the Cobalt overview page for details...

>> WONDERLAND: Sun's roadmap for Project Wonderland targets Q1 2009 for v1.0 <<

Sun's Project Wonderland platform is under active and steady development, with version 1.0 projected to arrive in Q1 2009. Milestones for this year (2008) include significant advances toward becoming a next-generation (3rd gen) Immersive Education platform, including 1) a new graphics engine that supports high resolution avatars, objects, and environments, 2) the ability to recording learning experiences, and 3) simplified art path based on open file formats. For a sneak peak join us during our Wonderland Immersive Education event on Friday April 25th.

Visit the Wonderland Roadmap page and the Wonderland Blog for details

>> "CREATE ONCE, EXPERIENCE EVERYWHERE" : Open, platform-neutral formats <<

Excerpts from the Immersive Education platform ecosystem transcoding project:

>> TABLE: Education Grid requirements (draft specification excerpts) <<

::: THE ROLE OF SURFACE (TOUCH) INPUT DEVICES IN IMMERSIVE EDUCATION :::

WHAT: The role of surface (touch) input devices in Immersive Education [MEETING]
WHEN: FRIDAY MARCH 28, 2008 from 1-2pm EST
WHERE: Second Life (Greenbush: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Greenbush/101/86/29)
TRANSCRIPT: >>LISTEN TO THE AUDIO TRANSCRIPT NOW<<

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Join us in Greenbush Auditorium (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Greenbush/101/86/29) to discuss the role of surface (touch) devices in Immersive Education. Surface input, recently popularized by the Apple iPhone, gives users a natural way to interact with digital content through touch and gestures. Surface input devices have the potential to significantly enhance virtual learning experiences. During this meeting the extent to which surface devices should be explicitly supported by Immersive Education standards will be discussed.

Special guest Rich White (Greenbush Education Service Center) will demonstrate how Edusim uses surface devices to create touch-powered 3D virtual world classrooms that students and teachers interact with directly through an interactive whiteboard that is projected onto a wall or screen. << see Edusim videos below >>

This meeting starts at 1pm EST (10am pacific / Second Life time) and ends at 2pm, with additional time beyond that allocated to questions and further discussion.

MEETING MATERIALS: 

>> VIDEO: Apple iPhone and Microsoft Surface Demonstrations <<

1) Apple iPhone "Finger Tip" videos: http://www.apple.com/iphone/fingertips/?tip=6

2) Microsoft Surface overview videos: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/

>> VIDEO: Edusim Touch-powered Virtual Worlds for Education <<

 

ARCHIVES:

 

:::: IMMERSIVE EDUCATION CONTENT REVIEW, RANKING, TAGGING, VETTING ::::

WHAT: Immersive Education content review, ranking, tagging, and vetting [MEETING]
WHEN: FRIDAY MARCH 21, 2008 from 1-2pm EST
WHERE: Second Life (EduIsland: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland/158/60/22/)
TRANSCRIPT: >>LISTEN TO THE AUDIO TRANSCRIPT NOW<<

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Join us in EduIsland (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland/158/60/22/) to discuss the process for reviewing, ranking, tagging and vetting Immersive Education learning environments and the content they are comprised of. An overview of the Education Grid will be presented with a focus on proposed requirements for 1) Support for multiple asset types and content formats, 2) Quality control and legal vetting, 3) Multi-tiered metadata architecture, and 4) Content linking and associations. See Meeting Materials below for an overview of these draft requirements.

Special guest Dr. Jonathon Richter (University of Oregon) will demonstrate the potential for using in-world content review tools, such as the Second Life SaLamander HUD (heads up display), to review and rate Immersive Education content. Richter will discuss how the HUD may be enhanced to support any Immersive Education virtual world platform including Croquet and Wonderland.

This meeting starts at 1pm EST (10am pacific / Second Life time) and ends at 2pm, with additional time beyond that allocated to questions and further discussion.

 

MEETING MATERIALS: 

 

>> Metadata Example : In-world Usage Scenario <<

Immersive Education content (digital media assets stored in the Education Grid) may be associated with a rich variety of metadata that enables the objects, animations, audio files, and videos that comprise Immersive Education environments to “know what they're related to” and also “know what's related to them”. Consider, for example, a 3D Anubis sculpture that might appear in an Egyptian history Immersive Education learning environment. In a non-learning environment, such as a traditional computer game or virtual world, the object would have no knowledge or information associated with it other than its own visual representation (what it looks like). In an Immersive Education environment, however, the object itself may be associated with a wide range of related and interlinked learning resources that are available upon selecting the object (clicking on the object; actuating it). When a user touches the Anubis object, for example, they could be presented with a pop-up context menu that displays related topics that link to associated learning materials. In this way the Immersive Education learning experience can be greatly enhanced by enabling digital media assets to be associated with knowledge metadata that can be presented to the end user (learner) through hyperlinks as illustrated by Figure 1 below:

  

Figure 1: This Anubis object has metadata associated with it that enables users to learn more about the object and its relationship to other objects. In this example the learner has chosen to view a video that details recent Egyptian excavations of Anubis shrines. Users of the system can also rate objects, tag them with metadata, show related objects and environments, and search for other learning materials.

 

>> Education Grid Requirements Specification : Working Draft EXCERPTS <<

Section 2.8 Support for multiple asset types and content formats

Immersive Education revolves not only around 3D content but also many other asset types and content formats (e.g., text, images, audio, video, mini-games, etc.). Support for multiple asset types and representational formats is a requirement of the Education Grid and all Immersive Education client-side platforms. The Education Grid must support content services for a variety of modern asset and content formats, whereas client-side platforms must be capable of handling multiple content types natively or provide a framework for pluggable application components to handle existing and, as yet, undeveloped content types.

 

Section 2.9 Quality control and legal vetting

Immersive Education content (i.e., comprehensive immersive learning experiences and any digital media content assets such experiences are comprised of, such as 3D objects, images, videos, mini-games, and so forth) must be adequately reviewed, categorized and tagged with metadata prior to being formally accepted into the Education Grid. Content submission and review processes may include peer-review and asset tagging by users (lay persons), educators, and domain experts alike. Content may be further categorization by trained digital librarians. Content review and tagging is an ongoing process that shall continue over the entire lifetime of an asset that has entered the system; users, educators, domain experts and digital librarians shall be able to review and tag content continually and at any time.

Content must be properly vetted for distribution and usage rights before being accepted into the Education Grid. Content metadata must therefore identify content authors and copyright holders and also convey licensing and distribution rights.

TBD (To Be Determined): User-created content and self-publication are fundamental drivers of the modern World Wide Web. Examples include YouTube, Wikipedia, and other so-called "Web 2.0" sites. A low barrier to entry in terms of self-publication can facilitate rapid growth and widespread usage of new technologies such as Immersive Education and the corresponding Education Grid. A credible argument can therefore be made that setting too high of a barrier to entry when it comes to publishing content into the Education Grid may stifle its potential . Careful consideration must therefore be given to the minimal level of quality control and vetting necessary for content to be accepted into the Education Grid. It may be desirable, for example, to allow content to be accepted into the system with merely a single positive rating (by a credible source) provided that the individual who submitted the content also granted distribution rights at the time that the content was submitted. Automatically accepting content into the system by mere virtue of the fact that the content is already being used by an educator is another mechanism to consider, which constitutes an implicit acknowledgement of quality (at least one educator sees some value in that content as he/she has used it for teaching/educating).

 

Section 2.10 Multi-tiered metadata architecture

The metadata model will include provisions for qualitative analysis, raking/rating, and tagging by domain experts (subject matter experts), educators, students (learners) and all other users of the system. Content search services must support searching by any tier of metadata and by any combination of metadata tiers. At a minimum the system should support at least the following three tiers (levels) of metadata:

1. Domain experts - a domain experts, also known as a subject matter expert (SME), has special knowledge or skills in a specific area.
2. Educators - teachers, professors, corporate trainers and other educators who are not domain experts (subject matter experts) for the type of content they are ranking, rating, or tagging.
3. Students (learners) and users - users of the system who are not educators or domain experts.
   

 

Section 2.11 Content linking and associations

The metadata model will include provisions for associating (linking) all manner of assets to any other asset (e.g., associating with a piece of content any type or quantity of 3D models, videos, research papers, book chapters, Web pages, reports, forums, etc.). Allowing content assets in the system to be associated (linked) with any type or number of others asset will enable a rich information system that benefits users, content creators, educators and researchers.

 

>> VIDEO: In-world Content Review Concept Demonstration <<

View the SaLamander HUD (heads up display) video at http://blip.tv/file/571587

 

 

ARCHIVES:

 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: AVATAR TRACKING AND ANALYSIS :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

WHAT: Avatar tracking and analysis meeting, demonstrations, discussion [MEETING]
WHEN: FRIDAY MARCH 14, 2008 1-2pm EST
WHERE: Second Life (Casablanca: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Casablanca/135/87/26)
TRANSCRIPT: >>LISTEN TO THE AUDIO TRANSCRIPT NOW<<

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Join us in Casablanca (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Casablanca/135/87/26) to discuss how avatar tracking and analysis will be used to record activity and assess student performance within Immersive Education learning environments. An overview of avatar tracking and analysis relative to the Education Grid will be discussed, with a focus on Education Grid requirements for open APIs and interfaces, protected learning environments, usage metrics, and anti-spoofing mechanisms (see Meeting Materials below for an overview of these draft requirements).

Special guest Prof. Hilary Mason of Johnson and Wales University will demonstrate real-time usage metrics in Second Life and discuss how this research may contribute to Immersive Education standards that can be supported by any virtual world platform including Croquet and Wonderland.

This meeting starts at 1pm EST (10am pacific / Second Life time) and ends at 2pm, with additional time beyond that allocated to questions and further discussion.

 

MEETING MATERIALS: 

 

>> Hilary Mason's in-world Presentation Slides <<

Download the slides shown in-world (inside Second Life) during this meeting:
2008-03-14_Immersive_Education_avatar_slides.zip

 

>> Real-time Metrics Graphs <<

>> Education Grid Requirements Specification : Working Draft EXCERPTS <<

 

Section 2.4 Open APIs and interfaces

To the extent possible the Education Grid will be built using existing open standards for Internet-based communications and data transfer (i.e., TCP/IP, HTTP, etc.). The Immersive Education Initiative will design, develop, document and publish open Application Programmer Interfaces (APIs), protocols, and interfaces to provide software developers with comprehensive, flexible and open access to the Education Grid.

 

Section 2.13 Protected learning environments

Immersive Education requires the establishment of learning environments with varying levels of protection. Public environments will impose the fewest restrictions and enable the widest distribution of learning assets and virtual classroom experiences. Private learning environments may also be created with restricted access only to authorized users in order to provide safe learning environments —especially for young children who, for example, should only engage in multi-user collaborations that involve their fellow classmates and their teacher(s).

Protected environments with restrictions on permitted content may also be provided to enable quick and easy means for educators, parents, administrators, and facilitators to control access to categorical ranges of content (c.f., video and entertainment rating systems).

 

Section 2.14 Usage metrics

Varying utilization metrics will be required ranging from realtime playback (re-play of an experience in real time), audio/video and image recording and capture, to data reduction mechanisms for quantitative evaluation and assessment. Educators and students alike should have the capability to record and play back educational experiences for purposes of citation, historical records, safety measures, further study and/or assessment purposes. Informed consent shall be obtained in all scenarios where session recording is possible. Additional usage and tracking mechanisms (such as avatar navigation tracking, storing pages of text opened and read, logging video segments watched by the user, etc.), may be provided as completion metrics and for assessment.

 

Section 2.16 Anti-spoofing mechanisms

The need to permit a wide range of representations (i.e., avatars) for individuals in Immersive Education is self-evident. However, the capability to tie multiple and fanciful avatars to specific users must be provided. The capacity for anonymity may be preserved in some spaces, but in order to create learning environments that are safe, protected and secure anti-spoofing mechanisms must be implemented.

 

Join the Immersive Education Second Life Group

1. While you're in Second Life click on the SEARCH button and then on the GROUPS tab
2. Enter (type) Immersive Education as the group to join and click the SEARCH button
3. Click on the Immersive Education group entry that appears in the list of search results
4. Click the Join button that appears above the Owners and Visible Members listing