The International Schools Island - in Second Life

I have just spent an interesting, exciting hour on a tour with Chris Smith (of Shambles fame and inspiration behind the International Schools Island in Second Life) of the new island. We travelled the island on specially constructed comfy chairs that followed Chris wherever he went. His arguement for opting for this mode of transport was that he didn't want people new to moving in SL to be disadvantaged by their ability to use the application. A true educationalist, he didn't want the technology to get in the way of the learning esperience.

To get to the island (if you are already a user of SL simply click here and you will be directed.)

If you are a new visitor to the SL experience then:
a) fasten your seatbelt
b) Click here and be directed to SL where you should
i) register yourself (all free ... no need to upgrade to premium)
ii) choose a name for your Avatar (cannot change this later .. be creative)
iii) choose an initial look for your Avatar (can be completely changed later)
iii) download the S.L. viewer (PC or Mac)
c) Fire up the viewer
i) sign in with your Avatar name and password
ii) go through the orientation that has been designed for 'newbies'
d) play / explore

When you have done all of that click here and you will be taken to the ISI

You really need to experience it and then debate the educational potential. Open-mindedness is necessary to see the way forward and certainly all previous experiences of the concepts underpinning teaching and learning will be unnecessary baggage for the journey.

Learning and teaching should not be limited by geography, time or space. Virtuality will have much to offer in this regard. At the moment it is SL that leads the way and is doing much of the R & D or everyone else. Others will surely come to the front in the not too distant future but beware the commercial ventures. Will there be a need or the will to develop an educational resource removed from the commerciality of SL so that a sort of 'purity' can be maintained?

Chris Smith is pushing the boundaries will you be there when it all comes through or will you still be delivering 'lessons' in the tried and tested Victorian manner?

PS

You can watch the whole tour on video here, thanks to Gareth for this.