ERIC Number: EJ915476
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Jan
Pages: 5
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0192-592X
EISSN: N/A
Next Stop: OpenSim!
Korolov, Maria
T.H.E. Journal, v38 n1 p46-48, 50-51 Jan 2011
Unhappy with conditions in Second Life, educators are migrating to a developing virtual world that offers them greater autonomy and a safer platform for their students at far less a cost. OpenSimulator is an open source virtual world platform that schools can run for free on their own servers or can get cheaply and quickly--the space can be up and running within a day--from any number of hosting vendors like ReactionGrid. One powerful edge OpenSim has over Second Life, and every other virtual environment, is that it is the first and only platform that allows for hypergridding--which is to say that OpenSim users can seamlessly teleport from one world to another. In practice, what this means for K-12 interests is that students can take field trips from their home base to any of hundreds of other virtual environments already running on the platform, including scientific simulations, museums, and, of course, other schools.
Descriptors: Virtual Classrooms, Computer Simulation, Social Systems, Internet, Educational Finance, Cost Effectiveness, Field Trips, Elementary Secondary Education, Museums, Competition, Educational Technology
1105 Media, Inc. Available from: T.H.E. Journal Magazine. P.O. Box 2170, Skokie, IL 60076. Tel: 866-293-3194; Tel: 866-886-3036; Fax: 847-763-9564; e-mail: THEJournal@1105service.com; Web site: http://www.thejournal.com/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A