Gone live today, this new project called Skoolaborate which has been developed by staff and pupils at MLC School in NSW, Australia, which they describe as:
Basically a collaborative work with the best ideas from around the globe, specifically targeting the Asia Pacific time zone (China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and other interested Asia Pacific countries). Skoolaborate aims to bring together like minded schools from around the globe so that their students may collaborate and learn from each other through a variety of educational experiences. We hope that Skoolaborate will act as a vehicle that promotes Global Awareness and Understanding.
I’ve already spoken online tonight with a colleague from a school here in Christchurch who is looking at joining the project!
In their opening post the team announce that they are beginning with a Teen Second Life project – this will be one to watch as it evolves!
I read with interest another post on their site titled “Is Second Life For Real?”, most of which is based on what the author’s son found after doing a little research based on this question. A quote in this entry caught my eye:
“…What’s beginning to catch the attention of IBM and other huge corporations is something potentially far more profound than a new online pastime. It’s the ability to use Second Life as a platform for a whole new Net – this one in 3-D and even more social than the original – with huge opportunities to sell products and services.”
There’s also some interesting discussion on how the line between game and non-game is becoming blurred in the emerging 3-D online world, and how, as a result, we???re looking at new communities, new forms of communication, new areas of socialization…
MMmmm – more to ponder! I’m off for a cuppa to do so.
2 replies on “Skoolaborate is Born”
Thanks for the promo Derek. Yes it is amzing what this new world offers. We will attempt to include many stories from our journey so that others may be inspired by the amazing things that our students can do. I hope also that these stories can help to shrink the gap between adult perceptions of these environments and the students use of them. To see the amazing collaboration between students who are engaging in authentic projects that can be conceived by a teacher who has no idea how to operate in this environment but who can share the wisdom of time is extremely satisfying.
Please encourage your readers to join us and create a critical mass, within the Asia Pacific region, that will allow opportunities for our students in our time zone. This as opposed to struggling with empty spaces created in ‘horizontally’ far off lands.
Hi Derek
Now for something Frivolous and less brain taxing :). I tag you for the 8 random facts meme. You can read mine on my blog.