SLENZ Update, No 146, October 27, 2009

Australasia’s first “complete” virtual school
South Island  schools  to take  trade
training to  the world – virtually
A New Zealand Virtual School classroom developed by SmallWorlds.
A group of  South Island, New Zealand, secondary schools, with training partnerships and associations nationally,  is to establish Australasia’s first  virtual,  online school,  New Zealand Virtual School.
To open in 2011 it will  cater [...]

SLENZ Update, No 145, October 23, 2009

Online-gaming: a mind-altering strategy from Big Red Sheds?
Warehouse CIO  launches  “virtual games”
strategy to improve  Kiwi  life outcomes
There is  now a considerable and growing body of evidence that  on-line gaming   and the use of virtual worlds can  be mind altering, leading  to development of  different life skills, either good or bad, as typified by the Proteus [...]

SLENZ Update, No 144, October 14, 2009

The Virtual World campus
250+ US universities now  offer
degrees linked to ‘virtuality’
Video game/Virtual World design courses boom …
… and at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School too. (logo AFTRS)
The fact that more than 250 of the United States colleges and universities in 37 states are offering degree courses this school year, involving video-gaming and virtual [...]

SLENZ Update, No 143, October 8, 2009

THE SLENZ WORKSHOPS AT
Teaching and Learning/eFest 2009 -2
MUVEing towards collaboration – the benefits and pitfalls of working as a collaborative teaching in a Multi-user Virtual Environment,” and “In-world, meets the real world – the trials and tribulations of bringing Second Life to an ITP,” presented by Merle Lemon, lead educator in foundation learning, [...]

SLENZ Update, No 142, October 6, 2009

THE SLENZ WORKSHOPS AT Teaching and Learning/eFest 2009
Five lessons from the creation of
education pilots  in Second Life
SL’s Arwenna Stardust and RL’s Dr Clare Atkins make a point.
The five SLENZ Project workshops attended by mainstream tertiary educators at  the  annual, national Teaching  and Learning/eFest 2009 conference, at UCOL, Palmerston North, New Zealand, last week,  provided some [...]

SLENZ Update, No 141, October 6, 2009

THE SLENZ PROJECT
SLENZ teams finds new ‘acceptance,
enthusiasm’  at    education  gabfest
… Need seen to retain team skills, post-SLENZ Project
Almost full house … Aaron Griffiths details a Developer’s work.
as the SLENZ Lead Developer/builder.
Growing “acceptance” of Second Life as an education medium  and a new  “enthusiasm” for  virtual world education  was demonstrated in Palmerston North, New Zealand, [...]