Second Life provides a unique and flexible environment for educators interested in distance learning, computer supported cooperative work, simulation, new media studies, and corporate training.

Second Life provides an opportunity to use simulation in a safe environment to enhance experiential learning, allowing individuals to practice skills, try new ideas, and learn from their mistakes. The ability to prepare for similar real-world experiences by using Second Life as a simulation has unlimited potential!

Students and Educators can work together in Second Life from anywhere in the world as part of a globally networked virtual classroom environment. Using Second Life as a supplement to traditional classroom environments also provides new opportunities for enriching an existing curriculum. Many universities and educational institutions are already using Second Life, and you can find an updated list of them here.

There are many options for Educators looking to explore and create learning spaces in Second Life. Here is a comprehensive list of resources to help you get started. (4)

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3.  Information about the organization of the digital library and about the person creating the collection:

The MetaVersEd Ltd. Digital Library Collection is being organized by Margaret (Peggy) Sheehy as her final project for her Digital Library Class, Professor Yan Liu, ILS-655-S70-S71, Summer 2007, Southern Connecticut State University. 

The digital organization is arranged for the most part according to content topic and applicable projects.

Website search technology courtesy FreeFind

Margaret Sheehy received a BS in Musical Performance and Education from Empire State College. She began teaching in 1997 at Mt. Sinai Elementary School in Mt. Sinai, New York  and was also a district technology trainer.  After receiving her Master’s Degree in Educational Technology from Stony Brook University, she became an advocate for technology in education, and presented her ideas and experiences at technology conferences and workshops throughout the North East. She received the Technology Teacher of the Year for two consecutive years from ASSET, (Association of Suffolk County Supervisors for Educational Technology) where she presented  "Tomorrow's Classroom Today".

In 2001, Ms. Sheehy moved to Greenville, SC where she taught at Stone Academy of Communication Arts. There she attended the University of South Carolina at Columbia to begin her MLIS. Ms. Sheehy is currently continuing her studies in the MLS program at Southern Connecticut State University.   While in Greenville, she served as a district technology curriculum developer and teacher trainer and continued to facilitate workshops and give presentations on technology in education and 21^st century literacy.  She helped design Greenville County’s Technology Plan. In 2002 she was named Teacher of the Year at Stone Academy.

 In 2003, she returned to the New York area and serves as ITF/ Media Specialist at Suffern Middle School.  Very active in the district’s teacher technology training program, she is a fierce advocate for the meaningful infusion of technology in education and in 2006 established an educational presence for her district in Teen Second Life: Ramapo Islands.  After great success with the first group of 400 8^th grade students, Ramapo will serve over 1000 students in 2007.

Her latest venture, MetaVersEd Consulting Ltd., supports the proposal, design, acquisition, and implementation of education in MUVEs. Ms. Sheehy believes that engagement, edutainment, and the authentic applications of 21^st Century technology in education is paramount to preparing our students for success in the “flatter” world.
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4. Collection Policy

The collection favors materials that meet the goals of the MetaVersEd Ltd. collection and are well-documented, easy to use, fully operational, motivational for learners, pedagogically effective, scientifically accurate, and that foster mastery of significant understandings or skills. The collection provides access to a broad range of K-12 education in Teen Second Life education materials, such as:

• Educational materials - case studies, homework exercises, tutorials, guided inquiry sets, lesson plans, syllabi, classroom activities, curricula, modules, field trips, problem sets

• Assessment and pedagogical materials - exams, quizzes, questionnaires, self-assessments, learning and teaching techniques and educational research, etc.

• Research materials - journal articles, summaries, abstracts, arguments, theses, policies, indices, etc.

• Data - Any available data corresponding to efficacy

• Annotations - comments, reviews, teaching tips, ideas for use, additional resource content

• Collections - collections of educational materials, annotations and news and opportunities organized around a topic or theme

• News and opportunities - information on grants, conferences, workshops, professional development, opportunities, etc.

• Tools - software or applications for interacting, accessing, manipulating or viewing, converters, models and simulations

• Generic objects of value - frequently asked questions (FAQ's), name-value pairs like glossary terms

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The format of the materials can be text, audio, animation, video, graphical (drawings and diagrams), tabular, visual (including photographic), virtual or real. This collection policy applies to both individual resources and to collections of resources.

I have endeavored to preserve and disseminate related content in the following manners:

 

The material is hosted here, and MetaVersEd Ltd. Digital Library Collection intends to keep the intellectual content of the material available on a permanent basis.

SThe material resides here, but MetaVersEd Ltd. Digital Library Collection has not (yet) made the level of commitment to keeping it available that it has for "archived" materials.

A copy of material residing elsewhere is hosted here, and MetaVersEd Ltd. Digital Library Collection makes no commitment to archiving. Also, an institution other than MetaVersEd Ltd. Digital Library Collection has primary responsibility for the content and its maintenance. Mir

The material is hosted elsewhere and MetaVersEd Ltd. Digital Library Collection points to it at that location. Therefore MetaVersEd Ltd. Digital Library Collection has no control over the information. Linked

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5. Mission and Scope: 

The mission of the MetaVersEd Ltd. Digital Library  is to freely support the educational and research objectives of the Second Life K-12 teaching community by collecting and providing access to materials in a variety of print and digitized formats.  Selection is limited in its subject scope to those materials that apply to K-12 education on the Teen Grid of Second Life. This may include but not be limited to:

• academic articles and journal entries

• curriculum and lesson plans

• tutorials

• news features

• machinima (movies created in the virtual world)

• video

• images

• conference notes

• blogs and wikis

• podcasts

• research

• communications (list-serves, email, IM and chat logs)

• digitized print materials

 Wherever possible, permissions have been obtained for use in this collection. (see copyright and permissions page.)  Some resources have been transferred to this collection in their original digitized format, while others have been digitized for use in this collection.  The primary purpose of this collection is to create a resource for the expedition of information relating to K-12 education using Second Life as well as to preserve a record of the evolution of  this developing pedagogy.  Although there are many college and university presences on the Main Grid of Second Life, we have refined our collection to those topics as they relate to K-12 virtual Education in Second Life.

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6. Contact information

Margaret Sheehy is responsible for the organization of this collection and should be contacted about any broken links, usability issues or inaccuracies contained herein.   HERE is a link to a  complete contact page.

Email: classacteach@optonline.net

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7. Copyright Policy or Resource terms of use

The collection being created is gathered content as well as directly developed resource content. The resource terms of use or copyright is being determined for each resource in the collection according to  the fair use exemption of the U.S. Copyright Law and have been prepared according to the multimedia fair use guidelines and are restricted from further use. Each metadata record in the collection attempts to describe the terms of use or copyright of each resource individually. If the copyright cannot be readily determined, the metadata record says copyright or terms of use information is unknown. The resources themselves should be directly consulted for the most up-to-date and accurate information. (m

I have also endeavored to adhere to the conditions of  The Creative Commons License which states that, "You are free:

• to Share - to copy

• distribute and transmit the work 

• to Remix — to adapt the work

Under the following conditions:

Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).

Noncommercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes.

Share Alike. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.

For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page.

Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder.

Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author's moral rights.

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8. Persistence

Although the current collection is but a beginning and many more resources will be added, it is intended to become a permanent one with free access to all, and to grow according to use and available funding resources. Metaversed Ltd. will seek grants and awards to support its continued development, and availibility.   If no funding becomes available to maintain and extend the collection, Metaversed Ltd. will assume responsibility for the access and availability of its present incarnation.

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