MUD creator Richard Bartle has an interesting view on the current and future state of virtual worlds as this question shows…..

Guardian: Will Web 3D take off? Or is the way we interface with the web perfectly fine at the moment?

Text is very good at conveying information. You don’t need a 3D environment to read text, and indeed it could get in the way. Would you want to read what I’m saying here if it were in a 3D setting? Would it help or hinder your ability to follow what was going on? Also, in an avatar-based virtual world, you’re controlling a character. Sometimes, people don’t want to control characters, they just want to be themselves. Do I gain anything from having to direct my character to read something I want to read? Or is it an unnecessary level of indirection?

More On This Interview

An OU link providing educational links in SL. The Open University have a project called Schome Park and a second development being worked on during the summer. Dr. Peter Twining is the OU contact.

Funded by JISC – the result of a study into the use of Web 2.0 technologies for content creation for learning and teaching in Higher Education, carried out between March and May 2007.

Web 2.0 for Content for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Report

Some of the many useful links from the Ask the Experts Blogging Forum held on Moodle at Staffordshire University…….

A rationale for educational blogging

Why blog in education?

Horizon Report 2007 (User Created Content Section)

Blogs In education

Weblog Webliography

International Student & Culture Shock

JISC Review of e-learning theories, frameworks and models

Stephen Downes on E-Learning 2.0 (including blogging) – a useful primer for discussion

Carrick Grant on 3D worlds outside of Second Life – should be interesting to see how this progresses in comparison to the Plymouth work posted a few minutes ago….

Details on A Sexual Health SIM in Second Life at the University of Plymouth project which has just been greenlighted….

Steve Wheeler Blog

Compiled from data gathered from 16.00 on Thursday 12 July 2007. The Weekly Viral Video Chart is currently based on a count of the embedded videos and links on approximately two million blogs.

Video Viral Chart

From the SL Health list…

health-related locations in SL

SLED archives

Health Cybermap

Virtual Postcards

From recent PDA Jiscmails – various links on mobile e-Portfolios…..

Assessment and Learning in Practice Settings (ALPS) CETL. Each of the partners carried out a number of pilots last year and are now in the stages of developing the infrastructure for the solution.

Mapping activity of mlearning in the UK.

RAMBLE project carried out a small experiment with a group of about 6 medical students doing an 8 week clinical rotation.

Mlearn 06 – Personal Digital Assistants – teachers prefer the personal

Leeds Met work

mPLAT - Southampton project working in mobile technology with medical students

Mobile Flickr and a PDA App for Flickr, so you don’t need to email

The Digiplay games research bibliography is the largest database of academic and research articles on game freely available on the web…..