Betterverse: Nonprofits in the Virtual World

Job Opening: Education Innovation Specialist with Federal Consortium of Virtual Worlds

 We got notice of an interesting job position available with the Federal Consortium of Virtual Worlds.  They are looking for an Education Innovation Specialist to work in Washington DC:

To claim this spot, you need to prove your passion for interactive simulated environments - but also imaginative, detail-oriented and productive. We're looking for a talented person, who can communicate, exhibit grace under pressure and work within a fast-paced eLearning team to develop standards-based, lead-generation solutions. All work must be performed onsite in our Washington, DC office.

Responsibilities include:

• Maintain database
• Administrate wiki and account creation
• Respond to email questions regarding the Federal Consortium
• Organize demos for virtual worlds
• Research VW technologies for Consortium events and potential purchase for IS Lab

Looks super interesting for someone with experience in virtual worlds and education or government.  See the official notice for information on applying.

Smithsonian Latino Museum Sponsors Day of the Dead / Dia de los Muertos Events in Second Life (updated)

El Dia de los Muertos / the Day of the Dead is one of my favorite holidays, a Central American tradition where families honor their dead through ritual meals, blessings, cemetary visits, and lots of skull-shaped treats and iconography.  So I'm excited to report that the Smithsonian-sponsored Virtual Latino Museum, in partnership with Virtual Native Lands will be hosting a series of Dia de los Muertos-related events from October 30 to November 2 in Second Life. 

Among the many highlights:

• An interview and featured concert by award-winning Mexican singer Lila Downs on November 1 and 2
• A cemetery procession in the Placita that takes participants through a virtual Spirits Path
• “Building your own altar” activities
• An All Souls Film Festival
• a 3-D Crystal Skull Dance Party

I love that the Smithsonian is involving the Virtual Native Lands folks, which is a great way to tap into existing Second Life resident culture while also bringing in Smithsonian content and connections.  I chatted with Nany Kayo of Native Lands, who informed me that several native peoples celebrate Day of the Dead and similar holidays, including the Choctaws and Chickasaws and Muscogees.

For more info on the Second Life Day of the Dead activities, see the Smithsonian Latino Center website. And starting on October 30, teleport over to the Virtual Latino Museum and the Native Lands sim to participate in the many activities planned!

UPDATED 10/29/09: The Latino Virtual Museum sim is now open.  Here are some pics of the lovely sim.

Community Meeting in Second Life on Obama's National Educational Technology Plan November 5

We just got notice about this interesting opportunity to contribute to a broad consultation by the US federal government on the "National Educational Technology Plan," which is due to be updated and revised by the Obama administration. On Thursday, November 5, the ISTE educational community is hosting a meeting on their island in Second Life for educational technology stakeholders to provide input into the planning process. According to ISTE, a representative of the national team will be present as an observer at the SL event.

Sounds like an interesting way to provide direct input to the US government on how technology can improve our educational system and the lives of our young people in America. (Or you could just, go to the website.)

The official notice from ISTE follows after the break...

Update on Federal VW Challenge: $26K in Prizes and Trip for Winners Announced

Hot off the Twitter, the organizers of  Federal Virtual World Challenge that we've written about previously have announced the prizes for the winners.  According to the FAQ on the official site:

Winners will be showcased at the Defense Users' Game Tech Conference in Orlando, Florida.  The top three winners in each non-Government category will receive air-fare, rental car and hotel accommodations to attend the event.  First place winners will receive $1000, second place will receive $500 and third will receive $250.  In addition, the director for the Simulation Training Technology Center, COL Langhauser will have the option of awarding a $25,000 grand prize if a submittal is deemed to be such a significant advancement that it likely will lead to additional future Government investment.

Submissions are due by November 15, 2009.  Head to http://fvwc.army.mil for details.

Greenbush Education Service Center: educating youth through virtual worlds, CSI, interactive whiteboards

Rich White sends us a link to the Greenbush Education Service Center based in Southeastern Kansas.  Greenbush runs a whole suite of programs designed to improve the academic performance of Kansas youth. Among their many activities, Greenbush supports a 3D immersive education lab, designed to prototype various virtual world educational applications.  They have piloted projects in three virtual worlds at this point: Second Life, OpenSimulator and Edusim.

As someone who was tertiarily involved with the CSI game in Second Life, I am particularly interested in their crime scene simulation in OpenSim.  The RPG (which can be purchased here) appears to teach about science by having the students role play as forensic criminologists.  Sounds like a great frame for budding young sleuths to connect science and the real world.

Their Edusim project integrates virtual world tools and interactive whiteboards, which looks totally cool.  An interactive whiteboard seems like a great interface for navigating and interacting with virtual content, particularly for younger students -- but really I want one for myself.

(BTW, check out this amazing augmented-reality collaboration app that IBM and Nokia have prototyped!)

Who knew such cutting edge tech was coming out of Kansas?  Thanks for the tip, Rich!

Poll Results: Yes, the Government Should Be in Virtual Worlds

About a month and a half ago I ran a poll to get your feelings on the role of government in the virtual world. In it, I asked people "What do you think of the government experimenting with virtual worlds?" Thanks to the 35 folks who responded.

Here's the very unscientific results:

• 0.0% It's a waste of precious taxpayer's dollars
• 0.0% It's great, unless the military or DHS is involved
• 2.9% Keep the guvmint out of my game!
• 5.7% I don't trust the government to not mess it up
• 5.7% Gives me a vaguely creepy feeling
• 11.4% It's great,  ESPECIALLY if it's the military -- they drives tech innovation
• 74.3% Virtual worlds can make government more efficient,  transparent & effective

I suppose I should not be surprised that nearly 75% felt that the government should be interested in virtual worlds as a tool toward greater efficiency, transparency, and effectiveness.  After all, why would you even be on a site called "Betterverse" if you didn't already have some kind of pre-conceived notion that virtual worlds could be beneficial forces in society?

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Links to other posts about government and virtual worlds.

Attention High School Seniors: Learn about 30+ Schools at the Virtual College Fair October 24-25

Starting around this time, high school seniors all around the United States are beginning to confront the stress and strain of applying for college. A big focus of our work at Global Kids is helping our teens plan and manage the bewildering college application process. One traditional method for learning about and deciding among various higher learning institutions is the college fair.  But what do you do if there are no college fairs near where you live?  One possibility is to go into Second Life.

There are literally hundreds of colleges and universities with some kind of virtual world presence. So it makes sense for colleges to use the medium to outreach to prospective students. From October 24-25 the the International Schools space is welcoming prospective college students from around the world to a virtual college fair, where they can learn about the 30+ colleges and universities setting up exhibit booths there (click here to teleport).

Where else can you learn about schools as diverse at University of the West of Scotland, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the London School of Journalism in one spot?  More details about the college fair after the jump...

University of Texas discusses First Statewide Rollout of Classes into Second Life on October 21

As you might have read in September, the University of Texas announced that they were planning a massive development of 50+ sims in Second Life to bring all 15 UT campuses into the virtual world. To learn about what this means, come to the next Metanomics talk show on Wednesday October 21 featuring Dr. Leslie Jarmon, of UT Austin (aka "Bluewave Ogee" in SL), who will discuss how they plan to implement the first statewide extension of classes and education into Second Life.

The Metanomics talk show will begin at 12pm PST at the Metanomics Studio (click here to teleport).  Head to the Metanomics site for more info on how to attend virtually or via the web.

The complete announcement follows after the jump...

US State Department hosts panel on architecture & cross-cultural collaboration in Second Life on October 18

I just got word from In Kenzo that this Sunday, October 18, at 1PM EST that the US State Department is sponsoring a global panel on "how architects utilize virtual technologies for international development partnerships."  Noted virtual architects Keystone Bouchard, JudyArx Scribe, DB Bailey and Archi Vita will be speaking during this hour long panel at Public Diplomacy plaza on Annenberg followed by a tour of key architectural collaborations inworld.

Of particular interest is a collaboration between two architects in Egypt and the United States who have worked together to create a reimagined Cairo in Second Life.

Click here to teleport directly to Annenberg sim during the event. For those who cannot log in at the Second Life destination a streaming audio URL will be provided Sunday morning to listen in live.

The complete public release about the event follows...

Virtual seed campaign in Farmville raises more than $300K for Haitian charities

While not a virtual world so much as an online casual game, we thought you would be interested in this relevant news about Farmville.  Zynga, the makers of Farmville, have come up with an innovative way to incorporate charitable giving into the gameplay that has already resulted in more than $300K going to Haitian NGOs.

For those that haven't seen this incredibly addictive and popular Facebook game, Farmville challenges the player to manage a plot of farmland by plotting crops, raising livestock and selling their harvest so they can... buy more seeds and animals and grow some more. (I know, it's amazing what becomes popular.)

According to the Virtual Goods News, Zynga recently made available a new virtual item called "Sweet Seeds for Haiti" that costs 25 FV or about US $5. Zynga states that 50% of the proceeds from each Sweet Seeds for Haiti sold will be donated to the Haitian charities FATEM and FONKOZE.  According to the Farmville twitter feed, this has resulted in over $323,000 donated to these charities since October 6.  The campaign ends on October 15, so buy those seeds if you want to contribute!