As we reported last week Miami Valley CTC has started a Second Life class that will run through the remaining school year. The class with be taught by Andrew in collaboration with Melissa Seifman from Miami Valley CTC. Students will learn programming, building, modeling, texturing, and terraforming. Towards the end of the class the students will be broken off into teams and asked to develop a project for themselves with only minor assistance from Andrew and Melissa (similar to the students at Sycamore High School). We hope to use this experience to help newcomers learn more about Second Life and enjoy their time in this wonderful virtual world.

As you may or may not know Andrew has been taking time each week to assist the Sycamore High School students in a class project. It started off as Andrew going to the high school (a local school in the area) and teaching two senior students the fundamentals of Second Life building and programming. Then with a good grasp of the material, the right resources and Andrews expert knowledge and assistance, the students were able to start the project right away. The students started developing a project together, pictured here:

They developed a functional science lab. Users walk up to the table and selected a specimen slide. They then click the specimen through the different chemicals clicking the bottle to add the proper amounts and chemicals need to complete the study. At the end the slide is inserted into the microscope for a closer look at what was created. The project was a complete success and we are proud of both of them for building a virtual science lab as their senior graduation project. The Miami Valley Career Technology Center has started a similar program to teach students about the possibilities in Second Life. More info on that next week!

Today I got a chance to stop into Andrews class. For those of you that don't know, Andrew has been taking some time to teach a few high school kids a little bit about Second Life. This got us thinking that it would be nice to host a few classes for people out there that may want a learn a little more about Second Life. We plan to hold a class sometime in the near future and would love for you to join us. Please contact us and let us know if you would be interested. I also posted a new short video today just to show some shots of our new island. Check it out on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R0efuev7S0