Students and Staff at Coventry University have been busy building their own presence in Second Life with help from Birmingham based Virtual Worlds agency Daden Limited.
PRESS RELEASE
17 September 2007
For Immediate Release
COVENTRY UNIVERSITY OPENS IN SECOND LIFE
Students and Staff at Coventry University have been busy building their own presence in Second Life with help from Birmingham based Virtual Worlds agency Daden Limited.
Daden's engagement with Coventry University dates back to the beginning of 2007 when the University first put together a task-force to look at establishing a presence for the University in Second Life. It was felt that staff and students would "buy-in" to the presence better if they built the island for themselves but with expert help on call when needed.
Daden worked with both staff and students to advise on building, island management, media usage and the creation of scripted devices. Daden also ran a couple of clinics to help deal with particular issues, and provided a variety of pre-built systems for the island including visitor logging and media displays.
Maggi Savin-Baden, Professor of Higher Education at Coventry University, and the project lead, said "Now we have designed and launched the island we are really looking forward to the educational possibilities it offers, particularly in the area of innovative forms of learning such as problem-based learning. We are using it in Clinical Management degrees and Theatre Studies as well as Maths support. Next term we will have some student Fashion design and Transport design projects that will be using the island"
David Burden, Managing Director of Daden Limited said, "We think that the approach taken by Coventry University was a very sensible one. They uncovered some real stars amongst the students and staff that rapidly got to grips with the building and scripting side of Second Life. This meant that not only did they build a strong sense of ownership and keep costs down, but we could focus our support on where they needed it most."
Coventry University's island was formally opened by Vice Chancellor Professor Madeleine Atkins at the Serious Virtual Worlds Conference on 13 th September 2007.
The project has already opened up opportunities for future collaborations between Coventry University and Daden Limited. Virtual Worlds promise to offer educational institutions a whole new way of approaching the educational experience - both as adjuncts to distance learning and to support on-site students. Daden is already engaging with several other educational institutions on a similar basis.
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Notes to Editor:
1.
Daden Limited is a virtual worlds agency working in Second Life and other virtual worlds. Our aim is to help you engage with your audience using some of the most interesting technologies around today. We offer 4 main services:
* Inform - help you understand virtual worlds
* Involve - build your presence
* Integrate - connect SL to/from web services & real world devices
* Interact - create virtual characters & chatbots
We work on marketing, eLearning and business process and innovation led projects. If you need to be informed, want to be involved, feel the need to integrate then interact with us. Daden is based in Birmingham, UK. See www.daden.co.uk for more information.
2. Coventry University has a major presence in the city which contributes to its friendly and vibrant atmosphere and enables the University to foster successful business partnerships. The University has excellent links with leading-edge companies across a wide variety of sectors. For more information about Coventry University log on to www.coventry.ac.uk
3. Second Life is a virtual world with over 9 million registrations, operated by Linden Lab. See www.secondlife.com for more information.
LINKS:
The Coventry University Island can be visited at:
http://slurl.com/second life/coventry%20university/134/137/37/
or Teleport to Coventry University (find it under Places or Map)
(Second Life required)
MEDIA
Images are available at:
http://www.daden.co.uk/media
Contact Details
All media enquiries should be addressed to either:
Daden Limited
Soulla Stylianou
RL Client Director
103 Oxford Rd
Moseley
Birmingham
B13 9SG
Tel: 0121 247 3628
Mobile: 07811 266199
Email: soulla.stylianou@daden.co.uk
Coventry University
Alison Bushnell
External Press and Media Relations Officer.
Tel: 024 7688 8245
Mob: 07974 98 4104
Email: ali.bushnell@coventry.ac.uk
