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COLLABORATION: A Global Survey of Institutions and Programs in Virtual World Cyberspace

Colleges and Universities
Schools and Consortia - K-12
Museums & other Institutions
Virtual University and School Prototypes

New listing: 360 Days in Active Worlds following on to their successful "30 days" project last year. See the shared architecture pages at A project from the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London. Contact Andy Smith. Details: The project, formally known as 30 Days in Activeworlds, was developed to explore and log the growth of networked virtual space. By allowing tourists and citizens of Activeworlds to build in our server a series of maps were developed, logging the growth of the virtual world. A core community of users enthusiastically built a number of large and complex structures using elaborate architectural forms and investing a great deal of time. The pages carry details of the growth of the world, a prize was awarded for the most innovative building during the 30 Days, details are on the Winners page. Due to demand from the community the project has been extended to encompass 360 Days in Activeworlds, with the extension comes a number of new features and projects which will be taking place in the original 30 Days virtual world.

Colleges and Universities
University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning	DAAP in Active Worlds Daap is the virtual world of the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning at the University of Cincinnati. Daap has been used as an environment to test models of sculpture and other three dimensional projects by faculty, students, and guests of the college. Fine Art Media Fundamentals, Modeling for 3 Dimensional Networking, and Computer Sculpture, are courses which have been taught using Daap as a venue for the presentation of student work. CONTACT/S: Derrik Woodham, Director derrick.woodham@uc.edu HOME PAGE: http://www.cerhas.uc.edu/dwoodham/daap2.htm

Art Center College of Design Pasadena, California	"accd" in Active Worlds The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California's virtual world, accd is designed by students as part of two courses, Virtual Worlds Theory and Virtual Worlds Design, taught by Michael Heim, author of Virtual Realism [Oxford University Press]. CONTACT/S: Michael Heim - mike@mheim.com HOME PAGE: http://www.mheim.com

University of Colorado, Boulder College of Business	UCOB in Active Worlds The University of Colorado, Boulder. For a short article on the ucbcob world see: http://www.insidedenver.com/internet/0719cyb2.html CONTACT/S: Dave Monarchi david.e.monarchi@colorado.edu HOME PAGE: http://cob-distance02.colorado.edu/activehome.html http://cob-distance02.colorado.edu/courses/bcor1000/home.html

University of Toronto McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology	McLuhan in Active Worlds The mcluhan world in Active Worlds is a new addition to the Virtual CoachHouse Project of the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology. Using new web technologies, the Virtual CoachHouse Unit endeavours to represent or augment the ambience, activities, and culture of the coachhouse. It will provide within the Virtual CoachHouse forums, creative and productive 'work spaces', galleries, and new ways of representing and accessing archived information. CONTACT/S: Derrik de Kerkhove, Director derrick@chass.utoronto.ca http://www.mcluhan.utoronto.ca/derrick.html HOME PAGE: http://www.mcluhan.utoronto.ca/

Syracuse University Information Institute, School of Information Studies	The AskERIC Virtual Classroom in The Palace Syracuse University's School of Information Studies has been using the AskERIC virtual classroom in The Palace for graduate instruction on campus distance education. As part of their courses in Information Technology, students collaborate in small groups in these virtual ienvironments using pictures of themselves. CONTACT/S: HOME PAGE: http://callisto.syr.edu/~class/documentation/

The University of California, Santa Cruz VHS Feasibility Study	VHS - Virtual High School in Active Worlds This demonstration virtual high school was built for the University of California, Santa Cruz VHS Feasibility Study and features an office with office hours, Spanish Wing, Science Lab with a chemistry simulation in the "Student WebQuest Wing," and a gallery show on Geometry and Art.This virtual high school demonstration model was designed and built by Zg and Aurac of Active Arts Design and its content and concept were developed by Bonnie DeVarco. The first VHS was initiated and hosted by Stuart Gold and Bruce Damer in TheU. Another public version of the VHS demonstration model is now also in Zg world. CONTACT/S: Francisco Hernandez - vhs@ucsc.edu Bonnie DeVarco - devarco@cruzio.com HOME PAGE: http://vhs.ucsc.edu/vhs/storyboard.htm http://www.vhs.ucsc.edu/

Cornell University Cornell Theory Center	SciCentre in Active Worlds Led by Margaret Corbit, The Cornell Theory Center is building a virtual museum called SciCentre. This museum will be a multi-user, interactive online world for science education. This world is modeled on a cross between a conventional science project and a World's Fair. CONTACT/S: Margaret Corbit Science Writer & Communications Manager corbitm@tc.cornell.edu http://www.tc.cornell.edu/~corbitm/

Oslo School of Architecture	Aho in Active Worlds Aho 1 & 2 World is a cluster of worlds that acts as an experiment in education. CONTACT/S: Birger Sevaldson, caretaker - Aho 1 http://ifid-nts.aho.no/bs/ HOME PAGE: http://ifid-nts.aho.no/bs/aw/


University of Cincinnati Department of Biological Sciences	BioWorld in Active Worlds The Virtual Campus of the Dept. of Biological Sciences is a new virtual world connected to their Biology department. CONTACT/S: HOME PAGE: http://www.biology.uc.edu/

Georgia Tech University School of Literature, Communication and Culture	TechLINK in The Palace Georgia Tech's LCC program, TechLINK is using the Palace in seven of its 42 freshman courses as an online collaborative learning space. Meeting halls, classrooms offices and cafes allow students to congregate in virtual rooms regularly as a part of their course. CONTACT/S: Greg VanHoosier-Carey, Assistant Professor greg.vanhoosiercarey@lcc.gatech.edu http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/~gvanhoosier-carey/index.html Richard A. Grusin, Chair richard.grusin@lcc.gatech.edu http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/~grusin/index.html HOME PAGE: http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/techlinc/index.html

Stanford University PBL Laboratory, Dept. of Civil Engineering	Stanford University's PBL Lab As part of Stanford University's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Problem/Project/Product/Process/People-Based Learning is a process of teaching and learning that focuses on problem based, project centered activities that produce a product for a client. PBL will be based on re-engineering processes that bring people from multiple disciplines together. CONTACT/S: Dr. Renate Fruchter, Director fruchter@ce.Stanford.edu HOME PAGE: http://pbl.stanford.edu/

Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) University College London	SciCity in Active Worlds The website uses a graphical front end to let visitors explore how science, engineering and technology affect their everyday lives. The Scicity world takes this one step further, allowing users to explore Science City in 3d for the first time. The Active Worlds version of Science City is a 3d virtual representation of the site. CONTACT/S: HOME PAGE: http://www.sciencecity.org.uk/

University of Texas at Austin ACTLAB	ACTLAB's Utopia in Onlive Traveler ACTLAB's Utopia is a student-built world in Onlive Traveler CONTACT/S: Vernon Reed vreed@home.actlab.utexas.edu http://www.actlab.utexas.edu/utopia/

University of Washington The Human Interface Technology Laboratory (HIT Lab)	Virtual Playground - A Java 3D World The Greenspace Project's Virtual Playground is an experimental virtual environment concerned with the underlining hardware and software issues of collaborative VR and with how humans will live and act in this new environment. The Virtual Playground prototyped a new generation of a shared virtual space, written completely in Java and using the new Java3D API. CONTACT/S: Bruce Campbell bdc@hitl.washington.edu Jim Davidson jnd@hitl.washington.edu Kori Inkpen - inkpen@hitl.washington.edu http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/greenspace/

Schools & Consortia - K-12
European Consortium Haags Montessori Lyceum, Netherlands, School 204, St. Petersburg, Russia Institut Notre Dame, Meudon, France	EDU_HML in Active Worlds This educational world called "The Virtual City" is an international cooperative project between three schools in Europe. Each building in The Virtual City has to have an educational function. - "Since we are (as far as we know) the first schools in the world to launch a project like this, there isn't anyone who has any experience in creating the type of world that we need." CONTACT/S: EDU_HML@hotmail.com HOME PAGE: http://www.hml.nl/vcity/edu_hml.htm

Virtual Charters School, U.K.	Virtual Charters School in Active Worlds Virtual Charters - the UK's first Virtual High School in Aurac world. Active Art Design, winners of the 1998 TheU Architecture Competition to design a Virtual University, donated the prize world to their local High School and have been assisting the students and teachers in their first foray into cyberspace. The school has decided to create a mixed environment with both real-life and fantasy buildings. The world is still very much 'under construction', but will be contain curriculum specific study areas which can be used by both students and teachers to assist with both classwork and homework assignments. The world features a replica of the main school building and a Student Art exhibition which is housed in a purpose built hexagonal gallery designed and curated by Geoff Kerrins CONTACT/S: Penelope Twining, VR Artist - zg@activeart.co.uk HOME PAGE: http://www.mplc.co.uk/eduweb/sites/charters http://www.activeart.co.uk

Sacred Heart Middle School	Sacred Heart Middle School in Active Worlds This educational experiment led by Bruce Carey, is an educational world built and used by middle school students in New Zealand. CONTACT/S: Bruce Carey - careyb@paradise.net.nz HOME PAGE:

ThinkQuest Student-built Competition World	PacificO in Active Worlds The Pacific0 world is a 3D virtual companion world to an hub for information on the Pacific Ocean. High School students created and maintain this web site and world for the 1998 ThinkQuest Competition. CONTACT/S: Wim Wisselink (DJ Bubble) - djbubble@dds.nl Willem Ave (Slyman) - willem@imatowns.com HOME PAGE: http://hyperion.advanced.org/15931/

Museums and Other Institutions
Boston Museum of Science	SFX in Active Worlds The Boston Science Center has built a virtual world installation as part of their new exhibition, Special Effects. The SFX world in Active Worlds invites the general public to see a virtual companion exhibit similar to the real exhibition in Boston. Exhibit visitors can go into AW through a kiosk at the Museum. AW visitors and museum visitors to SFX world can enjoy the virtual exhibition at the same time and see each other. CONTACT/S: HOME PAGE: http://www.mos.org/mos/menu/menu.html

San Jose Tech Museum of Innovation	San Jose Tech's Electronic Cafe in Active Worlds Circle of Fire has worked closely with the San Jose Tech museum of Innovation to design the Electronic Café in Active Worlds.The display, scheduled to opening in October 1998 features 12 computer terminals hooked to the intranet. The environments will allow museum users to interact within rich environments designed for gaming and Entertainment applications. See http://www.thetech.org/press_resources/communication.html for an overview of this project. CONTACT/S: HOME PAGE: http://www.thetech.org/

NASA Ames Research Laboratory	NasaNa_ NASA's public virtual version of the Ames Research Laboratory in Active Worlds features many opportunities and activities for students online and in 3D, including live outreach for groups of students to meet experts in a Pathfinder course module and an exhibition linked to many pages within the NASA Ames Research Lab's Home Site. CONTACT/S: HOME PAGE: http://www.arc.nasa.gov/

The Center for Advanced Learning Technologies	INSEAD in Active Worlds The Centre for Advanced Learning Technologies (CALT), located in France is increasingly regarded as Europe's leading R&D initiative in the domain of advanced learning technologies for management education and knowledge management. Their virtual world in Active Worlds is public and serves as a virtual environment to test CALT's experimental projects. CONTACT/S: HOME PAGE: http://www.insead.fr/CALT/

United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization	Virtualia in Active Worlds Virtualia is an experiment in fractal-like surfaces and automated building, built by Lucio Pascarelli, who is now designing a similar world for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. This world is an experiment to find ways to generate 3D surfaces from data for educational purposes. CONTACT/S: lucio@pascarelli.com HOME PAGE: http://www.virtualia.net/

3D Atlas of Cyberspaces	ATLAS in Active Worlds The ATLAS gallery opened to the public on the 3rd of September 1998. They hold regular seminars in the gallery where visitors can meet and chat with the Atlas of Cyberspaces curator Martin Dodge and other cyber-cartographers, asking questions on mapping and visualising Cyberspace. The gallery currently contains three themed groups of pictures arranged around the points of a compass. In the east we have maps using geographic metaphors, in the west are images of 3D information space and lastly in the south are information maps. CONTACT/S: m.dodge@ucl.ac.uk HOME PAGE: http://www.cybergeography.org/atlas/3dgallery.html

Virtual University Prototypes

TheU Virtual University

TheU Architecture Competition

In early 1998 Stuart Gold directed a joint project of SRT Enterprises, the Contact Consortium and Circle of Fire in TheU to bring together 34 different teams in an architecture competition in Active Worlds. Each team was given two months to design and build a demonstration model for a Virtual University and three winning entries were selected in Spring 1998. The judges included: Derrick Woodham, Gerhard Schmitt, Hani Rashid, John Tiffin, Marcos Novak, Murray Turoff and Stuart Gold.

CONTACT/S:
Stuart Gold
Bruce Damer

HOME PAGE:
http://www.ccon.org/theu/


Active Arts Design Prototype Virtual University	"zg" in Active Worlds The world Aurac was built and designed by Aurac, HenrikG and Zg of the Active Art Design Team and was the award winning entry in TheU Architecture Competition to Design a Virtual University in 1998. Drawing on their considerable experience with Active Worlds software, the team produced a visually unique and influential learning environment. It included the widely publicised Learning Towers, as well as a library, exhibition hall and main reception building, complete with purpose-built lecture theatre. This world was closed after the competition but was recently resurrected by popular demand in the world Zg where it has since been enhanced in the spirit of the original enterprise. CONTACT/S: Penelope Twining, VR Artist - zg@activeart.co.uk Henrik Gudbrandsen, VR Artist - henrikgu@online.no HOME PAGE: http://www.activeart.co.uk http://www.activeart.co.uk/pages/av98/folio.html http://www.henrikg.com

AW University Entry is forthcoming, see www.awcommunity.org for site links

AW School Entry is forthcoming, see www.awcommunity.org for site links

________

INSTITUTION:
University of California, Los Angeles
UCLA Center for the Study of Online Community

CONTACT/S:
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/csoc/

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