Ideas for the new College of Education island

Dear blog,
Yesterday I met with Monica and Ritsuko about their ideas about the College of Educations island in Second Life. We all brainstormed some nice ideas. Here is a summary of what was suggested.

In General
1. Have a sign outside with upcoming events on the island.
2. Regular College of Education tours
3. CCC library/museum (showcase of what COE researchers have done, grant projects, etc...)
4. Info packet to new visitors (notecard of who we are, code of conduct, and a landmark).

A Place for Socializing
1. Student dormitories (a simulation of the actual ones reserved for College of Education students with information about the program in real life)
2. Coffee house/student-faculty lounge with a bar for drinks, couches and tables for socializing, and a stage for performances (singing, poetry slam, etc...). Low key lighting and carpet.
3. Areas for small meetings - beach area, courtyard area, and reading garden
4. Kennedy Theatre for large performances. meetings
5. Ampitheatre in Diamond Head?

A Place for Students
1. New student orientation area - A place for new students to get information on what to expect at the College of Education
2. Divide the college building (virtual Wist/Everly Hall) into sections with information on each department and the programs they offer (or at least links to their websites)
3. Showcase Area for dissertations and student projects
4. Meeting area for extension/non-credit outreach classes (i.e. - professional development for students)
5. Sandbox area for building

A Place for Faculty
1. Divide it the COE into sections for professors and showcase what they have researched. Have an email link where colleagues and set up appointments and meet with them to discuss about their research.
2. Research area for faculty to conduct research in a virtual environment

A Place for Culture
1. Sculptures, landmarks (i.e. Diamond Head crater, Hawaiian history museum)
2. Classroom under a volcano?, amphitheater in Diamond Head?
3. Bishop museum (some type of partnership with the real life museum) we would showcase some things from the museum.
4. Give visitors the Hawaiian experience. A greeting person that explains basic Hawaiian vocab, (Hawaiian word of the day). Hawaiian curiosity corner (factoid do the day)
5. SL culture - Something that you could do as you are flying or a place you can only get to by flying. Nest area with a great view.

A Place for Possible revenue or sustainability
1. A store on the island selling COE virtual merchandise (i.e. shirts, caps, etc...)
2. Places on the island for other colleges to rent out and use for teaching (i.e. pay fee to helps sustain the island, free for COE faculty)
3. A place to hold fundraisers for educational causes. Linden donations go to educational causes.
4. Donations boxes around the island

Possible events
1. A workshop on researching/how to access research articles
2. Student showcase
3. Have a "demo" class where a professor would teach a class in SL simulating what a "real" COE class is like (for potential students)
4. Dissertation showcase
5. Academic workshops (how to make a website, ePortfolios)
6. Teachers development classes
7. IT support, ask questions time

Other notes:
1. We need to design with this in mind --> General to specific (starting in Second Life and then specifying - we are UH island, what are the purposes of the UH island) --> Conclusion: All it how integrates
2. The thing that runs Second Life is the people, not the environment itself. The environment helps with the socialization/networking process, but does not enable it, as we can see with regular text-only chat rooms or audio conferencing places, i.e. Elluminate.