Virtual Worlds

Intro
How it all started
What it is all about
How it can affect you
What about the Future

Active Worlds Basics
More info on AW
Installing the Browser
Using the Browser

Active Worlds Edu
AW for educational use

The Palace Basics
More info on The Palace
Installing the Client
Using the Client

The Palace Edu
The Palace for educational use

The Palace is possibly the best platform for creating Virtual Classrooms as we said before.The chat in one room can not be heard in other rooms, so it's possible to have more than one class in one world at the same time without these conflicting with each other. The Palace also allows the use of .GIF for the creations of rooms, props and avatars. This way the worldbuilders (hopefully you) can use real photo's to representate people and rooms.

As said, you can easily create a complete digital copy of your school by taking a photo of every classroom. You can then enhance the experience to take a photo of each student and teacher that uses the world and allow them to use it as their own personal avatar.

The Palace has already been used by  universities and other educational organizations. Prof. Gregory VanHoosier-Carey, School of Litrature, Communications and Culture and Culture Georgia Institute of Technology says the following about The Palace Server in the 'education.pdf' file provided by EC;

"The Palace has been an excellent distance learning solution for our writing and humanities courses. The server software has made it easy for us to create a custom virtual learning environment uniquely suited to pedagogical needs."

Electronic Communties, the new owners of the The Palace software, provide large support and discounts for educational organizations. If you are planning to start your own Educational Palace, be sure to contact Electronic Communities (see the links on the The Palace site). They are happy to help you!

This is what the people at The Palace say about The Palace themselves;

Utilizing The Palace as a collaborative teaching tool, universities around the globe are creating interactive, virtual learning environments. Educators have discovered The Palace as the ultimate solution to harness the power of the Internet and enable online lectures, teacher hours, student meetings and effective learning forums.

Key Features and Benefits:

- Create your own virtual office and hold online teacher hours for students to ask questions.

- Enhance student collabroration by encouraging them to hold meetings in a virtual classroom.

- Provide an environment for educators to meet and exchange information and course materials.

- Build a virtual library with web links and allow students access to pre-approved Internet sites.

- Use collaborative learning on The Palace as an incentive for students to complete and excel their course work.

- PalacePresent allows you to bring in guest lecturers from across the globe to make presentations directly to students.

As said earlier, The Palace is now brought to you by Electronic Communities. You can contact them at:

Phone: 408.342.9500

Fax:  408.777.9200

Main Email: electronic@communities.com

The Campus
A project from SRT (the people behind TheU in Active Worlds) for a Educational Palace

Student Lounge
In The Campus

Links:

Download the 'Education.pdf' file (Acrobat Reader required)

The Palace Developers Site, Education

The Campus Website

Enter The Campus world (InstantPalace, Java enabled browser needed)