03.02.07
Habbo
Second Life drops to the younger teen set. Here is a new 3D virtual area where I see many of our students beginning to spend time. I like the fact that they have a Parents’ Guide and many links and references to “how to stay safe”. I do believe these V3D worlds are the Web 3.0 onset.
March 2, 2007 at 1:55 pm
I’ve thought I might want to try one of these “virtual communities” like Second Life but don’t want to include any valid e-mail address as I think they are just basically ways to harvest marketing information which will contribute to more spam. I suspect all of these kinds of sites are similar in that regard.
I took a look at Habbo and thought it looked too “retro” to be of interest to any but the youngest of teenagers. I did not obviously sign up and am making this judgement by the stuff you can view on the portal.
I agree that these sites are likely to be be the “next big thing” and suspect the day of the “holosuite” is coming faster than I had expected.
~j
March 2, 2007 at 2:52 pm
I took a quick look and am a little concerned with some of the activities they were making available. “Get a Drink named after you” and “Who is the Hotest Valentine” from a group of finalists. I think our kids might find places like this to participate in, but Habbo isn’t one I will encourage.
March 2, 2007 at 3:17 pm
You are both correct in my opinion. I just posted a request at NECC07 for a discussion session on 3D Virtual Worlds for Education. I know there is an interest by some of the Educational gurus to develop a beta world dedicated only for education. Kind of like Alan Novembers blog space.