LITTLE Kids in 3D Immersive Worlds! You’re probably familiar with the old Jumpstart KG and Jumpstart 1st Grade software program, but are you familiar with Jumpstart World? I’ve blogged about Jumpstart World several times in the past, but thought I’d mention it again as my own children have been more interested in it lately. Check out this video of my 6 year old learning in Jumpstart World, entirely on her own:
Jumpstart World Video: CLICK HERE
…that video look familiar at all? Quite like a kid’s Second Life isn’t it!
To me, the fact that we have children as young as 3 playing and learning in 3D worlds should be a very clear indication that as educators, we absolutely have to be aware of 3D Immersive Environments. …and with Jumpstart World, we’re not talking about some obscure program, we’re talking about a mainstream piece of software that anyone can purchase online or at their local WalMart!
If you’re still one who thinks of online, interactive, 3D spaces as a passing phase or as simply a game, you might want to reconsider. Have you seen the new Safari Web Browser? Below is a screen shot. 
And if that’s not convincing enough for you that we are moving rapidly toward an entirely 3-dimensional online experience and away from the 2D static webpages we might be used to, check this out!
EXIT Reality: The Entire Web In 3D! That’s right, this is what you think it is. The entire web, ANY website that you are currently used to visiting in a flat 2D format, you can now visit in a transformed 3D version of that same site! Here are a couple shots of me visiting our PATINS-Project website simply by typing in the URL (www.patinsproject.com) into the EXIT Reality Web Browser’s address bar! I haven’t done anything to the website, I’ve simply allowed the EXIT Reality Software to render the content on our website in 3 dimensions! …mind blowing? This is the world we live in! In 5 years or less, I’m willing to say that the majority of the web could be a 3 dimensional environment in which we move through and interact with others in ways we have yet to even think about. You can meet up with other avatars who are visiting the same website at the same time and talk or text-chat with them! What are the implications there for collaboration, networking and teaching appropriate and safe online communication to our students now?
What does this mean for education? What are we doing RIGHT NOW to prepare our students to be employable to work in a world where their company’s products are bought and sold in an online 3D space, to build 3D spaces online, to navigate and use 3D spaces online for research, networking, and organization? How are we preparing our students to build professional and social networks and interact appropriately and safely with other people’s avatars they come into contact with simply by visiting a website? Have you even thought about this yet in your classroom? In your building? In your district? Attempting to avoid these issues = failing to prepare our students to be competitive, safe and productive citizens in the world they live in outside of the school building.
…And, if you now needs a little something to bring you BACK to more concrete and familiar topics, here’s a couple of FREE head tracking software pieces to use with your students who cannot use a mouse, joystick, etc., but who might have enough head control to access their computer in that way. You simply need a cheap webcam and this FREE software! The first one below is something I’ve blogged about several times before I believe, but the second one Sandy found last week, which was new to me. If you do try them both (and why not, they’re free) and like one better, please post comments and let us know your thoughts and opinions!
EFmer Track: http://www.efmer.eu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=30
Camera Mouse: http://www.cameramouse.org/
