Second Life
... a virtual world where participants create all the content and activities in-world. Many Universities, NOAA, ISTE and other organizations are represented here. Academic and public libraries are also flocking to Second Life. There is a commercial element as well, best represented by large brands such as MTV and IBM. IBM has 6,000 employees operating in Second Life. Many individuals (avatars or avi's) have small businesses involved with creating and selling virtual content, objects and real estate. Everything that can happen in real life can happen in Second Life including entire the operation of entire economies, setting up utopian communities, parties, mechandising, conferences, school classes, and sadly, the negative as well: crime, murder, bullying etc.

"Second Life is not a Web site, it is a MUVE (Multiple User Virtual Environment). A client piece of software runs on your computer, but the rest of the time you are on one of 3000+ servers hosted by the company that runs Second Life, Linden Labs. The environment will remind you of the computer program, The Sims, but it is so much more!" --Kathy Schrock

There is a separate teen grid for students under the age of 18.



This is a great introduction from Ask the Techies tutorials (a great collection of tech topics and tutorials)
Episode 66: "Second LIfe" Orientation & Introduction 1-Hour Special

1. Ideas for using Second Life in the content areas from Kathy Schrock
2. Getting Started in Second Life
3. Educational Uses for Second Life
4. 101 Uses for Second Life in the College Classroom Dr. Megan S. Conklin, Elon University
5.

Visible Past: Online Exploratorium

"The heart of the Visible Past Exploratorium concept, the Exploratorium, is an information space built on top of a georeferenced wiki database that can be accessed through a variety of avenues: full immersion 3D environments, Web interfaces, or Geographic Exploration Systems (GES), such as Google Earth or NASA’s World Wind." -- from First Monday Introduction

Educational Online Resources

Multiverse

Croquet Project

Other worlds to check out including video examples of each.

The Metaverse Roadmap is an overview of virtual worlds including its four main components:

• Virtual Worlds
• Mirror Worlds
• Augmented Reality
• Lifelogging

Teaching history using virtual reality

Virtual worlds making inroads into corporate communications.
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3803056.ece

Reality is only an illusion–though a most persistent one.
–Albert Einstein