Non virtual

NON-VIRTUAL CONSIDERATIONS: the island will be designed in as intuitive way as possible and websites will be displayed within the virtual areas; still it will be necessary to have planned for information, materials, and processes that will need to be used within and related-to the island and its management and its purposes. A website will be created that will support the island and its purposes; the website will be more accessible to the clients since they will need to be on a powerful computer to really use the virtual environment. Some of these areas include:

· A registration area will be present at the website. This will NOT be a public site so the registration info will then be forwarded to the island manager who determines if the person can use the island and will assign them a startup avatar with name and general characteristics. The individual will also be sent a contract that explains the general purpose of the island and the behaviors that are acceptable. Before the actual avatar information is released the individual will have to return the contract with a “signed” agreement.

· There will be an associated website (with Google Sites most likely – easy to create & quite stable) that will contain all of these materials – at least initially there will not be an area where clients can write in directly but there will be an email address (that is checked regularly) that will be associated with the website to gather comments. Once the virtual environment has been running for a while, there will be a wiki-like area for the comments of registered avatars. It will be fun (and encouraging to others) when we have an upload area where visitors can upload their own pictures or slide presentations about using the island.

· There will be an events calendar that shows the upcoming events right on the homepage and that links to more details and to upcoming events. Since the events for both the parents and the students will involve information relating to curriculum, regulations, instructional materials, resources, and the like there will be a backup page that can be linked-to from the homepage event that will contain information and links-to the backup materials. Since the intention is to create an ongoing resources for parents and homeschooled children, these resource pages will be archived and made accessible for later and ongoing use.

· Basic training materials will be made available from a homepage link that provides visuals and text tutorials about simple navigation. The link will be quite prominent with something like a Getting Started button. The intention will be to get newbies working with headsets, doing some basic movements, and learning how to sit. There will also be dates for meeting with docents –the children will enjoy leading the parents around on the island. There will be some general practice days and also a notice that one-half hour before the event, docents will help the meeting attendees.

· There will be a need for some basic and advanced building materials; many are available through the web and the intention will be to have a startup page with links to some key tutorials and with notation on learning by practicing. Information will be provided as to where building will be possible (in the sandbox areas) and info about the time allowance for items in the sandbox and for ways to inventory items created. It is expected that instructors may want to have students create certain types of items, so this reference section will be important.

· The use of badges will be an important way to have students come and use the facilities and to encourage each other to grow. Over time, there is the intention for having activities where students could make their own materials, websites, virtual creations, research-and-presentation projects, and the like that can be voted upon by the other students, and even by parents. This at this point, a page will be created for badges. As Mozilla formalizes their badging efforts, we will use those areas too and probably work with them and simply link to our website.

The virtual world itself will be the meeting place, the immersive context to engage the clients, the learning area for the students, and a fun area for meeting and socializing. That will be the “heart” of the virtual system. But a larger network is needed so we will continue to develop and plan the web presence and interface too.