The Content Grid

The Content Grid is a private virtual world created using the OpenSim platform. It allows individual schools to have the ability to run their own internet based virtual world where they can enhance the learning experience for students by adding content, created by a list of Developers, securely to their virtual world.

The Content Grid brings everything that was great about Second Life and other virtual worlds securely to Schools. It enables schools to do such things as hold art exhibitions, display work or assessments, conduct meetings, immerse students in history by visiting historical cities as they were at a given time. It also allows students to conduct experiments without any safety fears and to learn from their mistakes without cost. The only constraint to the system is the imagination of the Developer as to the content available.

Schools will have their own Content Grid web interface and branded client to access The Content Grid. In this web interface schools have the ability to add users (whoever they see fit), set up security (logging of chat, etc.), switch on and off voice and text communication by time (so you may have students chatting during the day, but not at night), set up a swearword filter (some areas have some words that our preset filter might miss) and best of all the ability to take content from other developers and import it in to the schools own world. The web interface will also allow schools access to the Market Place where they can search for content relating to what they are looking for, and the cost (if any) associated to it. Schools can then give feedback and grade the content so other schools will see what content is the best.

Each school, once subscribed, will have access to one standard school island. This will contain a default central area leading to a "how to" room, a meeting room, a conference/presentation room, a couple of class rooms and an area for people to "hang out". Each content island added to the world will be placed round this island and signage will be added allowing people to "teleport" to specific islands.

The cost for content is driven by the developers. However, it is Second Places hope that as more schools join the cost of content will drop and we hope a lot of developers will create content for free.