NMC Web Mentions

As the platform matures, Second Life is proving to be a ground-breaking and innovative way to not sell stuff but teach stuff. One of the most compelling examples of this is Foul Whisperings, Strange Matters (SLURL). As accurately described in the press release, it "brings Shakespeare's world renowned and extraordinarily influential play Macbeth into a virtual worlds environment." And is a "timely use of pop culture as an adaptive bridge between classic texts and new media technology." Thomas continues, "I didn't make it of course. I am good at ideas, but actually getting them into practice is really tough. [It was] totally a team effort." In fact, it was built pro bono over 8 weeks by the New Media Consortium, led by Larry Johnson (Larry Pixel), and builders Chris Holden (CJ Carnot) and Beth Satchjen (Stella Costello). She collaborated with Producer Kate RIchards (Nini Dubrovna) and Director Kereen Ely-Harper (Dorothy Porta).

Last weekend, ‘Foul Whisperings, Strange Matters‘ launched. It’s a fascinating take on Shakespeare’s Macbeth character, a “timely use of pop culture as an adaptive bridge between classic texts and new media technology”. The first five minutes of my wanderings around the build were reminiscent of the last Australia Council funded build I wandered around, Babelswarm. In this case, the New Media Consortium provided part of the funding as well. The similarity isn’t in relation to content, it’s the quality of the content. As Macduff says in the play: “The life o’ the building!”.

Earlier this year, the New Media Consortium and the Educase Learning Initiative released The New Horizon Report, outlining which current and burgeoning technologies they feel will “impact education over the next five years.“ The report includes several “mega trends” in educational technology, including user-generated video (or “grassroots” video), mobile, collaborative web environments, as well as content mash-ups.

The NMC Arts Lab is a sim devoted to experimental large scale installations, and currently features Husk an interactive installation by AM Radio.