The 18th Annual National Service-Learning Conference Enters Second Life
second life at conference
Those unable to attend The 18th Annual National Service-Learning Conference®: Beyond Borders, Beyond Boundaries, March 28-31, 2007, in Albuquerque, can attend it in Second Life.
Residents of the 3-D virtual world will be able to attend conference plenary sessions in real time at the Global Kids Island in Teen Second Life and at an additional location in Second Life’s world for adults. Speakers include Jane Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and United Nations Messengers of Peace; Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Olympian and founder of the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation; Verna Cornelia Price, founder of the Girls in Action program; J. Robert Flores, Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; Kerri Strug, Special Advisor to the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and Olympian; and David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service.
The Second Life webcast is the product of a partnership among the conference host, the National Youth Leadership Council; Learn and Serve America; and Global Kids, Inc. — a New York-based nonprofit.
"The conference brings together youths, educators, and community-based organizations that want to use service and service-leaning to make a difference in their communities and in the lives of young people," says Conference Director Amy Meuers. "More than 60 schools and educational organizations, along with countless nonprofit organizations, are in Second Life. This not only provides an incredible opportunity for our speakers to reach more people, but it also provides a gathering place where these people can meet, network, and interact as if they are with us in New Mexico."
The National Service Learning-Conference is the largest gathering of youths and practitioners from the service-learning movement — drawing nearly 3,000 people from all 50 states and up to 41 other countries.
Second Life is an online world entirely built and owned by its residents. It opened in 2003, and its population has grown to 1,465,294 people from around the globe. Second Life has recently been the site of a major IBM announcement, the opening of a Reuters bureau, and a Dell Computer store.
