Road to Morocco revisited

I re-visited Virtual Morocco today to complete part of my work on Section 3 Activity 1. We're asked to reflect on a number of question that I don't think my initial post addressed in sufficient detail. Here's a few more thoughts...

In which way does this location address educational issues?

The site gives visitors a range of formal and informal learning opportunities. It's possible to simply wander round and soak up atmosphere, to take a more systematic approach by wearing an info Fez and picking up note cards at key points around the sim, or, as part of a 'lead' learning activity to participate in a guided exploration of Morocco and it's culture, ideally involving the SL presence of someone who knows the real Morocco. I met someone with experience of the real Morocco on one of my return visits who really helped to fill in the fine detail. "In real life, there would be someone offering me mint tea right now. and hordes of children wanting money..."

A teacher could also organise more in-world or IRL follow-up through visits to related SL sites (for example, the Virtual Hajj at http://slurl.com/secondlife/IslamOnline%20dot%20Net/7/62/22) or through a variety of net-based and RL activity. In this way Virtual Morocco could become one element of a more multi-element exploration of a particular topic. I can see this being particularly valuable as part of (for example) a scheme of work addressing issues of cultural diversity, where RL opportunities to access other cultures is limited.

According to you, which is the target audience of the educational events/action taking place in the location?

According to the people who created the sim, Virtual Morocco has two goals, to educate people about Morocco, and to entice people to visit the country. I think it works well on both levels. There's certainly a real sense of atmosphere, and enough information for the curious to follow up. The biggest problem I have is with the sim being unavailable to younger students. I'd dearly love to see some work done with 14-16 year old students in this space.

Who are the owners of the location and how is it organized (is there a community, group, etc)?

This sim was created as part of a project of the Johnson & Wales University, in collaboration with the Moroccan Ministry of Tourism. A student group went to Morocco to study the country and the culture by interacting with it. They came back and built the sim with the support of the Moroccan Ministry of Tourism. There's more information here http://casablanca.life3solutions.com/index.html (which also includes links to some blog posts).

Sadly, I found one or two elements of Virtual Morocco that seem not to be functioning. I wonder if the initial impetus for this work has waned, and if it's getting as much maintenance as it really needs. I've seen the same creeping neglect at a few sites and wonder if this is typical of the lifecycle of many sims. Sustainability is an issue for many RL projects and is maybe an issue for SL projects too?

What resources are present?

The info Fez (a Fez that you wear and which whispers comments to you as you walk through the sim) struck me as a good model of how to guide people through a virtual space. The info Fez is backed up by more conventional note cards, signposted by the same Fez symbol. The environment itself is a great resource, recreating iconic aspects of Moroccan culture. There's some really beautiful tilework... The creators have created playful interactive elements likely to engage both casual and more purposeful visitors - an opportunity to use a windsurfer, to play football (while wearing the Moroccan national football strip), to drink tea, to smoke a shisha, and to shop in the souk...