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Schome Time Explorers. Baso, KitKatKid, MarsBar9, Topper and Vibia

Schome

Schome. Schome is going to be a new form of educational system designed to overcome the problems within current education systems. It will meet the needs of society and individuals in the twenty-first century and will be a system which values and supports people learning throughout their lives.

The Schome Park Programme

The Schome Park Programme. Schome Park is a closed island in the virtual world of Second Life®. One of the key aims on Schome Park is to empower young people to take responsibility for the development of the island (and the activities on it). Staff are providing some basic infrastructure and support and are encouraging young people to come up with ideas for how Schome Park should be developed. In the pilot phase there were three main activity strands; Archaeology, Ethics and Philosophy and Physics. These sessions were run by mentors from Universities. When phase two started, only Ethics and Philosophy continued. But due to the high interest in Archaeology, several members of the community restarted the strand. Soon it became known that there was great interest for the past, and so when a History strand began, it merged with Archaeology to become the Time Explorers.

Who we are

Who we are. Evrybody introduce themselves. Who they are in real life, who they are in Second Life, their role in the project.

Description of our project

Description of our project. The Time Explorers have studied several topics. Archaeology have looked at preservation of archaeology, underwater archaeology, Stonehenge and are just about to move onto Vesuvius. But these are all sessions that have taken place during phase three of the SPP (Schome Park Programme). History has studied the Romans, and has looked at aqueducts, clothing and roads.

Roman aqueducts

Roman aqueducts. Continuing with our Roman building of an Aqueduct. Looking at textures for the arches and the water. Discussing how we can incorporate everyones work. Amba said: I have made some Roman clothing as requested by Kit. Advice on history accuracy would be useful.

Roman roads

Roman roads. Brilliant session about roads, led by Vibia. Lots of questions asked, pretty much all of them were answered! Very good session with the peeling off the layers of the roads.

Pompeii

Pompeii. We talked mainly about the eruptions of Vesuvius, Pliny's eye witness account and archaeology of Pompeii and Herculaneum. A discussion of preserved graffiti on a wall in Pompeii led us also to the Ruthwell cross.

Caves of Lascaux

Caves of Lascaux. We will have a brief look at the caves of Lascaux. Using parcel media we'll have a discussion - geography may also come into play here!

Underwater archaeology

Underwater archaeology. We will look at underwater archaeology and the differences between conventional archaeology. What are the problems faced, and how is the archaeology preserved and protected so no harm can come to it? We will begin our work on the shipwreck, a mini project that brings everything we've done so far together: 1. Archaeological processes 2. Data Recording 3. Preservation 4. Ethics 5. Underwater. Some links to consider before hand: Underwater archaeology, Finding out about Archaeology beneath the waves, A list of registered wrecks under archaeological protection, Nautical Archaeology Society

Why the project is innovative

Schome Park has given its students a real chance to study History and Archaeology in new ways which are more engaging and interactive than those used in the classroom. As Second Life® allows people to build, script, and chat amongst other things, the History sessions have been able to build Roman aqueducts. Sizings can be used which can enable students to scale buildings so they can compare the size of these buildings to the height of people. This allows students to relate to how people would have felt seeing these buildings. The study of archaeology is a difficult process as once artefacts and material are disturbed they cannot be replaced, whereas in Schome Park this is possible. During the Archaeology sessions a shipwreck was recreated and ‘excavated’ amongst discussions including Henges and Pompeii. When the two sessions integrated for one meeting a Roman road was created and enabled each layer of the road to be removed allowing students to see how the roads were constructed. This unique way of learning breaks down the barriers of students and teachers. This leads to student run sessions which benefit many people as both children and adults can learn from each other.

How the project has helped our learning

How the project has helped our learning. Being able to study history and archaeology in Schome Park has allowed us to cross the stereotypical educational boundaries and 'experience' our learning in new ways. We are learning in a very visual and interactive way on a much more personal level than you do in a classroom. The relaxed attitude to the sessions results in people being much more comfortable and feeling more able to join in with discussions. Through use of textures we can still have diagrams and images like the ones you get in text books for those who find these help with learning. At the sessions we are not only learning about History and Archaeology but we are developing our leadership skills and teamwork. We have been able to do a virtual visit to the Lascaux Caves and we were able to recreate the Vesuvian Eruption of AD79 all without moving from our chairs. Schome Park allows open discussions on topics allowing everyone to learn from each other, and it is not only the students learning but it is also the staff who attend from the sessions. The ability for everyone to learn from each other makes this a valuable project.

________________ Links: Home | Description | How has it helped our learning? | Why is it innovative? Welcome to the main pages which contain all of the information about our entry into this years Learners Y Factor. Using the links above you can see the description of our entry, why we think it is innovative, and how we think it has helped our learning. There is also a video which shows more information about our entry, which can be seen here(select the Time Explorers video on the right when you reach the Blip video page). You can also view some images based on our activities as a group here. Description Schome Park is a closed island in the virtual world of Second Life®. One of the key aims on Schome Park is to empower young people to take responsibility for the development of the island (and the activities on it). Staff are providing some basic infrastructure and support and are encouraging young people to come up with ideas for how Schome Park should be developed. In the pilot phase there were three main activity strands; Archaeology, Ethics and Philosophy and Physics. These sessions were run by mentors from Universities. When phase two started, only Ethics and Philosophy continued. But due to the high interest in Archaeology, several members of the community restarted the strand. Soon it became known that there was great interest for the past, and so when a History strand began, it merged with Archaeology to become the Time Explorers. The Time Explorers have studied several topics. Archaeology have looked at preservation of archaeology, underwater archaeology, Stonehenge and are just about to move onto Vesuvius. But these are all sessions that have taken place during phase three of the SPP (Schome Park Programme). History has studied the Romans, and has looked at aqueducts, clothing and roads. How has it helped our learning? Being able to study history and archaeology in Schome Park has allowed us to cross the stereotypical educational boundaries and 'experience' our learning in new ways. We are learning in a very visual and interactive way on a much more personal level than you do in a classroom. The relaxed attitude to the sessions results in people being much more comfortable and feeling more able to join in with discussions. Through use of textures we can still have diagrams and images like the ones you get in text books for those who find these help with learning. At the sessions we are not only learning about History and Archaeology but we are developing our leadership skills and teamwork. We have been able to do a virtual visit to the Lascaux Caves and we were able to recreate the Vesuvian Eruption of AD79 all without moving from our chairs. Schome Park allows open discussions on topics allowing everyone to learn from each other, and it is not only the students learning but it is also the staff who attend from the sessions. The ability for everyone to learn from each other makes this a valuable project. Why is it innovative? Schome Park has given its students a real chance to study History and Archaeology in new ways which are more engaging and interactive than those used in the classroom. As Second Life® allows people to build, script, and chat amongst other things, the History sessions have been able to build Roman aqueducts. Sizings can be used which can enable students to scale buildings so they can compare the size of these buildings to the height of people. This allows students to relate to how people would have felt seeing these buildings. The study of archaeology is a difficult process as once artefacts and material are disturbed they cannot be replaced, whereas in Schome Park this is possible. During the Archaeology sessions a shipwreck was recreated and ‘excavated’ amongst discussions including Henges and Pompeii. When the two sessions integrated for one meeting a Roman road was created and enabled each layer of the road to be removed allowing students to see how the roads were constructed. This unique way of learning breaks down the barriers of students and teachers. This leads to student run sessions which benefit many people as both children and adults can learn from each other. Roman aquaducts built by the Time Explorers. SecondLife let us create and walk on multi-layer Roman roads. Fox led a virtual visit to the Caves of Lascaux. Students from America relived the 1950s with their full-size model diner, complete with jukebox. Students created a shipwreck in order to study underwater archaeology. KitKatKid Schomer ~ Vibia Schomer ~ Mars Schomer ~ Baso Schomer

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SchomeBase activity! Things are hotting up on SchomeBase, our Second Life island - with Open University (OU) students starting to create a nOUbie Welcome Centre - find out more ... or click on the SchomeBase events link on the left to catch up with what's planned. SchomeBase events Check out all the scheduled activities on SchomeBase - all events are open to everyone who is interested in exploring ways of learning (which might inform our thinking about schome (not school - not home - schome - the education system for the information age) You can find more about our activities on the SchomeBase bliki or by joining the SchomeBase discussions About SchomeBase SchomeBase is our island in the Main Grid of Second Life virtual world - used by the Schommunity to help us extend our thinking about visions for schome. You can get to it via this slurl http://slurl.com/secondlife/SchomeBase/48/219/23 and/or check out: The SchomeBase bliki Schome People PeterT <Add a link to your userpage here> What should I do? FAQs How to find your way around the Schome wiki How to find your way around the Schome Forum Overview of the Schome wiki Updating this wiki Did you know that if you are a registered user on the wiki you also have a user page? Just click on your name on the top right of the screen! Using the wiki Editing a page Creating a new page Uploading an image Basic formatting What does that mean? Formatting a wiki page---- Logging in to the wiki and the forum - use your schome community forum username and password to login to both the wiki and the forum. When registering for the first time for the forum or wiki you should use the forum registration system.	What is Schome? Schome is going to be a new form of educational system designed to overcome the problems within current education systems. It will meet the needs of society and individuals in the twenty-first century and will be a system which values and supports people learning throughout their lives. Join us. Introduction to Schome The Schome community The aims of education Visions of future education The Aspire Pilot – visions of the future Press information about Schome Pictures of our work in Second Life "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." R. Buckminster Fuller
	Schome and Second Life Schome & Second Life Second Life help Schome Park, our Teen Grid island SchomeBase bliki Schome Park bliki SPii bliki: current events in world The schome-NAGTY Teen Second Life Pilot Virtual worlds Education Educational approaches Education systems by country Educational thinkers The assessment problem The role of ICT Becta research projects Different areas of the wiki Home Educators' blikis Nature trails Storybuilders Book Reviews Research Skills Schome in the media

Any necessary links here Schome Park was Schome's area in Second Life. Made up of two islands, Schome Park Alpha and Schome Park Beta, the islands were used for educational activities and a way for schome to experiment with new education systems. Student residents on the islands were called Schomers, and staff supporting them were called SParkers. The project began in April 2007, and was originally funded by the National Association for Gifted and Talented Youth (NAGTY) and BECTA. After the initial pilot there was strong evidence that the students who had engaged within the closed 'Schome Park' island enhanced their knowledge age skills, and the environment offered affordances that other media lack. To continued working with the students schome closed the island for a few weeks, and in that time the staff redesigned the island (there was only one island up until the beginning of phase 3) and allowed more spaces for the students to develop and take over certain aspects of the island. This proved successful, and the Schomers set up a government. You can find out more about the government here. Over the Christmas break the island was again closed, this time due to people being on holiday, and to allow the addition and development of the second island; Schome Park Beta. This island was themed, and for a week up to the opening, preview screenshots were added to the wiki: The new island build places a grand concept at the heart of its design, with the new island set in an ancient crater. WIth the wider world decaying under the forces of rapid ecological change the crater was adopted as a new home, a safe haven from the harsh world outside. Upon founding the crater colony the residents sealed their new home with a huge roof, created by mining the natural resources contained within the crater. Thus the ancient landscape became the home for a new, vibrant and tranquil (most of the time) community. Entrance to the crater interior is now achieved only through a number of airlocks. Throughout the whole project students engaged in activities that aren't normally possible in real life, either due to costs or lack of resources. Some of these activities include: Archaeology - officialy staff run in phase 1, and then restarted and run by students in late phase 2 and phase 3 Ethics and philosophy - staff run through all 3 phases Phyiscs - supported by the National Physics Laboratory in phase 1 Media making and machinima (SL filming) - supported by staff Languages - ongoing via the forum As well as participating in these activities, several more community based projects were held: The Marina - students were keen to have clear waterways over the island MySchome - the new Schome Park magazine Artificial intelligence - one of the students held discussions on the forum Both staff and students were also proactive in searching for more funding, and entering competitions such as the space competition, learners' 'Y' factor, the J8 bid and the E-learning awards. The first two entries are ongoing and work will continue on them throughout the coming months. Footer