Secondary (7-12) Education in SL?

Is anyone experimenting with or researching the possible use of SL in secondary education? I'm looking for information or a current model on which to base a proposal to my school to support a course implementing SL technology. Thanks for the help.

I'd be interested in chatting about this sometime. I'm an educator irl, transitioning to ESL instruction and interested in applying SL teen grid perhaps, but the issue will be my own ability to monitor their activities. If schools could have their own islands and admit teachers as well as students, the possibilities for instruction are endless. At the very least, 15 minutes SL time for the achiever of the day would be a fantastic motivator, wouldn't it? But to actually Teach ESL in SL would be amazing. Imagine developing the curriculum and how fun that would be!

Islands are available but somewhat expensive. Although I think they are private and closed to outsiders, which would take care of protecting younger students, I'm not sure if you can restrict students from the "outside world" of second life. I would like to hear some creative curriculum ideas or see some examples of secondary education possibilities currently active in second life. All I've seen so far has been restricted to University level education.

Right now the restrictions prevent adults (even teachers) from meeting with teens (13-1 unless the adult has an island on the Teen Grid, doesn't leave that island, and the adult's presence is known to the youths present. So unless someone wants to set up a secondary school island...
Come discuss these and other topics on the SimTeach forum TeenSL ( http://simteach.com/teensl )
Also, join us to talk about teaching and using languages in virtual worlds at the Babel Forum ( http://simteach.com/babel )
Just had to throw in that second plug.

Sophia Gilman and I have a conference presentation on "Second Life: The Educational Possibilities of a Massively Multiplayer Virtual World". An online version of it can be found in the EDUCAUSE Resource Library at

http://www.educause.edu/LibraryDetailPage/666?ID=SWR0552

Abstract: Technical developments in MMVWs continue to advance dramatically. In this session, we will tour Second Life, a MMVW created by each user and simultaneously played by hundreds of people around the world. As we demonstrate educational possibilities, we will also introduce a vision mechanism for incorporating MMVWs into teaching and learning strategies.

Though we work at a university, the model we develop in this presentation would apply to all learning, including K-12.

Pietro

PS - We have an education listserv for people teaching with SL. Contact Pathfinder Linden to be added to this list. I know several on the list are in K-12 schools and think they'd love to talk about their work.

Thanks for the info & link, but all I can pull up is the abstract. Where do I find the actual presentation media?