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There is an emerging Jewish presence in virtual environments. Second Life, for example, is home to a virtual Kotel and Torah learning center, Temple Beit Israel synagogue, a Jewish Historical Museum, a Holocaust Memorial Museum, an artistic representation of a mikveh, a Judaic gift shop, a cafe and Jewish art space, and Ir Shalom – a Jewish city. People regularly gather to learn and discuss Torah and gather inworld to acknowledge Jewish ritual in the real world. A recent genealogy exhibit featured resources from JewishGen, the online Jewish genealogy project. 2Lifemagazine: The Jewish Magazine in Second Life highlights activities and issues of identity related to being Jewish as expressed in the virtual world.

These projects are the work of individuals who have taken it upon themselves to create Jewish culture in Second Life. This in itself is noteworthy. Individuals design and create Jewish artifacts and activities with which they actively engage and invite others to join as well. They are creating a deeply personalized environment on their own, without impetus from traditional institutions, to explore their Jewish identities with others from around the world who happen to interact online. It is also noteworthy that these forms of expression reflect traditional metaphors of Jewish community.

The immersive Jewish community is growing, both in terms of Jews who are joining and in terms of Jewish activities. The medium is still young, and not without its challenges, but opportunities for Jewish learning and the exploration of one’s Jewish identity/ies abound.

Virtual environments, specifically multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs), have been around for awhile. MUVEs and their predecessors are commonly thought to be the domain of online gaming communities or esoteric science fiction-like academic projects. Recently, however, there has been a shift in how these immersive worlds are perceived.

There is increasing buzz about these environments in the blogosphere and in more traditional media, especially among the business and education sectors. Cultural artifacts of virtual environments are bleeding into the vocabulary of so-called “real life.” Stuffed animals are marketed in concert with an online community (Webkinz). Television commercials urge tweens and teens to personalize and accessorize their presence in online activities through the creation of avatars. They are also invited to interact through their avatar by joining a virtual world (Zwinky). The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and other mainstream publications publish articles that describe commerce and entertainment in the metaverse, Second Life. Reuters has a bureau chief posted there.

Similarly, there appears to be a gain in momentum among certain education circles as educators increasingly engage and experiment with different Internet-based tools and online learning environments. A core group of educators are actively building sites for learning and exploration on Second Life, including college campuses, museums, libraries, and classroom teachers. Organizations like ISTE and the New Media Consortium have established presences on Second Life in the form of virtual meeting space, social gatherings, presentations, and conferences.

It is not clear how the current landscape of virtual environments will develop or how it will transform into something new. Sites like Second Life or There may hit their peak at some point, or may be used as a launching pad for new initiatives. Other venues might be created for specialized arenas like education or business.

What is evident, however, is that the genie is out of the bottle. A critical mass of early adopters appears to be forming and initiating the development of new online experiences on the 3D Internet. The vocabulary and other artifacts of virtual worlds are converging back into “real life.” More people are logging on, or becoming increasingly familiar with aspects of virtual environments without even participating in them. Although individual participants have been central driving forces behind many of these worlds, organizations are taking notice and diving in. The environments are offering new tools that are constantly being refined: graphics, scripting, chat, presentations, video and audio streams. Participants are not only consumers of these worlds, but active producers of resources, objects, and knowledge. And perhaps most powerful of all are the social aspects of these settings. People around the world, across oceans and time zones, are regularly establishing relationships and social networks which would otherwise be impractical.

And so… what might this mean for Jewish learning?

More to come…

Resources for Learning More:

Introduction to Second Life

Second Life (recommendation: upon membership, select NMC as orientation preference)
Second Life Introduction video
Second Seeker – Unofficial Second Life Reviews
2Life – The Jewish Magazine in Second Life

Education in Second Life

Angel Learning Introduction video
Beth’s Second Life: Teaching English and Women’s Studies in Second Life
Chronicle of Higher Education: Wired Campus Blog: Second Life
Educational Uses of Second Life Wiki
Keith Jarrett’s Second Life in Education slideshare presentation
Second Life Education Wiki
Second Life Education Wiki: Working with Teens
The SLED Picayune
The Story of My “Second Life,” a k-20 educator’s… exploration of… Second Life
Suffern Middle School in Second Life

Social Action in Second Life

Global Kids Online Leadership Program
MacArthur Foundation: Building the Field of Digital Learning and Media (see especially “Doing the Impossible in Digital Worlds” and Invitation to Virtual World Event on Philanthropy)

Articles

“A Brave New World for TV? Virtually” by Dave Itzkoff, New York Times, June 24, 2007.
“A Job Interview You Don’t Have to Show Up For: Microsoft, Verizon, Others Use Virtual Worlds to Recruit; Dressing Avatars for Success” by Anjali Athavaley, Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2007.
“Doll Web Sites Drive Girls to Stay Home and Play” by Matt Richtel and Brad Stone, New York Times, June 6, 2007.
“Foundation With Real Money Ventures Into Virtual World” by Stephanie Strom, New York Times, June 22, 2007.
“My Daughter, the Burger-Flipping Penguin” by Michelle Slatalla, New York Times, May 3, 2007.
“Now, Virtual Fashion” by Andrew Lavallee, Wall Street Journal, September 22, 2006 “Pepperdine in a Treehouse” by Christine Lagorio, New York Times, January 7, 2007. Registration required.
“Real-Life Migrants on the Muve: Stories of Virtual Transitions” by Ross A. Perkins and Cathy Arreguin, Learning and Leading with Technology, May 2007. Membership login required.

Interested in how Jewish teens are using technology to explore their lives? Take a look at the March 30, 2007 supplement, Fresh Ink for Teens: In Your Facebook, published by the New York Jewish Week. This issue includes several articles by teens on their experiences with technology-based communications.

On another end of the age scale, baby boomers and their parents are among the fastest growing consumers of video games, according to the New York Times article, “Video Games Conquer Retirees,” March 30, 2007. A customer survey by PopCap Games cited in the article found that “71 percent of its players were older than 40, 47 percent were older than 50, and 76 percent of PopCap players were women.”

In addition, corporations are increasingly turning to games and simulations for training and development. It will be interesting to see how these arenas continue to grow and how the educational community reframes its ideas and biases about what learning is, how people learn, and what tools they use to support this endeavor.