Today students live in virtual space. Their personal lives center around Online Games (like World of Warcraft, Eve and Mindcraft) and Social Networks (like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube). To students, these virtual spaces are places to make friends, to explore and to create.

Unfortunately, these virtual spaces are also places to have personal contacts with unknown adults, to be cyber-bullied and to be exposed to dangerous situations. To provide our students with New Opportunities for Better Learning Environments that are safe and secure, we have introduced NOBLE.

The NOBLE Virtual World is a “walled-garden.” We control who enters the world and what activities take place. Through an advisory committee of 5 principals and 5 central office administrators, we have established protocols that ensure the safety of students and security of their personal and academic data.

Although NOBLE may LOOK like a video game, it is not. Video games have pre-set objects and pathways. There is always only a certain number of pathways in any game. However, in a virtual world, The students and teachers design and created the world and there is no predetermined pathway. Events unfold (as they do in real life) from the free and unscripted interactions of the residents. As opposed to video games, virtual worlds are characterized by greater user control over the environment, social interactions, collaborative activities and an actual in-world economy.

The residents of a virtual world are graphically represented by characters called “avatars.” The students have the ability to modify their avatar’s appearance to reflect the image they wish to portray. For example, they can change their physical features from thin to heavy or from short to tall. They can change the color of their skin, eyes and hair and they can make or buy clothes for their avatar. This customization allows students to form an attachment to their avatar and increases their engagement in the activity.

The freedom of the world design and the customization of the avatars allow virtual worlds to deliver transformational activities that cannot be easily replicated in any other way. 3D Models and Simulations - roller coaster inside a giant inner ear Virtual Field-trips - Paris, London, a logging camp, the moon, Mars Historical Reenactments or “Re-dos” - The Signing of the Magna Charta, What if Lincoln Had Lived?, The Boston Tea Party Role Play – mock trials, job interviews, conflict resolution Performances and Museums – art, music and drama events

Although educators have used virtual worlds for over seven years, most of such implementations across the globe have been by dedicated, individual teachers. Unfortunately, many of these attempts emulated an actual classroom rather than providing transformational experiences. Because there are few established enterprise-level protocols , operationally or instructionally, to guide us, we will use a NOBLE roll-out similar to the roll-out we used with BYOT: Advisory Committee (5 principals/5 central office administrators) Invitations for Submission of Virtual World Projects Teacher Training on Virtual World Skills and Pedagogy Continued Collaboration on Developing Transformational Units

NOBLE World Tour - Steve Video City Mayan Temple Fairy Castle Statistics Examples of lesson plans (not detailed)

5th Grade - First Ten Minutes Click Picture for Video

Click Picture Above for Video

– NFHS Senior click picture for video [PLAY VIDEO] Why couldn’t we have had this when I was younger? – NFHS Senior click picture for video [PLAY VIDEO] For the first time, there is real hope that education can transcend the restraints of time, place and resources. If we can think it, we can do it in the NOBLE World.

we can do it in the NOBLE World. OUR NOBLE ENDEAVOR For the first time, there is real hope that education can transcend the restraints of time, place and resources. If we can think it, we can do it in the NOBLE World.