Virtual Environments: Is one life enough?

The Virtual Worlds Education Consortium (VWEC) Student Challenge 2025: Serious Simulations in the Metaverse was launched today. The Challenge takes the form of a hack-a-thon except that it occurs over the entire Spring Semester, rather than in a 24-hour period. Details of the brief, the support to be provided (particularly with classes about building in Second Life) and the assessment process were shared and, for those who may have missed the presentation or who would like to review them again, a recording of the event was made which you can see here:

The challenge is to form a team (which has already been done for you) and design a virtual education experience; then build a simulation in Second Life. The experience must be: accessible, authentic, interactive, and cite sources (see below for more details). You will also record a short video to present and demonstrate your solution to the judges, who will be drawn from a panel of international educational experts. Prizes, including memberships of SL and $L, are sponsored by Metaverse Libraries. Here is a video of the exhibits from last year’s Student Challenge:

Here are some screenshots showing the logistics schedule, assessment rubric and rules for the Student Challenge 2025:

Here is the link to the google doc for Gentle Heron’s Checklist, which is metioned above.