Cloud Party

Cloud Party is another option for Virtual Worlds. It is completely web based, so no downloads, the beauty of working in the Cloud. Upon initial preview, it visually looks very similar to Second Life, but after reading the FAQ's and knowledge base pages, it seems much more user friendly. 
Players can enter via a direct link without an account and will be prompted to create a username, that everyone sees, and choose an avatar.  Another option is to create an account by logging in with their Facebook or Google+ account. In an educational setting this could be a plus for easy log ins, but also can be a negative depending on whether their school has these social medias blocked.
When I compare the control settings they are all very similar to other Virtual World platforms. You have the typical W, S, A, and D commands, but you also have the option to click where you want to go, or even use the arrow keys, which for me, is much more appealing. The guys who developed Cloud Party must have a lot of experience studying what they liked and disliked from other worlds. They made all the controls much more user friendly. All of your settings are found by clicking on the cell phone. The cell phone can control your contacts, your teleporting, customizing your avatar from the avatar itself to its clothing, meaning I don't have to go shopping in bizarre stores to find outfits, your builds, linking to Facebook, and the Marketplace. Basically everything you want to do can be accessed through this link. 
Building also looks similar to Second Life, maybe the most confusing part of Cloud Party, but I can't completely assess that without actually creating an account and trying to build. 
Cloud Party offers a free version for people who just want to get a feel for the Virtual World, but they also have subscription rates for people who want to build more elaborate worlds or to be able to make their worlds private. One of my questions would be if I make a world private, could my students access it?
My biggest concern about using a Virtual World like this or Second Life is the publicity factor. My students would really have to understand the necessity of being digital citizens and cyber safety. This would be one of the benefits of setting up secure servers in Minecraft, at least they aren't completely public.