Second Life is powerful teaching tool

Technology in the classroom has been a key phrase in schools for many years. But perhaps it is now time for a new phrase; technology is the classroom.

The online program Second Life has been taking the world by storm for four years now, according to www.secondlife.com. It is an online world where the players create everything you see besides the land space itself. It can be used for many different purposes including: social networking, business strategies, stock market play, business ideas, product development and now education.

At the University of Cincinnati there are a few teachers and faculty members who are using the online world as a classroom. Although it is only a world of ones and zeros, it has become something much more than a game. Second Life and UC are on the forefront of the newest kind of online education with virtual classrooms where students can visit within Second Life (SL). Imagine waking up for class, logging onto SL as your Avatar (an avatar is your persona in the virtual world) and going to a designated place set up as a classroom with ample seating, a podium and even a fully functioning projector screen for presentations.

It is a real virtual classroom experience with all of the benefits of being in a real life (RL) classroom. Of course headsets would be required for communication with your teachers and other students, but it is a small price to pay for virtual education.

Nancy Jennings is an assistant professor in communications and she is teaching the class Communication 429: Communication and Technology, which is just grazing the edge of possibilities regarding the utilization of SL as an educational venue.

"I wanted to explore Second Life and all different types of communications technology then tie them into communication theory," said Jennings.

Chris Collins, a UCit program coordinator and Information Technology Analyst has been organizing SL as a learning opportunity here at UC. "She was able to get a grant through the Ohio Learning Network which started last January and we have been working on it ever since then," said Jennings. "We're looking at how to use Second Life in education, so we bought an island for UC and also space around the island for expansion in the future." The island is private in its present state, but Jennings hopes the island will eventually become public, hopefully by the end of the quarter.

Members of the Second Life Community could then enter UC's island and take classes when it was made public. Jennings said, "I think that you need to have a balance however of distances learning as well as in-class learning, I feel that it is important to have both experiences instead of just one online."

Imagine sitting on campus on a bench or under a tree; or if you prefer you could be in the library or at home.

Since the world of SL is somewhat similar to RL, teachers could, theoretically, study a smaller scale of economics, politics, product design, one could even try out any small business ideas they may have. The best part about SL is that it uses real money that is converted into Linden Dollar (the virtual currency). The Linden Dollar can then be exchanged back into real cash. Talk about a real life learning experience without all of the large risks. Of course there are some investments for land and other things in SL, but it is nowhere the risk or cost anywhere else in the real world.

Virtual classrooms, wireless Internet, high definition, it's all a lot to handle. But really it's good to see technology heading towards a positive goal. Sometimes it seems that it will ultimately drive us insane, especially when it doesn't work. But in this case it's a nice fresh breath of virtual air.