By Denise Harrison 02/18/09
Few technologies have been subject to more hype and subsequent disappointment than Second Life. Corporations from shoe manufactures to cruise lines to news services set up shop with hopes this new frontier would bring soaring profits. Most evacuated shortly thereafter when the effort resulted in spaces devoid of audiences and buyers. A notable exception, though, is education.
Education is thriving in Second Life. This enthusiastic subculture is abuzz within the Second Life realm, constantly interacting inside and outside Second Life. Educators are exploring every possible tool the 3D virtual world offers and establishing best practices along the way.
Linden Lab, the creator of Second Life, reports on the company's Web site that universities such as Harvard, Texas State, and Stanford have Second Life campuses. While Linden Lab states that more than 200 educators and about as many universities are using Second Life, all signs point to a far larger community.
The Second Life Educators (SLED) community is an e-mail list that includes more than 4,700 working in or interested in education in Second Life. SLED was created in October 2005 to help newcomers adjust to Second Life, exchange resources, network, collaborate on projects, and share best practices.
Real Life Education in Second Life is a group inside the 3D realm that boasts 3,500 members. It is for sharing information, asking questions, and getting notices of in-world and "real life" events.
CC International is a group of 4,200 that promotes the use of virtual reality for education. The goal is to provide training seminars and certificates in building, scripting, furniture making, and more, offering college-level classes for credit, possibly toward a degree.
Thousands are involved in these three groups alone. There are many more groups, some of which focus on fields of study, such as architecture, music, and business.
How Educators Use Second Life
Some universities and colleges use the tools provided in Second Life to build exact replicas of their campuses. The virtual recreations can be used as recruiting tools to reach students and teachers and to showcase the institutions to other important audiences, such as donors.