Second Life Paper

Brett Atwood, a professor at Washington State University, held a press conference Monday June 8 to discuss the launch of a new 3-dimensional WSU campus in the virtual world, Second Life.

The virtual campus was designed by staff and students who work for The Center for Distance and Professional Education, also known as CDPE. The complete 3D replica of the Pullman campus will be WSU’s first entry into the virtual world and will be accessible to a global audience.

“We are dipping our toe into Second Life to see where it is appropriate or may benefit WSU staff and students,” said Atwood.

WSU is encouraging professors to learn and get comfortable with Second Life, and from there, integrate it where it may be suitable in a school setting.

“People can log in from around the world and can attend a lecture,” said Atwood. “It is essentially a 3D space, just like a class room, and allows for a 3D simulated lecture environment.”

Second Life offers a replica of a class room setting and gives students across geographic areas a sense of community, explained Atwood. It opens access to WSU and allows for creativity and collaboration. Because of this, the future for Second Life at WSU, especially for programs such as the distance learning program, sounds promising.

The introduction of this program at WSU differs from current programs used at the university, such as eLearning, because it adds a collaborative, simulative and community building component, explained Atwood. It allows students to have a shared environment with their peers, even though they may be across the world.

There are two common criticisms when the public looks at Second Life in an education context. The first issue has to do with the computer processor being used. Older computers are not always up to speed with the kind of technology that is necessary for this program, but if the structure is there and students have fast enough computers to support the program, there should be no problems. Another issue is one of adult context. There are elements within Second Life, not pertained to the education context, that do contain sexually explicit themes. Although this issue is not in the mainstream experience, it is there, and people fear that it can interfere with the education perspective of the program.

What is viewed by the public as a positive aspect of Second Life in an education context is that the virtual program offers experiences that will benefit learning. Many people feel that if you are socially engaged, such as with this program, more trust and connectedness among peers and instructors will develop. Second Life encourages people to communicate, and in real time, all of these components should help the learning environment, said Atwood.

“Second Life is a great phenomenon that I can only see expanding,” said Wesley G. Moorhead, an employee at Microsoft. “The benefits that come from a program such as this do not come around often. It is our job to grasp that and take advantage of it.”

The virtual world and the variety it will bring to WSU should be very interesting to watch develop. Second Life offers a diverse, untraditional way of learning, and WSU is ready to take a part in it.

“The next year will be very telling for Second Life at Washington State,” said Atwood. “Those experimenting with it will be able to see what works and what does not.” From there, the future of Second Life at WSU will be determined.