University Business - March 2008 - (Page 60) Sizing Up Second Life Virtual visitors can get a taste of Ohio University. Avatars meet outside a building in preparation for a class at Boise State University’s EDTech Island. Student art on display in one of several galleries at Bowling Green State University’s Virtual Campus. Higher ed learns how to live in a virtual world. By Tim Goral A LL THOSE THINGS YOU’VE HEARD ABOUT Second Life—that corporations spend small fortunes building “islands” that no one ever visits, that the virtual world is overrun by “griefers” whose only purpose seems to be harassing other users, that it’s a digital den of depravity—well, they’re all true. But it’s also true that Second Life has a vibrant education and research community that carries on its business pretty much undisturbed by sword-wielding ninjas, and colleges and universities are leading the way in this virtual realm of possibilities. SETTING PARAMETERS There is much confusion over just what Second Life is. Although users can play games within the virtual world, Second Life itself is not a game. It has no objective, and there is no prize for finishing first. Indeed, there’s nothing to finish—no levels to conquer, no princess to rescue, no timers to beat. That’s what turns away people who go online to do something. Much like real life, Second Life is precisely what you make of it. If you want to socialize with people from around the world, there’s 60 | March 2008 always a party going on somewhere. If you want to explore the works of filmmakers, painters, and sculptors, Second Life has no shortage of such food for thought. If you want to discuss politics or religion, or play a game of chess, you’ll find plenty of likeminded people. On the other hand, if you want to speed around a beach in a missile-firing hovercraft, no one will stop you from doing that (but such behavior will result in your banishment from certain locations). Although creator Linden Lab claims there are more than 2 million “residents,” a live statistic report at sign-in shows only a small fraction of that number “in world” at any given time. And when one considers that the Second Life world currently consists of nearly 900 million square meters of leased virtual space, it’s no surprise that many islands are indeed deserted. But longtime Second Life users know that once the novelty wears off, many people lose interest, leaving the rest to embrace the technology and learn how to use and improve it. According to Linden Lab, at least 70 U.S. colleges and universities have taken up that challenge, along with a like number of schools from around the world. universitybusiness.com http://universitybusiness.com
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