University Business - June 2007 - (Page 62)

INTERNET TECHNOLOGY SL PROJECTS IN PROGRESS Many members of the NMC, an international consortium of nearly 250 leading higher ed institutions, museums, corporations, and other organizations, are conducting exploratory projects or classes in SL, including Seton Hall University (N.J.), Bradley University (Ill.), and Otis College of Art and Design, located in Los Angeles. In January 2007, the consortium launched its own Second Life building under NMC Virtual Worlds with projects in development for MIT, Princeton, Cornell, and Case Western Reserve University (Ohio). NMC has now an entire educational archipelago in Second Life. Case Western just launched virtual tours for prospective students, as well. Adopted already by IBM, Dell, American Apparel, Toyota, and even presidential candidates for their marketing campaigns, Second Life could also be used as a new marketing channel for admissions, alumni relations, or institutional advancement. “I’m waiting to see colleges start leveraging SL as a recruiting tool,” says C. C. Chapman, vice president of New Marketing at crayon, a real-life marketing company based in SL, and the former digital marketing manager at Babson College (Mass.). Chapman thinks IHEs should integrate SL into their overall outreach strategy by showing their viewbooks or offering live conversation with admission staff in-world. A VIRTUAL CAMPUS Vassar College (N.Y.) has opened a private island in SL to explore these possibilities. On Vassar Island, visitors can tour the place using an auto-guided flying vehicle, get general information about the private liberal arts college, and even leave comments on virtual message boards installed on the path to the Media Garden of Vassar Island. Miles away, in real life, the Masters of Digital Media Program based at the Centre for Digital Media in Vancouver, Canada, prepares to welcome its first class this fall in a brand new building. It has already offered seminars and even an open house in the virtual replica of the CDM located on its Second Life campus. “It was an obvious decision to hold our first MDM open house simultaneously on our own physical campus and in Second Life,” says Gerri Sinclair, CDM executive director. “The results for both events were fantastic; we were filled to capacity both in our own Conference Center in RL and at our virtual Center in SL.” While Sinclair’s outreach experience with SL has been very successful, she warns that it’s not enough to build a virtual cam- Get a (Second) Life THE BEST WAY TO UNDER stand the possibilities of Second Life is to sign up for a free account. Here’s how. 1. Choose the name of your Second Life avatar (the first name is up to you, but the last name can only be selected from preset options in a drop-down menu), your date of birth (it will “validate” your adult status), and an e-mail address on this registration page, www.secondlife.com/join. 2. Download and install the SL client application on your computer. 3. Open the application and start walking (using keyboard arrows). You’re on Welcome Island. You will be offered the opportunity to change your avatar’s appearance and be given a few tips on how to move around and interact with objects or people. Don’t forget to try to fly and take a few snapshots. 4. After this initial introduction, find interesting places to visit by using the SL client integrated search engine or browsing the selection at www.collegewebeditor.com. “Building an effective educational environment in SL … is by no means cheap.” —Gerri Sinclair, Centre for Digital Media pus and then let it sit empty most of the time. “Building an effective educational environment in SL is very intensive in terms of time and human capital requirements, and it is by no means cheap,” she says. Before your institution jumps into Second Life and buys its own private island, it’s probably a good idea to follow Alan Levine’s advice. The director for Member and Technology Resources at NMC recommends exploring as many other locations as possible—both to see the types of activities and virtual facilities created and to better understand the experience of being and communicating in a virtual world. If you’re thinking about an SL presence for your institution, definitely take some time for your own second life. You should also request a free guest membership to the NMC Campus (see instructions at www.nmc.org/sl/join). By becoming an NMC guest, your avatar will be able to take part in NMC’s public events. The NMC campus offers the integrated SL voice chat feature. To chat further about the possibilities of SL for institutional advancement, admissions, or alumni relations, just send an in-world message to Karine Apogee (my avatar’s name). Intellagirl, www.intellagirl.com More information and news on SL, www.collegewebeditor.com/secondlife NMC Campus Observer, www.nmc.org/sl Second Life, www.secondlife.com SimTeach, www.simteach.com SL Mailing Lists, lists.secondlife.com Vassar Island, http://tinyurl.com/2f4hnn Resources Crayon, www.crayonville.com Crayon headquarters in SL, www.crayonvillesecondlife.com Great Northern Way Campus’ Masters of Digital Media Program, www.gnwc.ca/mdm The Horizon Report, www.nmc.org/projects 62 | June 2007 universitybusiness.com http://www.secondlife.com/join http://www.collegewebeditor.com http://www.nmc.org/sl/join http://www.intellagirl.com http://www.collegewebeditor.com/secondlife http://www.crayonville.com http://www.nmc.org/sl http://www.crayonvillesecondlife.com http://www.secondlife.com http://www.simteach.com http://www.gnwc.ca/mdm http://lists.secondlife.com http://www.nmc.org/projects http://tinyurl.com/2f4hnn http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - June 2007

Contents
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Editor's Note
Virginia Tech Coverage
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Admissions
On The Hill
Future Shock
Independent Outlook
Internet Technology
I Wanna Be Rich
Smart and Sustainable
Walking the Talk
Steering Toward Sustainability
An Organizing Principle for Colleges and Universities
News Shorts
News Shorts
It’s Not Easy Eating Green
Facilities Focus
The New Face of ERP
Document Management Across Campus
What's New
Direct Connect
Calendar of Events
End Note
Annual Directory of Higher Education Consultants

University Business - June 2007