2008 Woodie Awards
Virtual U
Colleges use online simulator Second Life for education - but it may not work at Whitworth
Grady Locklear and Katie Goodell
|
Students who use "I was sick" as an excuse to skip class may be running out of luck.
Second Life, an interactive computer program described on its Web site as a 3-D online digital world, is becoming a viable option for online courses at many higher educational institutions around the nation and the world.
More than 90 schools, mostly colleges in the United States and Europe, have registered on the Second Life Web site to create virtual universities with online courses, according to an August 2007 USA Today article.
However, more than 300 universities use the program as an educational tool, according to the article.
If Whitworth follows this national trend, Whitworth students could find themselves waking up to immerse themselves in the virtual world of Second Life, where their customized avatar will replace their physical body in the learning environment.
According to the Second Life Web site, the program allows students to attend online courses from personal computers in a more interactive setting than other online courses.
The educational element is just one small part of Second Life. According to the Web site, members can buy and sell property, interact with other avatars and build houses and businesses within the virtual world.
"I'd describe it as a massive, multi-player version of The Sims," said '07 alumnus Seth Wall, who earned bachelor's degrees in chemistry and quantitative analysis. "It's definitely intriguing and definitely has a lot of potential."
Wall became familiar with Second Life when he used it as a research tool for a Core 350 project about online dating in Spring 2007 for associate professor of computer science Pete Tucker's Internet and Society discussion group.
Wall said he continued to play the game for about a month after he completed the project. However, Wall said he has his doubts about Second Life as an online learning tool.
"I know people mostly want to just play," Wall said. "It'd be interesting to see if people are retained. In terms of a virtual classroom, there's a high potential for it to exist and turn out well."
Wall questioned if there would be a large enough desire among Second Life users to attend virtual classes.
"It's all about how you keep people engaged in the material and in the learning process," Wall said. "But the virtual part would create a whole different level of content."
Wall said he has taken a few online courses in economics through Bellevue Community College. He said they worked out well for him, but the success of an online course depends heavily on the quality of text and material presented.
"It's a little more difficult to make online classes as engaging [as traditional classes]," Wall said. "It's very time consuming."
According to the Second Life Web site, "students and educators can work together on the Second Life Grid from anywhere in the world as part of a globally networked virtual classroom environment."
ITMS Manager Judy Dehle said she is open to the question of whether Second Life is a practical program for Whitworth.
Dehle said Whitworth offers just a few online courses currently, but not through Second Life.
"They were created to meet a specific need, but they exist only in a couple of situations in the graduate program," Dehle said.
Tucker said his students discuss the ethical repercussions of programs like Second Life in a Core 350 discussion group he has taught in past semesters called Internet and Society.
Tucker said he is not familiar with schools that use the Second Life program, but knows of a number of universities that have online courses.
"Those universities serve people very well, for those who can't get to a school," Tucker said. "But from a personal standpoint it doesn't sound all that appealing to me."
Tucker said online universities do not have to pay for buildings, classroom space and multiple other expenses and from a business standpoint, they make a lot of sense.
Tucker said if Whitworth courses were to go online, even in a virtual format, he would not enjoy teaching as much.
"Personally I'm not in favor of them [virtual universities]," Tucker said. "I love the face-to-face contact."
Contact Grady Locklear at grady.locklear@whitworthian.com. Contact Katie Goodell at katie.goodell@whitworthian.com.
For this reason, The Whitworthian asks readers to be responsible and respectful in any comments posted. The responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not the whitworthian.com. Readers are also encouraged to report questionable comments by e-mailing editor@whitworthian.com.
Be the first to comment on this story