UC's Second Life Community Looks Ahead

In 2007, the UC Second Life Learning Community (UCSLLC) broke new ground by establishing the first 3D virtual classrooms at the University of Cincinnati. Faculty and staff from nearly every college participated in the learning community experience, and several pioneers taught classes that incorporated the virtual world into real world learning. There were classes from McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, College of Applied Science, and Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning. 

The University of Cincinnati Second Life Learning Community campus

More than 250 members of the campus community are exploring Second Life as an educational tool. At this point, what have we learned, and what's ahead?

Lessons Learned

Virtual worlds are popping into existence at a rapid rate. These range from social virtual worlds aimed at young children, like Webkinz and Club Penguin, to closed corporate educational systems like Project Darkstar from Sun. Chances are your kids and grandkids are already involved in at least one virtual world.

Second Life is a platform popular among educational institutions because it allows great flexibility for content creation, but there may come a time when other platforms offer better choices. Today’s industry leader may not be the industry leader tomorrow; this is something the learning community will consider as new choices become available. 

Industry and the private sector are as interested as educators in exploring virtual worlds. Virtual worlds are a booming business. Millions of real US dollars change hands every day in Second Life, and industry analysts predict that the buying and selling of virtual goods will be a $1.5 billion dollar industry by 2011. The press made much ado about the marketing efforts of many big name companies that opened virtual stores in Second Life, but interest in exploring virtual worlds goes beyond opening a 3D model of a brick and mortar building.

Visiting the Siemens Innovation Connection Island in Second Life

For example, what if consumers could participate in developing the products they use? Industry leader, Siemens, is considering that question, and has partnered with the College of Engineering and UCit to develop a software tool that will convert industrial designs created with the Siemens UGS PLM software into Second Life models. This opens up possibilities in collaborative design that simply haven’t been possible before now.

Non-profit organizations are also exploring virtual worlds. Locally, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and the Cincinnati History Museum are interested in involving UC students in the development of digital and virtual museum exhibits to expand their reach to a global audience. These are both examples of local partnerships with global implications that strengthen real world relationships through virtual projects.    

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center builds
a conference booth in Second Life, with the assistance
of the UC Second Life Learning Community.
Photo by SL Resident Rosefirerising

Early adopters seem to experience a paradigm shift as they become more comfortable in virtual worlds. When you first begin to explore these virtual places, your first impulse is likely to be to recreate the familiar. Many institutions built detailed replicas of their real world campuses, complete with lecture halls, traditional desks and whiteboards to provide familiar reference points for the academic mission. 

Classroom spaces are reserved for UC faculty on the UCSLLC island.

But just as the traditional lecture model does not translate 1:1 into a course site on Blackboard, what works well in person may not work well virtually. Furthermore, who needs walls and roofs in a place where it never rains?

Early adopter faculty seem to be exploring the balance between creating familiar spaces that convey real-world expectations and pushing the boundaries of creative learning spaces in a place where gravity is optional. 

Project created by DAAP students
in Professor Ben Meyer’s Digital Design Seminar

What does the ideal classroom look like if you don’t need to sit? The UC Second Life Learning Community island contains both traditional classroom models and open spaces for faculty and students to create their own learning environments.

Benn R. Konsynski from Emory University and Chris Collins from the University of Cincinnati discuss their research and the future of education in Second Life at a Metanomics discussion hosted by Professor Robert Bloomfield of Cornell University. A video archive is available.  Photo by SL Resident Onder Skall

Opportunities for research and interdisciplinary curriculum abound in Second Life. Virtual worlds open up a number of different possibilities for research, from observational studies of human behavior in these environments to modeling and simulating solutions to real world problems. In addition, the ability to collaborate on virtual projects in real time enables faculty from different disciplines to work with one another in complementary ways. Architecture students can work with programming students to create stunning and interactive models used by social science students for research. E-Media students can create documentary videos of this work, while developing skills in the budding film-making genre of “machinima” (machine + cinema, or videos created with avatars instead of actors and simulated spaces instead of sets).  Engineering students might collaborate with industrial design students to simulate product testing conditions using the virtual world’s physics engine. The possibilities seem only limited by our imagination.

Looking to the Future

UCSLLC members hold a meeting in the Atlas Auditorium in Second Life.
Photo by Professor Eric Anderson of Raymond Walters College

As interest in virtual worlds continues to grow, the UC Second Life Learning Community invites faculty and staff to join the conversation. In 1994, no one could predict the utility of the World Wide Web, and early web pages only hinted at the complexity of services, transactions, and information exchange that now takes place through flat web technologies. Virtual worlds are in a similarly early stage of development, and it is hard to say which learning activities will best be delivered in 3D virtuality, but there is only one way to find out.
 

Second Life office of Director of Environmental Studies Eric Maurer
Clickable objects link to research papers on the web.

UCit provides the following services to faculty interested in exploring Second Life for teaching:

• Individual or group orientation and training sessions
• Office space on the UC Second Life Learning Community island
• Traditional and non-traditional classroom space for teaching
• Modeling and design consulting services for creating virtual content
• Introductory sessions for students given by UCit staff
• Lab space with Second Life installed

Visit us in Second Life! For more information or to request access to the University of Cincinnati Second Life Learning Community island, please contact chris.collins@uc.edu for more information. 

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