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Second Life 'island' created for virtual teaching
Students soon will tap into online world for real-world help with studies
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ATLANTA - It's tough to teach a college class when your students are constantly flying around the room.
Just ask any professor who has opened a classroom in the online world of Second Life.
Soon, though, college faculty members needing help with the Internet universe of more than 10 million registered users can tap a Second Life "island" Georgia State University is starting.
The island — a plot of land like others available in Second Life — will offer free instruction on setting up a classroom and will showcase best practices and offer tips on other ways to use Second Life.
For example, architecture students can build a virtual house instead of simply designing one on paper. Clothing design students can hold a virtual fashion show. Business students can start a company and see how it does without risking startup capital. And other students can see the impact of a tsunami or hurricane coming ashore.
"By teaching in Second Life, you're able to give your students an experience that might be too expensive or dangerous in the real world," said Paula Christopher, a technology project manager at Georgia State.
The island is in the development stages and should be open by summer, Christopher said.
It's only one in a long list of ways universities and companies are using Second Life, which was launched in 2003 by San Francisco-based Linden Labs. Users' avatars can tour the Louvre museum, Yankee Stadium and numerous schools, for instance. And Comcast, IBM, Dell, Cisco Systems and many other companies have islands like Georgia State's.
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