July 24, 2007
Virtual World, Real Money
Blackboard Inc. has announced that it is offering a $25,000 grant for colleges to integrate teaching and learning with virtual worlds, such as Second Life. Called the Greenhouse Grant for Virtual Worlds, the program is meant to find ways to enhance student experience through the three-dimensional realm of computer-generated worlds. The deadline for submission is September 24, and winners will be announced at Educause’s annual conference, in October. —Dan Carnevale
Posted on Tuesday July 24, 2007 | Permalink |Comments
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I run a Web design company that works with colleges and universities, and I’d like to share something one of my developers said last week. In a nutshell, he said this:
“Listen. I’m 23 years old. I spend 10 hours a day on the Internet. I read tech blogs and Internet-related news constantly. And the same goes for all my friends. And nobody I know ever mentions Second Life.”
Does anyone reading this blog post actually use Second Life for anything substantial other than checking it out to see what the fuss is about? If anyone has used Second Life for any length of time (and I have), can you actually imagine it becoming a place where real flesh-and-blood students “spend time”?
I don’t want to sound like a Luddite. I’m all in with the usual social-networking tools. But sometimes I wonder if someone at the Chronicle has an ownership stake in Linden Labs.
— Jason Pontius Jul 25, 08:27 AM #
Hi Jason,
I sort of agree with you in a way. I have played with SL a little using a brand new PC and it’s slow. I’m having difficulty in figuring out the real use of it in education.
For sure it has a huge overhead as far as technology requirements go so I think that possibly limits the student impact.
I do think it has potential for simulations, graphics, 3D programming, and other fields, but I have yet to see tthose real world examples.
Just so you know that Bb isn’t the only company investigating this, Angel, a competitor to Blackboard is also doing some work with SL.
See: http://campustechnology.com/articles/46809/
— Eric Jul 25, 08:58 AM #
I have taught architecture classes for two years using Second Life and can see current use and future potential for Virtual Envirnoment technology in academic research, teaching/learning, and multidisciplinary, collaborative workgroups. It IS a challenging technology and it is an “emerging” technology, but is likely to be one aspect of the future of the internet that will continue to gain in use and provide benefit to users in a variety of ways.
— Terry Beaubois Jul 25, 09:07 AM #
If you are not familiar with virtual worlds such as Second Life and There, you are missing out! I anticipate that within the next 1-2 years we will be able to access virtual worlds as an additional tool to support instruction and collaboration through all of the learning management platforms including Blackboard/WebCT and Angel.
Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T4zTStVK6Y for a video of a Second Life 3-D Accounting Model.
Very cool!
— Denise Lewis Jul 25, 09:38 AM #
Perhaps Blackboard’s money would be better spent on encouraging cooperation among colleges to develop a virtual world that does not have all the problems associated with Second Life. Seems like a missed opportunity.
— Tracy Jul 25, 10:07 AM #
Ohio University has been utilizing our islands inSL since January 2007. Mulitiple classes have met there, with more planned. Our student center is populated with information for students. We have an art display and mulitple meetings have been conducted on the islands. We are also using those islands for student experimentation with serious games, so we believe SL is a definite move into the future for us. We are exploring many more avenues of learning using this technology.
— Muriel Ballou Jul 25, 10:38 AM #
I can’t see SL really taking off , at this point, as the 3D environment is clunky in comparison to… “World of Warcraft”.
Running both programs on the same machine and “World…” is much faster and supports multiple users interacting with each other at once. Although it is a game, the qualities of the technology are very captivating to the user. If SL is enhanced to run as smoothly as “World…” then online virtual classrooms would be a step closer to reality.
— David Jul 25, 11:58 AM #
I attended an advanced web marketing conference a few months back and was in awe by all the talk about SL. I am a 22 y/o developer/content coordinator and take the same position your developer does, Jason. I sat there as these educators/administrators in their 40s and 50s talked about their pouring money into SL (some even giving internship credit to students who intern INSIDE SL?!) and couldn’t help but chuckle a little. What with poor graphics rendering, choppy and slow interaction w/the “game”, I don’t know anyone who actually spends time in Second Life. I checked it out when it was still in beta and turned tail and ran. Why is this getting pushed so hard in the Chronicle and elsewhere?
— Joel Goodman Jul 25, 12:18 PM #
I have to agree – the only time I come across SL is on the Chronicle website. I am in the UK, and as far as I’m aware, no institutions use it, and no-one I know has even logged on to try it.
— Hywel Rowles Jul 26, 09:58 AM #