October 22, 2007
Johnson & Wales Professor Recruits Second Life Teens
At the first Second Life college fair this past weekend, Hilary Mason, an assistant professor of new media and computer science at Johnson & Wales University, in Providence, R.I., tried to whet students’ appetites for studying technology at the university by telling them about some new media projects that students have been involved in.
She said that students, in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism in Morocco, built the virtual Casablanca Island in Second Life to encourage people to visit the country and learn about its culture. The island, which opened in June 2006, features the mosque of King Hassan II, gardens, a cafe for belly dancers, and a beach. In preparation for the project 10 students traveled to Morocco for 10 days.
Ms. Mason said students also recreated in Second Life a balloon that NASA scientists flew over Antarctica.
“What I’m hoping to demonstrate is that technology doesn’t necessarily mean being stuck in a cubicle writing … basic code for banks,” she told the teenagers.
Ms. Mason, who also is known as the avatar Lyra Timeless, said she is working on a project to teach entrepreneurship and business planning in Second Life.—-Andrea L. Foster
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