Bradley University's Ed Lamoureux and his online counterpart, Professor Beliveau, will soon be teaching an entire course in Second Life. Entitled "Field Research in Second Life" (Multimedia 490, MM 490), up to eight students will spend three weeks examining life from within the MMO. There will be a one-hour lecture class each week; you can read all about Lamoureux's class objectives here. Furthermore, you can read about his initial struggles in Second Life here. Part three of his tales should be up soon.NMC Campus Observor conducted an audio interview with the professor. Second Life as field research is a brilliant idea and we hope he succeeds. For his next course, how about a sociological study of behavior in World of Warcraft?
See Also:
Second Life Insider
[via Kotaku; thanks, vidGuy]
_thumbnail.jpg "i am 8-bit: 2008")
(Page 1) Reader Comments
Come on, Tell the truth what would it do for me or anyone else???...
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With Second Life, someone could actually do an online class with real presence. You'd be "in" their classroom- virtual though it may be- and it would have seats, walls, floors, a blackboard, and your fellow students in the class with you- even though they're from all around the country. The instructor would be able to give a lecture, or do visual demonstrations. You could actually have a sense of community and partnership in the classroom.
This is a fascinating idea with real possibilities.
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http://www.trinity.edu/adelwich/worlds/students.html
http://www.trinity.edu/adelwich/mmo/students.html
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Like The ZeroCorpse, I've had several classes that only meet physically once or twice a semester (for the midterm and final exams). Otherwise, you meet online at specific times and post your thoughts abot the material. You then take online quizzes and tests.
My understanding is this class is a high (senior) level class, so it's not going to be a blowoff. But it's an interesting concept, turning a SIMing game into something of real world value. Just like those people that turn a profit in the game into real currency.
Virtual reality isn't just for the 80s anymore!
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There is a wonderful, and scary future to be found in virtual worlds. I believe our virtual lives have the potential to become just as important socially as our real lives.
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