SLCC: Case Study: Crossing the Second Life/Real Life Divide – Rockcliffe

http://www.urockcliffe.com/

In real life, educational institutions are bound by laws and accreditations. What happens when instructions teach in Second Life. Can they call themselves Universities. Eventually many educational institutions in Second Life may have to face this.

On the plus side, the Second Life environment levels the student/teacher playing field, with the teachers seen more as peers and friends rather than “founts of knowledge”. Many of the personal biases brought into real life classrooms disappear in the SL environment, where the people are their avatars.

The accreditation process if it ever comes will be challenging. The way information is transferred in SL is a bit different form RL. Much more of it is tacit, making it hard to develop a “checklist” of items which are “taught” in a class.

Rockcliffe also found that socially organizing around the same lines as a formal university simply did not work. The nature of the environment is much more dynamic. People may join and simply disappear after a few months. The virtual community requires a larger level of effort for the same level of commitment. People are committed to their home life and they are committed to their work life. But the virtual worlds, laong with the entire set of virtual-only experiences elicit a different level of commitment. This is not necessarily bad, but needs to be recognized.

There are even more challenges ahead for Second Life educators. Yes, even the biggies of taxation and employment compensation. The fact that the environment provides a low barrier of entry to startup institution still makes it very interesting.