WSU's New Virtual World

Washington State University has recently announced that it has launched a three-dimensional campus using Second Life.

This three-dimensional campus was designed by students and staff from The Center for Distance and Professional Education (CDPE), according to Edward R. Murrow College of Communication’s webpage.

“Thousands of far off students are getting their diploma through our distance degree program. Creating our campus in Second Life was just another way of opening up access to Washington State University,” said CDPE assistant dean Dr. David Cillay.

Students can use Second Life to correspond with other students using avatars using voice or text chatting, according to the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication’s webpage. Second Life helps students work with each other and learn in a new an innovative way. They can watch videos, talk with each other and learn in a virtual classroom from the comfort of their home.

“The university can use second life to introduce different people to our campus without having them necessarily traveling down here,” said Amanda Crowley, a Second Life designer.
Hundreds of universities have been using Second Life for a new means of collaborative learning, including Princeton, Harvard and Stanford according to Edward R. Murrow College of Communication’s webpage.

“Second life is a really great way to show people what your talking about,” said Kris Raikes, WSU Learning Center Tech Coordinator. “It’s a really good way to not only communicate but to create.”

Brett Atwood, an assistant professor at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, has planned to use the virtual campus in journalism and PR courses as soon as Fall 2009, according to Edward R. Murrow College of Communication’s webpage.

For more information about Second Life or to view the new WSU island virtual campus you can go to http://slurl.com/secondlife/WSU%20II/53/89/58 (requires Second Life).