Photo by: Second Life
There is a place where you can strap on a jet pack, teleport to Amsterdam, and look 10 years younger than you are. You can also purchase an island and conduct experiments with hazardous nuclear materials without getting hurt. In fact, that is what two professors in the Physics and Astronomy Department of DU have done with the $200,000 grant they were awarded from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last fall.
Using Second Life, the online social network that invites subscribers to create virtual alter-egos that can interact with one another, the two professors at DU have created a new space for education. The best part about it? No janitorial fees and no geographic boundaries.
“Students from Colorado and Florida can participate in the same lab,” said Robert Amme, a physics and astronomy professor.
In April 2007, Amme and fellow professor Zeev Shayer submitted a proposal to NRC for a grant to be awarded to an educational institution creating a master’s degree program in applied science for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). An EIA is a set of criteria that determine whether or not a nuclear power plant can be built in a specific location or not- tough stuff to teach, considering how much experimenting with nuclear and radioactive materials needs to be done.
Amme and Shayer co-researched Second Life and were inspired by the realistic social interaction they observed. In Second Life, “residents” create avatars which are representations of themselves existing in the virtual world of Second Life. Avatars can communicate with one another through instant messaging just as though they were starting a conversation with someone they had never met before at a bar or in a coffee shop.
“It is so real, you can find yourself dreaming about your world in Second Life,” said Amme.
It seems that if people could talk about politics or try and get a date over the Internet, they could also attend a lecture on the effects of radiation or the human genome.
“We wanted to get the same kind of obsession kids have with [Internet] video games to become an obsession with school,” said Amme.
In the laboratories, students at DU or across the country can conduct experiments involving nuclear and radioactive materials. The Second Life labs are meticulously coded to create a virtual setting so realistic that the materials and equipment behave exactly as they would in a physical laboratory. These experiments are undoubtedly safer, are more cost efficient, and facilitate better distance learning- the focus of the initial NRC proposal.
“In a lab, part of learning is interacting with your fellow experimenters; being able to say ‘No no! Don’t touch that!’ or ‘What happens if I do this?'” said Amme.
These are elements of the physical classroom that are absent in distance learning opportunities, where students are accustomed to reading online materials and then answering a set of questions.
When Amme and Shayer were awarded the grant they purchased three “islands” in an existing archipelago of islands dubbed “Sci-land.” Three islands in Second Life is the equivalent of one-fourth of a Class 5 server and cost a total of $975. From there, Second Life designers and DU research assistant Jeff Corbin were contracted to create the coding to “build” Olin Hall, a large laboratory stocked with sufficient materials for four different experiments, Evan’s Observatory, and a large lecture hall. After the initial purchase of the islands, regular maintenance fees and software updates will cost roughly $150 per month. According to DU’s Office of Communications and Marketing, the rest of the grant money will go toward course development and staffing. Once the program is successful enough, it will be tuition-funded.
“DU hasn’t quite bought into it yet,” said Amme, who thinks that even the chancellor has only an “inkling” of what the physics department is doing with Second Life, “It will catch on though,” he said.
The site will be available for faculty members to use this spring. Among those most interested is Robert Stencel of the Astronomy Department, who is already concocting ways to generate funding for more images to have available in the observatory.
DU and Texas Wesleyan are the only two universities thus far to use Second Life for actual classroom education. Another school, Case Western, has created an entire replica of its campus in Second Life, where it conducts campus tours for prospective students.
“The instruction and promotional opportunities in Second Life are great,” said Amme, who thinks that the latter may spark more interest initially.
Amme has met with faculty from the business school to discuss the possibilities for Second Life courses and plans to meet with faculty from other departments as well. There is an interest, but the level of technology is still intimidating.
“We’ve created a monster,” said Corbin, “It is just going to get bigger and bigger.”
For more information about Second Life or to start an account visit:
http://secondlife.com
