Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2010 > March > 15 > Entry
SXSW panel: ‘BAM! An Entire Statewide University System Goes Virtual’
Time: 11 a.m. Monday
Panelists: Mario Guerra, University of Texas’ Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment; Riley Triggs, Lecturer in Design at the University of Texas; Jessica Mullen, master’s design student at UT
The gist: How the University of Texas System uses Second Life for virtual learning.
Takeaways: Part of Transforming Undergraduate Education grant, the project funded three Second Life islands for every UT campus and health institution, as well as administration. Students and employees can download Second Life for free. What to do with island is up to each campus, although they do get guidance. The project is funded for a year. Campuses had a variety of experience levels with Second Life.
Second Life offers a space for remote teaching. Students participate in projects within Second Life, which helps them take responsibility for their own learning. Possibilities for classroom use include bringing in speakers via Second Life or replacing expensive real-world excursions with virtual ones. It’s not being used as replacement for the traditional classroom, but it can help in situations such as connecting an instructor at one campus with students at another.
Students came to feel very at ease communicating in Second Life. An audience member discussed use of Second Life at his own school and said students who may have felt self-conscious in class became more at ease with sharing online.
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