Second Life Virtually Changes Education

Virtual worlds might seem like a game for tech savvy teens, but at The University of Georgia, a virtual world aficionado is educating professors about the benefits of utilizing Second Life in the classroom.

Today, David Miller, from the Center for Teaching and Learning, introduced two of the university's Second Life projects and explained avatars, islands and Linden Dollars. Second Life is a free virtual world built by its members who can create anything from schizophrenia simulators to replicas of the Sistine Chapel.

The Center of Teaching and Learning leads lectures that cover different education topics to help insure that university continues to maintain dynamic academics. Out of an audience of 15 adults, two took notes on their computer and only a few had explored Second Life.

According to Miller, "A lot of Universities are beginning to make use of virtual worlds, and they are building campuses in Second Life and other virtual worlds that are replicas of their own campuses. They are doing education environments where people can go and participate in scientific experiments and other types of experiments."

Two of the main projects that Miller introduced are The Georgia Museum of Art's virtual museum and a learning facility replicating Anse Bundren's house in William Faulkner's novel "As I Lay Dying."

According to Jenny Williams, the Public Relations Coordinator for the museum, she assisted in beginning the virtual museum because the actual museum closed for an expansion. The virtual museum allows the permanent collection to be accessible to the world.

Williams explained: "We're really excited about this being more than an educational tool for museum studies and art history students. It's also for those who may never get to visit The Georgia Museum of Art."

The virtual house dedicated to "As I Lay Dying" includes resources for visitors to learn more about the novel. Resources include Web pages, student monologue projects, a map of Faulkner's mythical Yoknapatawpha County, and monologues by other professors.

Paul Quick, the professor sponsoring Bundren's house, highlighted two of his top problems in Second Life: grading and copyright. Quick believes that students need more instruction when it comes to experimenting with Second Life. Quick said "I like the monologues, but this was certainly an experiment. I learned that I need a better rubric."

Quick also commented about copyright concerns associated with having a Great Depression room. In a similar situation, Williams discussed copyright issues for The Georgia Museum of Art: "Copyright is something we're dealing with a lot with this project particularly because we are putting real images in the gallery."

According to Williams, a large concern is the ability for people to capture virtual work through screen shots, but she said the resolution is usually too low to copy. Williams advised the audience to protect themselves against copyright issues by researching and following fair use guidelines.

Kelly Foster, a Research Professional at Carl Vinson Institute of Government, felt that the lecture focused too much on the basic elements of Second Life, but was excited about an opportunity to see the virtual projects. Foster attended the event because she plans to use Second Life to research the polling of young adults. She feels Second Life is more interactive than other media.

Miller believes that virtual worlds are changing communication, and educators must explore how to use these outlets for both research and communication. Miller began his closing statement by saying, "In the big picture of human culture, we're full of virtual worlds, but this one allows you to do some things that other virtual worlds do not. The interactivity and engagement with your avatar are very powerful."

High School Dropout Rate and Other Challenges to the Higher Education System

      Currently 39 million adult Americans are without a high school diploma and 40 percent have no education past high school, said Molly Broad during her speech as the twentieth annual Louise McBee lecturer last Friday.

     Broad is the first woman to be president of the American Council on Education (ACE) since its founding in 1918. Since taking the position, she has spearheaded an effort to change this shameful statistic. 

      Broad is working on marketing the General Education Development (GED) exam, a high school equivalency test, in an effort to make it more readily available to Americans who, according to Broad, are in desperate need of this level of education to secure a job. 

      Broad often referred back to Tony Cavoli's vision that education determines how far you can move up the social and corporate ladders. Broad also notes houw our world is shifting to one that holds greater importance on higher education. In 1967, Broad reports that 70 percent of Americans with only a high school degree were a part of the middle class. According to Broad's research this statistic no longer holds true, and even some with a high school degree are often part of the lower class in America. 

An extension of Broad's initial project as ACE president would be to create a "GED with honors," that would deem a person "college ready." This idea proved to be very popular with the crowd full of educators, especially after they viewed Broad's graphs showing the benefits of higher education. 

           Broad wants people to think of investing in higher education the way they think of investing in a home. According to her research, both increase a person's wealth and are a great asset. 

          According to her statistics, Broad's comparison rings true. Broad showed a graph that visually represented the strong correlation between education level and income. The median household income for a person with a Bachelor's degree is around $80,000 a year, while someone with a high school diploma makes only around the mid $30,000 mark. Broad expressed concern for the 39 million Americans without a high school diploma who are statistically only making $20,000 a year, which is below the poverty line if this income is supporting a family. 

          Broad also cited several social benefits of attaining higher education. Those with higher degrees are statistically less likely to be unemployed, and are also less likely to be incarcerated. Additionally, they are more likely to vote, have reduced chances of smoking and generally have better health, and are even more likely to volunteer, said Broad. 

          It is for all these reasons that Broad believed the higher education system needs to find a better way to serve not only their current students, but nontraditional students as well. Nontraditional students include adults 65 and over, individuals returning from war, displaced workers as well as the large amounts of high school dropouts. 

         When referring to adults over 65, Broad is speaking more of  a continuing education. 

"Although they're generally well educated historically speaking, we need to find ways to serve those who still wish to remain active in the workforce past age 65."

Broad also considers people returning from war as a type of nontraditional student that the higher education system especially needs to reach out to. Broad believes  educating these individuals is a great way for them to step back into the work force, and even American society. 

         Broad is confident that she is well on her way to helping serve high school dropouts by getting them "college ready" with her "GED with Honors" program, a project many attendees expressed interest in and talked about after Broad's speech.

         Broad's speech also touched on other challenges to the higher education system in America including the global economy, demographics and educational disparities, the cost and revenue structure of higher education, as well as the importance of public goodwill. 

         Although Broad notes the importance of facing these challenges and adjusting to overcome them, she still believes that students are the most important part of educators' jobs. 

         Colleges "must be seen as credible, a place of opportunity, a place to teach, a place to mentor, and a place to solve problems," said Broad. "Even with America at a crossroads, it is important for the higher education system to remain true to our values."