By Daniah AL-Abbasi

What are Virtual Worlds? A virtual world is a computer based stimulated environment intended for its users to inhabit and interact via avatars. This habitation is usually represented in the form of two or three-dimensional graphical representations of humanoids (or other graphical or text-based avatars). One of the most famous virtual worlds is Second Life (SL).

Second Life (SL) SL is one of the massively multiplayer online games. SL represents something different than a game. Rather than a game with set goals, it is a "life" that its residents decide to live. In SL, residents can set up businesses, buy land, build structures, or go to clubs or concerts to hang out and meet others. They can be as industrious or as lazy as they wish.

What is an Avatar? An avatar is an Internet user's representation of a male, female, or a creature used in all virtual worlds communities.

Virtual Worlds in the classroom Virtual Worlds represent a powerful new media for instruction and education. Some 60 schools and universities have set up shop inside Second Life — most in the past year. They join a population that includes real-world business people, politicians, entertainers, and more than 800,000 other "residents" of the virtual world.

Virtual Worlds in the classroom In order to help teachers bring their classes to Second Life, Linden Lab donates accounts for each student, as well as an acre of land in the metaverse for the teacher and students to work and build on.

Virtual Worlds in the classroom For the first time this fall, a Harvard University class is meeting on its own "Berkman Island" within Second Life (SL). Ball State and other schools have bought "land" on SL to build a campus.

Virtual Worlds in the classroom About 90 Harvard law and extension school students taking a course, called "CyberOne: Law in the Court of Public Opinion” can receive real college credit.

Virtual Worlds examples in the classroom Business Computer science Chemistry National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Play2Train project

Advantages Gives the students a feeling that they are in a real classroom. It helps build things that would either be too expensive or physically impossible to create in the real world.

Advantages It stretches the imagination and grows a person's creativity. Students can learn more about what they couldn't in the real world. Virtual Worlds can manage to get kids extremely engaged.

Advantages Role playing Collective Social learning Information access is easy for students.

Limitations Technical difficulties Have an inherently commercial nature For some people it can cause addiction.

Limitations Monetary cost Public opinion (Adult Content) Teacher training Virtual Worlds can’t be the only way of teaching because students need the real world interactions with other students and teachers.

Future Expectations virtual worlds are still so new that researchers haven't had much time to study their impact on people and education. Virtual worlds are the way of the future, integrating textbooks, discussion groups, blackboards, science labs, and easel in one technologically appealing package. fo/categories.shtml fo/categories.shtml