Schools eyeing virtual campuses

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) — An Internet fantasy universe teeming with faux worlds devoted to socializing and video games is expanding to include virtual classrooms and universities.

A new trend in online education involves students acting through animated characters called "avatars" mingling in simulated school settings and even rocketing off, via the Internet, on quests for knowledge.

San Jose State University in the heart of Silicon Valley has built a campus at Second Life, the popular virtual world created by Linden Lab in San Francisco.

The virtual university spans 16 digital acres dotted with school buildings that Library Sciences Department students use for classes and experiments.

"When I teach with Second Life, I think of it as an experience...