IST Leading the Second Life Wave at Penn State
ISTania in SecondLife
“I believe that virtual worlds are today where the PCs were in 1986” said Professor Santoro in reference to the popular virtual world, Second Life. Second Life is a virtual world which was launched in 2003 by Linden Labs. In this virtual world, users can fly, socialize, and visit famous places, such as the Sistine Chapel and Ancient Rome, all without ever leaving their seat. Although, it is not the only virtual world available, it is by far the most popular. Presently, IST has an island, called ISTania, within this world. IST is also looking into purchasing a second island in the near future. In total, Penn State owns around five islands, with IST leading the way. PSU and IST have been coordinating their development efforts with the Educational Gaming Commons.
Second life has been used by the College of IST in many ways. Several IST professors, including Gerry Santoro, Andrea Tapia, and Jan Mahar, have used Second Life in their IST 110 class. In Professor Tapia’s honors class, students created a virtual dance party. A link to a clip of this project can be found at the bottom of the article. In Professor Santoro’s IST 110 class, students are assigned to explore the virtual world and then write a paper on how people interact with technology. In addition, in his SRA 111 class, Professor Santoro has his students examine issues regarding privacy and security. These issues include identity theft and harassment. Professor Santoro believes the software serves “to prepare the students and help them become familiar with and gain experience with something that will become a major, or the major, technology for access to digital information ten to twenty years from now.” Finally, Lynette Kvasny’s IST 402 class, Emerging Issues and Technologies, also makes use of Second Life. In this class, students examine virtual worlds as emerging forms of popular entertainment.
Coming soon to ISTania is a virtual interpretation of Dante’s Divine Comedy. This project, known as the Neo-Dante project, is in the process of creating three towers representing the each three books. The idea emerged after a conversation between Dean Foley and Professor Santoro. Coincidentally, Todd Behrens, a senior who is also working on the project, recently took a class where he had to read and interpret the Divine Comedy.
Another possible use of Second Life is to foster social inclusion for older generations. Instead of being locked in their home with no connection to the outside world, they could use Second Life to feel connected and engage in social interaction. For example, elderly people who are immobile could use Second Life in order to take virtual trips with their grandchildren.
As new technologies continue to emerge, the way in which we interact virtually will improve greatly. For example, significant progress is currently being made with Brain-computer interface, a device that hopes to some day give “humans the power to mentally control computers.” More information on this topic is available by clicking the link below.
Leave your response!
You must be logged in to post a comment.