Most students and faculty choose to walk or take a bus around campus, but flying and teleporting from one building to another is becoming a preferred mode of transportation in the growing virtual Penn State community of Second Life.
The online community created in 2003 by San Francisco-based Linden Lab, www.secondlife.com, is more a lifestyle than a game, since residents, who are called avatars, don't essentially focus on a goal or an end point.
Much like the real world, residents buy and sell items using real money. Second Life's Linden Dollars currently have an L$266 to a $1 conversion rate.
Because of its real-world juxtaposition, businesses like Reebok and American Apparel have joined in, looking to cash in on the millions of dollars spent each day in Second Life.
Now, a number of universities and other learning institutions are entering Second Life to explore the academic potential it might hold.
In the past year, Penn State has quietly developed a presence in Second Life, which now consists of four separate islands: ISTania, Penn State Isle, Penn State Isle 2 and Penn State Berks. Islands cost $1,675 for about 16 acres, with a $275 monthly land maintenance fee.
However, Linden Labs offers a 50 percent discount to academic institutions like Penn State.
Unlike corporations and individuals, academic institutions are restricted from making profits.
Brad Shively (sophomore-information sciences and technology, security risk analysis) is researching the academic utilization of Second Life for the College of Information Sciences and Technology alongside Gerry Santoro, faculty head of Second Life Research.
Shively said that so far, Second Life has not been integrated into any structured courses, but the application of Second Life at Penn State may soon expand.
Keith Bailey, director of the e-Learning Institute at the College of Arts and Architecture, said the institute is exploring the use of Second Life in Art History 111 (Ancient and Medieval Art), which could take place as early as fall 2008.
"I would hope that at some level we would incorporate the Second Life environment in it either as a resource or a physical part of the course activity," Bailey said.
Bailey said the department hopes to integrate a virtual Palmer Museum of Art, currently being built on the Penn State Second Life property. He said that because of the lack of physical space, many of the pieces of owned or loaned art are in storage. A virtual representation of the museum would allow for those unseen pieces to be shown.
Similarly, Gloria Clark, assistant professor of humanities and Spanish at Penn State Harrisburg, is developing a "virtual hacienda" for Spanish students. According to the Penn State Virtual Worlds blog, www.ets.tlt. psu.edu/virtualworlds, a two-story building has been purchased and placed on the Penn State Harrisburg land. Clark said she would like it to become a gathering place for students, "a cantina of sorts."
One of the most innovative Second Life events involving Penn State was the first virtual Penn State Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, held this year.
Shannon Ritter (graduate-new media arts) began the cyber fundraising event held simultaneously with the actual event at the Bryce Jordan Center in February.
"They had computers on the dance floor at Thon that showed the Second Life version [of the event]," Ritter said, "and inside Second Life, we had video of the real Thon streaming, so people at our event could see the real event."
Ritter said that the virtual Thon raised about $500, but she hopes to raise more next year.
"There are Penn Staters all over the world that are not able to make it here for the real Thon," she said, "but if they were able to log in and be part of [virtual Thon] I think that it would be a great thing."
Second Life residents are held to community standards, which discourages acts such as harassment and assault. Recently, unheeded warnings to residents associated with Woodbury University caused Linden Labs to delete its online campus.
To prevent such actions locally, Penn State has developed a code of etiquette in addition to Linden Lab community standards.
According to the Penn State Virtual Worlds Web site, all Second Life land operated by Penn State units are considered part of Penn State itself; all Penn State academic and student behavior guidelines, policies and codes of conduct are in effect when a player is engaged in Second Life as a Penn State faculty, staff or student member.
"Students that ignore these guidelines will be reminded of them if negative behavior continues," Brett Bixler, lead instructional designer and manager of education technology services, wrote in an e-mail message. "They are subject to Linden Lab community standards, including possible expulsion from Second Life via Linden Labs."
Virtual graffiti recently appeared on Second Life property belonging to the Penn State Berks campus, which purchased its own island in June. Although Michael Bartolacci, associate professor of IST at Berks, said a Penn State student did not draw the graffiti, his department has locked down the campus, only allowing a select few to access. Because Berks is mostly a commuter campus, Bartolacci said he thinks Second Life is of particular benefit.
"If [students] leave campus, and a professor wants to have a help session later that day, they don't want to come back," Bartolacci said, "so having Second Life can be a big bonus to commuter students."
Alexia Hudson, reference librarian at Penn State Great Valley, said her campus was awarded part of Penn State Isle to be used as a virtual library -- a "help desk" in the Second Life world for Penn State students.
She said companies such as Cisco Systems look for potential employees to have some knowledge of virtual communities.
"I'm really proud that Penn State University has taken on this initiative," she said. "Even though it is being coined as experimental, I think it's a huge statement for a large Big Ten research organization to say this is significant enough for us to look at critically and examine."
