Washington State University and the website Second Life have teamed up to create a virtual campus to enhance the distance degree program and allow students to attend classes in a whole new way.
The new virtual campus is a replica of the Pullman campus and has buildings and features such as the Glenn Terrell Mall, the Holland Library and Bryan Tower to name a few of the defining landmarks of the online campus.
The campus was created by students from The Center for Distance and Professional Education who worked with Second Life to make all of this possible.
Classrooms such as the Compton Union Building auditorium will be used by professors to conduct lectures and put PowerPoint’s on the screen for students to observe and take notes. Students and professors will be able to interact via avatars and headsets to communicate according to Brett Atwood, a WSU professor and Lynden Lab employee. Atwood is a firm supporter of the program and the new possibilities that this new campus will bring.
“Right now we are in a testing stage,” said Atwood. “The communication and engineering programs will be offering classes this fall.” Atwood believes that the virtual campus will give the university a larger presence in the world and will help create trust and connections in an online community. “It allows a sense of belonging for people away from Pullman and brings everyone attending Washington State University together,” said Atwood.
Megan L. King, a recent WSU graduate using the distance degree program, has mixed views on the new program. “I think that it takes away from face-to-face interaction and away from the real world,” said King. “The old setup was a lot easier it seems that now it’s taking people out of real world situations of class.” King also went on to say that the program may work and will support it if it does.
Atwood went on to add that the program is not for everybody. “It’s a good way to offer people who are away, some may just not respond as well as others.”
The ways students respond to the new campus will be up to debate come fall when actual classes are being taken and the testing stage is over.
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