Uni Degrees Way Above Zero!

Second Life will undoubtedly affect the way in which tertiary education is delivered.

I say this after doing a search of the term “university” on SL the other night. Whilst the usual mish-mash of results occurred, what was extremely interesting was the number of universities that had established a serious presence in SL.

As yet there is no Australian presence, however I would not be surprised to see some of our premier universities such as the 2006 Commonwealth University of the Year, University of Wollongong, showing up there some time soon.

The prospects for distance education courses are an obvious dimension that SL would substantially change in terms of costs, lecture material, communication and student / lecturer interaction. However, it also begs the question as to whether the idea of on-campus and off-campus course structures could, would and will change.

A perusal of the search results on SL show that some of the universities; Rockcliffe University, Ohio University, San Diego State University (the top three by traffic numbers) are exploring their presence and the kind of options they can offer current and prospective students. As the front runners, other universities (competitors in the world market place) may find themselves playing catchup at a cost.

Assuming that the global market is just that, we will no doubted see these SL campuses of Real Life (RL) centres for learning providing fully recognized programs at competitive rates.

The effect that will have on Australia’s HECS scheme, and indeed, the funding and viability of universities in this country is a definite area of concern, if not interest.

Comments

  1. There is at least one Australian uni with a SL presence – the University of Southern Queensland has an island called Terra incognita – http://slurl.com/secondlife/Terra%20incognita/157/108/33

  2. There is at least one Australian uni with a SL presence – the University of Southern Queensland has an island called Terra incognita – http://slurl.com/secondlife/Terra%20incognita/1

  3. Thanks for the link Sean – we’re going to cover Terra Incognita soon now we’re aware 😉

  4. Thanks for the link Sean – we’re going to cover Terra Incognita soon now we’re aware 😉

  5. Hi Graham
    We, the University of Southern Queensland that is, sure are there!!!! Hope you have time to have a good look around Terra incognita..any questions, please do not hesistate to IM me…Decka Mah…and I will be happy to fill you in on our work with professional learning programs, use within courses and our partnerships with the state Government of Queensland and Education Queensland. If your research is right then, as usual, the University of Southern Queensland is leading the way in online learning.

    Decka Mah (lLindy McKeown)

    2005 QSITE ICT Outstanding Leader of the Year
    2006 ACCE ICT Outstanding Leader of the Year
    2006 ISTE ICT Outstanding Leader of the Year

  6. Hi Graham
    We, the University of Southern Queensland that is, sure are there!!!! Hope you have time to have a good look around Terra incognita..any questions, please do not hesistate to IM me…Decka Mah…and I will be happy to fill you in on our work with professional learning programs, use within courses and our partnerships with the state Government of Queensland and Education Queensland. If your research is right then, as usual, the University of Southern Queensland is leading the way in online learning.

    Decka Mah (lLindy McKeown)

    2005 QSITE ICT Outstanding Leader of the Year
    2006 ACCE ICT Outstanding Leader of the Year
    2006 ISTE ICT Outstanding Leader of the Year

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