CNN iReport

Metanomics host Robert Bloomfield welcomed Dr. Leslie Jarmon, Faculty Development Specialist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, to his show on Wednesday, October 21, 2009, in a multimedia broadcast focusing on the recent University of Texas decision to purchase a virtual archipelago including some 50 regions, with an island for each of the 15 campuses of the University of Texas system. The event was attended by a capacity crowd at the Metanomics Studio in Second Life, with some not being able to gain access due to the large amount of interest. The event was also broadcast on Metanomics website.

In September the University of Texas and Linden Lab announced the multi-sim roll-out of an ambitious year-long project to examine the feasibilities and actualities of using Second Life to promote educational and collaborative projects. The ultimate and highest goal of the project is to determine what it "looks like when an entire state system of higher education moves into Second Life," said Dr. Leslie Jarmon, during the interview.

Dr. Jarmon (Bluewave Ogee) provided an enthusaistic explanation of the project, the "UT System Transforming Undergraduate Education Initiative", which has as its core goals that the project must enrich the quality of the learning experience of undergraduates, while simultaneously lowering education costs and proving useable across a very diverse array of campus environments (9 academic campuses; 6 medical health science center campuses). "The chancellors made the bold decision to provide the infrastructure," she commented. A significant portion of the total funding has been paid to Linden Lab for the virtual real estate, providing each of the 15 campuses with their own island to use as they deem, keeping the goals of the project in view.

"In mid-June this year, chancellors sent a letter to the presidents of the various campuses, instructing them to appoint a campus lead who would be responsible for directing the year of exploration and discovery in SL," explained Dr. Jarmon. Various projects are well underway. One such project includes a collaborative effort involving Katy ISD high school students who will be assisting with various builds. Last spring semester, a college-level design class spent the entire semester designing an oceanography sim that will be used by students studying oceanography.

"We believe that this initiative is going to help so many people. It's founded on the ethic of sharing. IRB-approved research is being conducted at 3 levels (system, individual campus, individual course), and so there will be many publications generated as we all continue to learn and understand more. After a year, we¹ll be able to share failures, challenges, and successes of what it means when a large statewide public university system extends operations into the virtual world. And the virtual learning community, of course, already extends and will continue to grow far beyond the UT System campuses themselves. Collaborations with other educators, already emerging, will continue to grow and extend more deeply into disciplinary and interdisciplinary domains," commented Dr. Jarmon.

During the show, the chat screen was steadily rolling with comments ranging from a query from Doubledown Tandino as to whether the 250,000 hours in SL would transfer into credits, to more serious discussion about the virtual classroom experience.

Second Life resident Valiant Westland asked, "Do you see the use of Virtual World educational options lessoning the need for the expansion and maintenance of expensive physical infrastructure?" Dr. Jarmon was quick to point out that any funds not needed to expand the carbon footprint of the university campuses could be better spent on making enriching the education experience.