SecondLife

"The 3D environment offers much more variety and interactivity compared to 2D web-based learning (Blackboard, video conferencing, etc). Anything that is available on the web can be integrated in to Second Life, so I now think of SL as the web plus. Some of the benefits include access to content unavailable on the web (I can visit a recreation of Sao Paulo and speak live in Portuguese to people who live in Brazil, or walk through 3D exhibits of Van Gogh's art), live role play (write a script, create costumes, and film a movie in Tombstone), the immersive quality of the simulations (experience life as a person with schizophrenia by walking through the UC Davis simulation), social networking, virtual field trips (walk through a recreation of the Sistine Chapel built to scale using thousands of photographs), the ability to literally build and construct knowledge representations, attending events presented by other organizations or leaders in the field (ISTE, AECT, EduCause, New Media Consortium, etc. all maintain a strong presence there), inworld tagging of content to develop shared vocabulary and schemas, etc. Some of the disadvantages can include a plethora of technical issues, needing a fairly high-end computer, and the learning curve involved in using 3D worlds.

"As a distance-based program, most (but not all) of our students have enjoyed the ability to "see" each other and interact in real time in a way that is qualitatively different from video conferencing. Many friendships and long-term projects have resulted out of this interaction. There have also been some interesting cyber-psychology studies showing an increase in trust between students and instructors when they can "see" each other's face, even though it's an avatar."

Lisa Dawley, Ph.D. Professor & Chair Department of Educational Technology Boise State University

Here's a video about the program at Boise State. The video is made in Second Life and it's about their national center for educational gaming and simulations. http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/3353277/

Additional resources related to Second Life and virtual environments for learning can be found at: http://delicious.com/texastheresa/virtual.environments