Testing the virtual waters.

THE CLASSROOM MIGHT BE VISITED by short green aliens or sword-wielding samurai that sometimes float above the action, but no one bats an eye. What sounds like a science fiction nightmare is actually an English Composition class at Ball State University (Ind.), but with a twist. It takes place in the "virtual world" of SecondLife, a shared online community where users, who often assume unusual physical appearances, interact with others and participate in various functions of SecondLife society.

Sarah Robbins, known in SecondLife as Intellagirl, has been leading the class since August, teaching in the real world one day and in SecondLife the next.

"I won't deny that there is a learning curve that has to be overcome to teaching inside SecondLife, but the payoff is well worth the effort," Robbins says. "I've never seen a class as enthusiastic, excited, or engaged as the one I'm teaching this semester."

How can a serious subject be taught to a class of giant KoolAid pitchers and exotic winged creatures? Robbins believes the novelty of the virtual world can actually enhance learning. "While they're [exploring SecondLife], they're also learning valuable lessons about community, identity, and ethnographic research and writing a ton!"

The class is one of a handful of online teaching experiments in the SeconLife environment. In September, Harvard Law Professor Charles Nesson (aka Eon, Dean of Cyberspace) and his daughter Rebecca began a virtual course called "CyberOne: Law in the Court of Public Opinion," that explores ways in which new media influences debate. Others are testing the waters as well, says Robbins, who co-edits the SLED Picayune, an educator's "in-world" newspaper. "We keep a list of the cur rent courses being taught in SL," she says. "As far as I know, my class is the only one that isn't open (like Harvard's) that meets in SL every week, and not just for part of the semester."