LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 30, 2008) − The University of Kentucky has recently launched its own 3-D digital "island", hosted by Second Life, an Internet-based online virtual world. Imagined and created by its users, also known as "residents," UK's Second Life island is a a simulation of different aspects of UK's real-life campus that allows people to explore and develop a virtual campus life.  

 

Randolph Hollingsworth, assistant provost for Integrated Academic Services, welcomes the entry of the university into this international community.

 

“We believe Second Life is a novel environment for learning, either as a virtual classroom for faculty and student interaction or virtual campus for student-to-student and adviser-student collaboration and exploration. There are people from all over the world who are exploring this 3-D world, and it is an exciting place to be," Hollingsworth said. "For the campus community, Second Life can extend and amplify classroom and co-curricular experiences, and for those individuals at a distance who are curious about UK, Second Life can bring the campus to them. It also affords faculty rich opportunities to conduct research in areas as varied as social networking, learning in the digital age and identity politics.”

 

The island is currently in the planning stages of developing various components including a virtual visitor center that will feature an orientation to UK Second Life (UKSL), a thematic gallery and kiosk with announcements about UK events, a tour robot, and wildcat facts and figures. The island also plans to include selected buildings from the real-life campus where student ambassadors can take their fellow students on tours, a medical facility and an event amphitheatre. There are currently virtual classroom settings, discussion areas, and a "sandbox" area where visitors can experiment with building their own 3-D items.

 

UK's Office of Undergraduate Education is funding the project, while UK Libraries has taken the first major steps in establishing UK's island by placing a replica of the W. T. Young Library on the virtual campus. The library features a support desk where students and faculty can get help from the reference librarians. The Teaching and Academic Support Center (TASC) is taking the administrative lead on the master planning and policy building of the island, and will host a grand opening virtual "event" on the island that is tentatively scheduled for March 19. The event will include speakers, island tours, island activities (such as a virtual scavenger hunt), tutorials in creating an avatar and getting around in Second Life. A real-life event coordinated with the virtual event is planned where potential Second Life residents can come to the real William T. Young Library to learn how to create an avatar, meet people involved with Second Life on campus, etc. For more information and updates, visit www.uky.edu/TASC/.

 

Developed by Linden Research, Inc., Second Life is an Internet-based virtual world that opened to the public in 2003. It is inhabited by millions of residents from around the globe. For more information about Second Life, visit www.secondlife.com.