Second Life

I thought you might be interested in knowing what's going on here in PR at MSVU. This is from Insight, MSVU's internal newsletter...

Professional Communication in Second Life

Educators and business leaders are racing to develop a presence in Second Life (http://secondlife.com/), a 3-D massively multiplayer online gaming environment, because of the opportunities presented for creativity and effective communication. Universities have set up virtual campuses, companies are designing and marketing products and services, and over one million people have logged on for a variety of social, educational and commercial reasons.

During the winter term, MSVU is taking small steps to investigate the potential of this online world as a learning platform, by creating a pilot program as part of Employee Relations PBRL 4101, a Public Relations course taught by Dr. DeNel Rehberg Sedo. The module will be created and delivered by Dr. Rehberg Sedo, with pedagogical and technical assistance from Extended Services Librarian Denyse Rodrigues and additional research support from University Librarian Donna Bourne-Tyson. Learning outcomes will include:

-a heightened awareness of the potential of a virtual online environment for effective internal business communication
-a mastery of basic “in-world” skills in Second Life
-a set of assessment skills necessary to analyze and critique the value proposition for professional communication inherent in a gaming environment.

In a future post, I'll provide blog links to Brent King and Barbara Emodi's teaching blogs.

over for now, doctor d