Harvard Offers Virtual Class In Second Life

This fall, Harvard Law School professor Charles Nesson will coteach a course on argument with his daughter, Harvard Extension School instructor Rebecca Nesson, that will take place in the Second Life virtual world. In Second Life, users create avatars that they control, using them to move around the virtual environment and interact with others and with the virtual physical space. A number of other colleges and universities have used Second Life as a component of certain courses. For this new course at Harvard, Nesson and Nesson will teach students–entirely through the virtual environment–how to use blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other electronic tools to make effective arguments. The class, which is open to the public through Harvard’s extension school, will take place in an online replica of the university’s Ames Courtroom. Rebecca Nesson will hold office hours in Second Life; Charles Nesson’s office hours will be in his actual office.

Chronicle of Higher Education, 30 August 2006 (sub. req’d)