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NEWS > LOCAL NEWS > FORT WORTH Sunday, Jul 13, 2008

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Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Jeffery Washington

Biology professor Mary Anne Clark stands in front of heravatar in the Schollmaier building at Texas WesleyanUniversity. Clark, a geneticist, uses the Second Lifeprogram to enhance her instruction. Star-Telegram/JefferyWashington

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Colleges turn to online game for experiments toodifficult -- or impossible -- in real lifeBY BRYON OKADAokada@star-telegram.com

Judith Kung Fu may be just one of more than 14million computer-generated characters in the 3-Donline game Second Life. But with her help, hercreator may one day save your life.

In Second Life, Judith has walked through thewalls of a human cell.

She has, in a flash, conducted complicatedscience experiments that took the world’s bestminds years to complete.

She has helped her creator, 21-year-oldJacqueline Rodriguez, a senior biology major atTexas Wesleyan University, take crucial stepstoward becoming a doctor.

"I can visualize everything," said Rodriguez, whotook an advanced genetics course last semesterthat featured lab experiments conducted in theSecond Life world. "When we’re going over anidea, you can simply walk over and 'see’ whatyou’re learning."

As computer games have become moresophisticated, their ability to mimic real life — andmanipulate reality — has also become moreconvincing. "Massively multiplayer online" games,played simultaneously by thousands of people,offer their own economies, sports, businessopportunities, places to socialize, brushes withculture and just about anything under the sun —or inside it or beyond.

Each player is represented in the Second Lifeworld by an "avatar," a computer-generatedcharacter that can be made to resemble the user— or anything else he or she wants. Most playersseem to prefer beautiful humans, although you’llrun into the occasional angel, mythologicalcreature — or something weirder.

Because Second Life allows players tocommunicate directly, as well as to design andbuild whatever they choose, the more inventiveplayers have developed practical uses for thegame. Marketing, business applications, medicalconferencing, teaching — all have emerged inSecond Life.

It’s made the game a darling of mainstreammedia. And it’s undeniably popular. An estimated14.2 million people have signed up for SecondLife since 2003. About 1.2 million have activelyused their accounts in the last two months.

Artists make art. Business types do business.And, not surprisingly, teachers teach.

Studying on Genome Island

Log onto Second Life, hit Search and type in thename of just about any university and you’ll gethits. Visit Southern Methodist University’s DallasHall. Or the UCLA Library. Or Harvard Law School.

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Colleges turn to online game for experiments too difficult -- or ... http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/757188.html

1 of 3 7/13/08 11:04 AM

In Fort Worth — inside a computer system at Texas Wesleyan to be exact — students are linking to the Second Lifeworld not only to socialize but also to study. It’s all legit.

Biology professor "and resident computer geek" Mary Anne Clark is the owner and designer of Genome Island,where the Wesleyan students are working.

She’s part of a new generation of educators turning to Second Life as a means to energize her course material. Theschool is paying for the island’s "upkeep."

For a science teacher, the program is especially helpful, Clark said.

As designer, Clark can manipulate time, size, light and other factors on Genome Island.

That means students can replicate the famous 1928 Griffith experiment on mice — otherwise impossible atWesleyan, which has no animal lab.

In minutes, her students finish the cross-breeding field experiments that took Gregor Mendel eight years to complete.

"It’s fun," Rodriguez said.

At Genome Island, the scrolling sign reads over and over: "Science is the next best thing to recess.  . . ."

"The International Space Museum is just a couple of islands over," Clark said. "I fell off Jupiter while I was there —and it was a long way down."

Many schools use Second Life primarily for group meetings.

"One example of the way we’ve been using it is for virtual welcome sessions," said Katrina Adams, instructionaldesigner for the University of Texas at Dallas’ school of management. "We’ll hold them and get people from aroundthe country, and around the world. We’ll have program directors like George Barnes or Amy Troutman in Second Lifeand they’ll have their avatars there to meet you."

And in some cases, actual instruction is going on in Second Life.

At Wesleyan, there’s a flier going around: "Register for NSC 1414 Cats, Codons & Chromosomes. . . ."

On an even more promising note, Clark said, she has conducted a couple of orientations for fellow educators kickingthe tires of Second Life.

"We’ll see," she said hopefully.

Enhancing teaching

A recent study indicates that teaching in the 3-D world can enhance education, according to Greg Jones and ScottWarren, assistant professors of computer education and cognitive systems at the University of North Texas. Theyconducted a study that will soon be published in the Journal of Interactive Learning Research.

From fall 2002 through summer 2007, the study tracked 250 graduate students at UNT taking 16 courses — somewith a 3-D online environment and some without. Students using the 3-D world developed better rapport, stayedinterested longer and debated subjects more deeply, according to the study.

The success or failure of the teaching, Jones said, depends on how well the teacher can translate the real-worldlesson into the virtual world — and how well the teacher’s ideas harness the 3-D world’s capabilities.

"Technology does not replace teaching," Jones said.

To determine whether a technology like a game should be used in schools, teachers and administrators should askthe following questions, Jones and Warren say:

Is there evidence that the product improves learning?

Is there evidence that it accelerates learning?

Can it be used with the computers and servers we already have?

"If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then they should spend time further investigating whether or not it isright for their students," Jones said.

BRYON OKADA, 817-390-7752

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Colleges turn to online game for experiments too difficult -- or ... http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/757188.html

2 of 3 7/13/08 11:04 AM