Last week The Chronicle of Higher Education published a Live Discussion: Getting an Academic Life in Second Life. The discussion is a series of questions posed by educators to Merrill L. Johnson, an administrator at the University of New Orleans—and his answers. A wide range of questions are addressed about hows, whys and ifs from a university viewpoint of establishing courses in Second Life. Merrill’s answers are based on the first steps his university is now taking. Among the many questions/answers is this one:

Question from Francine Blume, American University:
Can you speak to what drew you to Second Life, and how you prepare your students to use Second Life before the classes start. Thank you.

Merrill L. Johnson:
I am a geographer with an interest in GIS, and SL is sort of GIS on steroids. I saw a piece in one of my computer magazines last December and I went into SL to explore on my own–I thought the research possibilities in geography and social science would be great! I quickly saw the teaching and administration possibilities, and brought SL to the attention of our central administration. The rest is history.