Pittsburgh Art Institute establishes campus inside Second Life

And the marriage between videogaming and education continues to flourish. The Art Institute of Pittsburgh just opened a campus inside Linden Lab’s ever-growing Second Life. The virtual school will be focused on teaching a new Business Communications course.

Furthermore, the teaching methods that will be implemented include constructivism or “learning by doing” as well as simulation-based learning. Real-world objects, structures, and even scenarios will be provided and student-players can then apply their knowledge of business processes and techniques inside Second Life.

Jeannie Novak, Academic Program Director for Game Art and Design/Media Arts and Animation at The Art Institute Online, is more than happy with this development. Novak believes that this development complements their school’s creative online education. The director shared,

An environment such as this takes advantage of lateral and community-based learning. We are always striving to create that within our current 2D online courses and this certainly takes lateral learning to the next level. Students will always know they’re taking a course. But they’ll be playing a game in the process, which is what serious gaming is all about.

The Art Institute of Pittsburgh isn’t the first to do such thing. In the past, a good number of real-life establishments and even governments have walked inside the virtual environment and conducted online businesses.

And the marriage between videogaming and education continues to flourish. The Art Institute of Pittsburgh just opened a campus inside Linden Lab’s ever-growing Second Life. The virtual school will be focused on teaching a new Business Communications course.

Furthermore, the teaching methods that will be implemented include constructivism or “learning by doing” as well as simulation-based learning. Real-world objects, structures, and even scenarios will be provided and student-players can then apply their knowledge of business processes and techniques inside Second Life.

Jeannie Novak, Academic Program Director for Game Art and Design/Media Arts and Animation at The Art Institute Online, is more than happy with this development. Novak believes that this development complements their school’s creative online education. The director shared,

An environment such as this takes advantage of lateral and community-based learning. We are always striving to create that within our current 2D online courses and this certainly takes lateral learning to the next level. Students will always know they’re taking a course. But they’ll be playing a game in the process, which is what serious gaming is all about.

The Art Institute of Pittsburgh isn’t the first to do such thing. In the past, a good number of real-life establishments and even governments have walked inside the virtual environment and conducted online businesses.