University of New Orleans to offer classes on Second Life.

This post comes from Kact in New Orleans. To get an idea of the future at the University of New Orleans, just imagine Barbie, Ken and hundreds of their clones dropped into the world of "The Matrix.

It's a virtual world, populated by perfectly proportioned people with great hair and cool clothes who strut, stroll and even fly through an airy virtual building that is UNO's Internet home.

Whether teacher, student or administrator, each visitor to the site chooses an online alter ego _ an avatar, in computerspeak _ which is assigned a name and can even be custom-designed.

Merrill Johnson, an associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts who showed off the system earlier this month, outfitted his avatar with a bright red tie, hip glasses and a thatch of streaked blond hair.

The system, called Second Life, is tricked out with enough gimmickry to appeal to students who have grown up playing computer games. In a development reminiscent of the movie "Being John Malkovich," users can go inside their avatars' heads to see the world from their point of view as they stroll down virtual brick paths past lush lawns, a gazebo and stark modern buildings alongside a placid lake.

"You have flood insurance?" someone cracked during the presentation.

But there's a sensible side to Second Life, too. If the New Orleans area should be struck by another monster storm that forces students, teachers and administrators to scatter widely for an indefinite period, Second Life will let teachers set up online classrooms overnight, Johnson said _ keeping school functions from shutting down, as they did after Hurricane Katrina, and helping them hold on to students. To read the rest of this great article click here.