In the digital universe of Second Life, classroom instruction also takes on a new personality.

This post comes from The Chronicle. Despite its image as an all-American city, downtown Peoria, Ill., home of Bradley University, is also a place of strip clubs and violent crime. For undergraduates, it's a risky environment in which to conduct field research. Edward L. Lamoureux, an associate professor in Bradley's multimedia program, saw a better place in the virtual world Second Life.

This fall he is teaching his second ethnography class online in a computer-created environment featuring buildings, lakes, and avatars — digital characters who fly from place to place, chat, and form communities. The program is Bradley's first foray into using Second Life as a platform for education. Students have analyzed, among other topics, online hackers (known as "griefers" in Second Life) and avatar fans of musicians who perform in Second Life. Click here to read the rest of this article.