University of Florida computer engineering Professor Paul Fishwick prepares for an upcoming class in the three-dimensional online world Second Life on Feb. 1, 2007. Fishwick is teaching one of at least two classes at UF this semester convened in part in Second Life. There, Fishwick’s “avatar,” the character that represents each player in Second Life, leads discussions among some 30 other avatars controlled by upper-level UF undergraduate and graduate students in CAP 4403/CAP 6402, Aesthetic Computing. “I like the potential for collaboration, immersion, aesthetics, creativity, social interaction,” Fishwick says. “There are a lot of different dimensions I think are valuable to educators.”

(Ray Carson/University of Florida)
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