It’s time for roll call: Jamie, Clarissa, Jason, Tic-tac-toe, Dominick, Danger, Queen of Hearts, Phil.

All present and accounted for in Nancy Jennings’ communication and technology class.
On today’s agenda: A trip to the Galapagos Islands.

Thanks to Second Life, a virtual world, Jennings’ students are able to tour the islands they spent all quarter building.

“The students [in class] have been really excited [about Second Life] this quarter,” Jennings said. “They have been developing signage and keeping blogs about their experience on Second Life.”

The signage created by the students will be bought by Chris Collins, UC’s Second Life ambassador, for $10 Linden (Linden dollars is the accepted form of currency in world.
Approximately $1,000 Linden is $4 USD.) Once Collins – Fleep Tuque on SL – purchases the signs, they may be used in the University of Cincinnati’s biggest virtual project, a recreation of the Galapagos Islands and a virtual build up of UC’s Main Campus.

The Galapagos project is part of UC’s celebration of Charles Darwin’s Sesquicentennial – 150 year anniversary – of The Origin of Species.

“I guess I was the brain child of starting [the Galapagos] project,” Ron Millard (Darwin Aristocat on Second Life), Darwin Sesquicentennial committee chair. “We had an idea that we wanted to establish this project as an integral of UC activity on Second Life and bring it as an integrated part of the Sesquicentennial Darwin program … We’ve had an inquiry from the Virginia Museum of National History and they asked if we could install a kiosk at the Darwin and Evolution exhibit next year.”

Visitors to the Virginia museum will be able to interact with UC Galapagos SL committee members. Cincinnati-area participants include the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens and the Newport Aquarium.

The Galapagos Islands and UC’s Main Campus on Second Life have, to this point, been built largely by students. Greg Mefford, a fifth-year electrical and computer engineering student, has been the main contributor to construction.

Already Mefford, or Ferrgo Pickles on SL, has built iguana models, models of Galapagos finches, a model of the ship Darwin used to explore the islands, the S.S. Beagle and a model of McMicken Hall.

Using geographic data, Mefford has also written a script to make the shapes of the islands realistic. The sizes, however, aren’t to scale. He has also textured the volcanic islands to make them more lifelike.

On the western most border of the UC Main Campus, located on a sunny, private island, is McMicken Hall. Just down the red and gray stone-paved MainStreet is Wulf Hall, a residence hall for Jennings’ students. And just outside of Wulf Hall, is a penguin.

“Second Life is continuing to grow and there are a lot of possibilities,” Collins said. “You can’t just pull a penguin out on a real campus.”

McMicken is the only building on Second Life that exists on the real campus to allow “people to explore their creativity.”

Since UC started using Second Life, it has invested approximately $10,000 to $15,000 for land, maintenance, development, purchases and time.

Most of the students in Jennings’ class hadn’t used Second Life prior to her class, although they were able to pick up the necessary skills for building and creating objects in world.

“Second Life is kind of like that book you buy for class that you liked and that had a lot of really good information in it so you keep after the quarter is over,” said Tad Miller, a fourth-year communications student in Jennings’ class. “You keep the book with good intentions but you never actually look at it again.”

Miller’s Second Life name is Colonel Fromund. He was also the winner of a classroom Halloween party costume contest in which he came dressed as a “bear-loving man,” inspired by Super Troopers.

Despite notions that social networking Web sites or virtual worlds like Second Life make classrooms and people less interactive and social, Collins, Jennings, Mefford and Millard disagree.

“I think we’re hoping [Second Life] is a part of an integrated educational [system] where it’s real-life social interactions, educational interactions and discussions and Second Life environment,” Millard said. “Second Life allows teachers and students to go to places
and see what they’re talking about here and then hopefully bring that back to
the classroom.”

UC’s involvement in Second Life and the Galapagos project extends past the virtual world. In the 2009 calendar year, when the university celebrates Darwin’s Sesquicentennial, a class of environmental students and a group of UC alumni are scheduled to travel to the islands. The photographs and videos the groups take while visiting the islands off the coast of Ecuador will be used in the final project.

Currently, the virtual island is private, but is set to be open to the public in January 2009. The campus is also closed, although it’s not certain when – or if – the island will open publicly. By opening the university to the 16,309,217 Second Life users, as of Friday, Dec. 5, creators run the risk of vandalism or disruptions for the UC community that is participating in research or taking class.

Millard predicts UC will remain on Second Life for “many years,” – well beyond 2010 – creating the Galapagos and building the university.