TSTC makes global history with virtual world classroom
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The recent graduation service - the first of its kind - was filled with the ceremony and pageantry of a real-life event, complete with faculty members' avatars decked out in full cap-and-gown regalia. Representatives from Linden Labs, the company that developed the Second Life platform, joined TSTC faculty, staff and students for the celebration.
"We made the ceremony very grandiose," said Gibson.
"I got as choked up at this graduation as I have at any of the other services I have been a part of at TSTC for the past 13 years," he said of the online commencement.
But for all the technological trappings and virtual allure of Second Life, Gibson said vTSTC's program is really more about retooling the traditional classroom educational model.
"We want to change learning from being process-driven to a much more meaningful experience," he said.
The approach allows the virtual program's 67 instructors to become what Gibson terms "facilitators of knowledge." The Second Life model, he said, "opens the door for us to be able to tap experts in fields we would otherwise not have access to."
The digital media program, which holds evening classes Monday through Friday, has hosted representatives from Fortune 500 companies and renowned photographers, among other notable figures - most of whom TSTC would not have been able to afford to bring to the campus for guest lectures.
Shannan, who holds a bachelor's degree from The University of Texas, plans to continue with the online program and become one of the first students to virtually obtain an associate's degree, which requires 60 credit hours.
Other academic tracks, including general education college courses, will be added to vTSTC's Second Life roster, according to Gibson. Some of them may be implemented as early as next fall.
For more information about vTSTC and its programs, click here, or contact Mary Dickson at mary.dickson@sweetwater.tstc.edu.
