MMO Classrooms

MMORPG stands for "Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game". Most hardcore gamers would agree that MMORPGs are addictive, time wasting, and addictive. You build a character to live and play in a persistant virtual world where he (you) interact with hundreds and thousands of other players at any time of the day. I am a recovering MMORPG addict who has finally escaped from the realms of Ultima Online, Asheron's Call, and Shadowbane for almost two years. I abandoned MMO because-- as weird as it may sound--I was simply spending too many of my waking hours living in the virtual world. I am sure those who have experienced any type of MMO games can surely sympathize. MMORPGs are truly reflections of the real world in every sense except for the fantastical environments. It is no surprise that college professors are beginning to hold online classes via the MMO setting to make learning and meeting online more fun.

It's not unusual for teachers and students to use an online environment like a chat room to meet. But Delwiche and a few other college professors are taking advantage of Second Life's fully three-dimensional virtual world and are the first to teach classes in a world where the students can fly, change body types at will and build fantastical structures that can float in the sky.

I like it! I wish some of the online classes back in the days when I was young were delivered using the MMO format. I am sure the MMO environments will be used more and more in the future from online classes to business conferences. Let's just hope that MMO fantastical characters and environments won't be too much of a distraction and addiction.

Read Wired's Campus Life Comes to Second Life