A new trend in online education involves students acting through animated characters called 'avatars' mingling in simulated school settings and even rocketing off, via the Internet, on quests for knowledge.

San Jose State University in the heart of Silicon Valley has built a campus at Second Life, the popular virtual world created by Linden Lab in San Francisco.

The virtual university spans 6.5 digital hectares dotted with school buildings that Library Sciences Department students use for classes and experiments.

'When I teach with Second Life, I think of it as an experience generator,' university professor Jeremy Kemp said. 'I can send a student in to have an experience in an unstructured environment, and then come out and have a conversation about it.'

Thirty students signed up for his 15-week virtual-world class, which includes learning about the application driving the Second Life program.

While his class simulations are unconventional, industry analysts say his methods are not unique.

'Second Life is just one of those technologies that allow you to have a more robust classroom experience,' said Sloan Consortium survey director Jeff Seaman, who researches education trends.

Only a fraction of the more than 3.5 million people in the United States that took online classes last year did so in virtual worlds, according to the Sloan Consortium.

The University of California at Berkeley does not have a Second Life campus, but it makes some courses available via webcasts and podcasts, enabling students to stream lectures to their computers or listen on iPods or other MP3 players.

AFP