Case Western Reserve University first to host private version of Second Life

Last week, Case Western Reserve University announced that they will be the first to host a private version of Second Life, an online virtual world that is imagined and created by its users. An article from The Chronicle of Higher Education says that the university will work with Linden Lab, the company that runs Second Life, to develop the private version that will be installed on the universities’ servers and behind their security systems which will eliminate the security, privacy, and intellectual property concerns often associated with virtual worlds. Larry Johnson, chief executive of New Media Consortium commented, “I think that it’s going to solve a lot of issues that many institutions have with using virtual worlds in general. It’s the first step in allowing universities to begin to build their own grids.” The private version of Second Life will be accessible to the university’s students, faculty, and staff members and will provide its users with many different opportunities including: an environment for medical students to perform research of personal medical histories and a place for mentors and public school students to interact.