Summary of interview

       To begin the Article Lamont introduces Professor Walsh. He states that Walsh has two courses at Boston College in which are mostly in a Virtual Reality Word. Walsh informs Lamont that he was misinformed and that he teaches three courses. But he affirms Lamont that two out of his three courses are mostly in a Virtual World. “Why not Second life?” was a question that was asked relatively early in the conversation and Walsh answers that question by stating “Second Life is a candidate for the new Immersive Education platform that we're defining today, but it wasn't a viable option for the previous generation which we selected in 2003.”

       Next Walsh was asked about some challenges and advantages there were. Walsh talked about how it was hard at first because not every computer was up to par when it comes to the graphic cards. So the classes could not have been mostly in the VR; also the connection was a problem that arouse. But once most of the students were either living in residence halls, which has high speed internet connection, or at home, which has DSL connection, it became easier to do. “Other advantages include the time saved in traveling to and from class, which can be significant for students who live off campus. I've had some non-traditional students live over an hour away from Boston College, meaning they waste more than two hours traveling ever time we have class in person (on campus).”

     

To end the article Lamont asks if every institution could staff and fund immersive education programs. Walsh exclaims that most can’t so that is why they are trying to make it virtually in expensive. As in they want to make it well documented and free. Even though that is the goal, it is still very hard to achieve.

·         http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2007/05/teaching_in_vr_.html