There’s still time for your institution to sign up and you don’t even need a campus in SL to participate.
As of today, the following 20 institutions have expressed interest in participating in this virtual college fair organized on the Teen Grid of SL:
- Front Range Community College, Colorado
- Bradley University, Illinois
- Florida State University
- Montana State University
- University of Kentucky
- Johnson and Wales University North Carolina
- University of North Carolina at Pembroke
- Central Piedmont Community College North Carolina
- San Jose State University California
- DePaul University Illinois
- Palm Beach Atlantic University Florida
- Vassar College New York
- Beach College California
- University of Oxford UK
- Bowling Green State University OH
- University of Southern Queensland AU
- Queensland University of Technology AU
- Monash University AU
- Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
- Western Illinois University
Who is behind this first college fair in SL? Kelly Czarnecki, a librarian at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County. She manages the Eye4You Island and is the driving force behind this project organized by a group of volunteers.
Beth Kraemer, a member of this group who works at the William T. Young Library of the University of Kentucky, answered the questions I had about the college fair.
1) Why did you decide to organize a college fair on the TG? What are its goals?
This isn’t the first time a college fair on the teen grid has been discussed, but it is the first time that it is actually going to happen. The original idea came from the teens on Eye4You Island on the teen grid. I think this is a wonderful project for Second Life. The virtual environment will allow teens and representatives from colleges and universities from all over the world to interact with one another-and no one needs to leave home!
2) How many SL teen residents do you expect for this college fair? Do you have an idea of their interest for such an event?
This event is a first, so there are a lot of unknowns. We are still soliciting speakers, representatives, and content to make the fair as enticing as possible. It is definitely a bit of an experiment this first year, but the idea did come from the teens themselves. So we are hoping for good participation, but we’re also expecting to use what we learn this year to make an even better event next year.
3) How do you cover the costs/support this venture?
The three participating islands (Eye4You, Skoolaborate and Global Kids) are providing space for the fair events at no cost to participating institutions. The only cost to the institutions themselves is the background check (if they want to bring a visiting avatar to the teen grid) and cost associated with building the objects for their display table, which is relatively small. As far as the folks putting the fair together, we rely on generous donations of time by the volunteer teens and adults. We have also had specific donations of resources for the fair, such as support for an ad in the Metaverse Messenger provided by Lorelei Junot from Info Island.
4) If an institution doesn’t have a presence in SL, does it still make sense to participate?
Absolutely! The purpose of the fair is to connect teens with information about real life colleges and universities. We have several ways to participate. Some things may be easier for an institution with SL experience, but institutions without that experience can definitely participate. They may not be able to send a visiting avatar to the teen grid but they can still interact with the teens in real time, by using chat facilitated by SLoodle. Or they can just provide information for a display table. We can help build display objects for the fair, for any institution that doesn’t have someone to do the building. We can work with them to find a way to participate!