WRIGHT STATE -  Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio has nominated Shu Schiller for the Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Technology award.  This national award is presented by the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning and goes annually to faculty members demonstrating innovative approaches to student learning.

As part of this honor, Schiller presented her research, “Second Life in MBA Education: Teaching and Learning in the Virtual World” at the 19th International Conference on College Teaching and Learning in Jacksonville, Florida.

Schiller is assistant professor of information systems and operations management in the Raj Soin College of Business.  She teaches Information Technology and Business Transformation, a required class for the MBA program.  She has been using SL in her classroom since the summer of 2007.

“Second Life is a wonderful place to show students.  Not only do they understand what virtual business is all about, but they have first hand experience,” Schiller said.  Schiller uses the name Shu Zabelin in SL.

Outwardly the experiences look mundane.  Students acquire an avatar, are given spending money to purchase clothes and needed things.  They explore different SL locations, and finally put together a room working as a team.

Schiller’s class is anything but ordinary.  At each step of the way, students analyze experiences from a business and marketing perspective.  At one point they might be looking at a case study.  (For example, STA Travel had two islands and hoped to promote their real life travel business within SL.  They targeted newbies by offering them tours around SL.  Within a year, they had withdrawn from SL.  Why did they leave?  What can we learn from their experience?)  

Students look at why someone would want to create a virtual business presence, how it would affect a first life business, and what facets are necessary to run a successful business in SL.  Students consider the networking possible in a virtual world and explore ways to create marketing campaigns in real life and SL to stimulate their business.

Team building is a crucial part of Schiller’s MBA class.  Students have been paired with students from another university, and one semester students from China explored techniques for entering the virtual marketplace.

“I tell my students all the time – ‘Don’t think of virtual spaces as only virtual spaces.’  You need to think about the business and how to use your first life resources to promote your SL business,” Schiller said.

Only 15% of the class grade comes from the SL project in this class, but students spend a lot of time learning and enjoying SL.  Schiller makes sure fun activities are scheduled online as well, whether dancing, beach ball, the rubix cube challenge, etc.

What’s next for this teaching dynamo?  Schiller is focused on small size team work and is designing a puzzle challenge and maze to be used in a team setting for future classes.  She also plans to expand her other classes to include a SL segment.

Schiller said that Wright State University has been very supportive of her efforts in SL.