Don Ellis is already five minutes late for class. Quickly gathering his notes and other class materials he heads out. The only problem: his classroom is 300 miles away.

But that’s no problem. Dressed in his traditional sweats and “SMU Cox” sweatshirt, Ellis takes flight from his home in Austin. He passes others in the air waving “courtesy hellos” and views individuals down below, buzzing about their daily routines.

Ellis makes his way to class to join his fellow MBA students at SMU in Dallas. Zipping over the top of Dallas Hall and into his classroom, he makes it just in time to catch the first PowerPoint slide.

Ellis has joined the class in its digital version live on Second Life, an online community for virtual interaction and socializing. The virtual world also allows students like Ellis to take classes remotely from the privacy of their own homes or from a distance.

“This was so innovative. It was so great to get practically the same experience as the rest of the class and still be at my home without missing a beat,” Ellis said.

Ellis’s Information Technology and Operations Management professor Ulrike Schultze created an “SMU Island” on Second Life in which teachers could broadcast class in a digital format using characters or “avatars” as visual references.

With the simultaneous broadcasting of class in second life, Schultze is able to utilize the advanced communication ability of the online world to include remote individuals like Ellis in the class learning from any Internet location around the world.

“Second Life is a very powerful communication medium and is really helping to expand the walls of the classroom to incorporate students at any Internet connection around the world,” Schultze said.

Schultze designed the platform in the Second Life world, known as an “island,” for SMU students to hang out and meet in a virtual setting, but also for professors to be able to hold class in a different setting.

In the virtual SMU, Schultze broadcasts in the Second Life classroom the exact same class that is happening in the real world. She is even able to import her PowerPoint slides onto screens in the virtual classroom as well as stream video.

Voice-over-Internet ability blurs the line of reality and virtual reality, allowing her to freely talk to students online just as if they were sitting in front of her.

“The main advantage of Second Life is the interactive feature with the voice or text capability,” Schultze said. “It really helps to make the transition as seamless as possible for a student in a virtual classroom.”

Schultze included Second Life into the curriculum of her into business technology class when the online world began making its way into the business world.

Consulting firm for top management, Teamwork Dynamics’ President Thomas Samson has integrated the online world into his business practice. He uses it as a meeting and communication tool to educate the company’s top executives.

“The great thing about Second Life is it can sort of trick your mind to think you are wherever your avatar is, sort of like a movie, you loose awareness of the reality line,” Samson said, “Because of this it can really enhance a meeting’s effectiveness.”

Samson purchased “land” in second life and built his own office building so that clients all around the nation could easily meet with him no matter where they are located.

Because of his business in Second Life, Schultze brought him in to speak to her class as a guest lecturer. But instead of a face-to-face meeting, he opted for a virtual interaction with the students.

Samson met the students in the virtual classroom but had more exciting virtual adventures in mind that sitting and lecturing.

“I took the students on a tour,” Samson said. “We went for a boat ride on a tiny boat, with about 15 of the students hanging off the side. It was a great ride.”

Samson then took the students to his office and delivered the promised lecture, bringing in PowerPoint slides from Schultze’s classroom on a screen in his virtual office.

Associate Director of Academic Computing Services Brad Boeke said the SMU information technology services is going to pick up the tab on Schultze’s “SMU island” to allow for it to continue past its one year lease.

He said it has so much potential benefit to so many students that he couldn’t let it go to waste. Boeke said it levels the field for students with a disadvantage.

“If you have a hearing impaired student that communicates through primarily sign language, the text feature of Second Life could help negate any disadvantage they are at,” Boeke said.

With the life of “SMU Island” secure, Schultze hopes more professors will bring its advantages into their teaching.

“I’ve tried to communicate the potential Second Life has in the classroom, I really hope it catches on,” she said.