How does a hospitality management student network with industry professionals, redesign a hotel, or make a presentation in a hotel setting without leaving a laptop or computer terminal?

The answer may be Second Life, a 3D online digital world imagined and created by its residents. Second Life débuted in 2003 and is now used not only as a social networking device, but also as an online learning tool. In Second Life, participants create “avatars” to represent themselves. They choose hair, skin color, height, body type, and clothing. They participate in a virtual world, or in the case of ECU’s hospitality management students, in a virtual hotel created by Sharon Collins, project coordinator with the ECU Office of Academic Outreach, and graduate students.

In the fall of 2009, Cynthia Deale, associate professor of hospitality management, implemented Second Life in her distance education course, Multicultural Hospitality Management (HMGT 1500), for the first time to see how Second Life could enhance her hospitality and tourism classes. Deale’s students used Second Life to present projects about hospitality and tourism in other cultures in the ECU virtual hotel created by Collins’ group. While there were some glitches and a steep learning curve, the students responded well over all to Second Life.

“HMGT 1500 examines the influence of culture on hospitality organizations and management style and the impacts of diversity on the global hospitality industry—the significance of culture in hospitality labor market issues, legal and political environments, societal work values, communication, and corporate cultures are studied,” said Deale.  “I asked the students to create and share a guide to conducting  hospitality business in another culture—most likely in another country—as a group. Students developed the guide in PowerPoint and presented on Second Life.”

Kari Hayes, a hospitality management major in Deale’s class, said, “I think that Second Life is a great way to mingle with and learn from the teacher and classmates.”

“Pa Lo, another of Deale’s students, observed, “Despite us not being able to see one another, the communication and chats we had contributed to a great classroom. Second Life was another good way to help us collaborate and communicate with one another.”

“The class also dabbled a bit in serving food on Second Life, and I think that has further potential,” said Deale. “This spring, I’m also asking students to present findings from their tourism attraction assessment projects online and critique an online hotel as if it were a ‘real’ lodging property.”

Deale also plans to use Second Life in her Introduction to Hospitality Management distance education course (HMGT 1350) this spring. She said, “Second Life is an effective way for students and instructors to interact with each other in an enjoyable, positive, and often humorous way. The humor aspect is not silly; it acts as a catalyst for learning and, therefore, students want to complete their projects.  Last semester, I would sometimes visit Second Life just to check on the setting or supplies and often found students meeting together to work on their projects in the virtual environment without any prodding from me. I think that says a great deal about the value of this technology.”