I Was a Second Life B-School Student

Undergraduate programs already have a presence in this virtual world, but INSEAD is one of the first management programs to break ground

by Francesca Di Meglio

My avatar—a bronzed brunette in jeans and a purple sweater—recently visited an island in the virtual world where INSEAD, an international business school with real-world classes in France and Singapore, is building a virtual campus. Although she nearly drowned on a guided tour of the still-under-construction island, it was an eye-opening experience.

INSEAD is one of the first management schools to dip a toe into the online economy, instead of merely studying it. Despite the vibrant economy of Second Life—a three-dimensional alternate universe complete with its own currency—and the hype about virtual worlds having the potential to change the real-world economy the way the Internet did in the 1990s, most business schools are taking a cautious approach.

Not so INSEAD. For starters, the school hired three architecture students—Botond Molnar, Balint Halasz, and Peter Vikar—to create virtual classrooms suitable for lectures that will supplement in-person learning. INSEAD also commissioned laboratories for research and lounge areas for students to meet with professors, potential employers, and one another.

The Global Classroom

After a test run with students, including one who showed up to his virtual class as a fox, the school is working out design kinks and gearing up to use Second Life regularly. "The purpose is to do everything we already do but better," says Miklos Sarvary, associate professor of marketing and manager of the International Centre for Learning Innovation at INSEAD.

Besides putting the INSEAD community at the forefront of new technology, says Sarvary, this plan is to help the school cut back on travel and physical building expenses. It also enables the program to make good on its commitment to diversity by bringing together students and professors from across the globe, he adds.

Briefed on the thinking behind INSEAD's virtual venture, I began my tour of the facilities. This was by no means a typical dog-and-pony show for the press. My avatar (I call her FrankieTheReporter) was led around the INSEAD island by the avatars of Molnar and Halasz.

It is, after all, a construction site, and inexperienced avatars risk drowning in the nearby water if they're not careful about where they land after flying. (It's hard to remain the hard-boiled reporter-avatar when you miss an island and sink like a stone. Fortunately, in this world you can snap into the air—and back to life—by clicking "fly.")

Campus Maps Required

INSEAD's area is a work in progress, but it already boasts a tree-lined walkway, large screens that provide information about the school, and some plush chairs that soothed my avatar's tired back after the fall. Eventually, students will be able to download documents, work in teams, and meet alumni at a campus café, my guides explain.

Those interested in applying to INSEAD will be able to head to a public space to gather information about the school's various programs. The architect-avatars warn that newbies can easily get lost in Second Life. That might be a hurdle for the school as it tries to persuade students and alumni to take part in the virtual world.

While no business school has made the leap that INSEAD has, other B-schools have been eyeing Second Life—if for no other reason than because of the business opportunities it presents. More than 5 million residents were signed up for the virtual world as of Apr. 11.

Virtual Recruiting Center

By the end of March, residents had created 5,617 islands. or virtual entities, such as INSEAD's campus. Residents sold 83,705,808 square meters of virtual land at an average 10.6142 "Linden dollars" per square meter. One resident even announced that she was the first Second Life millionaire both in the virtual and real worlds thanks to her participation in the site (see BusinessWeek.com, 11/26/06, "Second Life's First Millionaire").