Don’t know why I’m just hearing about this, but today’s NY Times (registration required) reports on a free Second Life service called “Campus: Second Life” that allows educators to build virtual learning spaces that last for a semester. Obviously the desire for persistence will drive users to paid subscriptions, but the trial edition seems fair and a good opportunity, as well as an effective marketing strategy. Thinking about it also makes me think about how important persistence is to real school, even as it embraces serendipity.

Thanks to Will Richardson at Weblogg-ed for linking to another NY Times story that led me to this one. (Department of Compulsive Citation … amazing how grad school can prepare one for the blogosphere, if it doesn’t kill off the impulse to write….)