New Orleans Education System Rebuilding in SecondLife

Second Life is getting a lot of residual buzz from educators - and there are very intriguing aspects to it when it comes to education. However, there may be more practical benefits, as Second Life system provides online classes indicates.

...But there's a sensible side to Second Life, too. If the New Orleans area should be struck by another monster storm that forces students, teachers and administrators to scatter widely for an indefinite period, Second Life will let teachers set up online classrooms overnight, Johnson said _ keeping school functions from shutting down, as they did after Hurricane Katrina, and helping them hold on to students.

Most New Orleans area institutions of higher learning can do that already because they have moved their computer servers out of state and because they are equipped with Blackboard, a system that cannot only set up online classes but also store records, post documents and allow text-message chats among students and teachers.

But Second Life, by Linden Lab of San Francisco, goes a step further. Johnson sums up the difference with one word: presence...

Of course, California has more than its fair share of natural disasters, electricity problems and celebrity governors. In essence, it isn't necessarily safe - but Linden Lab has begun spreading servers around with some plans for international as well. Oddly, they still hire based on geography, but - the virtual world is becoming more diverse in location.

So here's a question: Could the metaverse withstand a natural disaster in any location that the servers are located? If something were to happen, could the diversification of the geography of the network allow for continued use?