Press Release

NEW YORK, NY and SAN MATEO, CA (December 1, 2006) - New York Law School and There.com parent company Makena Technologies today announced the formation of the State of Play Academy (SOPA), the first voice-enabled virtual world learning environment and the first project specifically designed to explore strategies for using virtual worlds for distance education. Results of the first 10 classes will be reported at the State of Play / Terra Nova Symposium being held today and tomorrow in New York as part of an ongoing study of virtual world communities.

SOPA offers free online classes where participants are represented by avatars interacting on a virtual campus consisting of a classroom, library, coffeehouse and courtroom in There.com, one of the Internet's largest virtual worlds created for online socializing. Instructors and attendees communicate using There.com's real-time multi-person voice and text chat capabilities, including verbal exchanges mic'ed into the site and coordinated with avatars' mouth movements to create lifelike online conversations.

Classes are listed at www.StateofPlayAcademy.com and focus on law and technology topics such as virtual copyrights, online dispute resolution, municipal WiFi policy, and free speech and intellectual property issues related to blogging. SOPA project managers are using the platform both to investigate the value of virtual world learning in legal education and as a broader test of the potential for other kinds of classes.

"Traditional distance learning is a one-on-many experience with little group interaction. Virtual world learning simulates the real-world classroom environment, particularly when you can communicate by both voice and text. It's more engaging and stimulating because there's a sense of community as well as give-and-take," said Lauren Gelman, Associate Director of the Center for Internet & Society at Stanford Law School and Dean of the State of Play Academy. "Our goal with SOPA is to use law and technology classes held in a virtual setting as a vehicle for systematically exploring the best ways to teach and learn inside a virtual world."

"This is the first effort to offer a diverse curriculum in a virtual world, actively promote classes to people both inside and outside the community, and measure the results. It's a laboratory for determining how to use virtual worlds to improve distance learning," said Michael Wilson, CEO of Makena Technologies. "The involvement of thought leaders from some of this country's most prominent educational institutions clearly demonstrates the merits of the concept and promises to help shape the future of virtual world education."

All SOPA classes to date have been one-time, not-for-credit courses. Based on the effectiveness of those experiments, New York Law School professors have decided to hold select for-credit classes in the virtual world setting during the next school year. They also plan to use the SOPA platform to foster better connections among students and alumni mentors.

"We have just begun to explore the possibilities, but we already can tell that virtual worlds will help to create new kinds of learning communities," said Beth Noveck, head of the Institute for Information Law and Policy at New York Law School.

The State of Play Academy is funded by a grant awarded to New York Law School by There.com. New class and event offerings will be posted on the SOPA website in early 2007.

Press Contact:
Kerry Coulter
Dotted Line Communications (for There.com)
415-829-7152
kerry@dottedlinecomm.com


Michelle Andersen
Dotted Line Communications (for There.com)
415-292-3677