I am developing an introductory Women’s Studies class to be held in the metaverse of Second Life. The primary focus of the class will be gender identity and gender expression. I chose SL as the platform for several reasons.

• First is the immersion component; students can experiment with gender expressions in a safe and secure environment.
• Second is what I call the mask or actor affect: if a student can pretend to be someone he or she is not, he or she might be more willing to express an unpopular opinion or position.
• Last, there is a very pragmatic reason for choosing an online environment: our university, like many others, has a lack of classroom space and a lack of funds to create more. Meeting in a virtual classroom helps alleviate the space crunch while providing a more personal interaction between student and teacher then many other online platforms, i.e. WebCT.

What are the positives and negatives of teaching in SL? I would like to discuss several issues which relate to teaching in SL:

• Are the benefits of immersing oneself in an alternative world offset by the isolation some critics fear increases in SL.?
• When teaching in SL, how do you get over the learning curve of using the platform?
• Is it ethical for students to perform a gender with which they do not normally identify or, in other words, pretend to be something they are not?
• Also, any other issues which pertain to teaching in Second Life.