Education in Second Life.

I was talking to my friend, Dan Yapungku, the professor, yesterday and asking him how the presentation of Second Life went in his class a week ago.
Apart for having the well known SL issue’s, just when it does not is suppose to happen, and when everything was checked in front, it was okay, he said.
It seems that everyone was thinking (is thinking) that Second Life is a too much invest of time for being interesting. I acknowledged it by saying that we are spending too much time on Second Life, but that I was very happy by the things I have learned through the past year.
So, he said, it was no waste of time, but worth the investment.
He even suggested teaching mine and his wife, to have more comprehension about our “waste of time” in Second Life.;)

There are several universities all over the world present in SL, and even teaching in SL, so do you really think it is a waste of time?
From a study in Holland, it is even proofed that virtual surroundings can be a valuable
supplement on education. They continue to experiment with this project, by giving the teachers guidelines how to implement the presence of a virtual world into their educational program.

Again, we see a perfect adaptation of the technical progress in our society, being implemented in our daily life.

From one side we see companies having the virtual world as a medium for their employees, having meetings inworld etc..., and from the other side we see universities teaching students through the virtual environment.

What do you think, is being present, playing around in Second Life useful to you or is it a waste of time? Do you improve your skills of building, scripting or something else?

Are you happy with your second life? Or is it the same old crap as in RL?

What is your opinion about the virtual world?