HVAC students at a UK college were stunned when their gas and heating lecturer Martin Biron rented 4,000 m2 of space in the online world Second Life to run 3D virtual classrooms.
Martin Biron has bought an island and installed a house with an interactive central heating system for plumbing, gas, heating and ventilation students at the College of North West London to study.

More than 600 HVAC students at the college in became the first UK students to be given a Second Life education.

Students can virtually fly round its central heating and hot water system, turn off valves and follow the movement of (red for hot, blue for cold) water through its pipes, to examine parts virtually that may be harder see aspects of in the real world

Individuals can move through the 3D environment using a figure of their own choice (known as an avator) to represent them inside Second Life.

The house also features a gas meter to allow students to take a gas reading from a virtual appliance and calculate a gas rate and then receive instant feedback on whether they are correct.

It was while reading an article in The Times newspaper about Second Life that Biron got his eureka! moment for a virtual college back in June 2007. The virtual 3D environment Second Life went live on the internet in 2003 with properties entirely built and owned by its residents, many of whom are corporate giants living next door to Joe and Joanna bloggs.

Having successfully managed to persuade the college to support his programme, Biron's e-college went live in February 2008. The college now has 65,000 square metres of land in the programme is attracting 15,000 visitors in a month.

The College of North West London's total spend so far is just under £2,000, which paid for the cost of the island, monthly maintenance charges of £75 (discounted for educational establishments by 50%), a virtual heating system commissioned by a Second Life designer and all assets created on the island.

E-books for students to read in their own time, have been created to display lecturer's power point presentations and virtual classrooms make it easier for all to meet up unhindered by real-life restrictions.

When heatingand ventilating.net spoke to Martin Biron, the teacher was surfing Second Life making changes to the students' virtual training rooms.

'Once I read about Second Life, I was intrigued. I saw the potential for a training platform and wanted to show my students how to learn to look at things with a fresh approach.
'The ethos of Second Life is user created content. I contacted users to get bespoke virtual artifacts that would enable students to learn'.

Biron says Second Life is one of many great tools in a HVAC teacher's toolbox. 'To get through the NVQ training in Heating and Ventilation students must know how to install a central heating system and Second Life gives students a great understanding of how to do this.

For more than 600 students on three of the college's HVAC courses: plumbing technical certificate, heating and ventilating technical certificate and domestic natural gas installation and installation technical certificate. These courses are a stepping stone to the NVQ level 2 courses, also taught at the college.

The school holidays may have started but Biron's students are clicking on over to their virtual college on daily basis to catch up with their lecturers and fellow pupils. Students can leave messages offline to meet later.
'Only yesterday, I met up with some students who had popped in to have a chat', said Biron.

Second Life has 11 million registered users worldwide.

Speaking with a copy of Heating and Ventilating Review on his desk, Biron says HVR readers are welcome anytime to drop by the virtual college to see him and get a tour of the site's facilities.

To visit the college you must enrol on Second life. Second Life can be accessed free on www.secondlife.com