When you take a really close look, it becomes apparent that the creators of Second Life did not have education in mind when the product was planned, designed or developed. That being said, it's amazing that the tool can lead to such powerful educational experiences, right out of the box.

However, when held up against other classic virtual classroom environments, a core element is missing: learning objects.

What is a learning object? Some examples...

• An instance of instructional media - audio, video, Flash-based, text based, etc.
• A quiz question, or series of quiz questions - T/F, MC, hotspot, drag and drop options
• An evaluation question, or series of evaluation questions
  

Modular objects such as these could quickly be used (and re-used) in-world to create more robust virtual classrooms and interactive learning experiences (Aldrich, 2005)