Well, if you thought the speed of the online evolution was moving extremely fast, it just got even faster. Just the other day it was all about Web 2.0 and now we are thinking about 3.0. And, of all places, education may become an early adopter.

According to eWeek.com, Scott McNealy, of Sun Microsystems, announced at the recent Worldwide Education and Research Conference the latest technology for the classroom – “Education 3.0.”

It appears “Education 3.0” is reminiscent of “Second Life,” an Internet based virtual world. In Second Life, users create avatars to interact with other online avatars in an advanced social network. Users create profiles and build their own virtual person to explore, meet other users, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, create and trade items.

So, how does the virtual world work inside the classroom?

McNealy describes Education 3.0 as “immersive education,” an environment where students are actively searching for their own answers. Topics and subject matter can be created within a 3-Dimensional virtual world using a variety of media including audio, video, online maps, wiki pages and still pictures.

Students dive in just like any other online video game and seek out their own educational adventure. I could see my old high school history class recreating the Battle of Gettysburg in a virtual world. Students could get a 3-D glimpse of the setting and explore for themselves what took place in America’s history. If there are questions, users could communicate with others who are logged in, including the teacher, and they could pick up objects and view descriptions. How cool would it be to watch and listen to a 3-D rendition of President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address? I’m sure students would much rather explore history in their own creative online environment instead of reading it in a textbook.