Second Life

2013 ◽  
pp. 204-218
Author(s):  
Yvonne Masters ◽  
Sue Gregory
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Teaching And Learning Environment

An increasing number of educational institutions are trialling the use of virtual worlds as teaching and learning environments, particularly for distance education students. In 2009 the authors have begun a research project to explore the efficacy of one such virtual world, Second Life, as a viable adjunct to other online learning experiences. However, it is now recognised that most academics have no experience of teaching in a virtual world. An integral aspect of our research is to examine whether a novice user of Second Life could quickly learn to teach effectively with this tool. The teaching experience is outlined from two points of view: the novice and the expert. The emergent themes are discussed and conclusions are made regarding the efficacy of Second Life as a teaching and learning environment for distance education students and the level of support that might be needed to assist other novices to teach in-world.

Pre-Service Teachers Designing Virtual World Learning Environments

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 16-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Jacka ◽  
Kate Booth
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning Environment ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Pre Service Teacher Education ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Pre Service Teacher

Integrating Information Technology Communications in the classroom has been an important part of pre-service teacher education for over a decade. The advent of virtual worlds provides the pre-service teacher with an opportunity to study teaching and learning in a highly immersive 3D computer based environment. Virtual worlds also provide a place in which pre-service teachers can design teaching and learning environments for their future students. The virtual world teaching and learning environments that pre-service teachers design can, in turn, inform established educators about how virtual world spaces can be well designed and contribute to research in the field of education in virtual worlds. The voice of one pre-service teacher and her tutor is presented as they discuss the design of a virtual world maths teaching and learning environment.

Engaging Classes in a Virtual World

2013 ◽  
pp. 126-144
Author(s):  
Sue Gregory
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Educational Resource ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Simulated Environments ◽  
Observable Actions ◽  
Performance Perceptions

Virtual worlds, such as Second Life, are multi-user, interactive computer-simulated environments created for users to inhabit and interact via avatars, which are graphical representations of a person that can be personalised and used in the virtual world. In this research, 239 off-campus (distance) education students chose to attend weekly sessions in Second Life from 2008 to 2011. These sessions catered for a diverse group of students. It is internationally claimed that virtual worlds are engaging for distance education students. Engagement is the combination of student’s feelings, observable actions or performance, perceptions, and beliefs. This mixed-methods research sought to investigate whether virtual worlds were engaging for adult student learners. Recorded in-world (in the virtual world) conversations and the completion of a survey by university students provide data from which the findings are made. In-world discussion found that the virtual world, in this case Second Life, is an engaging environment in which to learn. These findings indicate the need for further research in using a virtual world as an educational resource.

Second Life as a Tool for Engaging Students Across the Curriculum

2010 ◽  
pp. 378-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn E. Stevens ◽  
S.E. Kruck ◽  
Jeremy Hawkins ◽  
Suzanne C. Baker
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Museum Studies ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Teaching Tool ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Innovative Teaching ◽  
The University

Second Life (SL) is a virtual world that possesses great potential as an innovative teaching tool. SL not only allows users to meet, interact, and collaborate in a virtual space, but also to create their own learning environments. This chapter explores how virtual worlds such as Second Life can be used to enhance the overall educational experience of both traditional and distance education students. We describe applications of SL to teaching diverse classes in art history and museum studies, business, and psychology, and to community building across the university. In general, our experiences with using SL have been positive, and our students report enjoying the creativity and flexibility of SL as well as the opportunity for social interaction in the virtual world. We provide recommendations to those considering the use of SL.

Teaching and Learning Abstract Concepts by Means of Social Virtual Worlds

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Griol ◽  
Zoraida Callejas
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning Resources ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Educational Activities ◽  
Virtual Spaces ◽  
3D Objects ◽  
The World

Social Virtual Worlds are increasingly being used in education, as their flexibility can be exploited in order to create heterogeneous groups from all over the world who can collaborate synchronously in different virtual spaces. In this paper, the authors describe the potential of virtual worlds as an educative tool to teach and learn abstract concepts by means of programmable 3D objects. They describe the main experiences carried out recently in the application of these technologies in transnational educational activities that combine the Moodle learning resources and programmable 3D objects in the Second Life virtual world.

scholarly journals The nature and application of formational learning in the distance medium

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn Naidoo
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Current Literature ◽  
Theological Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Student Support ◽  
Approaches To Teaching ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Learning Contexts

As theological education increasingly uses more flexible approaches to teaching and the number of distance education students increases, more attention needs to be placed on how formational education takes places in this environment. It is assumed that we cannot successfully address student formation in online learning contexts. However, with the advances in technology, the debate has moved on to exploring how theological education might adapt to new teaching and learning environments and use new pedagogies and technologies to prepare students for ministry. This article poses the question of how formational education is possible in the distance environment, considering the nature of formational education. In attempting an answer, the foundational dynamics of formation are unpacked using an analysis of the current literature together with highlighting the essential pedagogical factors of community, student support and faculty that are central to student formation. This article is of value as it highlights how formational education can be locally adapted within the distance mode.

The Use of Virtual Worlds in Management Education: An Investigation of Current Practices in Second Life

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amarolinda Zanela Klein ◽  
Angilberto Freitas ◽  
Lisiane Machado ◽  
José Carlos da Silva Freitas Junior ◽  
Paulo Gaspar Graziola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Management Education ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Role Of Information

Frequently, research on management education does not take into account the role of Information Technology as a key resource to support teaching and learning processes. In this article, the authors explore the current applications of Three Dimensional Virtual Worlds (3DVW) for Management education. The authors researched the educational institutions subscribed to Second Life (SL) (http://secondlife.com/), as it is one of the most popular open 3DVW available worldwide. The results reveal that only 31% of the institutions that answered the authors’ questionnaire actually use SL in Management education. Regarding the acceptance of SL in Management education, one third of the 15 institutions using it claim that it has been well received and accepted both by students and lecturers/professors. These results lead to several questions for further research and development of practices concerning the use of 3DVW for Management education.

scholarly journals Assessment and Learning in the Virtual World: Tasks, Taxonomies and Teaching for Real

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Vallance ◽  
Stewart M. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Cognitive Activity ◽  
Face Validity ◽  
Cognitive Domain ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Learning Development ◽  
Use Of Assessment

Many educational institutions make use of assessment schemes based on an ordered hierarchy of cognitive activity, where the judgments of educators on the learning progress of students are expressed using marks or grades. These have high face-validity because they appear to represent intuitively sound descriptions of learning development. The language found in many such assessment structures and their protocols reflects the hierarchy within a revised Bloom's Taxonomy where, in the cognitive domain, evaluation and synthesis is regarded as superior to analysis or application, which are themselves rewarded above memory or understanding. Virtual worlds provide an opportunity to explore new educational contexts for analyzing and measuring cognitive processes that support learning. The present research used the Second Life virtual world as a medium for remotely located students to communicate in the collaborative construction and programming of robots. Iterative tasks were used to explore several neo-Bloomian cognitive processes and knowledge dimensions. Analysis of 60 hours of video from classroom activity, transcribed data and in-world interaction suggests that the hierarchy of descriptors and associated ratings that are used within assessment schemes based on neo-Bloomian taxonomies may not accurately correspond to the 'higher order' cognitive ability development of students.

scholarly journals Virtual Education: Teaching Media Studies in Second Life

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Kurt Herold
Keyword(s):  
Media Studies ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Educational Aims ◽  
Educational Framework

Following the adoption of the virtual world Second Life by tertiary educational institutions worldwide, a limited study was conducted at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to test the feasibility and desirability of employing a virtual environment to conduct classes. 30 tutorials were held in Second Life over a period of five weeks in support of a course on Media Studies with 60 students. Feedback was gathered continuously from students and the lecturer via informal interviews, feedback forms, and participant observation. The results proved most of the initial hypotheses wrong, but supported the value of virtual teaching and learning in a well-supported institutional environment. The paper emphasises the need to integrate virtual environments into the educational framework of courses and for a careful consideration of the educational aims and uses of virtual worlds within specific courses.

Teaching and Learning Abstract Concepts by Means of Social Virtual Worlds

2019 ◽  
pp. 314-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Griol ◽  
Zoraida Callejas
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning Resources ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Educational Activities ◽  
Virtual Spaces ◽  
3D Objects ◽  
The World

Social Virtual Worlds are increasingly being used in education, as their flexibility can be exploited in order to create heterogeneous groups from all over the world who can collaborate synchronously in different virtual spaces. In this paper, the authors describe the potential of virtual worlds as an educative tool to teach and learn abstract concepts by means of programmable 3D objects. They describe the main experiences carried out recently in the application of these technologies in transnational educational activities that combine the Moodle learning resources and programmable 3D objects in the Second Life virtual world.

Virtual Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 144-159
Author(s):  
Barbara L. Ciaramitaro
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Virtual Education ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Student Perspective ◽  
Virtual Training ◽  
The Military

Virtual education is a multi-billion dollar business and maintains a firm place in the world of E-Commerce. It is a mode used by educational institutions, the military, professional organizations, commercial companies, and others to inform, educate and interact with students, consumers, and participants. Second Life® is the most well-known forum for virtual education for many colleges and universities, but it is not the only virtual environment used for educational purposes. Many organizations such as the military have developed their own virtual training and education frameworks (See Ciaramitaro and Jones, Chapter 7). Conferences and seminars offered by professional organizations and business consortiums are increasingly using the virtual environment to attract its participants. Even virtual worlds embraced by children provide many educational aspects such as the “working” experience in the Webkinz world. This chapter will discuss the varying ways that virtual worlds have been incorporated into education. The authors will examine several virtual worlds to see what they offer in terms of content and user experience. They will also examine virtual education from the faculty and student perspective, and investigate how it compares with traditional forms of teaching and learning. As is true in all virtual worlds, within the education domain there are issues and challenges that must be addressed before full-scale adoption is achieved and we will discuss several of these. The authors will conclude with an examination of what the future holds for virtual education.

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