Communication and Education in a Virtual World

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorri Mon
Keyword(s):  
Learning Styles ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Role Play ◽  
Personal Learning ◽  
Learning Games ◽  
Learning Techniques ◽  
Virtual World Environments

Education within Second Life frequently recapitulates the “sage on the stage” as students sit their avatars down in chairs in the virtual world and listen to or read an instructor’s lecture while watching a slideshow. This conceptual article explores alternative active learning techniques supporting independent and collaborative learning within virtual worlds. Within Second Life, educators can utilize a variety of scripted tools and objects as well as techniques of building and terra-forming to create vibrant virtual personal learning environments and learning experiences that are engaging and responsive to individual learners. Issues of embodiment in an avatar are discussed in terms of social presence, and student learning styles are considered as well as approaches to problem-based learning, games, role play, and immersive virtual world environments.

Communication and Education in a Virtual World

2012 ◽  
pp. 121-136
Author(s):  
Lorri Mon
Keyword(s):  
Learning Styles ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Personal Learning ◽  
Learning Techniques ◽  
Personal Learning Environments ◽  
Virtual World Environments

Education within Second Life frequently recapitulates the “sage on the stage” as students sit their avatars down in chairs in the virtual world and listen to or read an instructor’s lecture while watching a slideshow. This conceptual article explores alternative active learning techniques supporting independent and collaborative learning within virtual worlds. Within Second Life, educators can utilize a variety of scripted tools and objects as well as techniques of building and terra-forming to create vibrant virtual personal learning environments and learning experiences that are engaging and responsive to individual learners. Issues of embodiment in an avatar are discussed in terms of social presence, and student learning styles are considered as well as approaches to problem-based learning, games, role play, and immersive virtual world environments.

Using Virtual World Technology as a Faculty Development Tool in Higher Education

2012 ◽  
pp. 149-160
Author(s):  
Linda W. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Faculty Development ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
College Faculty ◽  
Teaching Tool ◽  
Development Tool ◽  
Virtual World Environments

Higher education institutions are constantly challenged with the task of educating a technology savvy generation of students. Colleges must be able and ready to meet the needs of these digital-age students. What are the perceptions of college faculty of using virtual world technology as a teaching tool in the classroom? The purpose of this chapter is to explore how virtual world environments can be used as a faculty development tool in order to encourage the use of virtual worlds as a teaching tool in the classroom. This chapter references research from a mixed methods study exploring college faculty perceptions of the adoption of virtual world technology into the classroom, which in turn, provides insight to the willingness of higher education faculty to adopt this type of technology. In addition, the final section of the chapter includes a suggested guide on how to create a virtual world faculty development workshop based in Linden Lab’s Second Life.

scholarly journals Virtual Worlds Round Table

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Yee ◽  
Liz Losh ◽  
Sarah Robbins-Bell
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Round Table ◽  
State University ◽  
Online Journal ◽  
Ball State University

By being an online journal, the JVWR allows for the inclusion of some pieces that might not otherwise fit a standard journal. This was the thought behind bringing together a group of virtual world scholars to discuss a series of questions and share their thoughts. Meeting in Second Life, Nick Yee (PARC), Liz Losh (UC Irvine), and Sarah Robbins-Bell (Ball State University) were gracious enough to share their thoughts on the study of virtual worlds culture.

scholarly journals The Griefer and the Stalker: Disruptive Actors in a Second Life Educational Community

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Paul Lafayette DuQuette
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
English Language ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Fear And Anxiety

Linden Lab’s Second Life (SL) is well-known for its hands-off approach to user conflict-resolution. Although users are given tools to mute and block individual accounts as well as ban undesirable avatars from user-owned land, that does not prevent determined, malicious users from disrupting communities and harassing individuals. This case study focuses on two such malicious users exemplary of two specific types of malevolent virtual world actors: in-world griefers and online stalkers. As part of a decade-long ethnographic research project within the Cypris Chat English language learning community in SL, this paper utilizes data gleaned from notes on participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and first-hand encounters. It categorizes the disparate strategies these individuals have used over the years in their attempts to disrupt group cohesion, sow distrust between students and teachers, humiliate individuals, and foment an atmosphere of fear and anxiety. It then reviews the methods community members used to defend themselves from such attacks and analyzes the efficacy of these strategies. This study builds on our understanding of harassment in virtual worlds and acts as a cautionary tale for future virtual world educators and community leaders considering the development of their own online classes and groups.

More than just Logging In

2013 ◽  
pp. 149-160
Author(s):  
Kae Novak ◽  
Chris Luchs ◽  
Beth Davies-Stofka
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Content Delivery ◽  
Immersive Learning ◽  
Delivery Vehicles

This case study chronicles co-curricular activities held in the virtual world Second Life. The event activities included standard content delivery vehicles and those involving movement and presence. Several international content experts were featured and allowed students to meet and discuss ideas on a common ground with these experts. When developing these events, the researchers wondered, could an immersive learning environment be provide a deeper level of engagement? Was it possible to have students do more than just logging in? During the events, the students discovered a whole new way of learning. Chief among their discoveries was the realization that in these virtual world educational events, students, scholars, and faculty can all be mentors as well as learners. In virtual worlds, the expert-on-a-dais model of teaching is rapidly replaced by a matrix of discussion, collaboration, and movement that quickly generates a pool of ideas and knowledge.

Adapting Three-Dimensional-Virtual World to Reach Diverse Learners in an MBA Program

2012 ◽  
pp. 1207-1219
Author(s):  
Rosalyn Rufer ◽  
Ruifang Hope Adams
Keyword(s):  
Learning Styles ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Instructional Strategy ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Diverse Learners ◽  
Multimedia Design ◽  
Teaching Pedagogy ◽  
Mba Program

The purpose of this chapter is to adapt instructional strategies to virtual world learning environment in Second Life and reach more diverse learners with different learning styles. Part of the approach will focus on learners who are visual as compared to auditory and kinesthetic. Additionally, the approach will examine how changes in pedagogical methods can be used to reach diverse learners with different learning styles in virtual learning environments. The major topics address how styles of learning were considered in designing an instructional strategy and how differences in learning styles were rationalized via learning in a virtual world. Thus student success can be correlated to teaching pedagogy, and hence modified to reach diverse learners. Suggestions are included for adapting a cognitive process combined with multimedia design principles in a virtual world.

The Added Value of 3D World in Professional, Educational, and Individual Dynamics

2017 ◽  
pp. 275-297
Author(s):  
Ivonne Citarella
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Economic Opportunities ◽  
Fantasy World

The author focused her studies on the series of professional competences which have grown within virtual worlds, and which have been made possible thanks to two main peculiarities: the highly intuitive software and playfulness gaming. The research allowed to classify the various professions born within the Second Life virtual world, these have allowed also to become a viable economic opportunities in real life. In parallel with the observations on the dimension of “work” within Second Life, the author gave also attention to the relational and educational dynamics. The author decided to enact her sociological and didactical experiment in the occasion of the event Salerno in Fantasy, a yearly convention dedicated to the Fantasy world.

The Current State and Future Potential of Virtual Worlds

2011 ◽  
pp. 2535-2543
Author(s):  
John M. Artz
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Application Technology ◽  
Current State ◽  
Future Potential

Virtual worlds, while not a new phenomenon, have come to the foreground of information technology in the past few years largely due to the growth of Second Life, a three dimensional, global virtual world that has captured the imagination of millions. This article provides some background on this virtual world phenomenon providing both a history and a classification of virtual world technology. It then focuses on Second Life discussing the application, technology, and social implications. Included in the discussion are some current initiatives such as the open source client and server projects and the implications of those initiatives. Finally, we provide some speculation on the future potential of virtual world technology as an extrapolation of the current trajectory.

Does Second Life Mark the Beginning of a New Era of Online Shopping?

2011 ◽  
pp. 232-247
Author(s):  
Jang Ho Moon ◽  
Yongjun Sung ◽  
S. Marina Choi
Keyword(s):  
Social Presence ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Online Shopping ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
New Era ◽  
Shopping Experience

In this chapter, the authors explore the unique social dimension of shopping in virtual worlds, namely Second Life, by examining the role of avatar-based interactions in determining consumer shopping experience. To this end, an overview of Second Life, and other similar virtual worlds, is provided. This chapter then introduces the concept of social presence and offers a conceptual discussion of how avatar-based shopping in virtual environments is distinctive from shopping in other Web environments. Next, the authors present the preliminary findings of the ongoing research study investigating how consumers’ interactions with salespersons and peer consumers via avatars influence their shopping experience in Second Life. This chapter concludes with a future prospect of virtual worlds and directions for future research.

Social Presence Functions in Task-Based Language Activities in a Virtual Classroom in Second Life

2017 ◽  
pp. 181-198
Author(s):  
Sedat Akayoglu ◽  
Golge Seferoglu
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual Classroom ◽  
3D Environment ◽  
3D Virtual Worlds ◽  
Discourse Patterns ◽  
Asking Questions ◽  
Expression Of Emotions

As the developments occurred in terms of technology, new tools and platforms started to be used in classroom settings. However, there is a need for discourse analysis of these tools and environments in order to better understand the flow of communication. This study aimed at determining discourse patterns in terms of social presence observed in a course carried out in a 3D environment, Second Life. At the end of the study, it was found that the most frequently used social presence functions were expression of emotions, vocatives and asking questions respectively; the least frequently used social presence functions were phatics and salutations, referring explicitly to the others' messages and quoting from others' messages. The findings of this study were found to be in parallel with the literature. This study might be helpful for researchers, educators and students in order to better understand the contexts created in 3D virtual worlds.

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