Authors:
Marc Conrad
;
David Pike
;
Paul Sant
and
Catherine Nwafor
Affiliation:
University of Bedfordshire, United Kingdom
Keyword(s):
Second Life, Virtual Worlds, Student Activities.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Computer-Supported Education
;
Domain Applications and Case Studies
;
e-Learning
;
Information Technologies Supporting Learning
;
Learning/Teaching Methodologies and Assessment
;
Simulated Communities and Online Mentoring
;
Virtual Labs: Examples, Architecture and Organization
;
Virtual Learning Environments
;
Virtual Universities and Classrooms
Abstract:
There are high expectations on Second Life, a multi-user interactive virtual environment, to play a prominent role in higher education in the future. Across universities worldwide many projects aim to engage students in a variety of activities related to Second Life. However typically the number of students participating in those projects is small and the use of Second Life is an optional addition to the syllabus. We present two activities, conducted in 2007 and 2008 where Second Life has been used as an integral, non voluntarily part of an assignment in project management. Feedback from the 200 participants has been collected in the form of a questionnaire and interviews. Our results show that students have found the experience mostly positive, or, at least, didn’t object to it. However technical and administrative problems have been identified that still question the suitability of Second Life for a smooth provision of these activities on a large scale.