A case study of teaching religion using the Second Life® (original) (raw)
Related papers
Extending the classroom through Second Life
… Education, 2009
Second Life is a three-dimensional (3D) electronic environment where members can socialize, hold virtual meetings, or conduct economic transactions. Utilizing virtual environments like Second Life is believed to provide educators with a new medium for teaching and information dissemination that bypasses the normal boundaries associated with traditional online and face-to-face interactions. This unique platform not only provides educators with traditional online teaching conventions but also allows for simulated social interactions, which are essential to student-teacher relations in the classroom. This paper presents a series of field trials and focuses on one recent case study of the integration of Second Life into an introductory computer course. The benefits, lessons learned and effective practices of integrating the technology are provided. The case study findings are supplemented with results from student surveys. The study found that the integration of Second Life activities improved students' learning experience. Furthermore, students participated in the Second Life activities in the case study showed higher learning motivation and better performance. Limitations of this study and future research directions are also provided.
Learning and Teaching in the Virtual World of Second Life
International Journal of Virtual and Personal Learning Environments, 2010
Educational applications of virtual worlds are growing in popularity and used in pursuit of a wider diversity of learning outcomes as platforms proliferate and experimentation continues. According to this book, "the primary factor (lending to Second Life's growing acceptance by educators) is that it represents an innovative way for both learners and educators to participate in the world in general, and to control the learning activities in particular" (p. 188). While there is definitely a considerable amount of activity and effort being invested in the use of virtual worlds to achieve real world learning outcomes, the development of documentation on "what works" and "why" in the emerging field of Virtual Learning Environments is less prevalent and its usefulness often quite dubious. This book represents the experiences of participants in a state-funded Scandinavian project to create virtual education for adult learners on "Kamimo Education Island" and other experienced educators in Second Life. Offered as a "roadmap on issues of: instructional design, learner modeling, building simulations, exploring alternatives to design and integrating tools in education with other learning systems" (p. 7), the book is generally-though not completely-comprised of narratives generated by expert-situated case perspectives using descriptive methods. While a quick perusal reveals some noticeable flaws, a close reading of the book nevertheless reveals a wealth of insights and recommendations germane to developing and engaging learning experiences within the Second Life virtual environment. Learning and Teaching in the Virtual World of Second Life comprises two parts; Chapters 1-4 is a section devoted to the pedagogic design and management of learning experiences in Second Life and, the second section, Chapters 5-12, describes examples of Second Life projects and the pedagogic wisdom revealed through these contexts. By easing the reader into the idea of teaching and learning in a virtual environment and offering a provocative list of possible educational uses of Second Life, co-editor Judith Molka-Danielsen provides an introduction and lens through which the reader is invited
Learning and Teaching in Second Life
Outlooks and Opportunities in Blended and Distance Learning, 2013
Formal off-campus flexible learning has been a feature of higher education since the 19th century. The introduction of various educational technologies over the years has provided additional opportunities for learners to undertake courses offered anytime and in any location, providing greater flexibility for the development of cost-effective learner-centred curricula. With the emergence of 3D virtual worlds such as Second Life in 2003, educators are quick to realise the potential of such immersive environments to extend the flexible learner-centred approaches that have been a feature of off-campus learning over the decades. However, the benefits of technology-enhanced learning can be contradictory and incompatible and can both widen and reduce access to education. Despite the proliferation of articles attesting to the benefits of teaching in virtual worlds such as Second Life, until relatively recently, there has been a lack of empirical evidence reporting on the learning outcomes for students participating in these virtual learning sessions. Good pedagogical practices must be taken into consideration when educating in a
Teaching in virtual worlds: educational experiences in Second Life
2009
The paper describes the results of a survey carried out to identify the Italian universities which are part of Second Life and to analyse the academic services they are able to offer in this virtual environment. The objective of the research is to study the ways of enjoying this environment and to understand how these universities exploit the "immersive" qualities and typical potentialities of virtual reality (Jacobson, 1994). Here is the list of Italian universities so far examined:
Lifelong Learning (LLL) has been a remarkable response to people-centered educational demand of 21 st century. In order to provide effective formal, non-formal, and informal learning, immersive educational activities undertaken throughout life should be aimed to create a learning society in which people can experience individual and collective learning with no constrains of time or location. The concept of lifelong learning within the context of distance immersive education encompasses diverse 3D activities. The three dimensional, Web-based structured activities supported by distance learning technologies can be viewed as interactive tools which foster LLL. In this perspective, Second Life (SL) can be regarded as one of the learning simulation milieus that allow learners to participate in various educational LLL activities in individual or group forms. The following paper examines how SL, taking advantage of its simulative nature and the possibility for creative interaction among participants, which are also common in games, allows the learners to participate in immersive constructivist learning activities. The article will also touch on the current uses of SL as a tool for LLL, as well as its potentials for further development according to the current trends in adult education. Further, the authors will discuss its limitations and will make suggestions towards a more complete pedagogical use.
Teaching with Virtual Worlds: Factors to Consider for Instructional Use of Second Life
Journal of Educational Computing Research, 2010
Substantial evidence now supports pedagogical applications of virtual worlds; however, most research supporting virtual worlds for education has been conducted using researcher-developed Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVE). Second Life (SL) is a MUVE that has been adopted by a large number of academic institutions; however, little research has systematically investigated the potential of using SL for higher education. A 2–year pilot study was conducted that included seven SL activities and a mixed-methods evaluation of the SL's affordances, challenges, and limitations. Three SL integration factors emerged, each with sub-factors: pedagogical (relevance, complexity of required SL skills, use of SL affordances); contextual (student prior gaming experience, activity duration, frequency of events); and logistical (SL usability, training, technical support, computer issues). A framework for creating SL instructional activities is presented using the factors.
International Journal of Language Academy, 2016
This study aims to find out students' and instructors' attitudes towards using Second Life (SL), a multiuser virtual environment, via a Task Based Syllabus (TBS). It was conducted with participants of intermediate level students (N=37) and instructors (N=2) of English Preparatory School at a private university in Turkey. In order to design a TBS, a two-month program of intermediate level syllabus has been modified by adding weekly tasks. Unlock Listening & Speaking 3 and Unlock Reading & Writing 3 published by Cambridge University Press were used during the instruction and the tasks were adapted from the same course books. After the completion of the final task, both students and instructors were given an evaluation survey asking for their opinions, experiences and evaluations of the TBS based SL sessions. The findings indicate that both instructors and students have positive and negative feedback; such as, the variety SL brings to a language class and the fact that SL demanding in terms of computer requirements. In order to avoid problems like other users' involvement or distractions, and in order to help students find suitable rooms (virtual meeting environments) without a time loss or difficulty, teachers could be recommended to have a well prepared list of the free entrance rooms to meet and divert the students, instead of buying a new one.
Moving forward on education with second life: viability and challenges
The progress of online education has led us to a point where one of the few remaining steps to accomplish is to include alternatives for physical activities, simulations, role plays and educational tasks which can be done from management learning platforms. Though nowadays there are an increasing amount of virtual environments, mostly in games and leisure, we pose a question in terms of how effectively these applications can be used as a basis for educational projects. In this context, Second Life (SL), a virtual world which can be customized according to your design and functionality needs and where you can walk, see, touch and even interact with the environment through a virtual character you can manage at will, could offer a partial solution to overcome this challenge. Our proposal is consequently focused on analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of this virtual world in order to decide objectively whether a project could benefit from incorporating Second Life into its teaching proposal and to determine whether Second Life is already a promising tool in use or a development in progress that could work in years to come.