More on Second Life

Ridvan Ata, who is supervised by Dr Julia Davies (School of Education) and Sheila Webber (Information School), will also be at the researcher seminar on Thursday. He will shortly be entering the data collection phase for his investigation into teaching in Second Life, the virtual world.
"As a consequence of rapid developments in information and communication technology (CI&T), three dimensional virtual learning environments (3D MUVEs) have become a focus of interest for teaching and learning environments particularly in higher education over the last decades. Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to develop a deeper understanding of 3D MUVEs, sometimes called Virtual Worlds, such as Second Life (SL), and investigate how tutors implement teaching in SL/ face-to-face(f2f) learning situations in higher education. In my work, I will be examining whether teachers find SL useful to enhance their pedagogy, including teaching strategies and approaches. Furthermore, I will look at which roles tutors undertake within SL when they are involved in blended settings, and how tutors overcome challenges such as learners' resistance to the virtual environment. As a methodological approach, this study is based on participation and observation in SL activities, meetings, group discussions, virtual conferences, social events, workshops, virtual trips etc., and interviews with tutors."