PREPARING A CASE FOR THE EFFECTIVENESS OF 3D VIRTUAL WORLDS IN ELECTRONIC LEARNING - Giving Education a Second Life

Mohammed J. AlGhamdi, Debbie Richards

2010

Abstract

The potential of 3D virtual worlds to introduce a new educational medium which can serve all types of learning as well as enhance the experience of both the instructor and learner appropriate to the 21st century classroom has been recognised and explored in previous studies. While participants report enjoyment and even improved learning outcomes, it is unclear what role the technology has played in achieving these benefits. Furthermore, e-learning, with its many forms, has been criticized due to the inability of the technology to provide the means which allows e-learning to become an equivalent alternative to traditional face-to-face learning particularly in terms of effectiveness and quality. The proposed study will examine explore these issues by assessing new alternatives, namely the use of Second Life, to traditional face-to-face education.

References

  1. Creswell, J. W. (2008). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research (3rd ed.). NJ: Pearson Education.
  2. Dickey, M. D. (2005). Three-dimmensional Virtual Worlds and Distance Learning: Two case Studies of Active Worlds as a Medium for Distance Education. British Jrnl of Educ. Technology, 36 (3), 439-451.
  3. Dreher, C., Reiners, T., Dreher, N., & Dreher, H. (2009). Virtual Worlds as a Context Suited for Information Systems Education: Discussion of Pedagogical Experience and Curriculum Design with Reference to Second Life. Jrnl of IS Education, 20(2):211-224.
  4. Eduventures. (2007, March 6). Eduventures Pree Release. Retrieved 27-09-09 http://www.eduventures.com/ about/press/news-1/news_03_06_07
  5. Gartner. (2007, April 24). Gartner Says 80 Percent of Active Internet Users Will Have A "Second Life" in the Virtual World by the End of 2011. Retrieved July 3, 2009, from www.gartner.com: http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=503861
  6. Labs, L. (n.d.). How Education Enterprises Use Virtual Worlds. Retrieved 2-7-2009 http:// secondlifegrid.net/slfe/education-use-virtual-world
  7. Lamont, I. (2007, May 21). Harvard's Virtual Education Experiment in Second Life. Retrieved July 14, 2009, from http://blogs.computerworld.com/node/5553
  8. MIT.edu. (n.d.). Seond Life Projects. Retrieved 19-07- 2009,http://web.media.mit.edu/dharry/secondlife/
  9. Piccoli, G., Ahmad, R., & Ives, B. (2001). Web-Based Virtual Learning Environments: A Research Framework and a Preliminary Assessment of Effectiveness in Basic IT Skills Training. MIS Quarterly, 25(4): 401-426.
  10. Princeton.edu. (n.d.). Princeton University-Second LifeHome. Retrieved July 14, 2009, from http://etc.princeton.edu/sl/content/view/8/20/
  11. Robbins, R. W., & Butler, B. S. (2009). Selecting a Virtual Platform for Learning. Journal of Information Systems Education , 20 (2), 199-210.
  12. Salmon, G. (2009). The Future for (Second) Life and Learning. British Jrnl of Educ. Tech., 40(3):426-538.
  13. Shen, J., & Eder, L. B. (2009). Intentions to Use Virtual Worlds for Education. Jrnl of IS Education, 20(2):225- 233.
  14. Smart, E., Cascio, J., & Paffendorf, J. (2007). Metaverse Roadmap: Pathways to the 3D Web. Retrieved 10-07- 09 Metverse Roadmap: http://www.metaverseroad map.org/MetaverseRoadmapOverview.pdf
  15. Twining, P. (2009). Exploring the Educational Potential of Virtual Worlds-Some reflections from the SPP. British Journal of Educational Technology , 40 (3), 496-514.
  16. Wang, Y., & Braman, J. (2009). Extending the Classroom through Second Life Jrnl of IS Educ. 20(2):235-247.
  17. Warburton, S. (2009). Second Life in Higher Education: Assessing the Potential for and the Barriers to Deploying Virtual Worlds in Learning and Teaching. British Jrnl of Educ. Technology , 40(3):414-426.
  18. Winn, W. (1993). A Conceptual Basis for Educational Applications of VR. Washington: HITL Report.
Download


Paper Citation


in Harvard Style

J. AlGhamdi M. and Richards D. (2010). PREPARING A CASE FOR THE EFFECTIVENESS OF 3D VIRTUAL WORLDS IN ELECTRONIC LEARNING - Giving Education a Second Life . In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSEDU, ISBN 978-989-674-023-8, pages 477-480. DOI: 10.5220/0002852304770480


in Bibtex Style

@conference{csedu10,
author={Mohammed J. AlGhamdi and Debbie Richards},
title={PREPARING A CASE FOR THE EFFECTIVENESS OF 3D VIRTUAL WORLDS IN ELECTRONIC LEARNING - Giving Education a Second Life},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSEDU,},
year={2010},
pages={477-480},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0002852304770480},
isbn={978-989-674-023-8},
}


in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSEDU,
TI - PREPARING A CASE FOR THE EFFECTIVENESS OF 3D VIRTUAL WORLDS IN ELECTRONIC LEARNING - Giving Education a Second Life
SN - 978-989-674-023-8
AU - J. AlGhamdi M.
AU - Richards D.
PY - 2010
SP - 477
EP - 480
DO - 10.5220/0002852304770480