Virtual worlds in Australian and New Zealand higher education: Remembering the past, understanding the present and imagining the future

Gregory, Sue; Gregory, Brent; Hearns, Merle; Flintoff, Kim; Jegathesan, Jay Jay; Ellis, David; McDonald, Marcus; Stokes-Thompson, Frederick; Gaukrodger, Belma; Zagami, Jason; Campbell, Chris; Wang, Xiangyu; Reiners, Torsten; Garcia Salinas, Jamie; Loke, Swee-Kin; Suctter, Sheila; Newman, Christine; Gu, Ning; Schutt, Stefan; Farley, Helen; Bogdanovych, Anton; Trescak, Tomas; Simoff, Simeon; Fardinpour, Ali; Steel, Caroline; Neuendorf, Penny; Bower, Matt; McKeown Orwin, Lindy; Kerr, Tom; Warren, Ian; Wood, Denise; Miller, Charlynn; Mathews, Shane; Linegar, Dale; Hillier, Mathew; Knox, Vicki; Masters, Yvonne; Brown, Ross; Meredith, Grant; Atkins, Clare; Giovanangeli, Angela; Le Rossignol, Karen; Cram, Andrew; Muir-Cochrane, Eimear; Basu, Arin; Lee, Mark J W; Jacobson, Michael; Larson, Ian; Jacka, Lisa; Butler, Des; Holloway, David; Grant, Scott

Author(s)

Gregory, Sue

Gregory, Brent

Hearns, Merle

Flintoff, Kim

Jegathesan, Jay Jay

Ellis, David

McDonald, Marcus

Stokes-Thompson, Frederick

Gaukrodger, Belma

Zagami, Jason

Campbell, Chris

Wang, Xiangyu

Reiners, Torsten

Garcia Salinas, Jamie

Loke, Swee-Kin

Suctter, Sheila

Newman, Christine

Gu, Ning

Schutt, Stefan

Farley, Helen

Bogdanovych, Anton

Trescak, Tomas

Simoff, Simeon

Fardinpour, Ali

Steel, Caroline

Neuendorf, Penny

Bower, Matt

McKeown Orwin, Lindy

Kerr, Tom

Warren, Ian

Wood, Denise

Miller, Charlynn

Mathews, Shane

Linegar, Dale

Hillier, Mathew

Knox, Vicki

Masters, Yvonne

Brown, Ross

Meredith, Grant

Atkins, Clare

Giovanangeli, Angela

Le Rossignol, Karen

Cram, Andrew

Muir-Cochrane, Eimear

Basu, Arin

Lee, Mark J W

Jacobson, Michael

Larson, Ian

Jacka, Lisa

Butler, Des

Holloway, David

Grant, Scott

Publication Date

2013

Abstract

3D virtual reality, including the current generation of multi-user virtual worlds, has had a long history of use in education and training, and it experienced a surge of renewed interest with the advent of Second Life in 2003. What followed shortly after were several years marked by considerable hype around the use of virtual worlds for teaching, learning and research in higher education. For the moment, uptake of the technology seems to have plateaued, with academics either maintaining the status quo and continuing to use virtual worlds as they have previously done or choosing to opt out altogether. This paper presents a brief review of the use of virtual worlds in the Australian and New Zealand higher education sector in the past and reports on its use in the sector at the present time, based on input from members of the Australian and New Zealand Virtual Worlds Working Group. It then adopts a forward-looking perspective amid the current climate of uncertainty, musing on future directions and offering suggestions for potential new applications in light of recent technological developments and innovations in the area.

Citation

30th ascilite Conference Proceedings, p. 312-324

ISBN

9781741384031

Link

https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/13847

Language

Publisher

Macquarie University

Title

Virtual worlds in Australian and New Zealand higher education: Remembering the past, understanding the present and imagining the future

Type of document

Conference Publication

Entity Type

Publication

Author(s)	Gregory, Sue Gregory, Brent Hearns, Merle Flintoff, Kim Jegathesan, Jay Jay Ellis, David McDonald, Marcus Stokes-Thompson, Frederick Gaukrodger, Belma Zagami, Jason Campbell, Chris Wang, Xiangyu Reiners, Torsten Garcia Salinas, Jamie Loke, Swee-Kin Suctter, Sheila Newman, Christine Gu, Ning Schutt, Stefan Farley, Helen Bogdanovych, Anton Trescak, Tomas Simoff, Simeon Fardinpour, Ali Steel, Caroline Neuendorf, Penny Bower, Matt McKeown Orwin, Lindy Kerr, Tom Warren, Ian Wood, Denise Miller, Charlynn Mathews, Shane Linegar, Dale Hillier, Mathew Knox, Vicki Masters, Yvonne Brown, Ross Meredith, Grant Atkins, Clare Giovanangeli, Angela Le Rossignol, Karen Cram, Andrew Muir-Cochrane, Eimear Basu, Arin Lee, Mark J W Jacobson, Michael Larson, Ian Jacka, Lisa Butler, Des Holloway, David Grant, Scott
Publication Date	2013
Abstract	3D virtual reality, including the current generation of multi-user virtual worlds, has had a long history of use in education and training, and it experienced a surge of renewed interest with the advent of Second Life in 2003. What followed shortly after were several years marked by considerable hype around the use of virtual worlds for teaching, learning and research in higher education. For the moment, uptake of the technology seems to have plateaued, with academics either maintaining the status quo and continuing to use virtual worlds as they have previously done or choosing to opt out altogether. This paper presents a brief review of the use of virtual worlds in the Australian and New Zealand higher education sector in the past and reports on its use in the sector at the present time, based on input from members of the Australian and New Zealand Virtual Worlds Working Group. It then adopts a forward-looking perspective amid the current climate of uncertainty, musing on future directions and offering suggestions for potential new applications in light of recent technological developments and innovations in the area.
Citation	30th ascilite Conference Proceedings, p. 312-324
ISBN	9781741384031
Link	https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/13847
Language	en
Publisher	Macquarie University
Title	Virtual worlds in Australian and New Zealand higher education: Remembering the past, understanding the present and imagining the future
Type of document	Conference Publication
Entity Type	Publication

Virtual worlds in Australian and New Zealand higher education: Remembering the past, understanding the present and imagining the future

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