Taking the Distance Out of Learning for Students Through a Virtual World

Abstract

With everyone's busy schedules, more and more people are opting to study via distance education as off-campus students. This enables them to continue working and keep involved in their community and family activities without relocating. What does distance education mean to students? Traditionally it was receiving materials via the post, completing assignments, posting them back for marking and then doing an exam at the end of the semester. Nowadays, distance learning encompasses a variety of online tools received via a Learning Management System that houses them. Students now participate in discussion boards, chat rooms, blogs and group work in wikis. They listen to podcasts and view videos or presentations of the course materials. However, students are still feeling the isolation of studying by themselves. Students do not want to have to participate in residential schools, but they do want to get to know fellow students and their educator. Students who have opted to undertake their studies using the virtual world of Second Life have found many of their concerns disappear. They are able to participate from any location worldwide, from their own home, but, at the same time, get a sense of "being there". Students feel it is like face-to-face lectures and have become good friends with their peers. Off-campus students now have the opportunity to undertake their studies "virtually on campus" without physically attending. Second Life enables distance students to study synchronously or asynchronously whilst gaining the benefits that on-campus students experience without changing their lifestyles to do so. Studying through a virtual world takes the distance out of their learning.