Virtual classrooms and playgrounds - Why would anyone use them?

Abstract

A virtual classroom and playground have been created in Second Life, which are replicas of real life classrooms and school playgrounds. This paper discusses the creation of a virtual classroom and playground and explains why the decision was taken to base them on exemplars from the real world rather than allow imagination to run riot. It outlines the journey of Jass Easterman and Tamsyn Lexenstar, avatars and our personae as educators in Second Life, as they began to create the environment. In particular, the paper discusses the rationale for the creation of this Second Life area: the need to be able to educate our distance education students in an interactive environment so that they can be engaged more fully as part of an education community. By utilising the Second Life environment, education students from the University of New England will be able to use resources within this virtual environment as they would if they were in a real-world classroom or playground. The opportunity to interact with other students and educators, use a variety of resources and undertake role-playing exercises has the potential to improve learning outcomes and to develop teaching skills. At present, students can only access online resources via one of two Learning Management Systems. This new scenario provides students with the opportunity to become immersed in a virtual environment, interacting with others so that it will seem like they are really there, all from their own home.