In 2008, articles by Bell and Schroeder provided an initial platform from which to develop a coherent definition of the term 'virtual worlds'. Yet over the past ten years, there has been little development of the term. Instead there is confusion in the literature, with the introduction of new terms which are at times used to classify the type of virtual world and at others are used synonymously with the term. At the same time there has been a resurgence of interest in the potential of virtual reality which further muddies the conceptual waters. While the lack of a clear and common understanding of a term is not uncommon, there are implications for researchers and practitioners. To address these issues, this paper presents a new framework for the definition of virtual worlds, arguing what it is for a world to be virtual, the user experience that is a necessary part of this and the technical features which afford this. For the first time the relationships between commonly confused terms and technologies are identified to provide a much needed conceptual clarity for researchers and educators.
Constructionism places an emphasis on the process of constructing shareable artefacts. Many virtual worlds, such as Second Life, provide learners with tools for the construction of objects and hence may facilitate in-world constructionist learning experiences. However, the construction tools available present learners with a significant barrier (or 'high-floor') for the novice to first master. To address this problem, this paper presents the design concepts, first implementation and analysis of SLurtles (programmable turtles in Second Life), easy-to-use, programmable construction tools for use in Second Life. During a pilot study 24 postgraduate learners in pairs and working at distance from one another, programmed SLurtles to create interactive installations in Second Life over four weeks. Open interviews were conducted, chat logs recorded and learners artefacts and reflections were collected and analysed using qualitative methods. Findings show that SLurtles provide learners with a programmable, low-floor, high-ceiling and wide-wall construction tool, which supported their construction of a wide range of complex artefacts as part of a constructionist learning experience in Second Life.
Virtual worlds have the potential to provide a new environment in which to engage learners in constructionist activities. However, they were not designed for education and have features and affordances which are not found in traditional constructionist environments. These may limit the pedagogy in action and/or provide new opportunities with which to transform constructionist pedagogy in practice, but to date there has been no research on these issues. To address this, we explore constructionism in action in the virtual world Second Life. This is the first study to examine the theoretical alignment of pedagogy and technology in practice. An exploratory case study of a purpose-built constructionist learning experience was conducted. The experience was designed based on the theoretical alignment of pedagogy and technology and implemented with 24 postgraduate students over four weeks. Open non-directive interviews, chat logs, constructed a tefa ts, lea e s itte efle tio s a d o se atio s e e olle ted a d a al sed usi g the constant comparative approach. The findings provide insights into how learners engage in meaningful artefact construction, highlight the role of avatars and draw attention to the importance of the designed space. New opportunities for distributed constructionism are identified. We conclude that virtual worlds are effective environments for constructionist learning.
Turkey heading the list. Overall submissions came from over 50 countries. To give you a flavour of the current state of play, in 2017 BJET received over 300 submissions, of which around 12% were ultimately accepted. However, a high proportion of submissions were not of a sufficient standard to send out to reviewers because, for example, their contribution to the field was limited, they were poorly presented or out of scope. The acceptance rate for peer-reviewed manuscripts was approximately 30%. To further support authors, we recently introduced a new decision category of Reject and Resubmit Before Peer Review; this enables more articles to be given a chance of publication and allows authors to improve the quality of their manuscripts by addressing the most obvious flaws before they are sent to reviewers. We are also increasing the word length from 6000 words including references to 6000 words excluding references, from January 1, 2018.A key issue which is highly pertinent for us as Editors is the ongoing need for more critical and theoretical approaches to research in the area of educational technology. We co-organised an event on this topic in April 2017 at The Open University in Milton Keynes, jointly with the BERA Educational Technology Special Interest Group, led by Christothea Herodotou. Speakers included Professor Jill Jameson, Professor Martin Oliver, Professor Eileen Scanlon and Dr Sara Hennessy on behalf of the BJET Editorial team. Issues raised included the observation that technology is not neutral, and that participatory design of technology applications needs to be authentic for sustainability. Martin Oliver pointed out that the field of educational technology has been shaped by instrumental concerns, whereas a critical orientation invites other kinds of questions and consideration of the views, interests and power of different groups. He called for researchers to consider "changes to the unit of analysis, from self-contained technology to networks of people and things." We also "need to bring in people and things that resist our work, as well as those that support it-both in the interests of sustainability and justice." As Editors, we certainly feel that some of the assumptions made by researchers in this field need to be questioned and underpinning concepts problematised far more than at present; this self-critical reflection and reflexivity should be made explicit in articles.
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