This paper reports findings of a pilot study that examined the pedagogical potential of Second Life (SL), a popular three-dimensional multi-user virtual environment (3-D MUVE) developed by the Linden Lab. The study is part of a 1-year research and development project titled 'Modelling of Secondlife Environments' (http://www.le.ac.uk/moose) funded by the UK Joint Information Systems Committee. The research question addressed in this paper is: how can learning activities that facilitate social presence and foster socialisation among distance learners for collaborative learning be developed in SL, a 3-D MUVE?The study was carried out at the University of Leicester (UoL) within an undergraduate module on Archaeological Theory, where two tutors and four students took part in four learning activities designed to take place in SL within the UoL Media Zoo island. The learning activities and training in SL were based on Salmon's five-stage model of online learning. Students' engagement in SL was studied through interviews, observations and records of chat logs. The data analysis offers four key findings in relation to the nature and pattern of in-world 'socialisation' and its impact on real-world network building; the pattern of in-world 'socialisation' stage in Salmon's 5-stage model; perspectives on students' progress in-world through the first stage of the model-'access and motivation'-and perspectives on their entry into, and progress through, the second stage of the model-'socialisation'-and the role of identity presented through avatars in the process of socialisation. The paper offers implications for research and practice in the light of these findings.
IntroductionThe academic community shows strong interest in the use of three-dimensional multiuser virtual environments (3-D MUVEs) for education (Eduserve Symposium, 2007;
Background: In the 1990s, Salmon developed a 5-stage model (Salmon 2000(Salmon , 2004 for enabling and scaffolding remote groups to work and learn together using asynchronous bulletin boards. The model has informed online learning and development practice across different levels and education for online and blended learning. Purpose: This paper reports our testing of the usefulness and relevance of the model for Second Life 1 (SL). Programme description and sample: Our case studies included students and tutors from three different disciplines: Archaeology, Digital Photography and Media and Communications. For the first case study we collaborated with a postgraduate distance learning course in Archaeology at the University of Leicester. The second case study involved a campus-based undergraduate course in Digital Photography at the London South Bank University. The third case study was of a postgraduate campus-based course in Media and Communication.
Design and methods:In each study, we developed artefacts and activities (SL-tivities) for students and tutors, to enable them to interact in groups. The SL-tivities were designed based on the 5stage model to provide scaffolding of learning in a group. Using qualitative methods, we studied students' and tutors' engagement with SL-tivities and their learning experiences at each stage of the model. We captured data through semi-structured interviews and from chat logs in SL, and mapped student dialogue against each stage of the model. We analysed the data using cognitive mapping, created causal understanding of the individuals and the groups and their changing views, feelings and experiences.
Results and conclusions:The case studies gave us examples of learning opportunities in SL at each stage of the model. Our initial study showed that using a structured model for scaffolding learning in groups has value in a 3-D multi-user virtual environment such as SL, as well as in textbased asynchronous environments. The model helps to inform design and delivery so that learners' and teachers' confidence in each other and in the environment builds up and that they work productively with each other. We continue to build further research using SL-tivities and the 5 Stage model to explore and develop further understanding of its applicability.
As the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread all over the world, many educational institutions have shifted to a full-time online teaching mode. Although online teaching has been widely explored, the unprecedented initiatives of mass-scale full-time online education at the secondary school level are yet to be unravelled. By using a qualitative approach and drawing on the conceptualisation of learning engagement and Community of Inquire model as conceptual frameworks, this study explored how secondary school students in China engaged with online education during the COVID-19 pandemic and what factors influenced their sustainable online learning engagement. This research examined the perspectives of twenty-four students and five teachers through semi-structured interviews and observations of online classes. Findings indicate that the students’ online learning engagement involved three inter-related categories: emotional, cognitive and behavioural engagement. Contextual factors influencing the sustainability of students’ online learning engagement were identified by the participants, including teacher presence, parental involvement, and a supportive learning environment/community. The findings in this paper have implications for teacher development, family support and establishment of e-teaching platforms in emergency remote teaching for young students. Finally, the study puts forward best practices for the sustainable development of the emergency remote teaching in the future public crises.
At present, many Web 2.0 activities are being integrated into the e-learning spaces designed for learners. We need to analyze and learn from these activities to derive insights about their effectiveness, in order to promote the systematic application of technology in post-compulsory educational contexts, from undergraduate to postgraduate levels and also in professional training. This chapter deals with one aspect of “E-learning 2.0” (Downes, 2005) practices, specifically the importance of acquiring and mastering a set of personal knowledge management (PKM) skills to perform successfully in the Web 2.0 environment for learning in tertiary education. The authors first present a PKM skills model based around a division into (1) basic PKM competencies associated with the social software web practices of Create–Organize–Share; and (2) higher-order skills focusing on the advanced management of one’s personal knowledge. A learning design model and related examples are presented, aimed at inspiring and guiding tertiary educators in designing and implementing activities consistent with the goal of developing students’ PKM skills.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.