The Impact of Virtual Worlds on Education

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Abstract

This review highlights the effect of virtual world on education, the investigation focuses on the use of the
massive multiplayer online world in teaching, explores its advantages and disadvantages. The study
further provides guidelines to the effective utilisation of this technology with the help of deep exploration
of various scholars who have shown interest in the subject, second sources have been critically analysed
and the recommendation carried out was given an attentive deliberation. The manuscript illustrates that
the virtual world has various prospective usages in teaching, Students involvement with the course
content and a sense of community with the class can be improved by means of interactions within
Second Life. Possible downsides of using virtual world comprises, learning time needed and high-tech
complications when exploring the platform. The advice given proposed that instructors should develop
well-defined purposes when using second life, by beginning with elementary projects, then entail the
students in designing as well as evaluating learning activities in the virtual world.
Keywords: Virtual world, second life, education, learning activities, student engagement, avatar, 3-D

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Table of Contents

Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 2
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 4
2.1 Second life as the most popular virtual world platform ................................................ 5
2.2 Embracing education with virtual worlds ........................................................................ 6
3. Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 6
4. Guidelines for the effective use of Virtual Worlds for education .................................. 9
5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 9
References .................................................................................................................................. 10

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1. Introduction

Since technology has reshaped the way we live, work and learn; students from different backgrounds
have become more involved with various computing systems applications and devices; from simple use of
texting messages by means of smartphones to social network interactions such as Facebook, skype
more universities also starting showing interest to incorporate pedagogy with technology and virtual
worlds, in particular, emerged as an opportunity for educators to reconstruct traditional classroom (Girvan
& Savage, 2010). In this scenario, students will be reached while at home, during the weekends and
holidays so they can be intermeshed in online communications or interactions. In a virtual world, it is
evidently understood that the operator produces an avatar, a figure typifying the end-user in a computergenerated space. This will make it possible for avatar to become active and able to interact virtually with
other participants.

The term virtual comes from the Latin word vir enumerating the meaning of being in essence or effect
but not in fact. As outlined in Websters. However, in a simple definition it refers to something that is not
real (Schroeder, 2008). It seems to appear as physical but it just not there at all. Virtual worlds are
nothing but a pure simulation of the genuine environments. For entertainment or other form of
enjoyments, can contain games and rules, in some instance. However, because virtual worlds werent all
designed for that intention educators can use them to simulate events that cannot be done in real life.
Students can drop in on virtual worlds to see, examine, interpret and create content (Ohta & Tamura,
2014).

Educationalists have embarked on scrutinising teaching and learning in numerous kind of these virtual
worlds, which to the highest degree responding to their aims and objectives (Jensen, 2014). Virtual world
might prove to be a valuable tool in online teaching by reason of Its capabilities to involve students or
learners in interactions with the lecturer as well as other class members within their surroundings. The
most amazing characteristic of Interactions in a virtual world is the facility to construct that sense of
community in classes which can be hard to experience in a face to face situations (Messinger et al.,
2009).

To further understand, the selected topic i.e. the impact of virtual words on education, the literature gives
a way to explore the following issues from various scholars point of view; a) The current applications of

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education in Virtual Worlds, b) The advantages and disadvantages of using Virtual Worlds for education,
c) Guidelines for the successful/effective use of Virtual Worlds for education
2.1 Second life as the most popular virtual world platform

In educational sector, Virtual Worlds are attracting more attention while gaining added popularity than
ever before, Reeves & Read (2013) stated that in higher education, even though there might be a good
number of virtual worlds out there, the most active is Second Life. Amongst them, few that can be
mentioned and engaged also in learning are; Minecraft, OpenSim, World of Warcraft, Unity (Reeves &
Read, 2013)

Linden lab is an American private company that created second life, and first launched it in 2003. Since
then this platform has gained fame. According to Boellstorff (2015) the creators of second life have
offered occupants a world packed with a dynamic collection of tools which are absent from other virtual
world platform. The freedom of creating objects, interacting with different end-users virtually paved the
way for the educators to integrate student learning process and course materials to second life and this
fact clarifies why education has found this specific platform very valuable (Boellstorff, 2015).

In line with Warburton (2009) the number of universities around the globe adopting Second Life in their
education systems is on the rise, with United States of America (USA) leading the statistics. Most of its
universities own a space on Second Life, If not then they are renting it with the aim of hold lectures, and
of course connecting with students, this made it easy to host casual meetings not like the conventional
classroom setting(Warburton, 2009). Thus, several educational groups are present in Second Life and the
reason can be understood, based on the fact that users are able to create content in virtual word.

With the intention of using virtual worlds in an efficient way when it comes to education, It is required that
the platform is able to handle content interoperability (Boellstorff, 2012). With integration of web browser
by the creators of second life inside their platform, linden lab just added more experience to its invention.
Ducheneaut, et al. (2009) added that the possibility to amalgamate existing material becomes noticeable
and it gives the impression that in recent times educators have transmitted methods that are
demonstrated to be well-organized in the classroom into second life (Ducheneaut, Wen, Yee, & Wadley,
2009).

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2.2 Embracing education with virtual worlds

Across-the-board education happening into virtual worlds is emerging as a phenomenon. Riley (2008)
wrote that The emergence of online virtual worlds where individuals are represented by avatars, pose
many exciting opportunities as well as challenges for educators. The author further stated that since
more universities, and to a large extent colleges provide e-learning designed courses. The quality of
instruction as well as the performance of the students with time can became a concern that require
attention (Riley, 2008).

Hew & Cheung (2010) investigated the usage of Three-Dimensional (3D) immersive virtual worlds, the
centre of focus was on education, especially at the last year of High school (Grade 12) and higher
education. They found that students are delighted to explore virtual world as they take pleasure in moving
around at liberty in 3-D space, meeting new participants, nevertheless, students frown at the fact that
they are unable to access virtual environments using older computers, the ban imposed largely to use
virtual worlds software on computers which considered to be public, and also being unaccustomed with
these software (Hew & Cheung, 2010).

Fetscherin & Lattermann (2008) studied the adoption of virtual worlds, they highlighted second life as the
most available platform and should be given a specific attention, the behaviour and intention of a user
should be absolutely known in order to make use of such applications. The writers further specified that
their findings have significant suggestions for academia and practitioners (Fetscherin & Lattemann,
2008). Second Life, can be used proficiently to teach also to simulate activities which could have been a
very difficult task to accomplish in reality. One example to point out here is health education, where
students can enjoy practicing newly acquired skills without worrying much on the severe consequences
resulting from the mistakes they make.

3. Discussion

We predicted before writing this review that users with no computer or background experience will have
challenges manoeuvring in Second Life. we admit that we were wrong. In reference with Fetscherin and
Lattermann (2008), the respondents proved that the use of a virtual world, to be precise, Second Life was
quiet easy, apart from technical problems. On the other hand, the application of the stated platform for
learning objectives still a new field and currently has been used in various activities aimed at extending

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virtual world propitious usage in education. Nevertheless, the literature review establishes the following
issues;

a. The current applications of education in Virtual Worlds

These applications are diverse and can be adjusted according to the different needs

Virtual campuses

Virtual laboratories

Conference facilities

Learning by simulations

Communications set-ups

Research lessons

Cultural Immersion

Design courses

Language learning

Game constructed learning

Student activism

Virtual field works or trips

Safety-focused lessons

Technical training

Virtual centres

These fundamentals of educational applications are purely within the educationalists designed projects,
and are centred on diverse learning theories. Therefore, these kind of activities are not really different
from the traditional classrooms education ones.

b. The advantages of using Virtual Worlds for education

Like any other new technology, Virtual World has also both advantages and disadvantages. Some of the
benefits we could point out are;

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Second Life usage does offer an intuitive fresh method for distance teaching related to the use of
avatars.

Constructive in addition to Experimental learning can irrefutably be accomplished in Virtual world

(Second Life)

Students who are disconnected geographically can take part in a course, even though they might
have different nationalities, in real time.

virtual worlds can facilitate and boost social interactions (Falloon, 2010). When using Chatting as
well as other similar technologies, the fear of students speaking openly or making a comment is
isolated.

Collaboration is significantly simplified while conducting educational activities.

Virtual worlds provide a good fit when constructing realistic feature risk projects due to resource
limitations which could have been almost impossible to accomplish in real world.

c.

The disadvantages of using Virtual Worlds for education

Few negatives side of using virtual worlds we could mention are;

Like many other new technologies, virtual world if taking second life as a reference, does not at
all times work as planned and technological malfunctions can occur and create problems or
delays.

There is somehow the issue of learning time as both students and instructors have to spend
creating avatars in advance then learning how to navigate around in the virtual world.

Students can become easily distracted due to the virtual world splendid functionalities and their
learning activities get affected.

Educators may find it hard to monitor learning progress

Virtual world needs more than just a simple computer, the system should have a good graphic
card, enough memory or RAM and powerful processor

Instructors are obligated to evaluate if the benefits of using Virtual World are more important than
the possible costs.

Student preparedness to attempt new technology must be considered

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In brief, we dont claim that these are complete advantages and disadvantages of using Virtual Worlds for
education since we feel that there is a limitation in our analysis conducted at early stage.

4. Guidelines for the effective use of Virtual Worlds for education

Based on the discussion and the analysis of literature review we noticed that virtual world can still be
considered as a new field in term of incorporating it into education. Moreover, there are diverse areas of
research which are required in the future, in the mean-time educators can apply the following guidelines
to minimise the setbacks of virtual worlds for education:

Students shouldnt be persuaded to use virtual world without setting up educational objectives
first.

Technology isnt bulletproof it has its weaknesses, it can fail sometimes so plan B is required.

Students should be ready and well prepared for new social experience

Students can be intimidated or unfamiliar with new technology, so educators should start with
simple projects then adjusting gradually as students become more and more comfortable with
learning experience.

Educator should remember to make student feel that they are both partners as exploiting virtual
world.

Educator should venture first in virtual word alone so can learn and explore what students are to
be expected to do once in virtual world before students follow.

Educators must evaluate the impact of virtual word if it has any valued influence to education.

5. Conclusion

Virtual worlds have proven to be well-regarded as new technology to be used in education as well as
learning environments, its benefits are key to answering some of the challenges that the traditional
classrooms might be experiencing and we strongly believe that there are still more benefits that are yet to
be discovered. Researchers should focus more on how to fully maximise the potential of virtual worlds
and on how to minimise its drawbacks.

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References

Boellstorff, T. (2012). Ethnography and virtual worlds: A handbook of method: Princeton

University Press.
Boellstorff, T. (2015). Coming of age in Second Life: An anthropologist explores the virtually
human: Princeton University Press.
Ducheneaut, N., Wen, M.-H., Yee, N., & Wadley, G. (2009). Body and mind: a study of avatar
personalization in three virtual worlds. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the
SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
Falloon, G. (2010). Using avatars and virtual environments in learning: What do they have to
offer? British journal of educational technology, 41(1), 108-122.
Fetscherin, M., & Lattemann, C. (2008). User acceptance of virtual worlds. Journal of Electronic
Commerce Research, 9(3), 231.
Girvan, C., & Savage, T. (2010). Identifying an appropriate pedagogy for virtual worlds: A
Communal Constructivism case study. Computers & Education, 55(1), 342-349.
Hew, K. F., & Cheung, W. S. (2010). Use of threedimensional (3D) immersive virtual worlds
in K12 and higher education settings: A review of the research. British journal of
educational technology, 41(1), 33-55.
Jensen, M. (2014). Virtual worlds in education. Scan: The Journal For Educators, 33(1), 18.
Messinger, P. R., Stroulia, E., Lyons, K., Bone, M., Niu, R. H., Smirnov, K., & Perelgut, S.
(2009). Virtual worldspast, present, and future: New directions in social computing.
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Ohta, Y., & Tamura, H. (2014). Mixed reality: merging real and virtual worlds: Springer
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Reeves, B., & Read, J. L. (2013). Total engagement: How games and virtual worlds are
changing the way people work and businesses compete: Harvard Business Press.
Riley, S. K. L. (2008). Teaching in virtual worlds: Opportunities and challenges. Setting Knowl.
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Schroeder, R. (2008). Defining virtual worlds and virtual environments. Journal For Virtual
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Warburton, S. (2009). Second Life in higher education: Assessing the potential for and the
barriers to deploying virtual worlds in learning and teaching. British journal of
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Percentage Contribution

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