Summary Week 3

Second Life (SL) is a three-dimensional (3D) virtual world, and educational institutions are adopting SL to support their teaching and learning. In this article, the authors report an empirical study in which they have elicited educators’, designers’ and students’ perceptions of learning spaces within SL. Based on this empirical research, they have presented some design considerations for SL educators and designers who are involved in designing learning activities and spaces in SL.

The key research question (RQ) is: ‘How should 3D learning spaces be designed for student engagement?’ The research methodology consisted of an online survey which was conducted at the start of the project involving colleagues from the further education (FE) and higher education (HE) communities and semi-structured interviews, guided by the RQs, with designers, educators and students.

In the data, the authors have noted that educators and designers are clearly taking advantage of the 3D features of SL and its interactivity and flexibility for designing (and re-designing). SL designers and educators are adopting a user-centred design approach: trying out designs, evaluating them with students and then re-designing and improving the designs based on the feedback. Therefore, the designs of learning spaces are changing and evolving through this iterative user-centred design and evaluation process. 

The research has shown that designs of learning spaces in SL were perceived by those interviewed to influence student learning and engagement. However, there are several contextual factors that may impact on student experience such as students’ SL skills, their motivation and educators’ SL skills and preparations for the activities, whether SL is a compulsory component of the programme, whether SL activities will be assessed, and nature of delivery on the course or programme (distance education, face-to-face, or blended delivery). 

Therefore, creating a learning space in SL is only a part of the process of creating a sense of ‘learning and teaching place’ in SL. Also, ‘Space is the opportunity; place is the understood reality’ (Harrison and Dourish 1996, 67). In other words, educators can create the learning spaces, but it is the students that create the places through their usage of that space. This is another reason why many educators in SL are allowing their students to have a major stake in creating the space as well. They reasoned that if students can contribute to creating the type of space they want, it will become the type of place they want to learn in (Wahlstedt, Pekkola, and Niemela 2008; Whitworth 2008).