Breaking Away: How Virtual Worlds Impact Pedagogical Practices

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Author(s): Sharon Stoerger (University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, USA)
Copyright: 2012
Pages: 20
Source title: Handbook of Research on Practices and Outcomes in Virtual Worlds and Environments
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Harrison Hao Yang (State University of New York at Oswego, USA)and Steve Chi-Yin Yuen (The Univeristy of Southern Mississippi, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60960-762-3.ch023

Keywords: Information Science Reference / Media & Communications / Social Computing / Virtual Communities & Virtual Reality

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Abstract

Technology is changing at a rapid pace, and information is becoming a more prominent feature in society. Advocates of educational technology contend that virtual worlds will revolutionize education. Many of these arguments in support of educational uses of technology emphasize the fact that virtual worlds have the potential to foster a more student-centered learning environment. This research involved the analysis of synchronous text chat and observational data collected from Second Life® (SL) continuing education courses at three different course levels – beginner, intermediate, and advanced. To support or refute these findings, unstructured interviews were conducted with SL course instructors and students. In general, the SL instructors relied heavily upon teacher-centered methods. However, the results of this study suggest that the use of student-centered approaches in virtual world – ones that draw from constructivist epistemologies – have the potential to create a more effective learning situation for the students.

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Breaking Away: How Virtual Worlds Impact Pedagogical Practices

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