The Use of Virtual Worlds in Management Education: An Investigation of Current Practices in Second Life

Frequently, research on management education does not take into account the role of Information Technology as a key resource to support teaching and learning processes. In this article, the authors explore the current applications of Three Dimensional Virtual Worlds 3DVW for Management education. The authors researched the educational institutions subscribed to Second Life SL http://secondlife.com/, as it is one of the most popular open 3DVW available worldwide. The results reveal that only 31% of the institutions that answered the authors' questionnaire actually use SL in Management education. Regarding the acceptance of SL in Management education, one third of the 15 institutions using it claim that it has been well received and accepted both by students and lecturers/professors. These results lead to several questions for further research and development of practices concerning the use of 3DVW for Management education.

[1]  Moez Limayem,et al.  3D Social Virtual Worlds: Research Issues and Challenges , 2008, IEEE Internet Computing.

[2]  Alexandra Petrakou,et al.  Interacting through avatars: Virtual worlds as a context for online education , 2010, Comput. Educ..

[3]  Ralph Schroeder,et al.  Possible Worlds: The Social Dynamic of Virtual Reality Technology , 1996 .

[4]  Douglas R. Vogel,et al.  Individual motivations and demographic differences in social virtual world uses: An exploratory investigation in Second Life , 2011, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[5]  Luca Chittaro,et al.  Web3D technologies in learning, education and training: Motivations, issues, opportunities , 2007, Comput. Educ..

[6]  Wanda J. Orlikowski,et al.  Virtual Worlds: A Performative Perspective on Globally Distributed, Immersive Work , 2010 .

[7]  Glenn Finger,et al.  eLearning and Sport Management: Hyperpedagogy Possibilities , 2007 .

[8]  Genny Tortora,et al.  Development and evaluation of a virtual campus on Second Life: The case of SecondDMI , 2009, Comput. Educ..

[9]  Aaron Delwiche,et al.  Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOs) in the New Media Classroom , 2006, J. Educ. Technol. Soc..

[10]  Chetan S. Sankar,et al.  Diagnosing Student Learning Outcomes Using the Organizational Learning Contract Framework , 2013, International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education.

[11]  Jennifer Mahon,et al.  Using Second Life to enhance classroom management practice in teacher education , 2010 .

[12]  Mariano Alcañiz Raya,et al.  Learning in serious virtual worlds: Evaluation of learning effectiveness and appeal to students in the E-Junior project , 2010, Comput. Educ..

[13]  Laura Tampieri,et al.  The enterprises simulation in second life. The case of Perting ltd , 2009, ECIS.

[14]  Joseph F. Hair,et al.  Essentials of Business Research Methods , 2003 .

[15]  Carina Girvan,et al.  Identifying an appropriate pedagogy for virtual worlds: A Communal Constructivism case study , 2010, Comput. Educ..

[16]  Barney Dalgarno,et al.  What are the learning affordances of 3-D virtual environments? , 2010, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[17]  S. Baker,et al.  Using Virtual Worlds in Education: Second Life® as an Educational Tool , 2009 .

[18]  Vanessa Chang,et al.  Virtual Team Role Play Using Second Life for Teaching Business Process Concepts , 2011, 2011 44th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[19]  Steven Warburton,et al.  Second Life in higher education: Assessing the potential for and the barriers to deploying virtual worlds in learning and teaching , 2009, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[20]  Gilly Salmon,et al.  The future for (second) life and learning , 2009, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[21]  Susan V. Scott,et al.  10 Sociomateriality: Challenging the Separation of Technology, Work and Organization , 2008 .

[22]  Matthew W. Ragas,et al.  Assessing the Value of Virtual Worlds for Post- Secondary Instructors: A Survey of Innovators, Early Adopters and the Early Majority in Second Life , 2009 .

[23]  David A. Bray,et al.  Second Life and Other Virtual Worlds: A Roadmap for Research , 2007, Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[24]  Steve Wheeler,et al.  Second Life: an overview of the potential of 3-D virtual worlds in medical and health education. , 2007, Health information and libraries journal.

[25]  Terri L. Griffith,et al.  Information Technology and the Changing Fabric of Organization , 2007, Organ. Sci..

[26]  Michele D. Dickey.  Three-dimensional virtual worlds and distance learning: two case studies of Active Worlds as a medium for distance education , 2005, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[27]  Phil Turner,et al.  Place, Sense of Place, and Presence , 2006, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[28]  Ken Stevens,et al.  Encyclopedia of Distance Learning, Vols. 1-4 [Book Review] , 2006 .

[29]  Arlene Fink,et al.  How to Conduct Surveys: A Step-by-Step Guide. Sixth Edition. , 1985 .

[30]  Leslie Jarmon,et al.  Virtual world teaching, experiential learning, and assessment: An interdisciplinary communication course in Second Life , 2009, Comput. Educ..

[31]  Andrew Hogue,et al.  Using a Virtual Learning Environment with Highly Interactive Elements in Second Life to Engage Millennial Students , 2010, 2010 International Conference on e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning.

[32]  W. Bainbridge.  The Scientific Research Potential of Virtual Worlds , 2007, Science.

[33]  Paulo Martins,et al.  Improving teaching and learning of computer programming through the use of the Second Life virtual world , 2011, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[34]  Michele D. Dickey.  Teaching in 3D: Pedagogical Affordances and Constraints of 3D Virtual Worlds for Synchronous Distance Learning , 2003 .

[35]  Jack M. Loomis,et al.  Virtual Environments and the Enhancement of Spatial Behavior: Towards a Comprehensive Research Agenda , 2000, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[36]  Phil Long,et al.  Standards? What and Why? , 2005 .

[37]  Mel Slater,et al.  Measuring Presence: A Response to the Witmer and Singer Presence Questionnaire , 1999, Presence.

[38]  Stephen C. Bronack.  The Role of Immersive Media in Online Education , 2011 .

[39]  Starr Roxanne Hiltz,et al.  Using Synthetic Worlds for Work and Learning , 2008, Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[40]  Alastair G. Smith,et al.  Online and Distance Learning: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools and Applications , 2008 .

[41]  John D. Murphy,et al.  Avatars, People, and Virtual Worlds: Foundations for Research in Metaverses , 2009, J. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[42]  Ko de Ruyter,et al.  It's a brand new world: Teaching brand management in virtual environments , 2011 .

[43]  Khe Foon Hew,et al.  Use of three-dimensional (3-D) immersive virtual worlds in K-12 and higher education settings: A review of the research , 2010, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[44]  Saniye Tugba Bulu,et al.  Place presence, social presence, co-presence, and satisfaction in virtual worlds , 2012, Comput. Educ..

[45]  Lilly Lu,et al.  Demystifying three-dimensional virtual worlds for art education , 2010 .

[46]  Eleni Stroulia,et al.  Virtual worlds - past, present, and future: New directions in social computing , 2009, Decis. Support Syst..

[47]  Faruk Aras,et al.  3D Virtual Classroom Environment for Teaching Renewable Energy Production and Substation Equipment , 2011 .

[48]  Tao Wang,et al.  A Software Engineering Education Game in a 3-D Online Virtual Environment , 2009, 2009 First International Workshop on Education Technology and Computer Science.

[49]  Ulrike Schultze,et al.  Refraining Online Games , 2007, Virtuality and Virtualization.

[50]  Mi Jeong Kim,et al.  Technological advancements in synchronous collaboration: The effect of 3D virtual worlds and tangible user interfaces on architectural design , 2011 .

[51]  Mark W. Bell.  Toward a Definition of “Virtual Worlds” , 1970 .

[52]  Kendra Carmichael,et al.  Seriously Playing: Introducing Communication Students to AxeCorp’s Virtuality , 2010 .

[53]  Jeffrey C. Neely,et al.  Virtual Possibilities: A Constructivist Examination of the Educational Applications of Second Life. , 2010 .

[54]  Ralph Schroeder,et al.  Defining Virtual Worlds and Virtual Environments , 2008 .

[55]  David A. Bray,et al.  Virtual worlds: multi-disciplinary research opportunities , 2007, DATB.

[56]  Slava Kalyuga,et al.  Enhancing Instructional Efficiency of Interactive E-learning Environments: A Cognitive Load Perspective , 2007 .