A statewide university system (16 campuses) creates collaborative learning communities in Second Life

For the first time in history, an entire statewide public institution of higher education is extending all of its 16 campuses into the online virtual world of Second Life and is creating one of the largest virtual collaborative learning communities in the world. There are three levels of assessment and research for this initial‐entry project: (1) at the System level; (2) at the individual campus level; and (3) at the course level. Questions to be addressed include: How can educators use virtual worlds to create large‐scale learning communities? How do virtual worlds enhance collaborative and interdisciplinary learning? How are 16 geo‐spatially separated campuses collaborating in virtual worlds? What have been major obstacles? How will this project continue to grow and evolve? The creation of the System's virtual collaborative learning community of students, faculty, researchers, and administrators has begun to allow participants to learn, share, collaborate, and grow alongside one another. The ethic of the model is generosity.

[1]  Katherine S. Mangan,et al.  Virtual Worlds Turn Therapeutic for Autistic Disorders. , 2008 .

[2]  Paul Resta,et al.  Teaching with Virtual Worlds: Factors to Consider for Instructional Use of Second Life , 2010 .

[3]  Leslie Jarmon,et al.  Understanding project‐based learning in Second Life with a pedagogy, training, and assessment trio , 2008 .

[4]  Michael Mayrath,et al.  Using Second Life in an English course: Designing class activities to address learning objectives , 2007 .

[5]  U. Franklin.  The real world of technology , 1993 .

[6]  Richard Tunstall,et al.  When worlds collide: Developing game-design partnerships in universities , 2008 .

[7]  Leslie Jarmon,et al.  Pedagogy and Learning in the Virtual World of Second Life , 2009 .

[8]  Paulo Freire,et al.  The Learning Way: Meta-cognitive Aspects of Experiential Learning.* , 2008 .

[9]  Ross MacDonald,et al.  Play between Worlds: Exploring Online Game Culture , 2007 .

[10]  Etienne Wenger,et al.  Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation , 1991 .

[11]  Etienne Wenger,et al.  Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity , 1998 .

[12]  Constance Steinkuehler,et al.  Where Everybody Knows Your (Screen) Name: Online Games as "Third Places" , 2006, DiGRA Conference.

[13]  R. Bloomfield,et al.  Worlds for Study: Invitation - Virtual Worlds for Studying Real-World Business (and Law, and Politics, and Sociology, and....) , 2007 .

[14]  D. Kolb,et al.  The Learning Way , 2009, The Oxford Handbook of Lifelong Learning, Second Edition.

[15]  E. Wenger.  Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity , 1998 .

[16]  Nick Yee,et al.  Motivations for Play in Online Games , 2006, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[17]  Leslie Jarmon,et al.  Homo Virtualis: Virtual Worlds, Learning, and an Ecology of Embodied Interaction , 2010, Int. J. Virtual Pers. Learn. Environ..

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