Ana Loureiro, Ana Santos and Teresa Bettencourt

**Virtual Worlds as an Extended Classroom** 

*CIDTFF/University of Aveiro & Polytechnic Institute of Santarém,Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, & CIDTFF/University of Aveiro Portugal* 

#### **1. Introduction**

88 Applications of Virtual Reality

Wu, B., Ooi T. L., & He Z. J. (2004). Perceiving distance accurately by a directional process of

There is a growing trend in education and training towards the use of online and distance learning courses. This delivery format provides flexibility and accessibility; it is also viewed as a way to provide education in a more effective way to a broader community. Online courses are comfortable, they are built under the missive of "anyone, anywhere, anytime". Everyone can participate from home or workplace.

Online courses can be developed in a variety of ways, for example, using a LMS (Learning Management System), a LCM (Learning Content System), or a Web 2.0 tool (or some mixture). These options, however, show limitations in terms of communication and interaction levels that can be achieved between students. Most learning systems are asynchronous and don't allow an effective real-time interaction, collaboration and cooperation. Whilst they typically have synchronous chats and whiteboards, these capabilities are often sterile and don't stimulate the appropriate interactions that enhance learning. A rich interaction does not necessarily involve just verbal exchange since there is an huge learning value to be gained from interacting with the learning content in a more visual and practical way. For instance, imagine the learning benefits from collaborating on a 3D construction jointly and in real-time? Imagine watching the impact of soil erosion, or building and walking inside an heart model or a car engine? All this is possible in a 3D immersive virtual world. Students can engage at a distance building content in real-time, collaboratively and interactively. On the net there can be found an array of virtual worlds, however we have chosen Second Life® (SL®) to show how teaching and learning can be enhanced through the use of this platform. Second Life® is immersive, enabling users to interact, communicate and collaborate as if in the real world. SL® is a model of the real world, it shows an accurate physics simulation and it includes a meteorological and gravitational system; as such, anything can be modelled and simulated. Each user in the environment is represented by an avatar with all the features of a human being and avatars can manipulate the environment. Scientific experiments can be held in a very safe and controlled environment, and can be directly conducted by the scientist in charge. Scientific fields such as architecture, history, medicine, biology, sociology, programming, languages learning among many others can all be tested and researched through this virtual world.

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aware that, in virtual worlds, when the avatar – the person is, for instance, talking with another avatar – person, those persons are really talking with each other, consuming time, discussing ideas, sharing knowledge, thinking, socializing. They are using a virtual medium to do something very real. The "virtual" has a real expression. The "virtual" must be seen and understood more like an extension of real life, than something that is antagonist to the real life. Like Bettencourt (2010) we agree that this conception is the first condition to ensure

Those potentialities are also related with another concept that arises from the immersive character of virtual worlds and from the fact that virtual worlds were not created with educational reasons in mind: the natural context of the environment where learning and teaching experiences occur (Bettencourt, 2010). This concept is not only quite different from formal, or nonformal or informal learning environments but as well is independent from them. Formal and nonformal or informal learning can be characterized by who has the control of the educational objectives or competences to achieve or to develop (Cross, 2007). In a natural context, like virtual worlds, the learning process is individual and occurs because the learner wants to no matter where he/she is, the person learns by his/her own pace, not necessarily within the context of a school, or any educational entity, in an autonomous way. Skills learned or competences developed tend to be transferable giving a

As well as the learning process is individual it also depends on the socialization of the person. More the socialization more the person will learn. Within the concept of natural context that we are explaining the apprenticeships are embedded in a community of sharing (Bettencourt, 2010). This idea is inspired in the communities of practice from Lave and Wenger (1991) who, already in those years, explained the importance of sharing between newcomers and old-timers. They wrote: "*We place more emphasis on connecting issues of sociocultural transformation with changing relations between newcomers and old-timers in the context of a changing shared practice*" (pp. 49). The "changing shared practice" assumes an enormous actuality nowadays. In the natural context that we were explaining, the learning processes are focused in communities of sharing, where avatars – persons learn one with another. These communities are nonhierarchical and any individual contribution will enrich

Taking into account our experience, literature review and the research that is being developed, we believe the virtual world that offers better features and more potentialities for educational use is Second Life®. This platform is the best known, more populated and

We define Second Life® as a free to use 3D multi-user virtual world, immersive, imagined, designed, built and created by its users (residents or avatars). It is considered a playground for our imagination, a limitless platform – design, build, code, perform and collaborate, expanding

For the most part, virtual worlds were not designed for educational use. As already mentioned, the purposes are related with social and entertainment areas although many of the features available in these platforms can be explored in educational contexts. In the

the boundaries of creativity. It is a real life simulator (Loureiro & Bettencourt, 2010).

**3. Exploring virtual worlds - Learning and teaching strategies** 

all the educational potentialities of virtual worlds.

whole dimension of the learning process.

the whole community without any kind of value judgments.

integrates several and important features of usability.
