Teaching in the Virtual Theatre Classroom - Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments - page 192

that the use of virtual worlds will increase as the
use of the internet increased with the World Wide
Web's introduction before the turn of the century.
As virtual worlds become more commonplace,
they will become more likely sites for education
and teaching. As the expansion—the revolu-
tion—happens, there will be resistance, but with
the proper preparation, educators moving into the
virtual world will be ready to meet the challenges,
having learned from our last stage of evolution.
In the 1990's, as technology became more
frequently utilized as a teaching tool, educators
attempted to sound clever and insightful by repeat-
ing the mantra of, “Change from being the sage on
the stage to the guide on the side!” While this is a
useful attitude to have when incorporating active
learning techniques into the classroom, it fails to
take into account that perhaps not all courses can
be taught solely through active learning projects.
As for teaching in a multi-user virtual environ-
ment, the instructor should attempt to be something
slightly different than this mantra suggests: the
guide on the virtual stage, not always visible,
yet omnipresent in the real and virtual worlds
simultaneously, and ever ready to aid students
who may become lost in a potentially confusing
brave new digital world.

Carter, C. (2006). Second Life Projects: Introduc-
ing Your RL Students To Second Life . Retrieved on
October 17, 2006 from http://www.cxknowledge.
com/Intro_SL.html.

Champion, E.M. (2005). Astral Travel In Virtual
Realms: Evaluating Conceptual Understanding in
Digital Reconstructions of Past Cultures. Leon-
ardo Electronic Almanac. 13 (6/7). Retrieved May
10, 2009 from Academic Search Premier.

Coffman, T., & Klinger, M. B. (2007). Utilizing
Virtual Worlds in Education: The Implications
for Practice. International Journal of Social Sci-
ences , 2 (1), 29-33.

Conklin, S. (2007). 101 Uses for Second Life in
the College Classroom . Retrieved on May 10,
2009 from http://facstaff.elon.edu/mconklin/pubs/
glshandout.pdf.

Foss, J. (2009). Lessons from Learning in Virtual
Environments. British Journal of Educational
Technology , 40 (3), 556-560. .doi:10.1111/j.1467-
8535.2009.00955.x

Junglas, I. A., Johnson, N. A., Steel, D. J., Abra-
ham, D. C., & Laughlin, P. M. (2007). Identity
Formation, Learning Styles and Trust in Virtual
Worlds. The Data Base for Advances in Informa-
tion Systems , 38 (4), 90-96.

ACkNOWLeDgmeNT

Nesson, R., & Nesson, C. (2008). The Case for
Education in Virtual Worlds. Space and Culture ,
11 , 273-285. .doi:10.1177/1206331208319149

The author would like to thank Megan Moran of
San Jose State University for her help in research-
ing some of the background for this chapter.

Peterson, M. (2006). Learner Interaction Manage-
ment in an Avatar and Chat-based Virtual World.
Computer Assisted Language Learning , 19 (1),
79-103. doi:10.1080/09588220600804087

ReFeReNCeS

Rosedale, P. (2009a). Keynote Speech . Second
Life Community Convention, August 15, 2009.

Berge, Z. L. (2008). Changing Instructor's Roles in
Virtual Worlds. The Quarterly Review of Distance
Education , 9 (4), 407-414.