The Benefits and Unanticipated Challenges in the Use of 3D Virtual Learning Environments in the Undergraduate Media Arts Curriculum - Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments - page 238

(Mili et al, 2008; Cooper, 2007), fashion design
(Polvinen, 2007), hospitality and tourism (Penfold,
2008), collaborative story telling (Bakioğlu, 2007),
business (Bloomfield, 2007) and experiential
learning activities (Mason, 2007). Such activi-
ties can prepare students for future employment
without the constraints of 'real world' industry
placements (Chen, 2005). Moreover, as several
authors note, 3D virtual worlds such as Second
Life can facilitate communication skills (Robbins,
2007), collaboration and constructivism (Clark
& Maher, 2003), and can also increase students'
understanding of cultural differences and other
aspects of diversity (Lee & Christopher, 2006).
Despite these reported benefits (Carter, 2006;
Kemp, 2006; Liu, 2006), however, environments
such as Second Life were not designed specifically
for this purpose as learning environments. They
have become 'all things to all people' (Bloomfield,
2008), attempting with difficulty to serve many
purposes for many different participants. Very
few studies have documented the challenges of
adapting these technologies to the teaching and
learning curriculum and as Hayes (2006) reminds
us, leveraging the benefits of these technologies
involves more than providing students with ac-
cess to the tools. Hayes goes on to caution that
participation in learning activities hosted on public
servers such as Second Life presents 'unforeseen
challenges' (p. 159) and depends on 'a complex
set of social, economic and legal conditions' (p.
158) that users can only partially control. Such
'unforeseen challenges' identified from review
of the literature include:

2007; Peters & Bell, 2007; Abrahams,
2007; Hansen, 2008; Wood, 2009);

• Legal and Intellectual Property (IP) issues

(Mistral, 2007a, 2007b; Bragg vs Linden
Lab and Rosedale, 2006; Grimes, 2006; De
Zwart, 2007; Coates, Suzor & Fitzgerald,
2007);

• Ethical considerations;

• Technology related factors including serv-

er stability, technology demands and secu-
rity concerns (Lee and Warren, 2007) and

• The costs associated with purchase of vir-

tual land, monthly maintenance and the
cost associated with operating within a
commercial virtual economy.

Recognising the potential of 3D virtual learn-
ing environments and also mindful of these pos-
sible 'unforeseen challenges', a research team
at the University of South Australia purchased a
virtual island in Second Life in November 2007
to undertake preliminary trials and document the
pedagogical benefits as well as the issues in the
use of 3D virtual environments for learning. The
findings from our preliminary research were then
used to support a competitive grant application
to the Australian Learning and Teaching Coun-
cil (ALTC), for a project that aims to develop
guidelines for the use of 3D virtual learning
environments in the undergraduate and graduate
curriculum, and to design and develop an open
source, accessible 3D virtual learning environ-
ment. The findings from these trials are reported
in the following section followed by details of
project, which received funding from the ALTC
in the second half of 2008 and will be completed
at the end of July 2010.

• A lack of empirical evidence documenting

the pedagogical benefits of teaching and
learning within a 3D virtual learning envi-
ronment compared with traditional online
delivery; CASe STUDIeS

• The accessibility problems associated with

the Second Life platform (Brewer cited in
Qi, 2007; Kawamura cited in Fruchterman,

The three courses trialled in Second Life are all
undergraduate courses offered in the Media Arts
program at the University of South Australia: