Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Several students remarked on the impersonal
nature of the mediated communication in 3D
environments, preferring
'
real
'
face-to-face
communication than mediated through an avatar
representation. One student commented that
'
It
made interaction with others a little less personal
and sometimes hard to follow if you were chatting
with multiple people from your group at one time
'
.
While some students enjoyed the flexibility of
studying off-campus, several were critical of the
interface and functionality to support this kind of
learning as reflected in a comment that
'
I enjoyed
the remote lectures... but the user interface is ap-
palling. The controlling is sluggish and terrible...
that I didn't enjoy
'
.
Students who were more positive about the
experience commented
'
It made it easier to com-
municate to those who I normally wouldn't have
'
;
'
Gave me an extra outlet with which to commu-
nicate with others in the course-other students
and also to gain help from the instructors
'
;
'
This
is a new ball game and the learning process was
tremendous
'
.
What was most surprising to us were the
number of students who were not convinced by
predictions that 3D virtual environments will be-
come as pervasive as the 2D Web as we now know
it. Despite visiting lecturers and content provided
to students indicating the growth in uptake by
businesses, it was apparent from student ratings
in the evaluation and their comments, that many
felt the activities were a waste of time as they
could not see the relevance to their future careers
in the industry. The following comment by one
student reflects the student resistance and lack of
acceptance we observed throughout the course:
biggest law firm doing business on there do we
now? (anonymous, 2008).
Discussion of the Findings
3D virtual learning environments such as
Second
Life
offer enormous possibilities for engaging stu-
dents in ways that maximise flexible learning and
foster collaborative learning, communication and
problem solving. Despite the limited population
participating in the trials reported in the preceding
section, it was evident from our observations of
students throughout the trials that their resistance
to the platform impacted significantly on their
capacity to immerse themselves in the learn-
ing environment. Some students appeared to be
resistant because they had preconceived notions
of what sorts of activities are valid for teaching
and learning. While playful and informal learning
should have been an effective means of engag-
ing the students, several students remarked that
Second Life
was an inappropriate platform for
teaching and learning. Some students regarded
the activities as a waste of time, even though the
skills they gained are directly transferrable to other
platforms, because they were focused on want-
ing to learn a particular application (for example
Flash) rather than on the skills (for example team
work, collaboration, problem solving) required
to create online games. Similarly, many students
in
EPI
wanted to spend all their time working
on their Website designs, because they regarded
a 3D virtual world development platform as of
little value to their future career plans to work as
Web design professionals.
Several students were uncomfortable with the
mediated form of communication, which again
surprised us given the large number of students
who fit the
'
digital native
'
profile, especially
since all of the students enrolled in the courses
were students with an interest in digital media.
It was evident that technical glitches with the
platform contributed to student dissatisfaction
with the learning experience and interviews with
No matter how you look at it is still a game. It is
just a fad and I don't believe the statistics about
its uptake. Too hard to access. I would not use
Second Life because I think it's quite pointless
when relating to the web. Sure some people use
it as a business medium but you don't see the
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