Ramaswami, R. (2011) Is There a Second Life for Virtual Worlds? Campus Technology, September 1

Palomäki, E. (2009) Applying 3D Virtual Worlds to Higher Education Helsinki FIN: Helsinki University of Technology

The article in Campus Technology provides a thoughtful and well-researched overview of the current state of virtual worlds in higher education, drawing heavily on Eero Palomäki’s master’s thesis, but also on several other sources.

Some of the conclusions:

• don’t try to replicate a classroom: do what can’t be done in a classroom
• it’s hard work: there are technological and pedagogical challenges in making virtual worlds work in higher education
• cultural issues: the ‘capitalist, real-estate view of the world’ in Second Life clashes with higher education’s culture of collaboration and sharing
• effective training for both instructors and learners in how to operate in virtual worlds is essential
• high level IT support is essential
• find a niche: certain areas lend themselves to virtual worlds; others don’t
• motion capture is needed to provide more ‘realism’

Virtual worlds aren’t dead yet then, but definitely need more development if they are to become mainstream in post-secondary education