College Students Going Avatar?

Changes may be on the near horizon for online learners. The major giants of learning management system software have been negotiating with companies in the virtual world industry to extend new learning options to their postsecondary clients to enhance student learning experiences. Angel Learning unveiled its island in the popular virtual realm of Second Life in the spring of 2007. This free island was established to enable educators to experiment with learning scenarios, meetings, and other kinds of interactions that typify educational settings. Experimentation on Angel Isle allows colleges and universities to make informed purchasing decisions before committing to any one particular approach to learning. Angel Isle is not limited to the exclusive use of educators but can be used by anyone who wants to learn about the basic and advanced features of Second Life.

Angel Learning is not the only learning management system company to investigate the prospect of integrating virtual worlds into learning management systems; Blackboard has committed significant financial resources to the exploration of pedagogical and administrative issues in virtual worlds, including a $ 25,000 grant awarded to Ball University to foster and promote the use of virtual worlds in everyday teaching and learning. Less prominent companies in the learning management system arena have also funded the experimentation of educators in virtual worlds. Eduserv’s funding of research and development in virtual worlds has led to the successful integration of the learning management system MOODLE with Second Life. This integrated product, SLOODLE, supports the basic tasks associated with learning management systems, including taking quizzes and surveys, submitting assignments, recording chat conversations, and keeping track of academic progress. These tasks are accomplished through the use of learner avatars, which navigate virtual worlds under the control of the learner.

The integration of virtual worlds with learning management systems does present its share of challenges. While the advent of products such as SLOODLE might increase the learner’s capacity to interact with the learning environment, the typical online course will likely become less flexible. Implementing such products seems counterintuitive when students are generally attracted to the flexibility of online courses. The proliferation of android phones may present another challenge. Many students enjoy accessing their online courses with android technology. It is unclear whether these products contain the video capabilities to support virtual worlds such as Second Life; many desktops and notebooks do not. The integration of learning management systems and virtual worlds is also likely to change the way postsecondary faculty interface with online courses. College faculty may face challenges in providing students learning experiences as opposed as to learning materials. Providing students learning experiences represents an intuitive approach to establishing pedagogy in virtual worlds.