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About

Virtual World Watch (VWW) seeks out and monitors some of the virtual world activities in UK Higher and Further education (universities and colleges). This includes research, developing virtual world applications and content, and teaching and learning using virtual worlds.

These activities are summarised in snapshot reports, which are a compilation of what UK academics are doing, have done, the results they have gained and the issues they have faced. Since the Spring of 2007, nine such reports have been produced, with the tenth (Autumn 2011) currently in production.

In addition to reports, VWW blogs here about virtual world activities, in addition to using Twitter and Flickr for further dissemination.

VWW also undertakes small-scale research into the use of virtual worlds in the UK teaching and learning sector, as well as speaking at various events.

Political and editorial policy

There are many in UK academia who take a rather extreme view on the use of virtual worlds in education. Some see it as a transforming and emerging technology, with limitless potential in the education sector. Some others see it as a technological and psychological hindrance to teaching, with no possible benefits to the learner.

VWW takes a neutral stance on the use of virtual worlds in teaching, learning and education. This service isn’t interested in the rhetoric, which has often been an unnecessary distraction in academic debate. Rather, VWW is interested in the actual evidence, especially regarding where virtual worlds are useful in teaching and learning, and where they are not.

VWW also takes a neutral view on specific virtual worlds, of which there are many. Some have particular uses in specific areas of the education sector; others do not. Some have education-oriented functionality. Most or all have some drawback or other. As plenty of experience over several years has shown, there is no “one size fits all” or “best” virtual world for the whole education sector.

Funding

Funding, from June 2007 to May 2010, came from Eduserv. From June to the end of 2010, VWW was operated voluntarily.

In September 2011, VWW was awarded a small amount of independent funding to carry out another snapshot over the remainder of the year.

VWW will be exploring funding possibilities, either directly (through grant or donation), or indirectly (through related research) so that time can be ringfenced for further snapshot reports to be compiled.

Historical rationale

There are an increasing number of virtual worlds, allowing distant people to create avatars (physical personas), meet, trade, communicate and develop (virtual) infrastructures in a shared online environment. As of September 2011, Wikipedia listed 70 virtual reality communities; several dozen more are not listed, or are in development.

Second Life is, as of 2011, still the widely used virtual world in education. For a variety of technical and functional reasons, and assisted by active support from the maintainers, Second Life has become the predominant virtual world for serious educational uses. Hundreds of universities, colleges and schools have used Second Life for holding meetings and classes, enabling students to run or recreate exhibitions, distance learning, student recruitment, online research and dissemination.

Research underpinning the May 2008 snapshot revealed that over 80% of UK universities were developing or teaching within the Second Life virtual world. This statistic astonished many UK academics, helping to overturn some misassumptions about virtual world activity within the education sector. Ongoing research shows a constant uptake of Second Life in particular by academics and researchers (of all levels of seniority) within UK Higher and Further Education.

However, in the last few years several alternative virtual worlds have started to be used by UK academics in their work. While Second Life stays the predominant choice of UK academics for teaching and learning purposes, an increasing number are discussing and experimenting with these alternatives – of which the most discussed is OpenSim – to see if any can provide a “better” environment in terms of cost, security and functionality.

Until Eduserv Research started to fund research into Second Life and virtual world activity in UK Higher and Further Education, there was no centralised or easy way of assessing the extent of such activity. The majority of academic virtual world developers had not publicised their work (and many continue in this low-key way), while others disseminated across an increasingly fragmented media (e.g. blogs, university websites, conferences, Twitter, events in Second Life).

From feedback over the years, many teaching and research staff, ICT funders and services within the UK academic sector have found the snapshots useful; all have been cited in academic literature. A specific comment that is frequently repeated is that these reports have provided the most authoritative or reliable source of information on:

  • The extent of virtual world use in UK universities.
  • Which academics and institutions are using virtual worlds.
  • What, exactly, virtual worlds are being used for.

The reports have also been used by academics as reasoning for virtual worlds to be investigated more thoroughly as teaching and learning technologies.

Who is Virtual World Watch?

Since the first snapshot, VWW research and dissemination has being carried out by John Kirriemuir, with considerable (and appreciated) help from virtual world developers in the UK Higher and Further Education sectors, and informal technical and legal support from professionals.

Virtual World Watch is greatly strengthened by the input of an advisory board.