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What are you doing in virtual worlds? Teaching, learning, research, publicity, and/or anything else?

Continuing to use virtual worlds for teaching, learning and research.

Going well? Not? Want to say why?

Quite well. The biggest challenge personally is balancing teaching and research – something that is likely to be increasingly challenging for many folk as the cuts come in.

The best recent development is that our university island is now being used by people in other parts of the university (esp. Lifelong Learning) – this has taken far too long, but it’s happening now.

Money is tight. The ‘golden age’ of education money may be ending. How are you getting funded? How do you think your virtual world activities will be funded in the future?

I was fortunate to receive funding from JISC – it was very competitive, and only possible I think because we had a collaboration where all partners had significant prior experience with virtual worlds. The bar has been raised somewhat I think!

Our project has been funded by the JISC LTIG programme: Supporting Education in Virtual Worlds with Virtual Learning Environments (VW/VLE)

The consortium consists of the University of the West of Scotland (Daniel Livingstone), The Open University (Anna Peachey), University of Ulster (Michael Callaghan) and Imperial College London (Maria Toro-Troconis). The project will run from 1st July 2010 to 30th June 2011.

This project will analyse and catalogue emerging pedagogical opportunities offered by integrating virtual worlds and web-based virtual learning environments. It aims to show how the relative strengths of each platform, i.e. administrative capabilities of virtual learning environments and the presentation layer of virtual worlds, can be exploited and subsequently enhanced through such integration.

The project will develop, evaluate and disseminate effective models of good practice, where little guidance or structure currently exists and based on experiences from pilot groups use this integrated approach for teaching and learning at multiple institutions.

We will be looking into areas such as using VLEs to support greater personalisation of learning in shared 3D spaces, supporting accessibility, and improving reuse.

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With a squeeze on UK funding, charity and EU funding initiatives will be more attractive, as will work with companies and industries looking to save on their travel budgets relating to training programmes – and where online training will be increasingly desirable.

Long distance travel is increasingly precarious. Ash, strikes and airlines going under ground flights. Travel is expensive (even in the UK with extortionate train fares) and takes up a lot of time. Virtual Worlds could, possibly, be used instead of many workshops, conferences, meetings et al. Your thoughts on this? And how do virtual worlds such as Second Life stack up against other event-replacing media such as Elluminate and Skype?

Virtual worlds ‘must do better’ in this regard. Elluminate doesn’t require a 3 hour induction session – and neither should a virtual world.

Second Life. Using just that, or considering other virtual worlds? If so, why?

We have a little work with OpenSim, primarily still Second Life.

Problems with universities blocking access to Second Life. Is anyone still having that, or are we over it now?

Generally over it, but staff still need to fill in forms to open the required ports for connecting to services like Second Life.

What do you think of the new Second Life viewer, both the UI/usability changes and the new functionality it enables (e.g. media on a prim)?

New media capabilities are a great improvement. I generally like the new UI – but it does need some streamlining, and some things can be a bit hard to find. Some aspects are not obvious. It is certainly much more welcoming than the old UI. Sadly the new client does not work well with OpenSim.

Do you have a view on the new Second Life Terms of Service conditions and ownership rights which are creating a bit of a hoo-hah in some quarters? Do you think it will affect you Does it matter in the grand scheme of things?

On the plus side, from my reading of the terms, I can take a screenshot of SL and not have to ask Linden Lab for permission to use that image in a paper or publication. That is different from the legal situation for just about every other software package you can think of!

What I would like is better support (legally and technically) for taking in-world content out of Second Life.

* * * * *

1. What are you doing in virtual worlds? Teaching, learning, research, publicity, and/or anything else?

1. Teaching
For the 3rd year running I used SL with a 1st year undergraduate class and a Masters level option. This year I was able to schedule attendance at the Virtual world Best Practices in Education conference into the Masters class, which worked well (apart from me not checking out that the headphones worked in our lab, so some people had voice issues) and I will look for more ways of doing that. The main problem is finding events that are on during the scheduled class time.

The School of Education also used it again with a Masters level distance learning class.

Someone in our English Language Teaching centre has used SL and may be working with students in SL – colleagues in other departments have also shown interest.

2. Events and CPD.
Use of Infolit iSchool as a venue increased, in particular I bid for an ESRC Festival of Social Science (March 2010) event, and put on one of the few online events “Searching, shopping, sightseeing: literacies in virtual lives” in SL, and in June 2010 the island was venue for the final dissemination seminar in an ESRC Research Seminar series that was organised by Sheffield University, Sheffield Hallam University and Lancaster University (“Children’s and young people’s digital literacies in virtual online spaces”). There has also been the continued Infolit iSchool series of one hour discussions or presentations. There has been an international mix of presenters and participants (e.g. in an Information Literacy “mini festival” in May a colleague in Puerto Rico did a talk and tour of her information literacy installation in Spanish and then later in English, and at the ESRC Research seminar we had three well-known researchers from North America presenting to an international audience).

Personally I have also benefitted from attending a lot of events, from small get-togethers like the UK Educators meetings, to the big conferences in SL. As in life outside SL, I find that offering to do things and getting involved means that you get more out of things.

3. Awareness raising of Information Literacy (and, probably, me and my Department)
In terms of what happens in SL, I know that people visit the island to look round: not hordes, but I bump into people reasonably often, and they are usually there because they are interested in information literacy and learning. There are increasing numbers of things to look at and explore on Infolit iSchool, and I think that (as with a website) it is valuable to keep it fresh with new content and to have things going on there (the events) to bring people in periodically and make it a live place for them. Since I have a commitment to information literacy, and international dialogue on IL, I think this is a good thing )

I got asked to talk about SL and libraries/information literacy almost as soon as I got involved in SL, so it has an impact on my profile. Interestingly, invites tailed off rather last year, but last week I did one presentation in Bath and have been asked to deliver a session in Prague in September, so perhaps there is a second wave of interest.

4. Research
I have one Masters student using SL as the focus of her dissertation this summer and there will be at least one PhD student starting fairly soon looking at virtual worlds. I have co-authored a paper with a colleague in the US (met only in SL) and she has also agreed to be co-editor on a substantial research book, I put in one small research proposal with another colleague in the USA (failed, but made some use of the text of the bid for something else!), have one refereed paper published, have presented at several research conferences about my work, and am currently putting together a substantial research bid concerned with use of SL. Essentially it has become one of my research fields, but it has also provided me with new research contacts (particularly in the USA): people I had heard of and who might have heard of me, but we had never physically met up.

2. Going well? Not? Want to say why?

I think I probably answered this in the last question? Basically, the teaching side could be improved by having better kit and broadband connections, and more access for the students throughout the campus. This might also then lead to more use by colleagues elsewhere and then some critical mass which would mean it would be taken seriously centrally by our e-learning people.

I think the other aspects are not so dependent than this though (for example) if there was better on campus access then I would use it more with specific cohorts to promote its use as a venue for Continuing Professional Development.

3. Money is tight. The ‘golden age’ of education money may be ending. How are you getting funded? How do you think your virtual world activities will be funded in the future?

Our island is still being funded jointly by the Information Studies Department and the School of Education: i.e. it is still a special item (rather than part of regular e-learning, funded centrally). Central funding is still concentrated elsewhere, with no investment in virtual worlds (to my knowledge).

4. Long distance travel is increasingly precarious. Ash, strikes and airlines going under ground flights. Travel is expensive (even in the UK with extortionate train fares) and takes up a lot of time. Virtual Worlds could, possibly, be used instead of many workshops, conferences, meetings et al. Your thoughts on this? And how do virtual worlds such as Second Life stack up against other event-replacing media such as Elluminate and Skype?

As noted above, this is already a major (possibly the major) use of the island. In terms of SL vs. Physical face to face, I think that face to face still has value for initiating and cementing connections. There is still more “hanging around and networking” time at a good physical world conference. For example, the COLIS conference (information science) I just went to, wandering round at lunch and coffee breaks to follow up with questions and discussion, and I ended up going to (and enjoying) some sessions because I was physically there, there I might have skipped out on in a SL conference. Voice is more reliable too )

In terms of SL vs. Elluminate or Skype – really no contest as far as I’m concerned, SL is the winner. I haven’t used Elluminate or Skype that much as conference tools – the one time I was presenting with Elluminate, the voice didn’t work (so it’s not just SL!) and obviously you can’t do things that you can in SL (e.g. the demonstrations, tours, displays), plus you REALLY don’t get any “networking”, the best you can hope for is the sound of the “real” conference delegates going off for their refreshments and some amusing uncensored remarks when speakers forget to take off their mics. You do get the backchannel and audience interaction, plus people hanging around just chatting after an event (I have the evidence in chatlogs!) Plus, the conference delegate goodie bags are so much more exciting – I’ve had helicopters, whiteboards, musical instruments, bluebells etc. And even with my limited building skills I managed to give delegates at the last event I organised a complete set of logo-ed virtual clothes. Skype has much more reliable voice (and for discussions between a few people it can have advantages), obviously, but I’m someone that does not find a small squinty view of someone’s nose that engaging (from a visual perspective).

5. Second Life. Using just that, or considering other virtual worlds? If so, why?

Basically I concentrate on SL, but I keep my ears open about other worlds. In particular, I’m putting together a research bid using SL and will have to say what I will do if SL disappears partway into the project. Opensim seems the most obvious, in that it is something you can have control over. I feel I can make a case for using SL as the venue for a multiyear research project, but I think it would be difficult to do that (in terms of stability) with any of the others. (I’m talking about VWs other than gaming VWs like WoW) in terms of research, I’ve had 2 or 3 students focus on World of Warcraft for their UG or Masters dissertations, but I’ve felt I could supervise them without actually using it myself. It’s sounds horribly gendered, but for leisure interest I prefer virtual clothes shopping to virtual orc-bashing.

6. Problems with universities blocking access to Second Life. Is anyone still having that, or are we over it now?

It’s not blocked, but it is still not on the managed desktop, therefore as far as most students/lecturers are concerned it IS effectively blocked. Bit depressing, frankly, as there is periodic interest from colleague sin other parts of the uni, but when the students can’t access it on campus except in those Depts which have labs under their control ….

7. Handling large numbers of students in virtual worlds simultaneously i.e. more than 30. Do you have experience of this? How did it go?

There were 35 in my 1st year class this year. I had to manage it in 2 or 3 groups, since our own lab (see problem above) does not have 35 computers in it. Actually I would probably have broken them down into smaller group anyway for induction, but it would have been nice to have them all inworld for some activities later on. I was able to have other people tutor with me – I do think that is helpful – and in my case some of them were librarians at other universities who were enjoying getting the experience as well as me and my students benefitting. In particular, in my first class with students I am in the lab with students (so I can see what they are seeing and troubleshoot, though obviously they help each other too, which is part of the process) and have a colleague (in their office) inworld. I don’t do lectures inworld, it will be different kinds of activities, usually involving pair or group world, so it is helpful there too to have a couple of you taking special responsibility for specific groups.

The largest number I’ve had inworld simultaneously have been for meetings/seminars, about 40 people, but that’s easier to manage (although it is still a good idea to have a couple of people organising e.g. one to chair and one to sort out any problems, guide latecomers in, IM people who seem troubled etc.)

8. What do you think of the new Second Life viewer, both the UI/usability changes and the new functionality it enables (e.g. media on a prim)?

Must confess I have not yet swapped over.

9. Do you have a view on the new Second Life Terms of Service conditions and ownership rights which are creating a bit of a hoo-hah in some quarters? Do you think it will affect you? Does it matter in the grand scheme of things?

Um, despite being in an iSchool, I’m not sure I have read them properly ;-( At the moment I’m not contemplating using another VW and I haven’t built a huge amount, so I haven’t seen it as a major worry.

Hi folks,

Virtual World Watch is now collecting information for snapshot #9 of virtual world use in UK Higher and Further Education.

Do you work in the sector? Use virtual worlds? Have used them? Then it would be appreciated if you’d have a go at answering one or more of the following questions. It’s up to you what you answer, and how formally or informally you answer. Or just ignore the questions if they aren’t helpful and write your own thing. We’re flexible

This is an opportunity to tell the world, and the academic virtual world community, what you are doing, have done, will do, and/or how it went. As happens regularly, people with a similar interest may then discover what you’re doing, so you may pick up a few useful contacts through your contribution.

Some points:

• The answers are stuck into a report which will go live on Monday, July 12th.
• Data collection is for all of June i.e. June 1st to June 30th only.
• Sorry, but no extensions after June 30th as VWW is keen to get the report out much closer to data collection than previously. Contributions that miss the deadline can, if you wish, go up as blog entries on this website instead.
• Unless you request anonymity, your name and job title (please supply preferred) will be included as a reference.
• Submissions can come from academics and students in UK HE or FE, as well as developers who develop directly for UK academia.
• Yes, you can be negative (honesty and frankness much better than spin) – but nothing personal and no swearing.
• Examples are awesome.

Send your submissions to john@virtualworldwatch.net – thanks.

Oh – and, as per the previous snapshot, 5 respondents who get their answers in by June 30th will be drawn out of a pickle jar and win £10 each (n.b. there’s a few winners of £10 from snapshot #8 who still haven’t claimed their loot).

+ + + + + The Questions + + + + +

Please do some or all of these – or ignore the lot and write something relevant instead.

1. What are you doing in virtual worlds? Teaching, learning, research, publicity, and/or anything else?

2. Going well? Not? Want to say why?

3. Money is tight. The ‘golden age’ of education money may be ending. How are you getting funded? How do you think your virtual world activities will be funded in the future?

4. Long distance travel is increasingly precarious. Ash, strikes and airlines going under ground flights. Travel is expensive (even in the UK with extortionate train fares) and takes up a lot of time. Virtual Worlds could, possibly, be used instead of many workshops, conferences, meetings et al. Your thoughts on this? And how do virtual worlds such as Second Life stack up against other event-replacing media such as Elluminate and Skype?

5. Second Life. Using just that, or considering other virtual worlds? If so, why?

6. Problems with universities blocking access to Second Life. Is anyone still having that, or are we over it now?

7. Handling large numbers of students in virtual worlds simultaneously i.e. more than 30. Do you have experience of this? How did it go?

8. What do you think of the new Second Life viewer, both the UI/usability changes and the new functionality it enables (e.g. media on a prim)?

9. Do you have a view on the new Second Life Terms of Service conditions and ownership rights which are creating a bit of a hoo-hah in some quarters? Do you think it will affect you? Does it matter in the grand scheme of things?

Thanks for your input – much appreciated.

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Status Quo (not Rockin’ all over the world – or are we?)


So far we have maintained the position we were in back in 08/09 – we have five projects running in Second Life on our University Island. The island has a low profile, which serves two purposes. The island is split into an area for ‘University’ brand type activity (ie recruitment) and the second level which is for academic projects. The whole island is managed and owned by Communications and the projects are run by Fiona Grindey (Education Development Adviser with the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit) – I work with the professional services and the faculties across the University to make sure that they all keep going.

So we have not expanded, we are waiting for the projects to complete so that there is feedback to guide us on the future uses of Second Life. So far, it does seem that there is reluctance to take anything forward as there seems to be such a learning curve to get into the software in the first place. Also, the technology does form such a barrier on a massive network such as the one we operate. So for example, just this week, I tried to test a machine to do a little bit of training and the machine said that an update was required and that I was unable to do it as I did not have admin rights for that machine. That type of thing becomes a huge problem when all the University desktop machines (in all common learning spaces) have Second Life installed on them. Each time a user logs in, the installation begins, and this means that they would all be calling our IT people at the same time. The issue of the update isn’t insurmountable, but its another barrier for educators to have to get over.

OpenSim seems like something that we will have to consider when we don’t have the funding to support Second life. I hope that this is something that many of us will try, as I can see the benefit of using VW’s for education and research and doing it via open source seems a better way forward. I have heard a few horror stories about ReactionGrid and OpenSim but I heard them about Second Life and just see it as part of the learning curve!

One new development, our local JISC RSC (South-East) has offered us space on their Community Island, and so we are going to take them up on that. We can transfer some of the objects that we haven’t been able to use onto the island so that the projects can complete – this gives us time so we can make any transition to other VW’s easier. One thing I am hoping for is that we can use a Second Life type virtual world within a browser – no fussing around with updates etc. Then the easier it is to use, the less hassle and we all win.

Some other presentations from Virtual World Watch are also on Slideshare.

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We have had several interesting developments in regard to the Lancaster Island in Second Life.

Firstly, our virtual space is now centrally funded. This has alleviated the problems that were caused by the constant searching for, and switching of, financial responsibilities between departments and faculties. It has also increased user confidence knowing that the island has a sustainable future.

Secondly, we now have a computer lab on campus where Second Life is installed and available to all. This allows both teachers and students to avoid hardware and access problems that are sometimes barriers to usage. This room has also been used for teacher inductions and introduction to SL workshops.

Thirdly, our island itself has been dramatically redesigned as a result of student and teacher feedback. We have lifted many restrictions of usage and allow the building of objects outside of the sandbox. Users are allowed to create their own spaces and sky platforms. This seems to give them a greater since of ‘home’ now that they can freely empty their inventory items and make their own personal dwellings. We were fortunate to enlist the services of the Luna Bliss Company, which made the redesigning of the island amazingly painless. The new tropical garden look contains several under-waterfall caves and other secret hiding places where meetings can be held that will not disturb others.

We have seen an increase in the number of joint institutional activities hosted on our island. Including Lancaster students meeting with their counterparts enrolled in similar classes in Turkey, Mexico, Denmark and the United States. We have also opened our island to other educational institutions, including FEs, through our affiliation with JISC Northwest.

Student-run organizations (student union societies) have expressed interest and begun exploring our island. Recently a student media group filmed a mixed reality video. Although these activities are not directly teaching and learning related, they appear to be adding to the island’s awareness. We have not formally announced our virtual world presence, not even to our students. People are still finding out about it through one-off introductory sessions, workshops and referrals via on-campus word of mouth. We are currently planning to inform the student body of its existence and encourage exploration of the environment.

Research still dominates our island’s usage. Several PhD students and staff researchers continue their efforts. Research meetings and activities on the island are sometimes associated with broader research, dealing with other virtual worlds and online spaces including with children. Julia Gillen of the Literacy Research Centre is Principal Investigator of an ESRC-funded seminar series, Children’s and young people’s digital literacies in virtual online spaces. Michele also continues her study about inworld teaching.

More teachers from across the university have been experimenting with teaching and learning. Although like other HEIs we do appreciate the work of skilled SL builders, none of us want a space that is so ‘glossy’ and professional that beginners are excluded from active participation. We value SL as space for experimentation, occasionally messy, and do not intend to go down the route of pushing new entrants into very narrowly circumscribed roles.

In general, we think we have had a shift in mentality. Second Life is no longer seen as a just another educational technology. It is now viewed as space, not just a tool. And as a space, its usage does not have to be clearly defined in order to be used. Pedagogical uncertainty was once a barrier for usage. But when educators threw themselves inworld and allowed students to determine its usage, the results have been more stable than those who tried to force a pre-determined pedagogical strategy. We believe that this is way we should continue in the future.

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At UWS we are continuing to use virtual worlds across teaching and learning and research with limited activity in commercialisation. The SLOODLE project was funded by Eduserv until October 2009 – and I’ve been working on grant proposals since then (waiting to hear back from one currently… fingers crossed.) Current students in my Introduction to Virtual Worlds class include some members of staff, so I’m hopeful that this will make it easier for us to expand our use of virtual worlds in subsequent years – while informal staff workshops have been held in the past, the irregular nature of those made it difficult to sustain interest and growth.

I was disappointed when Metaplace closed at the beginning of the year – as we had used it previously (although not heavily) and it was enjoyed by students. SmallWorlds fills a similar niche – but without the opportunities for content creation. It does seem to have a stronger business model though, so for people looking for isometric, flash based virtual worlds for online discussions and activities, it should do the job. Like Metaplace, it seems to lack some of immersive qualities of a 3D virtual world – but some students do take to it.

Classroom chat

The new viewer for Second Life (Viewer 2) does look like it will make life easier for newcomers to Second Life. While it has its own issues, I am hopeful that it will help overcome some of the initial challenges. But when it comes to new user experience, Second Life could really learn a lot from SmallWorlds – which is full of ‘quests’ and challenges that introduce users to the worlds and features of the interface. But they have improved a huge amount – including improved lists of recommended locations to visit.

Finally, I am still making good use of Second Life’s ability to bring people together across large distances. I’ll be giving several talks this semester to student and professional audiences worldwide, and have scheduled virtual guest talks for my own students. Students at UWS will also be involved in an online virtual cultural exchange with students at San Jose State University in the US – a programme which is currently in the final stages of planning.

Shelley Hales and Nic Earle from the University of Bristol report on this JISC-funded project for snapshot #8. The project also has a blog, and can be visited in Second Life.

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At the university of Bristol we are currently running a project, ‘Resurrecting the Past: Virtual Antiquities in the Nineteenth Century’ the first phase of which was funded by JISC as part of their ‘Enriching Digital Resources’ theme, a strand of their ‘Digitisation’ programme. The team is Shelley Hales, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Classics & Ancient History and Nic Earle, University E-learning Co-ordinator from the Education Support Unit. We have built a virtual 3D model in Second Life of the Pompeian Court from the 1854 Sydenham Crystal Palace. The Pompeian Court was a complete life-size model of an ancient house from Pompeii, housing a collection of copies of Roman paintings. Our Model is designed to bring together a digitised collection of the material contained in the Court alongside an archive of material pertaining to it, and we are designing interface techniques to enable researchers, community groups, school and undergraduate students to engage with and use the Model for their own needs.

We have chosen a virtual environment, and Second Life in particular, to rebuild the Sydenham Pompeian Court because it allows us both to recreate and to study a point of comparison with the social and reproductive techniques of the Crystal Palace. Just as the Crystal Palace was considered in 1854, Second Life is both a massive social experiment, bringing together diverse users, and a testing ground for new approaches to education, entertainment and enterprise. The Model takes advantage of the use of avatars both to populate the space and to allow users touring the Court to interact with us, other visitors and the objects on display. It also seems to us that the questions of authenticity and of the responsibility of reconstructors raised by virtual models echo questions faced by the creators of the Pompeian Court in the Crystal Palace. The project allows us to think about the links between content and the mode of its delivery.

Within the university we’ll be mainly using the Model in a third year Classics module on the reception of Pompeii since its rediscovery in 1748. As well as being used in the classroom at Bristol, the Model will allow Bristol students to collaborate with undergraduates studying a similar module in Liverpool. As a teaching tool, the Model offers an opportunity for students to experience the spatial effects of a Roman house and provides an introduction to the ways in which Pompeii has been displayed in museum settings. Most importantly, the Model provides an opportunity for students to assess the ethics of reconstruction and, through physical engagement with the act of reconstruction, to reflect on it both as a conceptual and manufactured process and as a finished product specifically of Victorian England or of 21st Century digital technology.

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UEL School of Health & Bioscience

I wrote the last report at the end of an intense period of development during which we had worked with an external developer (Gemixin Ltd) on the school’s newly acquired island UEL HABitat to produce more sophisticated versions of an existing laboratory and Crime Scene house and, in particular, to create a new polyclinic for use by a range of healthcare students. We are now in a period of consolidation where the focus is on essential maintenance, creation of learning activities, orientation of staff and students and, most importantly, on more in depth evaluation than has been possible hitherto. We are also looking seriously at the possibilities for sharing our resources with the wider education community as well as collaborating with other institutions on new ventures.

The Second Life laboratory learning activities have been compared to an equivalent Flash version and the conclusion, not surprisingly perhaps, is that students can benefit from either type of application but have a preference for Flash because of its immediacy and straightforward operation. However more work needs to be done in this respect in that a Second Life laboratory may well have learning benefits beyond procedural learning once students are familiar with the operation of Second Life.

Herbal medicine students have been using their area of the polyclinic for a few months as an aid to developing clinical reasoning skills. Feedback is generally positive though some struggle with the environment and quite a few do not have home PCs with the correct graphics spec for SL. The physiotherapy area will be offered to students studying a respiratory module in late April / May once we have completed some necessary revisions to the web based back end editor that enables staff to add cases. It will be subject to formal evaluation during this time – the study has yet to be fully specified but will be focussing on confidence building in students prior to going on clinical placements in intensive care and high dependency units.

We are in early talks with another HE institution to develop the podiatry area of our polyclinic, so watch this space. We are also interested in collaborative arrangements to increase the number of patent cases in all areas of the polyclinic, the creation of good cases being a very resource intensive process.

For further information on UEL HABitat, including slurl, see blog entry:

http://blog.uelconnect.org.uk/hab/2009/11/27/current-state-of-play-on-second-life/

School of Psychology

The school now has conference and tutorial facilities in dedicated buildings on UEL’s main island. Some staff have recently started offering tutorials on a range of topics – take up has been variable but one member of staff managed to attract 23. Plans are in place for a conference later in the year at which third year students will present their final year research projects, subject to successful acceptance of abstracts by a conference committee. In other words, Second Life is being used to give them experience of academic conference processes prior to exposure to the real thing.

A pilot study of Psychology staff perceptions of SL as a teaching medium is currently underway. Participating staff take part in two semi-structured interviews pre and post their SL tutorial session. In the first interview staff are asked broad questions regarding their views of the advantages and disadvantages of using Second Life as a teaching environment and in the second about their actual experiences of teaching in Second Life. The interviews will be transcribed and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) employed to uncover themes within the data.

+ + + + +

Due to the interest in the medical application of Second Life, Kerri McCusker, Research Associate in the Serious Games and Virtual Worlds team, University of Ulster undertook a short project to create a structured learning zone focused on patient education in Second Life focused on autologous stem cell transplantation. This project included a self paced walkthrough in virtual clinics with interactive demos of stems cells, showcase of a hospitals environment and information and links to stem cell transplant resources:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ulster%20Magee%202/80/121/23

Additionally a 90 second animation was produced in Second Life which clearly highlights the steps taken during an autologous stem cell transplantation, with particular focus on the actual cells being extracted, stored and subsequently being transfused into the patient again:

http://sgvwtv.ulster.ac.uk/video/103/Second-Lives and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe-J59WKkYg

Other developments in the Serious Games and Virtual Worlds team have been the recent national workshop on teaching in virtual worlds. The objective of the event was to raise awareness of the benefits and possible pitfalls of using virtual and immersive worlds in an educational context and provided practical advice and demonstrations from leading educators and industrial experts in this area. It highlighted funding opportunities available in this field and offered tips on how to focus research to maximise your chances of succeeding with applications:

http://learninginvirtualworlds.com/