The last decade has seen virtual worlds transform from novelty to powerful tool. In education, learning environments have been created with this technology in subjects as diverse as genetics, midwifery, sculpture, language learning and occupational psychology. In addition, in the US, major corporations have used virtual worlds for staff training and collaboration, as have the US army. This talk will describe six generic ways in which virtual worlds can offer a better learning environment than the physical world, with examples from the speaker’s experience. The talk will conclude by discussing the seventh reason for teaching in a virtual world – the future. In particular, the speaker will share his vision of a development path for virtual worlds, and show how the six existing reasons will be amplified as technology and teaching practice moves forward. [Note, some images have links to relevant YouTube videos]

6. Total: 46 1st year Biological Sciences students
Tutor-led tour of virtual lab
Group work to answer quiz

8. 24 First year Medical students
Working individually in the VW
Conducting genetic screenings for Huntington’s
disease Cystic Fibrosis and Sickle Cell Anaemia

9. 35 2nd year Biological Sciences students used the
VW as part of their course
Nodes represent decisions, physical paths represent actions
Critical elements conducted in (virtual) lab

10. Part of iScience curriculum; 12 students each year
Allows greater lab experience than otherwise possible

11. 37.5
41.7
16.7
4.2
33.3
35.9
19.3
11.5
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
45.0
Excellent Satisfactory Borderline Unsatisfactory
SWIFT %
Cohort %

12. “It looked very realistic; I didn’t think it would be quite
that realistic, to be honest”
“When I first started labs in September I was really
scared of going into the labs cause we did no [lab] work
in biology in A-level ... and if we had of had this induction
it would have really helped”
“Very good experience: theory to practice”
“Helps to picture what’s actually going on”
“Animations linked theory to machine”

13. 7

25. Reasons
• Simulation
• Role Play
• Personal Tutor
• Experience
• Abstract as Tangible
• Artistic medium
Guidelines
• Treat as real – the memory is
real
• Best pedagogies are experiential,
constructivist-based
• Avoid gimmicks; get advice from
experienced virtual world
designers, build only what’s
needed

26. 1) Because “It’s a game” – it may look like a game, but it’s not

27. 1) Because “It’s a game” – it may look like a game, but it’s not
2) During the “Gee Wizz!” phase

28. 1) Because “It’s a game” – it may look like a game, but it’s not
2) During the “Gee Wizz!” phase
3) “I’m used to rows of desks and Powerpoint, so I’ll do that
here”

30. Star Trek
Communicator
Mobile phoneVirtual worlds
Arthur C Clarke’s
writings
Geostationary satellites

31. WearableDesktop Mobile
Assisted
World:
Google’s Star
Map app
TV subtitles
Virtual world: Virtual
Worlds (eg
Second Life)
Removing
barriers (eg
Mobile VWs)
Disney’s
Infinity
Action! app
Augmented
world:
Dinosaurs
Alive book
Increased
Immersion &
Mixed Reality,
eg Google Glass,
Oculus Rift,
Avegant Glyph,
Epson Moverio

32. WearableDesktop Mobile
Assisted
World:
Google’s Star
Map app
TV subtitles
Virtual world: Virtual
Worlds (eg
Second Life)
Removing
barriers (eg
Mobile VWs)
Disney’s
Infinity
Action! app
Augmented
world:
Dinosaurs
Alive book
Increased
Immersion &
Mixed Reality,
eg Google Glass,
Oculus Rift,
Avegant Glyph,
Epson Moverio

33. WearableDesktop Mobile
Assisted
World:
Google’s Star
Map app
TV subtitles
Virtual world: Virtual
Worlds (eg
Second Life)
Removing
barriers (eg
Mobile VWs)
Disney’s
Infinity
Action! app
Augmented
world:
Dinosaurs
Alive book
Increased
Immersion &
Mixed Reality,
eg Google Glass,
Oculus Rift,
Avegant Glyph,
Epson Moverio

34. WearableDesktop Mobile
Assisted
World:
Google’s Star
Map app
TV subtitles
Virtual world: Virtual
Worlds (eg
Second Life)
Removing
barriers (eg
Mobile VWs)
Disney’s
Infinity
Action! app
Augmented
world:
Dinosaurs
Alive book
Increased
Immersion &
Mixed Reality,
eg Google Glass,
Oculus Rift,
Avegant Glyph,
Epson Moverio

36. Milgram P., Kishino A.F. (1994) Taxonomy of Mixed Reality Visual Displays,
IEICE Transactions on Information and Systems. pp. 1321–1329

37. Newspapers: 1702
Radio: 1930
Television: 1946
Internet: 1994
Virtual Worlds: 2003
...

39. • The Higher Education Academy for funding SWIFT
• Profs Gilly Salmon & Annette Cashmore for
creating and leading the SWIFT project
• Dr Suzanne Lavelle, SWIFT teaching Fellow
• Dr Sarah Gretton, iScience lecturer
• Staff at the University of Leicester for supporting
and helping with the project
• SWIFT participants, for their participation, enthusiasm,
feedback and permission to use media
• Our commercial partners, Daden Ltd and Gemixin Ltd
• Shuttle launch image ©NASA. Avegant Glyph, EPSON Moverio &
Snow Crash cover images from marketing materials