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If we are at all serious about the role of technology in Education, then the evolution of 3D virtual worlds, like Second Life, must surely play a part. For training professionals it represents a high engagement, low cost tool to improve learners’ skills in a role play environment.

Since 2003 Second Life has allowed users to control digital versions of themselves online. People build homes and businesses, buy and sell land and have relationships – all within the virtual world, accessible via their computer. For those of us with a fascination for how technology can improve lives, the possibilities for Second Life are endless.

There are a number of great examples of how Second Life is increasingly being used with learners – I’m sure you will know of many more yourselves.

For instance, thanks to Second Life technology, learners can now explore virtual reconstructions of ancient sites like Tutankhamun’s tomb in Heritage Key’s Virtual Experience series. In America, some of the world’s most prestigious universities such as Harvard and Stanford are already using Second Life to deliver courses.

At learndirect we wanted to do some research of our own, so we set up a pilot with a virtual world consultancy to investigate how Second Life could help us deliver courses to learners with low level skills. We tested this model by offering two specific exercises within Second Life – speaking and listening (Level 1), and elements of the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in Customer Service (Level 2).

To see the pilot in action we’ve posted a video on our site.

The results demonstrated that bringing people together in a virtual world was best suited to help improve interpersonal skills such as speaking and listening, teamwork and customer service skills. In addition, learners reported they felt more confident than they would in a real classroom, looked out for each other more and worked better together as a team.

Our findings also suggest Second Life is best suited to courses which require learners to work together in groups. This promotes communication and a sense they are all pulling together to achieve a task. It gets around an issue many people face: not wanting to speak out in public when taking part in role play.

Also, we initially expected Second Life would be best suited to just technology savvy learners. Not so. Our older learners get just as much out of it. They came with open minds, embraced the technology and jumped at the chance to put their ideas forward. Also, the pilot was very cost effective when compared to classroom based learning: the cost to rent the land was inexpensive and learners and tutors didn’t incur travel costs.

But this is just the beginning for Second Life and virtual learning spaces (VLS). We predict 3D virtual worlds will appear in a variety of formats in the future – the iPhone and Android phones already have built in 3D accelerators. Their 3G internet connections mean mobile VLS’s are just around the corner.

In addition to mobile 3D VLS’s, we will see applications like Second Life fully integrated into social media platforms. Facebook already has a virtual presence in Second Life but what if a 3D virtual world was offered as an application on Facebook?

At learndirect we’re already using the social networking site to talk to adult learners informally. In the future it’s entirely possible learndirect’s Facebook page will feature a third party 3D VLS application. This will not only increase its reach and relevance but also introduce new social networking features into courses, for example inviting friends to join sessions and sharing course learnings and insights with others. It looks like 2011 is going to be an exciting year for learning technology.

Adrian Beddow, learndirect

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