Technology Education through online virtual environments

Students are engaging with online 3D virtual environments as creative social spaces but Virtual environments such as Second Life also provide opportunities to facilitate technology education in a flexible, connected and creative medium. Using a Second Life environment developed for Griffith University this study explored the use of a Second Life virtual environment to support collaborative design and development of virtual objects and found some advantages to the creativity of collaborative designs over designs produced individually within the Second Life virtual environment. Introduction Students are engaging with online 3D virtual environments as creative social spaces (Dicky, 2005) but virtual environments are foreign to many educators. Second Life is a popular virtual environment and is being evaluated for its potential in facilitating educational outcomes (Dede et al., 2005). This paper describes the range of educational applications being explored within the Second Life environment and highlights the issues involved in the development and implementation of a virtual environment for Griffith University. The findings of a study into the application of virtual environments to support technology education through collaborative design and development are reported. Second Life Second Life is one of several dozen virtual worlds (SLED, 2008a) currently available for use or under development. As a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), Second Life is being used for a wide variety of educational applications. Current categories include Distance and Flexible Education; Presentations, Panels and Discussions; Training and Skills Development; Self-paced Tutorials; Displays and Exhibits; Immersive Exhibits; Role-plays and Simulations; Data Visualisations and Simulations; Libraries, Art Galleries and Museums; Historical Re-creations and Re-enactments, Living and Immersive Archaeology; Computer Programming; Artificial Intelligence Projects; Artificial Life Projects; Multimedia and Games Design; Art and Music Projects; Literature, Composition and Creative Writing; Theatre and Performance Art; Photostories and Photo Scenarios; Machinima; Treasure Hunts and Quests; Virtual Tourism, Cultural Immersion and Cultural Exchange; Language Teaching and Practice, and Language Immersion; Social Science and Anthropological Research; Awareness/Consciousness Raising and Fund Raising; Support and Opportunities for People with Disabilities; Politics, Governance, Civics and Legal Practice; Business, Commerce, Financial Practice and Modelling; Real Estate Practice; Product Design, Prototyping, User-testing and Market Research; Interior Design; Architectural Design and Modelling; and Urban Planning and Design (SLED, 2008b).