Second Life (SL), an immersive virtual environment, is increasingly being adopted in education for both formal and informal teaching and learning uses. This paper addresses the process of developing a demonstrator presence in SL, the potential of the system for formal teaching and some practical ideas on how to successfully integrate such emerging…

This paper describes and reflects on the development of the Schome Park Programme (SPP), which was established with the specific aim of extending our thinking about schome, which aims to be the optimal educational system for the 21st century. In an earlier stage of the Schome Initiative, it became clear that people find it almost impossible to…

There is currently widespread interest in exploring the opportunities to develop learning that can be delivered in three-dimensional multiuser virtual environments (3-D MUVEs). In this paper, I argue for the need to conduct research into the emerging cultures of use in 3-D MUVEs, focussing on the example of Second Life. Drawing on social and…

This paper reports findings of a pilot study that examined the pedagogical potential of "Second Life" (SL), a popular three-dimensional multi-user virtual environment (3-D MUVE) developed by the Linden Lab. The study is part of a 1-year research and development project titled "Modelling of Secondlife Environments"…

This study looks at how an information and communication technologies (ICT)-rich environment impacts team conflict and conflict management strategies. A case study research method was used. Three teams, part of a graduate class in instructional design, participated in the study. Data were collected through observations of team meetings, interviews…

Future health care professionals will require self-directed learning skills. e-Learning is a tool to assist in this process and therefore there is a need to develop the capacity and readiness to utilise e-learning within educational programmes. The aim of this study was to determine if extra-curricular online referencing and anti-plagiarism…

Nationally and internationally, designers are challenged with meeting the needs of diverse populations, and they are faced with the dilemma of how to integrate culture in the design of information and communication technologies (ICTs). This paper reviews the literature in the fields of human-computer interaction and instructional design to argue…

The development of educational applications has always been a challenging and complex issue, mainly because of the complications imposed by the cognitive and psychological aspects of student-computer interactions. This article presents a methodology, named We!Design, that tries to encounter the complexity of educational applications development…

Digital games are evolving beyond the solitary context into a ubiquitous, social and collaborative experience. Addressing beliefs about technology and attitudes towards technology-mediated processes is fundamental to the successful implementation of any innovation. In collaborative gaming, attitude towards gaming influences learners' interactions…

In this paper, it is argued that e-learning environments are currently more like "buildings", i.e., learning spaces, rather than "schools", i.e., places for learning. The concepts originated from architecture and urban design, where they are used both to distinguish static spaces from inhabited places, and more importantly, as design objectives.…

In the 1980s a government initiative was made to meet the need for instructional designers for the emerging Technology Based Training needs of industry and commerce. The course achieved its objectives but also sparked the development of current UK e-learning because the course developed people who were skilled at adaptability and flexibility with…

It is of course very difficult to accurately project important characteristics of the future state of any rapidly evolving field, and the field of authoring systems for computer-assisted instruction (CAI) is no exception. However, strong trends in evolving CAI systems of today would seem to indicate some important characteristics of the software…

Activity theory (AT) is a powerful tool for investigating "artefacts in use", ie, the ways technologies interrelate with their local context. AT reveals the interfaces between e-learning at the macro- (strategy, policy, "campus-wide" solutions) and the micro-organisational levels (everyday working practice, iterative change, individual…

Graduate programmes in instructional design/educational technology are, by their nature, continuously being updated and improved. As a most recent iteration of the ever-evolving graduate experience, an experimental programme at Pennsylvania State University's Instructional Systems programme takes as its centerpiece a research apprenticeship in…

In the spring of 2005, the author designed and taught a graduate-level course on digital game-based learning primarily for teachers. Teachers cannot be expected to embrace digital games as a tool for learning unless they have a sound understanding of the potential as well as the limitations, and are confident in their ability to use games…