Relive08 Blog

I opted to go to parallel session C: one presentation on teaching maths in Second Life and another using Second Life for staff development. Breen Sweeney teaches with the Open University and carried out a pilot using SL with 6 volunteers for tutorials. He discussed using both text and voice for these and the issues and problems that occurred. He also looked at immersion and used eyetracking technology with some tutor volunteers to test how immersed users are in Second Life and in Runescape. This was a proof of concept and would like to develop this further. The staff development pilot study, carried out by Steph Broadribb and Chris Carter looked in detail at the possibilities of using a virtual environment for staff development. The study looked at three approaches: written exercise, real life and role play (used actors) and second life role play. They’ve promised to email me information that I can post on the blog. Watch this space! Now off to lunch

Broadribb and Carter’s  paper  can be  accessed here (Word  doc):

Exploring the Virtual Learning Cycle in Staff Development through the Lens of Experimental Design

Breen, Chris and Steph