Rethinking the use of Multi-User Virtual Environments in education

ABSTRACT

Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) have gained more prominence in education of late; however, the question of their theoretically sound implementation remains relatively understudied. The current article addresses this gap through the explanation of how a MUVE platform Second Life was used in an undergraduate course for pre-service teachers. Instructional decisions are explained within a theoretical framework of Open Source Educative Processes and are illustrated by specific multiple data sources. Based on the semester-long observations, the authors argue that Second Life can be used to create independent learning communities that have possibilities for transformative learning, creating contexts in which students move beyond simple understanding and engage multiple perspectives in their meaning-making processes. The authors explain the potential instructional and technological pitfalls involved and how to deal with them through a micro-analytic Open Source methodology, and raise broader philosophical questions about the role of technology in education.

KEYWORDS:

• Second Life
• MUVEs
• Open Source Educative Processes
• instructional design
• autonomy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. For a deep dive into the evolution of Open Source concepts and the larger Free, Liberta, Open Source Software movement (FLOSS) and its possible relationships to psychology and education, see Glassman (2013).

2. While Raymond did not use the term ‘Open Source’ in his article, he was one of the originators of the term, and the cathedral and bazaar remains as a bedrock metaphor (Raymond, 1999).

3. We feel it is important to recognise that while this idea of co-evolution is similar to action research approaches (and they may eventually be brought together), because the user plays such an important part in development of the process, they are not the same. Action research has specific theoretical underpinnings (Glassman & Erdem, 2014), some of which might not be sympathetic to Open Source. Differences will need to be worked out going forward.

4. This is ironic as the concept of cybernetics was originally developed for the physical world.

5. There are many definitions of praxis. Here we refer to the definition used by Freire (1972) and other participatory action researchers (Glassman & Erdem, 2014).

6. This is originally presented as an economic argument (Raymond, 1999), but we refer to it in the context of the educational theory/research ecosystem. Development of a particular idea/concept/theory including (or especially) the kernel is secondary to being successful in the particular circumstance.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Irina Kuznetcova

Irina Kuznetcova is a doctoral candidate in the PhD program in Educational Psychology at The Ohio State University. She has done research on the use of Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) in education, the use of Virtual Reality in STEM education, and design, development and implementation of games for educational purposes.

Michael Glassman

Michael Glassman is Professor of Educational Studies at The Ohio State University. He has done work using the theories of Dewey, Vygotsky, Lewin and Freire. Over the last decade and a half, he has been working to develop approaches to Internet-infused education that integrate these theoretical perspectives in curriculum design and platform use.