Practical Considerations When Using Virtual Spaces for Learning and Collaboration, with Minimal Setup and Support

Introduction

Virtual spaces, such as Second Life and Active Worlds, create new types of opportunities for teaching, learning, meeting, and collaborating within educational, training, and business organizations. These spaces can foster richness, interactions, commitment, and conversation across distance and geography – you can literally create your own world as posited by Johnson & Levin (2008). And, they can bring together individuals from organizations and locations that may not have had the time and funding to meet otherwise. And, they can also allow experiences that would never have been possible or feasible – a tour of a molecule; a visit to Notre Dame; a ride on a hurricane chaser. Schools and businesses are finding that these platforms expand opportunities and experiences (Borremans (2007); Deubel (2007); Greenberg, Napkie, & Pence (2009)); academic debates ensue about the value of virtual learning and collaboration (Craig, 2007). However, the development and integration of virtual platforms can take considerable time and effort: a new environment needs to be learned; curriculum, experiences, and meetings needs to be cast into a very different framework; virtual settings must be borrowed or acquired; and approaches to training the learners must be developed. The objectives of this chapter are to provide introductory, technical and procedural information and resources and to suggest instructional-design considerations so that you can determine if, how, where, and when you might begin to add virtual experiences to your training, research, collaboration, or educational ventures. If your organization is making the commitment to bringing significant aspects of its educational, meeting, and simulation experiences into this space, it will be necessary to consider the larger organizational goals and objectives (as studied by Fominykh, Prasolova-Forland, Morozov, & Gerasimov (2009) in their case study of a virtual campus) and to develop a pathway that can accommodate and allow for growth in areas such as land management and permissions, delegation of space, creation of simulated environments, and the like. These important considerations are beyond the scope of this chapter. However, the reader will be provided an overview of important practical considerations and ideas so you might begin to develop, test, and improve instruction and experiences within virtual environments, even if initial support is minimal.

Please note, although there are several virtual providers and more becoming available, the basic instructional, design, and management concerns addressed herein will be relevant for most development applications.