Virtual worlds in Australian and New Zealand higher education: Remembering the past, understanding the present and imagining the future

Gregory, S.; Fardinpour, Ali; Jacka, L.; Grant, S.; Jegathesan, J.; Stokes-Thompson, F.; Campbell, C.; Loke, S.; Gu, N.; Bogdanovych, A.; Steel, C.; McKeown Orwin, L.; Gregory, B.; Hillier, M.; Butler, D.; Hearns, M.; Ellis, D.; Gaukrodger, B.; Wang, Xiangyu; Scutter, S.; Schutt, S.; Trescak, T.; Neuendorf, P.; Kerr, T.; Reiners, Torsten; Lee, M.; Holloway, D.; Flintoff, Kim; McDonald, M.; Zagami, J.; Salinas, J.; Newman, C.; Farley, H.; Simoff, S.; Bower, M.; Warren, I.; Wood, D.; Linegar, D.; Brown, R.; Giovanangeli, A.; Muir-Cochrane, E.; Larson, I.; Miller, C.; Knox, V.; Meredith, G.; Le Rossignol, K.; Basu, A.; Mathews, S.; Masters, Y.; Atkins, C.; Cram, A.; Jacobson, M.

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Access Status

Open access

Authors

Gregory, S.

Fardinpour, Ali

Jacka, L.

Grant, S.

Jegathesan, J.

Stokes-Thompson, F.

Campbell, C.

Loke, S.

Gu, N.

Bogdanovych, A.

Steel, C.

McKeown Orwin, L.

Gregory, B.

Hillier, M.

Butler, D.

Hearns, M.

Ellis, D.

Gaukrodger, B.

Wang, Xiangyu

Scutter, S.

Schutt, S.

Trescak, T.

Neuendorf, P.

Kerr, T.

Reiners, Torsten

Lee, M.

Holloway, D.

Flintoff, Kim

McDonald, M.

Zagami, J.

Salinas, J.

Newman, C.

Farley, H.

Simoff, S.

Bower, M.

Warren, I.

Wood, D.

Linegar, D.

Brown, R.

Giovanangeli, A.

Muir-Cochrane, E.

Larson, I.

Miller, C.

Knox, V.

Meredith, G.

Le Rossignol, K.

Basu, A.

Mathews, S.

Masters, Y.

Atkins, C.

Cram, A.

Jacobson, M.

Date

2013

Type

Conference Paper

Metadata

Show full item record

Citation

Gregory, Sue and Fardinpour, Ali and Jacka, Lisa and Grant, Scott and Jegathesan, Jay Jay and Stokes-Thompson, Frederick and Campbell, Chris et al. 2013. Virtual worlds in Australian and New Zealand higher education: Remembering the past, understanding the present and imagining the future, in Carter, H. and Gosper, M. and Hedberg, J. (ed), 30th ascilite Conference: Electric Dreams, Dec 1-4 2013, pp. 312-324. Macquarie University, Sydney: Macquarie University.

Source Title

30th ascilite Conference

Source Conference

Electric Dreams 30th ascilite Conference

ISBN

978-1-74138-403-1

Remarks

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/41464

Collection

Curtin Research Publications

Abstract

3D virtual reality, including the current generation of multi-user virtual worlds, has had a long history of use in education and training, and it experienced a surge of renewed interest with the advent of Second Life in 2003. What followed shortly after were several years marked by considerable hype around the use of virtual worlds for teaching, learning and research in higher education. For the moment, uptake of the technology seems to have plateaued, with academics either maintaining the status quo or continuing to use virtual worlds as they have previously done or choosing to opt out altogether. This paper presents a brief review of the use of virtual worlds in the Australian and New Zealand higher education sector in the past and reports on its use in the sector at the present time, based on input from members of the Australian and New Zealand Virtual Worlds Working Group. It then adopts a forward-looking perspective amid the current climate of uncertainty, musing on future directions and offering suggestions for potential new applications in light of recent technological developments and innovations in the area.