This study reports the results of a mixed-methods investigation on the impact of a virtual reality (VR) tool on Iranian EFL learners' willingness to communicate (WTC) and oral proficiency. Twenty upper-intermediate EFL learners were divided into experimental and control groups role-playing as museum guides with and without Google Expeditions VR…

New generations of International Business (IB) students include the Centennials, also known as Generation Z. These students have experienced their whole life in a virtual and physical reality. They learn differently than previous generations and have an even shorter span of attention than Millennials. We -- IB educators -- need to acknowledge…

In this paper, we explore role-playing and experiential learning approaches applied in an immersive virtual environment for a professional counseling distance course. Training professional counselors requires practice and therefore possesses a challenge for the distant education. Although both counseling professionals' codes of ethics provide…

As higher education expands online course offerings, it is essential that sexuality educators strive to translate success from in-person courses into online pedagogy. While many educators remain anxious about, or sceptical of, the benefits of online sexuality education, the popularity of online courses demands engagement if educators are not to…

This study examines an original dramaturgical method for creating virtual world experience called virtual world drama. The instructional focus is improving students' aptitude for analyzing ethnic identity by instilling both conceptual and multicultural competency. An exploratory research method is used, relying on observation (disguised and…

Distance education started being limited in comparison to traditional education. Distance teachers and educational organizations have overcome most of these limits, but some other limits still remain as challenges. One of these challenges is to collaboratively learn concepts in an immersive way, similarly to the education "in situ".…

Many pre-service teachers feel under-prepared to teach students with a diverse range of needs and abilities and continue to be concerned about classroom behaviour management when undertaking practicum experiences. In order to address these concerns, teacher educators have explored alternative pedagogical approaches, including computer based…

This paper will present a study that explored the perceived impact of spatial practice in "Second Life" (SL) on teaching and learning from the point of view of participants in higher education (lecturers, developers and researchers). Narrative inquiry was used to access stories and experiences of space and spatial practice from staff…

In the context of practicing intercultural communication skills, we investigated the role of fidelity in a game-based, virtual learning environment as well as the role of feedback delivered by an intelligent tutoring system. In 2 experiments, we compared variations on the game interface, use of the tutoring system, and the form of the feedback.…

Despite the speed at which Second Life has been adopted by universities and schools to teach courses, little educational research and theory addresses this multiplayer online "world." This case study explored undergraduate university instructors' teaching methods and tools within a virtual environment. It also considered whether instructors are…

This article discusses how prolonged participation and digital composition online intersect to forge material extensions of the physical body, or limbs beyond the skin. Based on postmodern theories of technology and the body, I argue that these limbs, while less tangible, merit serious consideration given their potential to engender physical…

Education within Second Life frequently recapitulates the "sage on the stage" as students sit their avatars down in chairs in the virtual world and listen to or read an instructor's lecture while watching a slideshow. This conceptual article explores alternative active learning techniques supporting independent and collaborative learning…

In this paper we examine the transferability of the Jigsaw and Fishbowl collaborative learning techniques to the Second Life platform. Our aim is to assess the applicability of Second Life for collaborative learning by developing virtual tools and metaphors and exploiting the representational richness of this novel medium. In order to enhance the…

This paper focuses on the design and implementation of an innovative technologically mediated intervention for argumentation pedagogy in two classes comprising 17- to 18-year-old students in Singapore. The design research involves integrating the "Second Life" immersive virtual environment and web-based scaffolding through a customized…

Background: Numerous surveys, articles, ephemera and online information sources indicate that "Second Life" has been the predominant virtual world, for educational purposes, in UK universities for the latter half of the 2000s. However, the infrastructure required to operate "Second Life" presents a number of technical concerns…