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.

摘要

多用户虚拟环境（MUVE）在最近的教育中越来越突出。但是，在理论上合理实施这些问题的问题仍相对未被研究。当前的文章通过解释MUVE平台Second Life在用于职前教师的本科课程中是如何使用的而解决了这一差距。教学决策在开放源代码教育过程的理论框架内进行解释，并通过特定的多个数据源进行说明。根据为期一个学期的观察，作者认为“第二人生”可用于创建独立的学习社区，这些社区具有变革性学习的可能性，并可创建上下文，使学生超越简单的理解，并在其意义形成过程中融入多种观点。