Virtual worlds in Australian and New Zealand higher education: remembering the past, understanding the present and imagining the future
Year: 2013
Type: conference-paper
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.
Authors: Sue Gregory, Brent Gregory, Torsten Reiners, Ali Fardinpour, Mathew Hillier, Mark J.W. Lee, Lisa Jacka, Des Butler, David Holloway, Scott Grant, Merle Hearns, Kim Flintoff, Jay Jay Jegathesan, David Ellis, Marcus McDonald, Frederick Stokes-Thompson, Belma Gaukrodger, Jason Zagami, Chris Campbell, Xiangyu Wang, Jamie Garcia Salinas, Swee Kin Loke, Sheila Scutter, Christine Newman, Ning Gu, Stefan Schutt, Helen Farley, Anton Bogdanovych, Tomas Trescak, Simeon Simoff, Caroline Steel, Penny Neuendorf, Matt Bower, Lindy Orwin, Tom Kerr, Ian Warren, Denise Wood, Charlynn Miller, Shane Mathews, Dale Linegar, Vicki Knox, Yvonne Masters, Ross Brown, Grant Meredith, Clare Atkins, Angela Giovanangeli, Karen Le Rossignol, Andrew Cram, Eimear Muir‐Cochrane, Arin Basu, Michael J. Jacobson, Ian Larson
Institutions: University of New England, Curtin University, The University of Queensland, Charles Sturt University, Southern Cross University, Queensland University of Technology, University of Wollongong, Monash University, Manukau Institute of Technology, The University of Western Australia, RMIT University, University of South Australia, Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology, Griffith University, University of Otago, James Cook University, University of Newcastle Australia, Victoria University, University of Southern Queensland, The University of Sydney, Macquarie University, Deakin University, Federation University, University of Technology Sydney, Flinders University, University of Canterbury
Language: English
Subfield: Human-Computer Interaction
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1555947791