The document discusses 3D distance education and multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) such as Second Life. It notes that MUVEs allow for an immersive 3D environment that can be inhabited, explored, and designed. MUVEs offer a space for taking on different identities, reflecting, being creative, interacting with others, and forming communities. Some learner issues to consider with distance courses include isolation, expectations, building community, cultures, experience, and individual differences. MUVEs provide broader access to both specific learning communities and larger communities of practice.

1. 3D distance education
For further information on the
AVALON project see:
avalonlearning.eu

2. Talk overview
• The ‘next big thing’
• MUVEs
• Things we should take into account

3. The ‘next big thing’
• As with all developments in technology, it
is expected that the next implementation
will ‘save the world’
• Web 3.0 is not here yet for most of us, but
we expect it to include ubiquity; open and
knowledgeable systems (semantic web);
and immersive spaces (3D and beyond)

4. MUVEs
The AVALON (Access to Virtual and Action
Learning live Online) project was concerned with
21st Century Multi-User Virtual Environments
(MUVEs), particularly 2nd Life (although now we are
exploring other 3D worlds, e.g. OpenSim in
Euroversity) for adult language learning and
language teacher education

5. MUVEs
Have their roots in MUDS and MOOS.
They are:
• An immersive environment that make cyber space 3 dimensional. They
have a ‘spatiality’ that can be ‘inhabited, explored, and designed’ (Benedikt
et al, 2008: 3)
• An SL MUVE ‘space’ may be differently perceived and experienced by
different people, e.g.:
• Space to take on a different identity: be the self/ the teacher/ learner you
want to be
• Space to reflect/ be creative/ interact with others
• Space to ‘attend to a shared task’
• Space to form a community of like-minded people/ enthusiasts
• Space to…

9. Some learner issues to consider in any
distance course
• Isolation
• Expectations
• Building community
• Cultures
• Experience
• Individual differences

10. Emerging practice in distance learning
• Correspondence
• + telephone + local tutorials + summer
schools
• + online interaction
• Mixed media → online + interaction
• VLEs
• MUVEs

11. MUVEs
• What they offer is a broader access to both the specific
learning communities of the ongoing course as well as
the larger community of practice (outcome for our
project)
• VLEs tend to be modelled on a physical classroom, an
enclosed space where only registered people are able to
attend
• A MUVE allows people to conduct classes with the target
group, but to bring people into the classroom, or to go
and find other users in the world
• Can deploy a range of tools linking both inside and
linking to outside