Papers by Barney Dalgarno
Virtual worlds (referred to by some as multi-user virtual environments or MUVEs) have generated m... more Virtual worlds (referred to by some as multi-user virtual environments or MUVEs) have generated much attention and interest among tertiary education practitioners and researchers in recent years, with many universities and colleges making use of commercial platforms like Second Life or building customised platforms using open tools and resources to suit the particular needs of their staff and students.
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Australasian Journal of …, Jan 1, 2011
This article describes the research design of, and reports selected findings from, a scoping stud... more This article describes the research design of, and reports selected findings from, a scoping study aimed at examining current and planned applications of 3D immersive virtual worlds at higher education institutions across Australia and New Zealand. The scoping study is the first of its kind in the region, intended to parallel and complement a number of studies conducted in other parts of the world. Results from a sector-wide questionnaire administered as part of the scoping study, portions of which are presented in this article, appear ...
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British Journal of Educational …, Jan 1, 2010
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Journal of Information Technology …, Jan 1, 2008
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… & transformation for …, Jan 1, 2010
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This article describes the research design of, and reports selected findings from, a
scoping stud... more This article describes the research design of, and reports selected findings from, a
scoping study aimed at examining current and planned applications of 3D immersive
virtual worlds at higher education institutions across Australia and New Zealand. The
scoping study is the first of its kind in the region, intended to parallel and complement
a number of studies conducted in other parts of the world. Results from a sector-wide
questionnaire administered as part of the scoping study, portions of which are
presented in this article, appear consistent with international trends, especially in
terms of the platforms chosen and the dramatic increase in usage seen in recent years.
Higher education teaching staff in Australia and New Zealand are using 3D
immersive virtual worlds with their students in a variety of ways, for both assessable
and non-assessable tasks and in face to face, fully online/distance as well as blendedmode
subjects, although use in face to face and blended contexts appears to be most
common. The results also provide some insight into the demographics (e.g. age) of
staff who have adopted 3D immersive virtual worlds in their teaching, as well as into
the academic disciplines in which the technology is being employed.
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ASCILITE, 2002
This paper explores the potential learning benefits of 3D Learning Environments (3DLEs). It prese... more This paper explores the potential learning benefits of 3D Learning Environments (3DLEs). It presents definitions of key terms and analyses the learner-computer interactions facilitated by 3DLEs, in order to identifj! the unique characteristics of such environments It is argued that the most important potential contribution of 3DLEs to conceptual understanding is through facilitation of spatial knowledge development. The effectiveness of3DLEsfor spatial learning is discussed, drml'ing on7iterature from a range ofdisciplines. Aspects ofa ...
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The higher education community have embraced the use of virtual worlds for teaching and learning.... more The higher education community have embraced the use of virtual worlds for teaching and learning. There have been many publications produced over recent years on the efficacy of virtual worlds as a teaching and learning tool. However, even though there has been increased usage, there has not been comprehensive research on using a virtual world to practise teaching in a way that is simple to use and provides a variety of scenarios for use by educators in a risk free environment. VirtualPREX, the term coined for this project, provides this. The VirtualPREX project, part of an Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) two year project grant, explored the validity of pre-service teachers using a virtual world to practise teaching skills prior to undertaking professional experience. Second Life was the virtual world chosen for this research as it is a tested environment and three of the participating institutions jointly owned land that could house the VirtualPREX classrooms. Additionally, a number of the project team were familiar with the Second Life environment. A classroom and playground theme had already been created, making it an ideal platform for the creation of more VirtualPREX classrooms.
Four virtual classrooms, each containing ten pre-service primary school student avatars (five female and five male) and two teachers (one female and one male), were created so that pre-service teachers could practise and enhance their teaching skills and experiment with new teaching strategies through role-plays. A further classroom was created to house primary school student bots (non-player characters) to enable asynchronous practice. These have all been created on the Second Life island of “Australis 4 Learning”. The VirtualPREX classroom environment was tested with various cohorts of students and academics from UNE, ACU and CSU, who participated in teaching role-play scenarios, over the two years of the project. In particular, on-campus and off-campus cohorts of students from UNE undertook role-play activities during 2011 and 2012, on-campus students and academic staff from ACU undertook role-play activities in 2012, and academic staff from CSU participated in a role-play demonstration in 2012. Students participating in role-plays completed questionnaires including demographic questions, questions relating to their ICT and virtual worlds experience, perceptions of their preparedness for their professional experience placement and questions about their experience of the role-play activity. The results indicated that, although there are a number of aspects of the design of the role-play activities, and the environment itself, that could be further refined, VirtualPREX is promising as a space for pre-service teachers to practise their skills and build their confidence before going out on professional experience placement.
This report draws on research conducted by project team members from UNE, CSU, Curtin, RMIT and ACU over the two years from 2011 to 2012. Data was collected from surveys, observations and discussions. The research sought to examine the virtual world space created for the VirtualPREX project for pre-service teachers to undertake practice teaching and assessable tasks. The aim was to develop the space, the role-play scenarios and bots for teaching in an authentic setting to be used worldwide upon completion. The study set out to provide the higher education community with guidelines and recommendations to encourage the use of the virtual world classrooms and assessable tasks with pre-service teachers.
The project consisted of four phases through three stages (pilot testing, refined role-plays and bot development):
• Phase 1 – Investigation and pre-formative assessment survey
• Phase 2 – Development and validating of bots, virtual classroom and machinima
• Phase 3 – Pilot implementation of VirtualPREX with pre-service teachers, and post-formative assessment survey
• Phase 4 – Analysis, reporting and final evaluation
The primary outcome of this project was the development and implementation of VirtualPREX: a 3D, interactive, virtual space designed as a classroom with structured learning experiences for formative assessment, in which pre-service teachers could practise teaching skills prior to practicum placements. Students are able to use the space both synchronously and asynchronously, by themselves or interacting with other students, academics and/or bots (non-player characters which enable pre-service teachers to practise their teaching skills without the need of peers). The bots are continuously being updated and are a work-in-progress. Students are able to interact with classroom simulations so that they can reflect, practise and apply skills learnt. VirtualPREX is accessible to academic users of Second Life worldwide for use with their pre-service teachers and can be found in Second Life at <maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Australis%204%20Learning/94/212/21>.
The project culminated in the production of the following outcomes and deliverables:
• Documentation of principles and guidelines for developing and implementing formative assessment in a 3D virtual world based on application of social constructivist pedagogy for learning activities.
• A broader evaluation of the usefulness of Second Life in meeting the project aims for pre-service education students across the five institutions.
• The creation of prototype primary school student bots and an automated classroom where pre-service teachers can practise teaching skills by themselves, with other students and/or their academic teacher.
• A space to create and use machinima for self, peer, formative and summative assessment.
• Guidelines for using machinima as a resource for assessment tasks and discussion of standards.
• Assessable tasks for individuals or groups for use by higher educational institutions worldwide.
• Guidelines for encouraging effective teaching strategies through role-play.
• An agreed protocol for sharing future use and development of VirtualPREX.
These outcomes and deliverables can be found at “Australis 4 Learning”, a space in Second Life, and on the VirtualPREX website, <virtualprex.com>. The space in Second Life has all classrooms set up to be used. The website has a multitude of resources containing instructions on how to undertake role-plays on “Australis 4 Learning” and links to YouTube machinima for assessment and how to undertake these tasks. Many “how to” instructions are also available on the website. In this report are many more links to resources available to enable use of VirtualPREX, either as role-plays, machinima viewing, assessable tasks and general information.
For users of the VirtualPREX resources, it is recommended that educators become familiar with the virtual world of Second Life prior to embarking on the role-play activities. This way, they will be able to overcome any technical difficulties they encounter. It is recommended that users visit http://virtualprex.com/slhowto.html to assist in their learning to become educators of VirtualPREX and ensure that all users have the best possible experience available. It is also recommended that educators make comprehensive use of the YouTube machinima and instructions on how to use the machinima for assessable tasks. That way, educators who are not familiar with using Second Life are still able to use the resources with their pre-service teachers. The sizeable time that could be required to invest in VirtualPREX has been overcome if the educator uses the resources available. It takes considerable time and effort to create a space such as VirtualPREX. Because of the VirtualPREX project, the potential now exists for educators to utilise these resources in the preparation of their pre-service teachers for their professional experience.
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Virtual worlds have been incorporated into the repertoire of higher education teaching and learni... more Virtual worlds have been incorporated into the repertoire of higher education teaching and learning for over a decade with numerous reports on the efficacy of this form of learning for both student engagement and enhanced student outcomes. The affordances of these worlds are being used to enhance another aspect of many higher education courses; work integrated learning. In teacher education courses, practice teaching is a core component. However, research has highlighted quality preparation for practice teaching as problematic. This is a particular challenge for distance education students necessitating new approaches to teacher preparation. Virtual world technologies have provided the authors with a capacity to develop 3D virtual classroom and playground environments. These are currently being tested as effective spaces for developing a range of critical teaching skills prior to pre-service teachers entering a physical classroom. These students have opportunities, through interaction in and with the virtual environment, to practise skills and apply concepts in a risk-free realistic setting. In this chapter, the authors discuss the problems of preparation for practice teaching and the ways in which the virtual world of Second Life is currently being tested as a site for enhanced teacher preparation. The results of the first trials are described and the future of the project explored.
Cite as: Masters, Y., Gregory, S., Dalgarno, B., Reiners, T., & Knox, V. (2012). Branching Out through VirtualPREX: Enhancing Teaching in Second Life. In J. Paul, Y. Masters, & N. Tavares-Jones (Eds.), Utopia and a Garden Party: Experiential Learning in Virtual Worlds, At the Interface: Cutting Edge Research (pp. 57–69). Oxford, United Kingdom: Inter-Disciplinary Press.
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Background Inquiry-based models of teaching and learning are very common in the science disciplin... more Background Inquiry-based models of teaching and learning are very common in the science disciplines, and include a range of instructional approaches including discovery learning, problem-based learning, case-based learning and project-based learning (Dalgarno, Kennedy and Merritt, in press).
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Efforts are underway to develop learning resource repositories to allow reuse of learning resourc... more Efforts are underway to develop learning resource repositories to allow reuse of learning resources. However, a barrier to the effective reuse of such resources is the lack of ability to easily locate resources appropriate for a particular learning situation within these repositories. Various metadata standards have been proposed to allow the characteristics of learning resources to be described and consequently to allow effective searching.
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Abstract Recent educational models of computer-based interactivity stress the important role of a... more Abstract Recent educational models of computer-based interactivity stress the important role of a learner's cognition. It has been suggested that interactive learning tasks carried out in the context of an authentic, problem-based scenario will result in deeper elaborative cognitive processing leading to greater conceptual understanding of the material presented.
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Virtual worlds (referred to by some as multi-user virtual environments or MUVEs) have generated m... more Virtual worlds (referred to by some as multi-user virtual environments or MUVEs) have generated much attention and interest among tertiary education practitioners and researchers in recent years, with many universities and colleges making use of commercial platforms like Second Life or building customised platforms using open tools and resources to suit the particular needs of their staff and students.
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The changes that have occurred in accepted approaches to teaching and learning in recent years ha... more The changes that have occurred in accepted approaches to teaching and learning in recent years have been underpinned by shifts in psychological and pedagogical theory, culminating in moves towards a constructivist view of learning. This paper looks at these psychological and pedagogical theories and the consequences for Computer Assisted Learning (CAL). Examples will be demonstrated to illustrate the approaches to CAL that have arisen out of these theories.
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In recent years, tertiary educators have seen a rapidly increasing demand for flexibility in the ... more In recent years, tertiary educators have seen a rapidly increasing demand for flexibility in the way that learning experiences are delivered or facilitated (Dean, 2002). One of the key implications of this demand is the need for innovation in the design of learning resources as an alternative to face-to-face classes.
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Abstract This paper explores the potential learning benefits of 3D Learning Environments (3DLEs).... more Abstract This paper explores the potential learning benefits of 3D Learning Environments (3DLEs). It presents definitions of key terms and analyses the learner-computer interactions facilitated by 3DLEs, in order to identifj! the unique characteristics of such environments It is argued that the most important potential contribution of 3DLEs to conceptual understanding is through facilitation of spatial knowledge development. The effectiveness of3DLEsfor spatial learning is discussed, drml'ing on7iterature from a range ofdisciplines.
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In the design of Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) resources, one of the most important tasks of t... more In the design of Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) resources, one of the most important tasks of the designer is to decide on the intended activities that learners will undertake as they use the resources. This paper describes a valuable tool for CAL designers, in choosing activities likely to facilitate the achievement of specific learning outcomes: a matrix connecting categories of learning outcome with categories of learner activity.
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A virtual chemistry laboratory has been developed at Charles Sturt University, based on an accura... more A virtual chemistry laboratory has been developed at Charles Sturt University, based on an accurate 3D model of the Wagga Wagga undergraduate teaching laboratory. The initial version of the virtual laboratory has been designed to enable distance education chemistry students to become familiar with the laboratory prior to their residential school. It allows for free exploration and for collecting and assembling items of apparatus. It also allows students to read information about the items of apparatus and about laboratory procedures.
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This article describes the research design of, and reports selected findings from, a scoping stud... more This article describes the research design of, and reports selected findings from, a scoping study aimed at examining current and planned applications of 3D immersive virtual worlds at higher education institutions across Australia and New Zealand. The scoping study is the first of its kind in the region, intended to parallel and complement a number of studies conducted in other parts of the world.
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Abstract This article explores the potential learning benefits of three-dimensional (3-D) virtual... more Abstract This article explores the potential learning benefits of three-dimensional (3-D) virtual learning environments (VLEs). Drawing on published research spanning two decades, it identifies a set of unique characteristics of 3-D VLEs, which includes aspects of their representational fidelity and aspects of the learner–computer interactivity they facilitate. A review of applications of 3-D VLEs is presented, leading to the identification of a series of learning affordances of such environments.
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Papers by Barney Dalgarno
scoping study aimed at examining current and planned applications of 3D immersive
virtual worlds at higher education institutions across Australia and New Zealand. The
scoping study is the first of its kind in the region, intended to parallel and complement
a number of studies conducted in other parts of the world. Results from a sector-wide
questionnaire administered as part of the scoping study, portions of which are
presented in this article, appear consistent with international trends, especially in
terms of the platforms chosen and the dramatic increase in usage seen in recent years.
Higher education teaching staff in Australia and New Zealand are using 3D
immersive virtual worlds with their students in a variety of ways, for both assessable
and non-assessable tasks and in face to face, fully online/distance as well as blendedmode
subjects, although use in face to face and blended contexts appears to be most
common. The results also provide some insight into the demographics (e.g. age) of
staff who have adopted 3D immersive virtual worlds in their teaching, as well as into
the academic disciplines in which the technology is being employed.
Four virtual classrooms, each containing ten pre-service primary school student avatars (five female and five male) and two teachers (one female and one male), were created so that pre-service teachers could practise and enhance their teaching skills and experiment with new teaching strategies through role-plays. A further classroom was created to house primary school student bots (non-player characters) to enable asynchronous practice. These have all been created on the Second Life island of “Australis 4 Learning”. The VirtualPREX classroom environment was tested with various cohorts of students and academics from UNE, ACU and CSU, who participated in teaching role-play scenarios, over the two years of the project. In particular, on-campus and off-campus cohorts of students from UNE undertook role-play activities during 2011 and 2012, on-campus students and academic staff from ACU undertook role-play activities in 2012, and academic staff from CSU participated in a role-play demonstration in 2012. Students participating in role-plays completed questionnaires including demographic questions, questions relating to their ICT and virtual worlds experience, perceptions of their preparedness for their professional experience placement and questions about their experience of the role-play activity. The results indicated that, although there are a number of aspects of the design of the role-play activities, and the environment itself, that could be further refined, VirtualPREX is promising as a space for pre-service teachers to practise their skills and build their confidence before going out on professional experience placement.
This report draws on research conducted by project team members from UNE, CSU, Curtin, RMIT and ACU over the two years from 2011 to 2012. Data was collected from surveys, observations and discussions. The research sought to examine the virtual world space created for the VirtualPREX project for pre-service teachers to undertake practice teaching and assessable tasks. The aim was to develop the space, the role-play scenarios and bots for teaching in an authentic setting to be used worldwide upon completion. The study set out to provide the higher education community with guidelines and recommendations to encourage the use of the virtual world classrooms and assessable tasks with pre-service teachers.
The project consisted of four phases through three stages (pilot testing, refined role-plays and bot development):
• Phase 1 – Investigation and pre-formative assessment survey
• Phase 2 – Development and validating of bots, virtual classroom and machinima
• Phase 3 – Pilot implementation of VirtualPREX with pre-service teachers, and post-formative assessment survey
• Phase 4 – Analysis, reporting and final evaluation
The primary outcome of this project was the development and implementation of VirtualPREX: a 3D, interactive, virtual space designed as a classroom with structured learning experiences for formative assessment, in which pre-service teachers could practise teaching skills prior to practicum placements. Students are able to use the space both synchronously and asynchronously, by themselves or interacting with other students, academics and/or bots (non-player characters which enable pre-service teachers to practise their teaching skills without the need of peers). The bots are continuously being updated and are a work-in-progress. Students are able to interact with classroom simulations so that they can reflect, practise and apply skills learnt. VirtualPREX is accessible to academic users of Second Life worldwide for use with their pre-service teachers and can be found in Second Life at <maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Australis%204%20Learning/94/212/21>.
The project culminated in the production of the following outcomes and deliverables:
• Documentation of principles and guidelines for developing and implementing formative assessment in a 3D virtual world based on application of social constructivist pedagogy for learning activities.
• A broader evaluation of the usefulness of Second Life in meeting the project aims for pre-service education students across the five institutions.
• The creation of prototype primary school student bots and an automated classroom where pre-service teachers can practise teaching skills by themselves, with other students and/or their academic teacher.
• A space to create and use machinima for self, peer, formative and summative assessment.
• Guidelines for using machinima as a resource for assessment tasks and discussion of standards.
• Assessable tasks for individuals or groups for use by higher educational institutions worldwide.
• Guidelines for encouraging effective teaching strategies through role-play.
• An agreed protocol for sharing future use and development of VirtualPREX.
These outcomes and deliverables can be found at “Australis 4 Learning”, a space in Second Life, and on the VirtualPREX website, <virtualprex.com>. The space in Second Life has all classrooms set up to be used. The website has a multitude of resources containing instructions on how to undertake role-plays on “Australis 4 Learning” and links to YouTube machinima for assessment and how to undertake these tasks. Many “how to” instructions are also available on the website. In this report are many more links to resources available to enable use of VirtualPREX, either as role-plays, machinima viewing, assessable tasks and general information.
For users of the VirtualPREX resources, it is recommended that educators become familiar with the virtual world of Second Life prior to embarking on the role-play activities. This way, they will be able to overcome any technical difficulties they encounter. It is recommended that users visit http://virtualprex.com/slhowto.html to assist in their learning to become educators of VirtualPREX and ensure that all users have the best possible experience available. It is also recommended that educators make comprehensive use of the YouTube machinima and instructions on how to use the machinima for assessable tasks. That way, educators who are not familiar with using Second Life are still able to use the resources with their pre-service teachers. The sizeable time that could be required to invest in VirtualPREX has been overcome if the educator uses the resources available. It takes considerable time and effort to create a space such as VirtualPREX. Because of the VirtualPREX project, the potential now exists for educators to utilise these resources in the preparation of their pre-service teachers for their professional experience.
Cite as: Masters, Y., Gregory, S., Dalgarno, B., Reiners, T., & Knox, V. (2012). Branching Out through VirtualPREX: Enhancing Teaching in Second Life. In J. Paul, Y. Masters, & N. Tavares-Jones (Eds.), Utopia and a Garden Party: Experiential Learning in Virtual Worlds, At the Interface: Cutting Edge Research (pp. 57–69). Oxford, United Kingdom: Inter-Disciplinary Press.
scoping study aimed at examining current and planned applications of 3D immersive
virtual worlds at higher education institutions across Australia and New Zealand. The
scoping study is the first of its kind in the region, intended to parallel and complement
a number of studies conducted in other parts of the world. Results from a sector-wide
questionnaire administered as part of the scoping study, portions of which are
presented in this article, appear consistent with international trends, especially in
terms of the platforms chosen and the dramatic increase in usage seen in recent years.
Higher education teaching staff in Australia and New Zealand are using 3D
immersive virtual worlds with their students in a variety of ways, for both assessable
and non-assessable tasks and in face to face, fully online/distance as well as blendedmode
subjects, although use in face to face and blended contexts appears to be most
common. The results also provide some insight into the demographics (e.g. age) of
staff who have adopted 3D immersive virtual worlds in their teaching, as well as into
the academic disciplines in which the technology is being employed.
Four virtual classrooms, each containing ten pre-service primary school student avatars (five female and five male) and two teachers (one female and one male), were created so that pre-service teachers could practise and enhance their teaching skills and experiment with new teaching strategies through role-plays. A further classroom was created to house primary school student bots (non-player characters) to enable asynchronous practice. These have all been created on the Second Life island of “Australis 4 Learning”. The VirtualPREX classroom environment was tested with various cohorts of students and academics from UNE, ACU and CSU, who participated in teaching role-play scenarios, over the two years of the project. In particular, on-campus and off-campus cohorts of students from UNE undertook role-play activities during 2011 and 2012, on-campus students and academic staff from ACU undertook role-play activities in 2012, and academic staff from CSU participated in a role-play demonstration in 2012. Students participating in role-plays completed questionnaires including demographic questions, questions relating to their ICT and virtual worlds experience, perceptions of their preparedness for their professional experience placement and questions about their experience of the role-play activity. The results indicated that, although there are a number of aspects of the design of the role-play activities, and the environment itself, that could be further refined, VirtualPREX is promising as a space for pre-service teachers to practise their skills and build their confidence before going out on professional experience placement.
This report draws on research conducted by project team members from UNE, CSU, Curtin, RMIT and ACU over the two years from 2011 to 2012. Data was collected from surveys, observations and discussions. The research sought to examine the virtual world space created for the VirtualPREX project for pre-service teachers to undertake practice teaching and assessable tasks. The aim was to develop the space, the role-play scenarios and bots for teaching in an authentic setting to be used worldwide upon completion. The study set out to provide the higher education community with guidelines and recommendations to encourage the use of the virtual world classrooms and assessable tasks with pre-service teachers.
The project consisted of four phases through three stages (pilot testing, refined role-plays and bot development):
• Phase 1 – Investigation and pre-formative assessment survey
• Phase 2 – Development and validating of bots, virtual classroom and machinima
• Phase 3 – Pilot implementation of VirtualPREX with pre-service teachers, and post-formative assessment survey
• Phase 4 – Analysis, reporting and final evaluation
The primary outcome of this project was the development and implementation of VirtualPREX: a 3D, interactive, virtual space designed as a classroom with structured learning experiences for formative assessment, in which pre-service teachers could practise teaching skills prior to practicum placements. Students are able to use the space both synchronously and asynchronously, by themselves or interacting with other students, academics and/or bots (non-player characters which enable pre-service teachers to practise their teaching skills without the need of peers). The bots are continuously being updated and are a work-in-progress. Students are able to interact with classroom simulations so that they can reflect, practise and apply skills learnt. VirtualPREX is accessible to academic users of Second Life worldwide for use with their pre-service teachers and can be found in Second Life at <maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Australis%204%20Learning/94/212/21>.
The project culminated in the production of the following outcomes and deliverables:
• Documentation of principles and guidelines for developing and implementing formative assessment in a 3D virtual world based on application of social constructivist pedagogy for learning activities.
• A broader evaluation of the usefulness of Second Life in meeting the project aims for pre-service education students across the five institutions.
• The creation of prototype primary school student bots and an automated classroom where pre-service teachers can practise teaching skills by themselves, with other students and/or their academic teacher.
• A space to create and use machinima for self, peer, formative and summative assessment.
• Guidelines for using machinima as a resource for assessment tasks and discussion of standards.
• Assessable tasks for individuals or groups for use by higher educational institutions worldwide.
• Guidelines for encouraging effective teaching strategies through role-play.
• An agreed protocol for sharing future use and development of VirtualPREX.
These outcomes and deliverables can be found at “Australis 4 Learning”, a space in Second Life, and on the VirtualPREX website, <virtualprex.com>. The space in Second Life has all classrooms set up to be used. The website has a multitude of resources containing instructions on how to undertake role-plays on “Australis 4 Learning” and links to YouTube machinima for assessment and how to undertake these tasks. Many “how to” instructions are also available on the website. In this report are many more links to resources available to enable use of VirtualPREX, either as role-plays, machinima viewing, assessable tasks and general information.
For users of the VirtualPREX resources, it is recommended that educators become familiar with the virtual world of Second Life prior to embarking on the role-play activities. This way, they will be able to overcome any technical difficulties they encounter. It is recommended that users visit http://virtualprex.com/slhowto.html to assist in their learning to become educators of VirtualPREX and ensure that all users have the best possible experience available. It is also recommended that educators make comprehensive use of the YouTube machinima and instructions on how to use the machinima for assessable tasks. That way, educators who are not familiar with using Second Life are still able to use the resources with their pre-service teachers. The sizeable time that could be required to invest in VirtualPREX has been overcome if the educator uses the resources available. It takes considerable time and effort to create a space such as VirtualPREX. Because of the VirtualPREX project, the potential now exists for educators to utilise these resources in the preparation of their pre-service teachers for their professional experience.
Cite as: Masters, Y., Gregory, S., Dalgarno, B., Reiners, T., & Knox, V. (2012). Branching Out through VirtualPREX: Enhancing Teaching in Second Life. In J. Paul, Y. Masters, & N. Tavares-Jones (Eds.), Utopia and a Garden Party: Experiential Learning in Virtual Worlds, At the Interface: Cutting Edge Research (pp. 57–69). Oxford, United Kingdom: Inter-Disciplinary Press.