If you are interested in e-learning you cannot possibly have missed the interest in Second Life! Businesses are falling over themselves to establish a presence in this vitrual world. The ‘hip’ value of this means of advertising will not be doing any of them any harm.

One possible area of development has been using th virtual world as a learning space and some users have embraced the possibilities . Others are waiting for the hype ‘bubble‘ to burst.

My interest in this discussion is why are we so excited by it? Is it ’shiney new toy’ syndrome or does it hark back to a real need that e-learning sometimes misses out on - the need for human interaction?

I have experienced two different forms of e-learning, one that creates a real group dynamic and a sense of community, and one where all the information I required was available online but the group identity was only half-heartedly encouraged and tutorials were available but not compulsory. Both courses where interesting and I achieved quite good marks. However, the more focused web-based course that I am doing now has worked hard to encourage a sense of group identity between the students and it has really added a new dimension to my learning.

Conversations with peers has open new avenues and concepts that I would have missed on my own. To encourage this group identity, connection has been through a vibrant discussion forum, messenger meetings and Second Life sessions. The discussion forum has proved useful when I have had problems that do not require immediate resolutions. The messenger and second life sessions have fostered a more ‘face to face’ approach.

This is all very interesting, but does the interaction aid us in learning, or simply make learning more interesting? I think that the possibility is the second - it improves the experience. As long as the content is good and the topics interesting, interaction is not a necessity but a bonus. Interaction can never make bad content good, but it can make good content better - and that has to be a bonus for the learner.

There is a school of thought that lack of interaction between tutor and pupil engenders a lack of authority, but I have yet to see that in my own experiences. But if that is true, can that relationship be re-created in the virtual world? I am a big fan of online gaming (world of warcraft is a particular favourite) and I can see the benfits of using such an environment to communicate with others, but I find Second Life is difficult and unweildy. The technology seems slow, with many stutters in movement. The graphics are not brilliant and communication can sometimes be a struggle. This does not need to be the case, and I feel that this is a serious limitation with Second Life. Games like World of Warcraft and Everquest are enourmous enterprises, with millions of players and yet the graphics are slicker and the communication and movement controls faster and more intuative. I can appreciate that Second Life offers many opportunities for individual expression but I can’t help thinking that the slow technology diminishes the importance of this virtual world. If SL becomes more like a ‘game’ I think many more users will be attracted to it and use it to the maximum potential for more human-like interaction.

In conclusion, I believe that Second Life has many exciting opportunites to offer us as learners and as tutors, but I think that it is not yet ’slick’ enough to tempt those casual users who cannot see past the ‘clunkiness’ of the interface. To become a real tool for learning I think that this needs to be overcome before it can really live up to the hype.

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