Please Sir, my avatar overslept...

Maybe the excuse doesn’t roll off the tongue quite so easily as “Please Sir, the dog ate my homework”, but it’s an excuse that we may hear more often in future.  More and more schools, colleges and universities are holding classes in virtual worlds. For those who play computer games, virtual worlds are part of everyday life. For the rest of us, Gary Hayes' video provides a good introduction.

Virtual worlds are computer generated three-dimensional places with landscapes, buildings, and representations of people called avatars. Avatars may take human form, or may look like cartoon characters or animals.

One of the better known virtual worlds is Second Life. You may have heard about it from stories of real life divorces resulting from virtual world liaisons. But Second Life has a more serious side.  It provides virtual classrooms for universities across the globe.

For some universities holding a class in Second Life is a natural extension of doing what they do anyway. The Open University has been providing distance education in the UK for 40 years. Over time text books and occasional classes have been replaced by online tutorials and websites. To hold a class in a virtual world is no big step. It gives a sense of being with other students, even though people are often many miles apart in front of their own computer screen.

In other cases, the virtual world offers an opportunity to do things which it is difficult, dangerous or impossible to do in real life. The PREVIEW project at Coventry University has developed training simulations for people involved in health and social care.  Accident preparation training can be set up using actors, but this is expensive and not easily repeated.  Using Second Life is not only less expensive, but the scenario can be run whenever it is needed at no additional cost.

Many of us struggled in school with English literature or understanding the structure of paintings or human biology.  In Second Life, you can visit a 3-d reconstruction of a Van Gogh painting and sit on one of his famous chairs. The full horror of the seven circles of hell is brought alive in a representation of Dante’s inferno. A tour can be taken around a giant testis.

Virtual worlds allow students to build their own creations as well as visiting other people's. After acquiring a few basic skills, students at the University of Sussex are creating learning experiences which other students use to help them to understand difficult ideas. 

Although at the moment it is mainly universities using virtual worlds for teaching, some schools are beginning to explore the possibilities. Already many Key Stage 2 school children have avatars in Club Penguin, Habbo Hotel and other child oriented virtual worlds. Studies have shown children using virtual worlds develop and strengthen their literacy and social skills.

So although it is unlikely an oversleeping avatar will be an excuse for being late for school this year, the time may not be that far away when avatars do attend class.