Preparing Student Sojourners for Cultural Immersion in Multiple User Virtual Environments

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

This paper examines the results of student reflections of their interactions in Second Life (SL) which were prompted by required class related activities. The research methodology used was qualitative meta-analysis based on a grounded theory approach. A theoretical framework based in a constructivist epistemology was used to examine cultural and pedagogical implications of introducing students to a virtual environment as part of a classroom experience. Data was gathered from two different populations, one consisting of undergraduate students utilizing SL as a pedagogical tool for learning visual literacy elements in an introductory photo class, the other consisting of graduate students in a Learning Technology course exploring SL to understand its potential for teaching and training. Examination of student reflections revealed remarkably similar results between groups with respect to their immersion into the SL environment and related culture. Analysis of the student reflections provide insight into pedagogical preparations that should be considered before introducing students into a Multiple User Virtual Environment (MUVE).