Article,
How to enable knowledge exchange in Second Life in design education?
Learning, Media and Technology, 35 (2): 155--169 (2010)
Abstract
The theory and lessons of knowledge exchange, in both a physical and
virtual environment, suggest a framework for understanding the specific
requirements for a digital design class in Second Life. Through teaching
and observing students who were asked to complete a machinima project,
our research provided examples of the strengths and the weaknesses
of using Second Life for knowledge exchange. Learning is a process
of creating knowledge, and so we observed the input and the output
of the process. A literature review of knowledge creation considering
the exchange of both tacit and explicit knowledge exchange informs
our theory. Teaching occurred both remotely and, in person, in a
media lab that included a physical presence of 33 students using
networked computers and also allowed virtual presence in Second Life.
The students also experienced a mixed-reality environment in which
they collaborated sometimes in close physical proximity and sometimes
only together in the virtual space. The exchange of tacit knowledge
in a shared physical environment was regarded as a benchmark for
knowledge exchange in Second Life, and we will conclude this article
with some suggestions how that could be more closely simulated.
