Educational Gaming Commons - Press Start

Students in Course Design and Development in Distance Education (ADTED 531) were introduced to Second Life. Dr. Michael G. Moore (aka his avatar, Professor Trevellion) and doctoral student William C. Diehl (AKA his avatar, Ross Mounier) facilitated student activities in Second Life, toured the Penn State land with the students and met with them for discussions in the virtual world. The students in the course also reflected on their experiences using blogs and wikis, as well as in the forums in the Angel environment. Fall 07 was a first test/trial, and after receiving student feedback, Moore and Diehl and World Campus staff are planning to include a Second Life experience in future offerings of ADTED 531.

In addition, a research article entitled Unintended Outcomes in Second Life: Intercultural Literacy and Cultural Identity in a Virtual World, co-authored by William C. Diehl and Adult Education Professor Esther Prins, will be published this year in the Journal of Language and Intercultural Communication.

Diehl presented a paper at The 12th Cambridge International Conference on Open and Distance Learning in Cambridge, UK last fall and is also presenting a paper related to Second Life at the AERC conference later this year in June in St. Louis, MO.