Happy 2010 everyone, I wanted to share the findings of my recently completed study, a dissertation in education titled ³Learning in the Wild of a Virtual World.² PDFs of the entire project are here http://tinyurl.com/yjojsu3, the abstract is below. Please forgive cross-posting. Best, Suzanne Aurilio PS. I just realized I pdf-ed unsigned title pages, they have indeed been signed ;). Learning in the Wild of a Virtual World Abstract This study took place in the online 3D virtual world Second Life®, a recreational environment designed for world-building and socializing, and intended for individuals 18 years old and older. It described learning from the perspective of Second Life® Residents and focused on their world-building activities. As a virtual ethnographer, my avatar interacted with seven main participant-avatars in-world. Real life ages ranged from 33 years old to mid 50s; all but one were women. I collected data from 20 other Residents also. The study contributes to a nascent body of educational research exploring new forms of inquiry and practice conceived in virtual worlds, and breaks new ground by positioning itself in terms of a constructionist-learning context in which adults actively engage. The findings reiterate previous research of learning in virtual worlds. It is situated, social, intrinsically engaging and requires a high degree of personal agency. Learning in Second Life®, however, typifies constructionist principles, and qualities of adult learning which, in practice, are relevant to children as learners too. The context-specific activities of world-building invoke in learners a capacity to be self-directed problem-solvers of concrete and personally meaningful tasks. These activities result in novel expressive forms, and performative expressions of self through one¹s avatar. World-building engenders artists¹ and artisans¹ habits of mind in the forms of learning-by-doing and trial and error. Compared with the larger population, Second Life® Residents are trailblazers. I therefore proposed cyborg learners/learning as a formulation for characterizing the expressive forms and ways of learning documented here. * Learners embody avatars in a 3D graphical space. * They are geographically dispersed. * They occupy at least two or more social and technological locations simultaneously. * Learning is technologically and socially platform-specific. * It is socially interdependent. * It depends on intrinsically motivating activities. * It engenders forms of learning-by-doing. These findings contribute to a broad research paradigm addressing games for learning, mobile learning, open learning, personal learning environments (PLEs) and multi-user learning environments (MUVEs). ~~ Suzanne Aurilio, PhD Assistant Director pICT - People, Information and Communication Technologies San Diego State University 5500 Campanile Drive San Diego, CA 92182-1623 619-594-2953 Office AD220C pict.sdsu.edu sdsu-aztlan.wikispaces.com SL Aurili Oh Twitter saurili Delicious saurilio