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Updated report on HE / FE developments in Second Life |
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| 04/10/2007 | |
| In July 2007 the Eduserv Foundation has published a report of an investigation into the use and uptake of Second Life (SL) by UK Higher and Further Education. The report shows that a growing number of UK academic institutions, departments and groups are at different stages of SL development. The research had four main goals: 1) to determine the “state of play” of SL developments within the Higher and Further Education sector 2) to discover how these developments are supported, in terms of time, funding and other resources 3) to explore the functionality of these developments, i.e. which types of media or interactive service they incorporate 4) to establish how “busy”, or well-used, the developments have been and discover any impacts resulting from their implementation and use The report shows that a growing number of UK academic institutions, departments and groups are at different stages of SL development. It is, perhaps, presumptuous to conclude that UK Higher Education has reached a “tipping point” in terms of using and developing facilities in SL. However, there has been a considerable increase in activity between March and July 2007, marked by the beginning and end of this survey. The appendix lists over 40 UK Universities and Colleges that have a building, land or island on the grid, many appearing in the last few weeks and not yet open for public visiting while they are being developed. While some institutions are openly and actively developing in SL, others are doing so less publicly, and others still are either watching developments before making a decision, or being slowed down by institutional bureaucracy. One point that came through very strongly in this survey was that many academics are developing in SL with a view to providing facilities for the 2007-2008 academic year. The report was updated in September 2007 and there will be further snapshots in March, and September, 2008. |
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