Second Life as a Holistic Learning Environment for Problem Based Learning and Transferable Skills

This paper seeks to demonstrate the affordances of Second Life for a multifaceted approach to learning. Our experience is that it supports the development of wider transferable skills while delivering subject specific content. Our most recent experience of using Second Life in teaching has been to embed a problem based element of learning within a conventionally taught module. We used a machinima based assessment where students worked in groups to create short video clips from their activities in Second Life. The conventional elements of the module introduce students to a range of media creation and manipulation tools that they can use to develop their final assessment. Although the assessment has some core criteria, the content, style, narrative and working pattern are all decided by the student groups. We believe that this approach provides a useful stepping stone between content driven and problem based teaching techniques. Initial results (from questionnaires, interviews and student reporting) seem to indicate that students have brought in learning from other areas that enhance their transferable skills in group work, project management and problem based learning.