Integrating Web-Based and 3D Learning Environments: Second Life Meets Moodle

Abstract

There has been a recent explosion of interest from academics across a wide range of disciplines in the use of Multi-User Virtual Environments for education, driven by the success of platforms such as Second Life. As these platforms are used more often as environments for teaching and learning, there is an increased need to integrate them with other institutional systems, Web-based Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) in particular. In this paper we outline the open source Sloodle project, which is working on integrating learning and teaching across Second Life and Moodle, a popular open source VLE. We review the history and current status of Sloodle and present results from user surveys, highlighting the benefits educators hope to reap from this integration.