Exploring the Meaningful Learning of Students in Second Life (Report‪)‬

Introduction The educational potential of virtual worlds, such as Second Life (SL, also referred to as a multi-user virtual environment), has been widely recognized and discussed among educators in recent years, although the instructional strategies in SL are still in their infancy (Edirisingha, Nie, Pluciennik, & Young, 2009; Jarmon, Traphagan, Mayrath, & Trivedi, 2009; Mayrath, Sanchez, Traphagan, Heikes, & Trivedi, 2007; Warburton, 2009). SL can be described as a three-dimensional (3D) shared place, where thousands of participants can simultaneously collaborate with each other via avatars--the students' representations in the virtual world--in a non-competitive manner (Ondrejka, 2008; Warburton, 2009). In SL, participants can unleash their imagination and creativity by creating objects, identities, and knowledge, and by breaking physical, geographical, generational, and professional boundaries (Ondrejka, 2008). As noted, there is a new kind of educational potential in virtual worlds.