City hosts virtual seminar

City University's School of Informatics hosts its first virtual seminar in Second Life

City University's School of Informatics has hosted its first virtual seminar in Second Life, to discuss social learning in virtual worlds. The following day, a 'real life' workshop was held at City’s Interaction Lab for UK experts to discuss the same topic.


Organisers Dr Panayiotis Zaphiris and Dr Chee Siang Ang from City's Centre for Human Computer Interaction Design used the combination of events to analyse social learning, and the potential of teaching in virtual worlds, from a multidisciplinary angle.

 

Over 50 people participated in the virtual event, with an additional 20 taking part in the face-to-face workshop. The events saw students and academics interested in virtual worlds, as a means for learning, share their expertise. The online version increased the scope of opinions beyond City University, adding fresh perspectives from all over the world.


Both events were funded by ESRC as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2008. The information gathered will be analysed by City researchers to identify strengths and weaknesses of teaching in the virtual world.


For further information about City’s Interaction Lab visit: http://hcid.soi.city.ac.uk/Interaction_lab/index.html



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Date of Article:  22/05/2008