Rocket Science in a Virtual World

As a partner college of Greenwich University, Bromley College run Foundation Degrees in Software Development and Network Computing, and as part the programme, students complete a major Software Development project in year 1 and 2. The academic year 2014-15has a combined post 18 student cohort of 25 male and 1 female. Within the group there are two students with learning need statements, one for Dyslexia the other with Pervasive Learning Disorder. The theme for the years project is Rocket Science, where students are required to produce a desktop program capable of modelling the flight of a single stage rocket and this case study sets out to describe the delivery learning requirements.In education, virtual worlds provide unique learning opportunities, for accurate/real contexts and activities for experiential learning, simulation, modelling of complex scenarios, social interaction, that may not be experienced in other learning modalities (Atkinson, 2009)

Metaphors for Social Relationships in 3D Virtual Worlds

ABSTRACT A number of conceptual metaphors have been previously suggested for identity management, including, for example, theatre stage, onion layers, and identity segments. Based on an analysis of 30 in-depth interviews with Second Life residents, we examine the extent to which these metaphors can be used to explain experiences of social relationships in and across virtual and material worlds. The data suggest that these metaphors are relevant to social interactions in and across virtual and material environments: individuals perform on a stage to and with others, they gradually reveal layers of themselves, and they distinguish between segments of their identity in different social situations. At the same time, these metaphors do not explain all experiences, pointing to future research on virtual environments, social relationships, and identity management