Virtual worlds in Australian and New Zealand higher education: remembering the past, understanding the present and imagining the future

3D virtual reality, including the current generation of multi-user virtual worlds, has had a long history of use in education and training, and it experienced a surge of renewed interest with the advent of Second Life in 2003. What followed shortly after were several years marked by considerable hype around the use of virtual worlds for teaching, learning and research in higher education. For the moment, uptake of the technology seems to have plateaued, with academics either maintaining the status quo and continuing to use virtual worlds as they have previously done or choosing to opt out altogether. This paper presents a brief review of the use of virtual worlds in the Australian and New Zealand higher education sector in the past and reports on its use in the sector at the present time, based on input from members of the Australian and New Zealand Virtual Worlds Working Group. It then adopts a forward-looking perspective amid the current climate of uncertainty, musing on future directions and offering suggestions for potential new applications in light of recent technological developments and innovations in the area

Foreign State Immunity and Foreign Government Controlled Investors

Discussions at the “Freedom of Investment” Roundtables, hosted by the OECD Investment Committee, have stressed that increased investments by foreign State-controlled investors can bring significant benefits to home and host societies, but have also noted that they can raise concerns. This paper examines two principal issues concerning foreign State-controlled investors: whether the doctrine of foreign state immunity may make it difficult for private parties to pursue legitimate claims against them and whether that doctrine creates regulatory enforcement gaps for host countries. Although the restrictive approach to immunity is now widely recognised, important issues, such as whether the financial investment activities of a sovereign wealth fund are commercial or sovereign acts, remain uncertain. In the area of regulation, the paper analyses state policies in the area of tax, competition law and criminal law, and notes key factors that may influence immunity in such cases.taxation, competition law, sovereign wealth funds, foreign sovereign immunity, state-owned enterprises, antitrust, state immunity, international investment law, state-controlled investors, foreign government controlled investors, regulation, foreign state immunity, central banks

Vision - A space for digital learning and exploring pedagogies: Virtual world education

The Australian and New Zealand Virtual Worlds Working Group (VWWG) was established in 2009. Members of the group have written papers for ASCILITE conferences since 2010. Each paper’s intention is to provide an overview on using virtual worlds in higher education, especially the practical aspects of incorporating 3D worlds to enhance student learning. This VWWG’s paper looks at a virtual world as a space for digital learning and exploratory pedagogy – meaning, that the authors perhaps do not perceive virtual worlds as ordinary. However, they do acknowledge that those who do not regularly engage in virtual worlds may see it as new and innovative, perhaps even untested ground, but still with a degree of unfamiliarity. A survey was sent to the members of the VWWG in which the narratives have provided rich data for in depth understanding. The themes focused in the survey were ‘disruptive thinking’, ‘emerging ideas’ and ‘lateral connections’, from the perspective of the respondents’ experiences in the implementation of virtual worlds in education. They discuss the idea of a virtual world used in education as a new treasure, or perhaps it has been in use for some time and now classified as traditional

Sustaining the future through virtual worlds

Virtual worlds (VWs) continue to be used extensively in Australia and New Zealand higher education institutions although the tendency towards making unrealistic claims of efficacy and popularity appears to be over. Some educators at higher education institutions continue to use VWs in the same way as they have done in the past; others are exploring a range of different VWs or using them in new ways; whilst some are opting out altogether. This paper presents an overview of how 46 educators from some 26 institutions see VWs as an opportunity to sustain higher education. The positives and negatives of using VWs are discussed

Vision - A space for digital learning and exploring pedagogies: Virtual world education

The Australian and New Zealand Virtual Worlds Working Group (VWWG) was established in 2009. Members of the group have written papers for ASCILITE conferences since 2010. Each paper’s intention is to provide an overview on using virtual worlds in higher education, especially the practical aspects of incorporating 3D worlds to enhance student learning. This VWWG’s paper looks at a virtual world as a space for digital learning and exploratory pedagogy – meaning, that the authors perhaps do not perceive virtual worlds as ordinary. However, they do acknowledge that those who do not regularly engage in virtual worlds may see it as new and innovative, perhaps even untested ground, but still with a degree of unfamiliarity. A survey was sent to the members of the VWWG in which the narratives have provided rich data for in depth understanding. The themes focused in the survey were ‘disruptive thinking’, ‘emerging ideas’ and ‘lateral connections’, from the perspective of the respondents’ experiences in the implementation of virtual worlds in education. They discuss the idea of a virtual world used in education as a new treasure, or perhaps it has been in use for some time and now classified as traditional

Virtual worlds in Australian and New Zealand higher education: Remembering the past, understanding the present and imagining the future

3D virtual reality, including the current generation of multi-user virtual worlds, has had a long history of use in education and training, and it experienced a surge of renewed interest with the advent of Second Life in 2003. What followed shortly after were several years marked by considerable hype around the use of virtual worlds for teaching, learning and research in higher education. For the moment, uptake of the technology seems to have plateaued, with academics either maintaining the status quo and continuing to use virtual worlds as they have previously done or choosing to opt out altogether. This paper presents a brief review of the use of virtual worlds in the Australian and New Zealand higher education sector in the past and reports on its use in the sector at the present time, based on input from members of the Australian and New Zealand Virtual Worlds Working Group. It then adopts a forward-looking perspective amid the current climate of uncertainty, musing on future directions and offering suggestions for potential new applications in light of recent technological developments and innovations in the area

Virtual worlds in Australian and New Zealand higher education : remembering the past, understanding the present and imagining the future

3D virtual reality, including the current generation of multi-user virtual worlds, has had a long history of use in education and training, and it experienced a surge of renewed interest with the advent of Second Life in 2003. What followed shortly after were several years marked by considerable hype around the use of virtual worlds for teaching, learning and research in higher education. For the moment, uptake of the technology seems to have plateaued, with academics either maintaining the status quo and continuing to use virtual worlds as they have previously done or choosing to opt out altogether. This paper presents a brief review of the use of virtual worlds in the Australian and New Zealand higher education sector in the past and reports on its use in the sector at the present time, based on input from members of the Australian and New Zealand Virtual Worlds Working Group. It then adopts a forward-looking perspective amid the current climate of uncertainty, musing on future directions and offering suggestions for potential new applications in light of recent technological developments and innovations in the area