Massively Multi-Learner: Recent Advances in 3D Social Environments

In this paper we review work on developing an atypical MMO for use as a learning tool in traditional college settings. The MMO under consideration is Second Life by Linden Lab in San Francisco, CA. The platform is unusual in many regards. “Residents” play by creating content for use by others, gathering in ad hoc communities and constructing fictional narratives unrelated to the typical medieval combat genre prevalent in MMOs. It is this ability to add content and lack of an inbuilt narrative which has already attracted the attention of educators worldwide. We review a range of the education work already undertaken in Second Life and comment on its prospects for use more specifically in a Computer Science curriculum