Abstract:

Within education Massive Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) are becoming widely used. MUVEs are also called 3D Worlds and one of the most widely known examples is Linden Lab's Second Life. Existing educational projects in Second Life are mainly single organisation/institution centred and there is a general lack of structured support for practitioners in Lifelong Learning, especially concerning models for learning scenarios.

LLL3D is a 2 year project funded under the EU's Lifelong Learning Programme, and aims to improve the opportunities for Lifelong Learning and the quality of the experience, by identifying, developing and sharing best practice in the use of MUVEs in education and by providing a kind of 'construction kit' able to allow interested, but unexperienced user the creation of learning scenarios that have proven to provide good results.

There are three main strands to the project:

1. The development, implementation and test of learning scenarios for five different target groups within the field of Lifelong Learning (School Environment, Higher Education, Vocational Training, Adult Education and Intergenerational Learning).

2. Establishing a community of researchers, teachers and practitioners interested in using MUVEs in Lifelong Learning.

3. Promoting, disseminating, raising awareness and increasing acceptance for educational use of MUVEs.

In conjunction with other projects a community of practitioners is developing, and this group is helping identify priorities for the development of scenarios and artefacts that can be used for educational purposes within MUVEs.

Keywords:

muves, second life, learning scenario, lifelong learning, innovation, virtual environment, research.