Media Release

June 25 2009

Accessible learning in a virtual world

Dr Denise Wood will present a virtual session at an event called Helen Keller Day in Second Life Virtual worlds are opening up once unimagined educational opportunities, according to University of South Australia new media expert Denise Wood.

Dr Wood, who is Teaching and Learning Portfolio Leader with UniSA’s School of Communication, International Studies and Languages, says virtual worlds like Second Life can enrich educational experiences for all students, but especially those who have been isolated from student life by distance or disability.

Dr Wood will present a virtual session at an event called Helen Keller Day in Second Life this Saturday.

“People with disabilities make up approximately 20 per cent of the Second Life population,” said Dr Wood, who herself has an ‘avatar’ in Second Life.

“People who cannot walk in real life can fly or teleport when they are in Second Life. However, Second Life still has some barriers, particularly for hearing impaired and visually impaired people who face big challenges in using the highly visual 3D environment.”

UniSA is working collaboratively with disability groups on the development of an open source 3D virtual learning platform. The platform builds on the sorts of accessibility tools that have been developed by people with disabilities in Second Life. These tools will be on display at the Helen Keller event.

Dr Wood is a co-project leader of an Australian Learning and Teaching Council grant awarded in 2008 to develop an accessible open source 3D virtual learning platform. Dr Wood and UniSA researcher Associate Professor Gerry Bloustien are leading a team of key researchers from six universities in Australia and the UK on the development of the platform and associated guidelines aimed at improving learning outcomes for students with disabilities.

“Virtual learning platforms provide unprecedented opportunities for learners with disabilities given the collaborative nature of these environments,” Dr Wood said.

“I’m delighted to be part of Helen Keller Day in Second Life. I will be presenting a session discussing teaching in virtual worlds and in particular will be talking about our research grant to develop an accessible 3D virtual learning environment.”

Anyone can access Helen Keller Day in Second Life by signing up as a member at www.secondlife.com and installing a free software application that can be downloaded from the site. Once installed, users can login to Second Life using the Second Life software. Dr Wood’s presentation is at 3:00 am PST at the education faire amphitheatre in Second Life: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Faire/81/214/35.