TY - CHAP
T1 - Reflections on Identity and Learning in a Virtual World
T2 - The Avatar in Second Life
AU - Jerry, Paul
AU - Tavares-Jones, Nancy
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Inter-Disciplinary Press 2012.
PY - 2020/1/1
Y1 - 2020/1/1
N2 - Participation in learning in a virtual world requires the use of an avatar. An avatar is a representation of the learner in the virtual environment and varies in complexity depending on the virtual space. Our experience using Second Life informs this discussion of the nature and evolution of identity in or with an avatar. Necessarily, in a complex virtual world, an avatar becomes a virtual embodiment of an individual’s identity. Some individuals spend time developing and evolving their avatar while others seem content to use a default setting in favour of completing whatever task has been set for them in the virtual world. Our interest lies with the experience of those individuals for whom the avatar becomes a significant extension of their off-line selves. Methodologically we have approached an understanding of identity and avatar using an ethnographic perspective. We draw on multiple data sources including reflections on personal immersion, as well as interview data with Second Life residents both new and old. Conceptually, we have approached our understanding of identity and avatar using Mann’s (1994) theory of selfhood. Mann proposes that our sense of self is composed of three dimensions - time, embodiment, and relation (which is grounded in reflexivity.) Using this conceptualisation to frame the development and evolution of an individual’s identity as an avatar, we also examine psychological constructs such as theory of mind and the individual’s experience of immersion and its potential relationship to the trait of suggestibility. While the implications of having multiple identities in online and off-line contexts are far-reaching, we focus our discussion of these implications for when a virtual world is used for educational purposes.
AB - Participation in learning in a virtual world requires the use of an avatar. An avatar is a representation of the learner in the virtual environment and varies in complexity depending on the virtual space. Our experience using Second Life informs this discussion of the nature and evolution of identity in or with an avatar. Necessarily, in a complex virtual world, an avatar becomes a virtual embodiment of an individual’s identity. Some individuals spend time developing and evolving their avatar while others seem content to use a default setting in favour of completing whatever task has been set for them in the virtual world. Our interest lies with the experience of those individuals for whom the avatar becomes a significant extension of their off-line selves. Methodologically we have approached an understanding of identity and avatar using an ethnographic perspective. We draw on multiple data sources including reflections on personal immersion, as well as interview data with Second Life residents both new and old. Conceptually, we have approached our understanding of identity and avatar using Mann’s (1994) theory of selfhood. Mann proposes that our sense of self is composed of three dimensions - time, embodiment, and relation (which is grounded in reflexivity.) Using this conceptualisation to frame the development and evolution of an individual’s identity as an avatar, we also examine psychological constructs such as theory of mind and the individual’s experience of immersion and its potential relationship to the trait of suggestibility. While the implications of having multiple identities in online and off-line contexts are far-reaching, we focus our discussion of these implications for when a virtual world is used for educational purposes.
KW - Education
KW - Identity
KW - Immersion
KW - Learning
KW - Second Life
KW - Self
KW - Virtual world
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140530269&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1163/9781848881402_012
DO - 10.1163/9781848881402_012
M3 - Chapter
AN - SCOPUS:85140530269
SN - 9789004403208
SP - 125
EP - 136
BT - Utopia and a Garden Party
ER -