Using second life in programming's communities of practice

Abstract

This paper presents a novel approach to teaching and learning computer programming, using the three-dimensional virtual world Second Life® to develop a programming community of practice. Our students have developed their programming projects as part of this community as an alternative way of learning. The learning of programming is a difficult process, with many students experiencing difficulties which result in high levels of failure in introductory programming courses. In this paper, we describe and analyse how this approach spurred students' motivation and interest in learning programming. We also present observations on the difficulties felt by both students and teachers in the development of projects and activities, and discuss the approaches taken to overcome those difficulties. © 2008 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.