Using Second Life to Educate in Agriculture: A Review of Literature

[Abstract Second Life (SL), a 3-D virtual world developed by Linden Lab in 2003 (Linden Research, 2009a), has become an educational tool across disciplines. The integration of virtual environments into the traditional classroom setting as well as distance education programs is one mechanism of encouraging immersion. Due to the limited amount of research on the use of virtual worlds in agriculture, the authors used an integrative literature review to establish a basis for further research in the topic area. This study focused on reviewing current literature on SL, critiquing SL as an educational tool, and evaluating agriculture's presence in SL. SL is a relatively new tool that can provide students with the opportunity to use technical skills they learned in class, interact using asynchronous and synchronous communication, and participate in real-world simulations that would otherwise not be feasible. SL can actively engage students and provide them with opportunities to be immersed in the educational experience. The authors concluded that agriculture has been slow to adopt virtual education such as SL as an educational tool and more research is needed regarding effective and efficient use of virtual environments in the agricultural classroom.]

Using Second Life to Educate in Agriculture: A Review of Literature Academic Article