Higher education is deploying a range of innovative strategies in response to rising costs and financial challenges. This report presents findings from a NASPA [National Association of Student Personnel Administrators] study on cost-saving initiatives at three institutions. Each institution aimed to creatively address different areas affecting…

Virtual worlds have become an invaluable space for online learning and the exploration of digital cultures. Communication departments can benefit from using these spaces to educate their students in the logistics of virtual worlds and as a way to better understand how the process of interpersonal and global communication functions in both online…

An understanding of the impact of user avatar alteration in relation to social presence is needed to fully realize the potential of Second Life for higher education usages, which the research literature reveals as an environment that provides increased social presence. Prior studies focused primarily on the impact of system design attributes on…

In this qualitative pilot study, the authors report on curriculum field trials within a personal learning environment (PLE) designed by a collaboration of academic researchers and nonprofit volunteers working together in the virtual world of Second Life. The purpose of the PLE is to provide learners less likely to have access to educational…