Spaces in between us: a qualitative study into the impact of spatial practice when learning in Second Life

This paper will present a study that explored the perceived impact of spatial practice in Second Life (SL) on teaching and learning from the point of view of participants in higher education (lecturers, developers and researchers). Narrative inquiry was used to access stories and experiences of space and spatial practice from staff perspectives. The findings indicated that ownership, spatial violation and replication were the concerns raised by participants in relation to spatial practice. However, participants also suggested that an understanding of social cues, spatial negotiation and spatial consideration were important issues to address for effective teaching to occur in SL. The findings of this study suggest that there remains relatively little in-depth understanding of the way space is implicated in learning in SL and that spatial practice also requires further research, in order to better understand their pedagogical implications when using SL as a learning space.