These Principles of Good Practice for using MUVEs in an HE context are those which have emerged from the project and are based on the collective experience of the two pilot studies. They should be understood as work-in-progress rather than definitive and established principles.

1. Identify why and how the use of a MUVE should enhance student learning.

Consider questions such as:

• The acquisition or development of transferable skills;
• The opportunity for students to experience and/or practise something otherwise not accessible (a real-world metaphor might be that of a field trip);
• Whether the use of the MUVE is integral to the intended learning outcomes and whether or not these can only be achieved through its use, or whether another form of delivery might be more effective;
• Whether the MUVE needs to be supplemented by other media such as a VLE, face-to-face dialogue, or individual tutorials.

2. Build in time for students to acquire the necessary skills to use the MUVE effectively.

• Organise orientation sessions that target specific skills and link these to motivational dimensions such as enjoyment of game-playing.

3. Provide a safe training space, such as OpenSim, in which students can play and gain confidence before moving on to the focused learning activity.

Introduce students to aspects of in-world behaviour that will facilitate their task and enhance their enjoyment, such as:

• Learning to build;
• Learning to do basic manoeuvres such as sitting down, teleporting, using IM and chat, as well as fill in their profile and know how to work with the in-world economy.
• Familiarising them with the cultural side of the MUVE relatively slowly.

4. Think carefully about the degree and type of collaboration that is required for completion of the in-world task.

Consider questions such as:

• What sort of collaboration is hoped for and why? Collaboration in building requires quite different skills to collaboration in exchanging ideas. Separate one from the other to avoid confusion. Remember that ideas can be exchanged between collaborators more easily than objects can.
• How to differentiate between individual pursuits and group collaboration. It can often be more effective to allow students to operate as individuals in-world while at the same time contributing to a bigger collaborative theme.

5. Provide/develop ground rules for communication and use of channels.

In-world communication functions very differently from real-world. Guidelines need to focus on issues such as:

• Making sure everyone is in chat range. Realise that just as in the real-world, one person’s in-world experience differs from another’s. Just because you can ‘hear’ (see chat text from) someone doesn’t mean that others can too;
• Referring to people in-world by their avatar name, or have a clear policy on how people are to refer to each other in-world;
• Agree appropriate conventions; for example, don’t mix real-world voice chat with text chat during an in-world session.
• Introducing strategies for effective participation in a synchronous session. These include agumentation codes (use of short sentences); textual codes (use of textual indicators like the ellipsis (…) to let others know that the discourse continues; interaction codes (organisation of interaction, questions); ‘text speak’ (lol; afk); and emoticons ().
• Introducing strategies to control and organise the potentially chaotic flow of discussions.These could include people naming the avatar whose comment they are responding to; or individuals preparing a response ‘in the background’ but only posting it when invited by the tutor/moderator.

6. Establish appropriate in-world etiquette.

MUVEs can be a playful escapist setting but be aware that real-world student expectations and values are likely to travel in-world with their avatars.

• Think carefully before teaching in the nude! Be aware that MUVEs are a ‘good enough’ representation of reality for people to have real-world expectations.
• Establish ways in which mood, difficult-to-convey body language and other important real-world visual and sensory clues can be communicated.
• Build in opportunity to discuss acceptable in-world etiquette.

7. Individualise learning paths.

Create a common starting point but allow for flexibility in final goals. Skills are attained at different rates, requiring students to self-pace and tutors to offer appropriate assistance.

8. Adapt the teaching/learning relationship to the environment.

The experience of those involved with the project suggests the metaphor of a more experienced guide accompanying less experienced explorers fits more appropriately than the master – apprentice model, both in terms of in-world manipulation and constructing knowledge of the subject. Consider:

• Providing a mentor to help scaffold student activities. Live demonstrations and mentoring are useful ways to help students succeed in the tasks set for them; Make sure someone is (almost)
  always on hand to help,
• Understanding the teaching/learning task within a constructivist framework in which both ‘teacher’ and ‘learner(s)’ both work towards the construction of new knowledge.

9. Avoid real-world and in-world confusion.

While there may well be times when the learning experience can be enhanced by face-to-face encounters, participation in an in-world session when all involved are together in the same real-world room invites confusion and chaos.

• Consider the fact that when using a MUVE the most effective mode of education might be distance learning. This calls for careful planning in order to make any face-to-face sessions quite distinct.

10. Embrace and take advantage of the social side of MUVEs.

This is a significant dimension of learners’ experience and one which can heighten motivation, add an important ‘fun’ aspect, and offer opportunity for learning well beyond the specific subject discipline.

• Include games and competitions as well as other socially-based learning activities such as role play and simulation.
• Organise fun social events such as awards ceremonies, fashion shows, and other activities which will encourage learners to participate as fully as possible in the environment and interact with and learn from each other.