Identity in online virtual worlds

What is it about?

Have you ever explored online virtual worlds (such as Second Life or World of Warcraft) in which you could pick and customize your avatar? If so, would you say your experiments with your avatar identity had nothing to do with your real-life identity - or were they connected? Some researchers suggest that players experiment with virtual identity (through avatars) with little to no connection to their real-life identity. Our research challenges this view by analyzing how pre-service teachers engaged in Second Life avatar identity creation. Students' reflections on the class blog and in-person interviews demonstrated that their virtual identity was always linked to their real-world identity. In other words, the virtual world didn't help the students to escape from who they were - it helped them reflect on who they were.

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Photo by Ben Sweet on Unsplash

Photo by Ben Sweet on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This research has important implications for educational practice: (1) Virtual worlds can be used as an effective tool to foster students' reflection on their own identity and the concept of identity in general. For pre-service teachers, this could help them understand their future students better. (2) For practitioners who use virtual worlds in their classrooms, it's important to consider how students' real-world identities impact their learning in the virtual space. (3) For researchers interested in identity and its development, virtual worlds can be used as a viable platform (or at least a catalyst) to conduct research on the topic.

Perspectives