Research on the educational value of Virtual Worlds
(VWs) has revealed their potential as future learning platforms.
However, further studies are needed in order to assess their
effectiveness in constructivist and collaborative learning
paradigms. Problem-based learning (PBL) is an educational
approach, in which students learn by addressing problems and
reflecting on their experiences. The paper investigates the
suitability of VWs as a platform for hosting PBL activities and
explores their strengths and difficulties in terms of collaboration
support and learning effectiveness. We have set up an
educational VW, developed a number of in-world supporting
tools, and ran a complete PBL activity in the area of User
Interface Design. We performed a thorough summative
evaluation of the learning activity using questionnaires, in-world
observation, dialogue analysis, tutors’ assessment of the process
and outcome, and follow up interviews. The results revealed
several findings about collaboration and PBL via VWs, and led to
a series of recommendations about supporting tools and
functionality issues.