Researchers from Finland recently completed an in-depth study of distance learning in Second Life, and their findings were published in First Monday, the University of Illinios at Chicago’s peer-reviewed journal.

The conclusions are consistent with what we’ve been finding in other studies: that Second Life and other virtual worlds can never fully replace in-class learning, but that virtual learning is reshaping what happens in the classroom and will be a valuable add-on learning tool in the future. From the report:

There are benefits in face–to–face education and in real physical presence that are difficult to achieve in other learning environments. Education in Second Life is closer to face–to–face education than traditional methods in distance education that are based on asynchronous communication and two–dimensional media. Second Life provides options for multi-modality in communication (voice, chat, gestures, space) that make learning fun — always a desired outcome.

The researchers, Kim Holmberg and Isto Huvila, are convinced that the concept of interreality – the integration of physical and virtual worlds – is ‘an advantage in distance education, if it can bring distance education closer to face-to-face education.’ It is also worth noting that of the 30 students that participated, only a few had difficulty navigating through Second Life and most felt that it was superior to other Web-based learning environments.