Summative Assessment in Second Life: a Case Study

3D virtual world environments, such as Second Life, are recent additions to technologies believed to have the potential to transform educational processes, especially in distance education. The quality of the immersed environment creates a sense of presence that has been missing in traditional online learning environments. Geographically dispersed students are able to learn in an environment similar to their traditional classrooms without forfeiting the ability to learn at their own pace and in their own time zone. However, many educational establishments are still trying to understand how to use these environments effectively. Using the virtual world environment for assessment adds another level of complication and has been subjected to mixed reviews. Issues relating to matching avatars with ʹrealʹ students, accessibility, and fairness etc., make assessment in Second Life a contentious subject. This article explores a case study which used Second Life for summative assessment with a group of five MSc-level students in Applications of Bioinformatics programme.