Bringing ‘second life’ to a tough undergraduate course

Cognitive apprenticeship through machinimas

Abstract

This paper discusses a novel use of Second Life to produce a series of ‘machinimas’ to support a cognitive apprenticeship model of learning in accounting education. In this paper, the notion of ‘second life’ has dual meaning: first, it is about curriculum renewal; and second, it pertains to the widely talked about social software. The paper describes both meanings of 'second life' in this context, shows how when combined they have resulted in a significant increase in the quality of student learning outcomes and argues that technology only becomes transformational when it is used to enable alignment across all curriculum elements.