Orientation Through Playing was the title of my final-year dissertation. In it, I sought to improve virtual world tutorials by using teaching techniques which owe more to games design than traditional e-learning.

Overview

My investigation revealed clear ties between game tutorial design (and MMO design in particular) and methods used in teaching new skills to adults through long-distance learning. There is an existing framework for delivering this content, and yet virtual worlds like Second Life tend to rely on text or video-based, non-interactive orientation.

I asked, "if we can turn the new user's 'first hour' into a fun quest rather than a lecture, might we better prepare them for life in this online world?". I had the secondary objective of easing the obligation placed upon existing users who're often asked for help with the most basic of tasks.

My dissertation (sans design document) may be read here.

Samples