CONTESTED SPACES

The Co-operation Ireland Contested Space Project supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation will be commencing soon.

The project seeks to take advantage of the unique teaching and learning opportunities provided separately and together by synchronous and asynchronous learning within a three dimensional visual, immersive and virtual environment. The virtual environment is Second Life, and the participants will be meeting and interacting online within the environment that will be secure and safe for them to do so.

The project deals with 'Contested Spaces' The participants will be taking part, or rather their digital representations will be taking part in a game played out in the virtual world. These representations are called 'Avatars' and they are free to customise them as they feel, (they can be human, animal or abstract) and they can present and project aspects of their individual personas and creativity that they may not feel they are able to do within their 'real world' community or peer group

The virtual world can bring together individuals or groups in real time who cannot, or would not normally choose to, meet within the physical world and places them within a constrained virtual environment, such as a game arena, wherein they must perform specific actions which may require. This is the basis of the project. Within this virtual environment the participants will be able to strategise, communicate, negotiate and ultimately cooperate within a system that brings them into ‘virtual’ conflict and/or requires their mutual cooperation.