Guidelines for the Management and Use of Online Virtual Worlds

Introduction

This document provides information about the management, use and pedagogical value of online virtual worlds such as “Second Life”.

Management Guidelines

The formal exploration and experimental use of virtual environments for university managed educational and research purposes are to be assembled or grouped as projects. Each project that uses resources owned by the University within an online virtual world is guided by a documented project brief that must be submitted to the Management Group prior to the project being started. This project brief will contain the following:

• Objectives and outcome of the project
• Project Sponsor
• Project Manager
• Technical Manager
• Funding guidelines including:
  • Cost of purchasing land or any other item
  • Cost of accessing the environment
• Ethical guidelines.

Only Murdoch University’s building avatars may be used for projects.  Access to the avatars will be administered by the Management Group and will cease at the conclusion of the project, or at the discretion of the Management Group.

A report detailing the outcomes is to be submitted to the Management Group¹ two weeks after the completion of the group. All items purchased and created on the University’s behalf under this program are the property of Murdoch University.

Guidelines for Use²

Murdoch University believes that online virtual worlds and other 3D Internet environments offer significant opportunity to our students, academics and the world at large, as they evolve, grow in use and popularity, and become more integrated into many aspects of business and society. We encourage staff and students to explore responsibly and to further the development of such new spaces of relationship-building, learning and collaboration. As we engage in these new environments, staff and students should follow and be guided first and foremost by our values and policy.

These guidelines have been created to build upon those foundations and to address some of the choices that individuals may face in online virtual worlds. Use of online virtual worlds by our staff and students is primarily intended to demonstrate and evaluate the effectiveness of this communities tool to achieve various teaching and learning outcomes.

These guidelines are not intended to address every situation you may encounter through use of a digital persona or personas. The guidelines are a good start at informing our community collective engagement and exploration.

1. Engage. Murdoch University encourages its staff and students to explore responsibly – indeed, to further the development of – new spaces of relationship-building, learning and collaboration. For university-managed projects, this engagement should only be for the purposes outlines above and not for personal use. Learning to use the environment and understand its literacy is proper usage under these guidelines
    
2. Use your good judgment. As in physical communities, good and bad will be found in online virtual worlds. You will need to exercise good judgment as to how to react in these situations – including whether to opt out or proceed.
    
3. Protect our good name. At this point in time, assume that activities in online virtual worlds and/or the 3D Internet are public – much as is participation in public chat rooms or blogs. Be mindful that your actions may be visible for a long time.
    
4. Protect others’ privacy. It is inappropriate to disclose or use Murdoch University confidential or proprietary information within an online virtual world. It is inappropriate to disclose without permission any personal information of any other person or coavatarsmpany (including their real name) within an online virtual world.
    
5. Make the right impression. Your avatar’s appearance should be reasonable and fitting for the activities in which you engage. Where appropriate, you must identify your avatar as affiliated with Murdoch University. If you are engaged primarily for personal uses, consider using a different avatar.
    
6. Protect Murdoch University and others’ intellectual property. Murdoch University has a long-established policy of respecting the intellectual property of others, and of protecting its own intellectual property. Just as we take care in our physical-world activities to avoid infringement of intellectual property rights and to provide proper attribution of such rights, so we must in our activities in online virtual worlds – in particular with regard to the creation of rich content.
    
7. Conducting of Business. You should not carry out any business or make any purchases on behalf of the University without authorization from the Management Group, or without outlining your intention to do so in your original project brief.
    
8. Be truthful and consistent. Building a reputation of trust within an online virtual world represents a commitment to be truthful and accountable with fellow digital citizens. You may be violating such trust by dramatically altering your digital persona's behaviour or abandoning your digital persona to another operator who changes its behaviour. If you are the original creator or launcher of a digital persona, you have a higher level of responsibility for its behaviour.
    
9. Dealing with inappropriate behaviour. Murdoch University strives to create a workplace that is free from discrimination or harassment, and the University takes steps to remedy any problems. However, Murdoch University cannot control and is not responsible for the activity inside online virtual worlds. If you are in a virtual environment in conjunction with your work or study at Murdoch University and you encounter behaviour that would not be acceptable inside Murdoch University, you should “walk away” or even sign out of the online virtual world. You should report abuse to the service provider. And as always, if you encounter an inappropriate situation in an online virtual world which you believe to be work-related, you should bring this to the attention of the Management Group.
    
10. Be a good 3D Netizen. Murdoch University staff and students should be thoughtful, collaborative and innovative in their participation in online virtual world communities – including in deliberations over behavioural/social norms and rules of thumb.
     
11. Age. The terms of service of some online virtual environments stipulate that you must be over 18.

¹ The “Management Group” is defined as a group of people who are responsible for the management and governance of these projects. It can be an existing group or be formed as new.