The Development of Virtual World Tools to Enhance Learning and Real World Decision Making in the Australian Sugar Farming Industry

Neil Cliffe, Joanne Doyle, Helen Farley, Janette Lindesay, Adam Loch, Tek Maraseni, Torben Marcussen, Neil Martin, Shahbaz Mushtaq, Jenny Ostini, Kate Reardon-Smith, Roger Stone
2014 International Journal of Advanced Corporate Learning  
In farming, the outcome of critical decisions to enhance productivity and profitability, and so ensure the viability of farming enterprises, is often influenced by seasonal conditions and weather events over the growing season. This paper reports on a project that uses cutting-edge advances in digital technologies, and their application in learning environments, to develop and evaluate a web-based virtual 'discussion-support' system for improved climate risk management in Australian sugar
more » ... g systems. Customized scripted video clips (machinima) are created in the Second Life virtual world environment. The videos use contextualized settings and lifelike avatar actors to model conversations about climate risk and key farm operational decisions relevant to the real-world lives and practices of sugarcane farmers. The tools generate new cognitive schema for farmers to access and provide stimuli for discussions around how to incorporate an understanding of climate risk into operational decision-making. They also have potential to provide cost-effective agricultural extension that simulates real world face-to-face extension services, but is accessible anytime anywhere. Index Terms-agricultural extension, climate risk management, discussion support tools, Second Life machinima.
doi:10.3991/ijac.v7i3.4002 fatcat:qhxty6posvb33eytgrmjxqjjzm