Green Dots Brings Universities in Perth & Geneva Together

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Joint Presentation by Students of UWA (Perth) &  UAS (Geneva, Switzerland)

The 13th and 14th of October saw a landmark event taking place in the evolution of UWA's presence in the virtual world. A joint marketing class was held by the University of Western Australia & the University of Applied Sciences, Western Switzerland (Geneva Business School) which took place in Virtual Dublin in Second Life.

Groups of marketing students from each university, some teamed with Second Life mentors from the UWA 3D Art Challenges ran a case study called 'Selling Green Dots in Second Life', an award winning case study created by UWA's Professor Wade Halvorson and enhanced in cooperation with Professor Sabine Emad of the University of Applied Sciences (UAS) to simulate the real world process of data collection and team work.

Following the information collection activity in Virtual Dublin, students came together in groups to analyse the case and present their proposed solutions. A winning team from each university was selected and prezes awarded.

"This is the first time we have included the information collection stage in an online case study class," said Professor Emad, "and the feedback from students was very encouraging." Students were divided into groups of four, each with a different role to play including a Marketing Manager, Finance Director, CEO and Second Life 'expert'. This enabled group members to come together, each bringing with them a different category of information, which needed to be shared with the group in pursuit of a solution.

The winners were Sean Wrigley , Mark Pui & Ayman Sherbini (assisted by Stylianos Ling) from UWA and Alizée Decooninck, Marjorie North, Alice de Preux & Aurora Barbieri of UAS.

Of the experience, Stylianos said, "I enjoyed the international collaboration atmosphere. I found the idea of mixing students with experienced SL avatars brilliant! UWA's sustainable innovation in Virtual Worlds is an example for all universities that  seek excellence in teaching & research"

Commenting on the winners, Prof Halvorson said, "What I found most interesting in these presentations is that they were less descriptive than the presentations of the other groups.They didn't just summarize the case content, but really used analytical tools to view the information under a different angle.This paid off."

UWA Winner - Sean, Mark & Ayman

UAS Winner - Alizee, Marjorie, Alice & Aurora

UWA would like to acknowledge the assistance of the Second Life mentors linked to the UWA 3D Art Challenges who so generously gave of their time and experience to assist with this activity, including quadrapop Lane, Miso Susanowa, Reslez Steeplechase, Eliza Quinzet, Josiane Sorciere, Neeks Karu, Fiona Blaylock, Winter Ravenheart, Forceme Silverspar, Stylianos Ling,  secret Rage & Eliza Wierwight.

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