A paper from the HEA Annual Conference 2008.
This paper looks at why ethical issues arise in virtual worlds and how policy should be shaped to deal with the particular problems raised by virtual worlds.
Many higher education institutions are starting to use virtual worlds as part of their teaching delivery due to the opportunities they provide for student engagement and discussion. One of the issues that the use of virtual worlds presents is the need for policy regarding student and staff behaviour within them. For these policies to be effective and appropriate policymakers will need to have an understanding of the ethical issues involved in using virtual worlds so that they are able to understand the implications both of online behaviour and the impact of any policy regarding virtual worlds that is implemented by the higher education institution.
