Second Life adoption in education: A motivational model based on Uses and Gratifications theory

Social Virtual Worlds (SVWs) are increasingly being used in education; however, little is known about how personal motivation affects engagement in online learning courses (e-learning). This article focuses on Second Life which is one of the better known SVW platforms and allows relationships to develop amongst people who share similar interests and/or activities The aims of this study are twofold: (1) to analyse the motivation of Second Life users with regard to e-learning; and (2) to propose a model that explains and predicts the adoption of Second Life in this context. This model has been defined under the postulates of the Uses and Gratification theory (Blumler & Katz, 1974; Swanson, 1987) which comprises the seven constructs of convenience, entertainment, socialising, status seeking, information seeking, sharing experience, and continuance intention. A web-based survey is reported. Findings confirm the positive influence of convenience, sharing experiences, and entertainment on the intention to continue to use Second Life e-learning, and the positive impact of status, and information seeking on sharing experiences. Implications of this study are considered under the three categories of academic, managerial, and technological perspectives.