Virtual environments offer an exciting platform for social science research. The persistent nature of online virtual worlds such as Second Life however has increased the potential for both companies and institutions looking to establish a virtual presence and researchers looking to measure the evolving forms of human behaviour displayed when interacting within them. Since the use of the Internet has become widespread, commercial enterprises are particularly interested in exploring the opportunities that virtual environments may hold for them as the stereotype of what constitutes a ‘typical’ computer user gradually becomes broken down within contemporary society. Second Life and virtual worlds alike deviate from what might be categorized as a game, serving more as extensions of reality than escapes from it. Virtual worlds have been said to be dichotomous in that they may act as play spaces as well as extensions of the real world. Much existing research on computer-mediated communication and online behaviour has focused upon the differences between computer-mediated and face-to-face communication, and has provided in-depth reports on online communities. A growing body of research, however, focuses a more integrative view of computer mediated communication, looking at how online time fits with and complements other aspects of an individual’s everyday life. This work uses the virtual environment of Second Life to integrate the virtual and the real for real-world financial benefits and analyses the ways in which they intersect. The research presented here provides evidence for the thesis that the persistent online virtual world of Second Life can act as a valid and effective user interface metaphor for the financial services sector. The theory of social presence when applied to human-computer interaction provided the basis of this work. A practical metric is developed by which a bank could effectively create an optimum virtual environment to provide a new and innovative service for its customers by measuring levels of perceived social presence in interaction, collaboration and learning scenarios. Financial institutions and companies alike can use these results and turn them into practical tools to create a virtual environment for customers or staff to interact within that can project them to the forefront of technological innovation and add to a reputation as an ever developing and forward thinking company.

During cancer treatment children are required to undergo many types of invasive procedures, including venipuncture, bone marrow aspirations, and lumbar punctures. These medical procedures invoke many negative symptoms including distress, pain, anxiety, and fear. The purpose of this thesis was to determine the most effective nursing interventions to decrease negative symptoms in pediatric oncology patients during invasive procedures. This integrated literature review examined evidence regarding the effects of distraction interventions used during procedures performed on children with cancer published between 1999 and 2009. Results showed that current research on distraction interventions included using virtual reality, electronic toys, nonessential touch, music therapy, and mixed distractors. Although all of the studies showed that distraction was effective at decreasing negative symptoms in children with cancer no single form of distraction stood out above the rest. Results indicated that distraction interventions were considered beneficial by the parents, and had a favorable impact on the quality of life of pediatric cancer patients. By using evidence based distraction interventions, nurses can improve the quality of life in children undergoing invasive procedures by decreasing the occurrence of experienced distress, pain, fear, and anxiety in this patient population. This review of literature will provide nurses with recommendations for nursing practice, allowing them to make informed decisions concerning the effectiveness and safety of their patients' care.

This research study, funded by the Leverhulme Trust as part of the CURLIEW project, explored how learners understand, construct, express, and manage identity when virtual worlds are utilized in higher education and how the virtual world itself might impact on concepts of identity. In particular, the study focused on aspects of learner identity from the physical world and learner identity in virtual worlds, the latter being a ‘translation’ of physical identity markers onto the avatar. The research builds on the experiences of 75 student participants, who employed virtual worlds as learning environments. A narrative research approach was applied to thematically analyze interview, focus group, and observational data, collected from two educational contexts at two British universities. Three themes emerged from the analysis and interpretation of these data, which are presented as narratives of Pursuit, Embodiment, and Resistance. The study makes two main contributions to existing knowledge on learning in virtual environments: firstly, it reveals that virtual worlds are ‘threshold concepts’, in which students need to be able to align their learner identities with the utilization of virtual worlds to integrate them successfully in their learning. Secondly, the study develops a five-dimensional typology of the ways in which students engage and manage identity directly in the virtual world through their avatars. This typology includes: dislocated avatars, representative avatars, avatars as toys and tools, avatars as extensions of self, and avatars as identity extensions. The study demonstrates that engagement with virtual worlds and avatars in the educational context can provide a valuable opportunity to foster critical thinking, if learner identities are given a central place in course design and delivery. Then, virtual world learning can enable students and tutors to reflect critically on what shapes, influences, and constrains identity in virtual worlds, in the physical world, in higher education, and beyond.

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In my diploma thesis am focusing on a concept of novel sutdent housing, as current dormitories do not respect recuirements of young adults. That is why I have decided to bring up the issue, and to propose a possible solution.

In my diploma thesis am focusing on a concept of novel sutdent housing, as current dormitories do not respect recuirements of young adults. That is why I have decided to bring up the issue, and to propose a possible solution.