ABSTRACT
Role-based learning in face-to-face contexts has been shown to be a powerful approach at all levels of education, but particularly within many further and higher education contexts and as part of the trainer’s toolkit (Bolton & Heathcote, 1999; Levy, 1997). The arrival of e-learning makes it possible to engage with different types of role play, for example inter-national and inter-institutional collaborations, role plays blending online and face-to-face interaction, role plays blending synchronous and asynchronous media including recordings of the sessions, and role play within distance learning contexts. It is now possible to conduct elaborate, rich and responsive role play activities where the identity of the participants is not immediately apparent, where they may use avatars or inhabit 3D virtual worlds as part of the role play.
