199 Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Chapter 13 Using the 3V Model to Explore Virtuality, Veracity and Values in Liminal Spaces Simon Atkinson Massey University, New Zealand Kevin Burden University of Hull, UK IntroductIon The fear of change that appears to pervade our education systems is perhaps rooted in a funda- mental lack of comprehension. What is technol- ogy? How do we recognize it, measure it, evaluate it? Even within the nation state there are huge variations across educational sectors, and within sectors, across differing social geographies, in the adaptation and adoption of technology. There is a need to provide policy makers and practitioners with explanations, and methods of comprehen- sion, although these are undoubtedly problematic. Technology adoption patterns in all societies, de- veloped and developing, are complex and difficult to represent. Socio-economic, gender, ethnic and AbstrAct Adaptation and adoption of immature emergent technologies for instruction fails to account for the challenge to, and creation of, new concepts of self, identity and community both in real and virtual spaces. New insight is necessary to develop social policy responses, including those of educational systems and institutions, to the consequences of these new conceptualisations. This chapter presents an original theoretical model which aims to assist in the interpretation of existing theory, exploring the interrelated dimensions of values, virtuality and veracity disturbed by the adaptation of emergent technologies. It invites an exploration of existing theoretical and methodological instruments available within the broader Social Sciences to examine emerging notions of identity. The emergent theoretical model visualizes a set of complex assumptions within the concepts of the “real-virtual” interface cre- ated by emergent technologies; the 3V model represents one means of explore internal structure to this liminal space and invites further empirical study. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-854-4.ch013