Experiential Learning In Virtual Worlds

Three-dimensional (3D) immersive virtual worlds have been touted as being capable of facilitating highly interactive, engaging, multimodal learning experiences. Much of the evidence gathered to support these claims has been anecdotal but the potential that these environments hold to solve traditional problems in online and technology-mediated education—primarily learner isolation and student disengagement—has resulted in considerable investments in virtual world platforms like Second Life, OpenSimulator, and Open Wonderland by both professors and institutions. To justify this ongoing and sustained investment, institutions and proponents of simulated learning environments must assemble a robust body of evidence that illustrates the most effective use of this powerful learning tool. In this authoritative collection, a team of international experts outline the emerging trends and developments in the use of 3D virtual worlds for teaching and learning. They explore aspec ts of learner interaction with virtual worlds, such as user wayfinding in Second Life, communication modes and perceived presence, and accessibility issues for elderly or disabled learners. They also examine advanced technologies that hold potential for the enhancement of learner immersion and discuss best practices in the design and implementation of virtual world-based learning interventions and tasks. By evaluating and documenting different methods, approaches, and strategies, the contributors to Learning in Virtual Worlds offer important information and insight to both scholars and practitioners in the field.

Targeted at educators and researchers wishing to use virtual environments in their teaching practice, this work provides practical advice specifically for educators in higher education. It focuses on the use of Second Life - a free, readily-accessible virtual world which is increasingly being used for both formal and informal learning.

Virtual Immersive and 3D Learning Spaces: Emerging Technologies helps push the conceptual and applied boundaries of virtual immersive learning. Virtual immersive spaces bring with them plenty of promise, of sensory information-rich learning experiences that will enable a much wider range of experiential learning and training—delivered to computer desktops, augmented reality spaces, digital installations, and mobile projective devices. This work explains how these spaces may be exploited for effective learning in terms of the technologies, pedagogical strategies, and directions.

Best Practices in Engaging Online Learners Through Active and Experiential Learning Strategies, Second Edition, is a practical guide for all instructors, instructional designers, and online learning administrators designing, developing, teaching, and leading online, hybrid and blended learning courses and programs, who seek to provide supportive, engaging, and interactive learner experiences. This book explores the integration of active and experiential learning approaches and activities including simulations, gamification, social media integration, project-based learning, scenario-based learning, virtual tours, and online micro-credentialing as they relate to the development of authentic skill-building, communication, problem-solving, and critical-thinking in learners. New and emerging learning technologies of virtual and augmented reality along with artificial intelligence are included in this updated edition with examples of how instructors can actively use them in online courses to engage learners in experiential experiences. Readers will find guidelines for the development of participatory and peer-learning, competency-based learning, field-based experiences, clinical experiences, and service-learning opportunities in the online classroom. In addition, the authors provide effective learning strategies, discipline-specific examples, templates, and additional resources that align learner engagement with assessment practices and course outcomes.

This book explores the experience of learning and teaching in virtual worlds, in areas such as physics and biology, psychology and counselling, and healthcare.

Most of the chapters in this book are extended papers from Research Learning in Virtual Environments (reLIVE08), an international conference held by the UK Open University in Milton Keynes in November 2008. Authors of the best papers and presentations from the conferences were invited to contribute to Research Learning in Virtual Worlds, the first book to specifically address research methods and related issues for education in virtual worlds. The book covers a range of research undertaken in virtual worlds. It opens with an accessible introduction both to the book and to the subject area, making it an ideal springboard for those who are new to research in this area. The subsequent ten chapters present work covering a range of research methodologies across a broad discipline base, providing essential reading for advanced undergraduate or postgraduate researchers working in education in virtual worlds, and engaging background material for researchers in similar and related disciplines.