Year: 2009
Type: article
Abstract: While academic discussions and investigations of the virtue of three-dimensional virtual learning environments (3D VLEs) have provided ample evidence of student enjoyment (Dillenbourg, Schneider, and Synteta 2002; Strangman and Hall 2003; Nonis 2005), they have proven inconclusive in evaluating the net effect of such environments on student learning. Anecdotal evidence suggests that students are more engaged or immersed in subject matter when it is offered in a 3D VLE (Yair, Mintz, and Litvak 2001), although these reports sometimes bear the sign of enthusiastic bias. Nevertheless, more recent publications focusing on the research and development of games and simulations in online learning tend to support the effectiveness of student engagement in immersive media (Gibson, Aldrich, and Prensky 2007; Van Weigel 2002). Our own experience suggests that using a networked 3D VLE can create a particularly dynamic learning environment. The Arts Metaverse, a Croquet-based 3D VLE under development at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in the Faculty of Arts (Wang 2007), was designed as an aid for teaching and learning in the
Authors: Ulrich Rauch, Marvin Cohodas, Timothy C. Wang
Institution: Nova Southeastern University
Language: English
Subfield: Human-Computer Interaction
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
Funder: Nova Southeastern University
OpenAlex ID: W140975187