Center for Instructional Innovation - Western Washington University's Teaching and Learning Center
Instructional Technologies in Education
Virtual Environments
What are they?
Virtual environments are immersive online environments whose "residents" are avatars representing individuals who participate via the Internet.
Source: Educause Learning Initiative, EDUCAUSE
See also:
- 7 things you should know about...Virtual Worlds (PDF)
- Online Virtual Worlds: A Mini Guide, TechSoup - an overview of many different virtual world destinations
How are they used in education?
- Second Life - Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its Residents (i.e., users). Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by over 8.5 million Residents from around the globe.
- Educational Uses of Second Life
- Institutions and Organizations in Second Life
- Princeton University Island
- Second Life Uses in Higher Education, videos on YouTube:
What are some resources?
- Articles:
- Changing Realities: User Creation, Communication and Innovation in Digital Worlds, C. Ondrejka, Themis Group
- Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century, (PDF) Henry Jenkins, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Surfing Second Life, Lindsay Oishi, Technology & Learning
- The frontier of education: Web 3D, CoolCat Teacher Blog
- Strategies:
- Second Life: Education, all of SL's education-related info
- Second Life Education Wiki
Where is there help?
- Second Life in Education
- Campus: Second Life - free Second Life space for educators
- Slideshows from University of Michigan:
