Article: Designing and facilitating learning communities in immersive virtual environments Journal: International Journal of Innovation in Education (IJIIE) 2010 Vol.1 No.2 pp.173 - 187 Abstract: Immersive virtual environments (IVEs) hold a lot of promise to support and enhance student online learning communities, due to their ability to deliver on several key web 2.0 trends: global synchronous interaction and collaboration, rich multi-sensory experience and expression, elaborate design capabilities, etc. Although these features afford educational experiences that other environments cannot, great care must be taken with regards to the design and development of learning communities. In this paper, we propose five strategies to help teachers to create and sustain a fruitful learning community in IVEs. These strategies are grounded in the following three resources: 1) research data; 2) a professional interview; 3) a review of empirical literature. We use these three diverse resources to provide a well-rounded view of educator and student perspectives and needs. Based on the findings, design and development applications are offered. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Designing and facilitating learning communities in immersive virtual environments

Authors: Aimee DeNoyelles, Kay Kyeongju Seo

Addresses: Instructional Design and Technology, School of Education, University of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 210022, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0022, USA. ' Instructional Design and Technology, School of Education, University of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 210022, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0022, USA

Abstract: Immersive virtual environments (IVEs) hold a lot of promise to support and enhance student online learning communities, due to their ability to deliver on several key web 2.0 trends: global synchronous interaction and collaboration, rich multi-sensory experience and expression, elaborate design capabilities, etc. Although these features afford educational experiences that other environments cannot, great care must be taken with regards to the design and development of learning communities. In this paper, we propose five strategies to help teachers to create and sustain a fruitful learning community in IVEs. These strategies are grounded in the following three resources: 1) research data; 2) a professional interview; 3) a review of empirical literature. We use these three diverse resources to provide a well-rounded view of educator and student perspectives and needs. Based on the findings, design and development applications are offered.

Keywords: immersive virtual environments; learning communities; virtual social interaction; web based communities; online communities; internet; world wide web; web 2.0; synchronous interaction; global collaboration; multi-sensory experiences; multi-sensory expression; design capabilities; teachers; development applications; educator perspectives; student perspectives; student needs; innovation; education; interactive media.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIIE.2010.036858

International Journal of Innovation in Education, 2010 Vol.1 No.2, pp.173 - 187

Published online: 12 Nov 2010 *

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Title: Designing and facilitating learning communities in immersive virtual environments

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