Designing and facilitating learning communities in immersive virtual environments Online publication date: Fri, 12-Nov-2010
by Aimee DeNoyelles, Kay Kyeongju Seo
International Journal of Innovation in Education (IJIIE), Vol. 1, No. 2, 2010
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.
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