Virtual Campus

By creating a virtual campus, universities and colleges can provide an attractive virtual environment to extend their educational programs. A virtual campus provides a specific place as a framework for learning activities as well as a set of virtual tools to benefit educational process (Clark & Maher, 2001). Various activities can be done inside the virtual lands of 3DVWs beside the educational programs such as open day programs, orientation programs, public ceremonies or any other extracurricular activities. On the other hand, a virtual campus can be accessed from any Internet-connected personal computer from remote locations providing a more effective learning environment for all its students by giving them the opportunity to access the learning materials and resources from own place.

Barriers and Issues

In the current study, some challenges related to the use of 3DWVs in higher education were identified. As a result, there is also a need for more research into the issues and barriers of using this technology, as current studies tend to deal with only the advantages and positive aspects of the use of 3DVWs in higher education. The problems and barriers of these environments, such as complexity, speed, compatibility, behavior, health, safety, security, cost, user adoption, etc., need to be considered as well as factors associated with adoption and students’ intention to use 3DVWs in educational activities. In order to make this technology more accessible and user-friendly, and to reduce the complexity for educators and trainees, especially those who are unfamiliar with designing and programming techniques, further studies and research are required.

CONCLUSION

To provide a big picture of application areas of 3DVWs in the higher education sector, a systematic literature review has been conducted on the available body of knowledge. Consequently, five main category of curricular activities were developed for which 3DVWs have been used to date: virtual lecturing, discussion, field trip, simulation and gaming. The authors also identified the most applied 3DVWs platforms in higher education, and according to their findings, Second Life is the most widely used and well-known platform in the literature in this area. Also the 3D virtual environments created for educational purposes have been identified and classified into seventeen main categories. Virtual classroom, virtual laboratory, virtual meeting area, simulated places and replicas of popular places are the most common 3D virtual environments in the literature that are used for educational pedagogical activities in higher education. The findings offer researchers, educators and educational institutions some informed directions for utilizing these technologies to achieve specific learning outcomes. They are able to use this technology as a creative, powerful and efficient tool to develop new and effective ways of teaching and learning. In order to close the gap between academic research and practical applications some suggestions can be made: First of all, educational applications should be widespread, in accordance with the proposals obtained from the researchers conducting studies in this field. Second, universities and other educational communities and organizations should lead the use of 3DVWs for their educational purposes in the future.

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ADDITIONAL READING

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KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Avatar: A computer user’s digital, graphical and animated self-representation which is completely manipulated by its owner.

Blackboard: A virtual learning environment and course management system developed by Blackboard Inc.

E-Learning: A kind of learning which is conducted by using information and communication technologies and electronic media.

Higher Education: Education provided by colleges, universities or similar educational establishments.

Linden Scripting Language: A scripting programming language that gives behavior to Second Life’s primitives, objects, and avatars.

Machinima: Use of video game and computer graphics to create animated cinematic production.

Open Simulator: An open source multi-platform and multi-user 3D application server.

Second Life: A 3D virtual world platform developed by Linden Lab Inc. in 2003.

Simulation: The act of imitation of a real-world system’s or process’s operation over time.

Three-Dimensional Virtual World (3DVW): A computer-based 3D graphical and simulated environment in which users can interact via their own avatars.

Virtual Lecturing: The act of delivering of lectures by utilizing the Internet, Web, and virtual world technologies.

Chapter 3

Faculty Perception of Virtual 3-D Learning Environment to Assess Student Learning

• Anita Cassard University of Phoenix, USA

• Brian W. Sloboda US Department of Labor, USA

ABSTRACT

This chapter presents some of the methods and approaches that are used in the assessment of student outcomes in 3-D virtual learning environments. Distance learning or eLearning that includes the 3-D virtual learning environments have been increasing dramatically because of the rise in demand by students. Because of this advent in eLearning, assessment of the outcomes is crucial when measuring student learning. In addition to the measurement of student learning, the instructional designers will need assessment of student learning as a means to upgrade the 3-D virtual learning environments and maintain the relevancy of the content for students. Much of the research on measurement of outcomes is based on anecdotal evidence provided by students. A comprehensive examination of assessment of the 3-D virtual learning environment becomes paramount, so educators will have a better idea how to carefully assess outcomes of student learning.