"Innovate" article on Academics in VR

The NFSDL research team is attempting to submit an article for a special issue of "Innovate". This issue of innovate will focus on how online simulation and role playing in virtual worlds may lead to new forms, methods, and modes of communication, collaboration, and creation that will enhance the educational process.

This special issue on Academics in Virtual Worlds is scheduled for publication in December 2008/January 2009. With a focus on higher education, this issue will look at uses of virtual worlds for education across the spectrum, from K-12 to corporate training to informal learning, thereby reaching beyond the campus, virtual or actual, to encompass a wide range of contexts.

A manuscript must be submitted to the guest editor, no later than November 1, 2008.

The submission I am proposing will address the following key areas as suggested by Innovate:

• Teaching and learning in virtual environments
• Resources for creating or supporting virtual environments

In trying to start the process in creating this article I sent the following Focus and Topic possibilities to Rick and Dirk.

Focus Possibilities:

• The focus of this article is how a Multi-user Virtual Environments (MUVE) such as Second Life incorporates design theories in the development of virtual learning environments (VLE).
  

• The focus of this article is how design theories can be used to develop virtual learning environments (VLE) in Multi-user Virtual Environments such as Second Life.
  

• This article will focus on using design theories to construct virtual learning environments (VLE) in the Multi-user Virtual Environment (MUVE), Second Life.
  

Possible topics:

• Describe the change occurring in virtual learning environments - transfer from 2D web (using LMS, web-based communication tools) to fully integrated 3D web (using MUVE such as Second Life).
  
  
• Discuss virtual reality's (VR) potential for providing rich learning environment.
  

• Describe the MUVE: Second Life
  

• Embodied Second Life design models - these strategies come from designing embodied curriculum.

The more I read and begin to understand embodied curriculum, I believe the focus for this paper should change.

My understanding of embodied curriculum at this point, although limited, sees it as a constructivist approach to curriculum design. Many of the strategies for designing embodied curriculum fall into a constructivist approach to learning.

I believe that my first attempt at coming up with a focus or topics for this paper is too large or general. I believe that we first need to find out if a MUVE such as Second Life is capable of providing a platform for designing embodied curriculum. Would this be a better focus for this article? Start at the beginning and look at characteristics of embodied curriculum and ask questions based on whether Second Live would be capable of successfully incorporating embodied curriculum.

I do understand that our focus is on NFSDL but I am beginning to wonder what characteristics of NFSDL and embodied curriculum would be similar. A question I have is would characteristics of embodied curriculum allow for designing NFSDL environments in Second Life?