Immersive Virtual Worlds explored in Association for Learning Technology’s journal

PRLog (Press Release) - Feb 09, 2009 -
Ten articles explore different facets of immersive virtual worlds, from 3D Virtual Learning Environments to the role of music in learning and concepts such as Second Life, Active Worlds and collaborative virtual gaming worlds.

Dr Diane Carr, Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies, London Knowledge Lab, Institute of Education, University of London, reviewed the special issue and explains, “This special issue of ALT-J will be welcomed by those conducting research in, teaching in, or teaching about virtual worlds. The authors investigate key concepts (including learning, affect and 'affordance'), reflect on practice, and consider the implications for pedagogy.  The perspectives brought to bear on these issues are diverse. The collection incorporates topics (such as music) that have rarely been addressed by those working in this rapidly expanding field, and theoretical frameworks (such as psychoanalysis) that have rarely been applied.”

ALT-J is part of the package of membership benefits for those who join the Association for Learning Technology http://www.alt.ac.uk/membership_join.html or is available under separate subscription at http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=g90....  

Maggi Savin-Baden’s article From cognitive capability to social reform? Shifting perceptions of learning in immersive virtual worlds will be a valuable source for those wishing to use Immersive Virtual Worlds to transform pedagogy.., She is an expert in Immersive Virtual Worlds with research interests including Problem-based Learning and Games-based Learning, Learning Spaces, Liquid Learning, and Second Life Learning.  Her article is available for free download from www.educationarena.com from the ‘In Focus’ section.

Learning and Teaching in Immersive Virtual Worlds. A special issue of ALT-J.
Volume 16 Issue 3 2008
Edited by Maggi Savin-Baden (Professor of Higher Education Research and Director of Learning Innovation at Coventry University) and Robert Ward (Reader in Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Huddersfield)
Publisher: Taylor & Francis

For the full table of contents, please visit: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=g906960349~tab=toc

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Notes to editors:

Journalists can obtain a copy of this issue from Catherine.dhanjal@theansweruk.com or 01883 650434.

Table of contents and comments from reviewers are below:
The latest issue of the ALT Journal, Research in Learning Technology, is a Special Issue on:
Content
1.   Editorial, Pages 137 - 138
Authors: Frances Bell; Maggi Savin-Baden; Robert Ward
DOI: 10.1080/09687760802614214
Link: http://tinyurl.com/9hxua6

2. From Multi-User Virtual Environment to 3D Virtual Learning
Environment, Pages 139 - 150
Authors: Daniel Livingstone; Jeremy Kemp; Edmund Edgar
DOI: 10.1080/09687760802526707
Link: http://tinyurl.com/85545d

3. From cognitive capability to social reform? Shifting perceptions of
learning in immersive virtual worlds, Pages 151 - 161
Author: Maggi Savin-Baden
DOI: 10.1080/09687760802526731
Link: http://tinyurl.com/7jjcmp

4. Problem-based learning spanning real and virtual words: a case study
in Second Life, Pages 163 - 172
Authors: Judith Good; Katherine Howland; Liz Thackray
DOI: 10.1080/09687760802526681
Link: http://tinyurl.com/82v5vr

5. Observations of expert communicators in immersive virtual worlds:
implications for synchronous discussion, Pages 173 - 180
Author: Michael Hamilton McVey
DOI: 10.1080/09687760802526673
Link: http://tinyurl.com/88dnpr

6. Laying the groundwork for socialisation and knowledge construction
within 3D virtual worlds, Pages 181 - 196
Authors: Shailey Minocha; Dave Roberts
DOI: 10.1080/09687760802526699
Link: http://tinyurl.com/9pqsuz

7. Uncanny spaces for higher education: teaching and learning in virtual
worlds, Pages 197 - 205
Author: Siân Bayne
DOI: 10.1080/09687760802526749
Link: http://tinyurl.com/97fe5m

8. Machinima interventions: innovative approaches to immersive virtual
world curriculum integration, Pages 207 - 220
Authors: Andrew John Middleton; Richard Mather
DOI: 10.1080/09687760802526723
Link: http://tinyurl.com/8zbw5u

9. Collaborative virtual gaming worlds in higher education, Pages 221 - 229
Authors: Nicola Whitton; Paul Hollins
DOI: 10.1080/09687760802526756
Link: http://tinyurl.com/987vmr

10. An investigation of the role of background music in IVWs for
learning, Pages 231 - 244
Authors: Debbie Richards; Eric Fassbender; Ayse Bilgin; William Forde
Thompson
DOI: 10.1080/09687760802526715
Link: http://tinyurl.com/7v4ha3


Quotes and support for the Special Issue from leading specialists in the field:
Professor Philip Barker, National Teaching Fellow, FBCS, FRSA, School of Computing, University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BA, UK.
If anyone doubts the merit or scope of research in this area, they should glance at the papers that have just been published in our most recent issue - one that is devoted to immersive virtual learning environments.

Dr Christine Sinclair, Lecturer in Academic Practice, University of Strathclyde.
This special issue of ALT-J comes at a good time for those of us who have ventured into Immersive Virtual Worlds (IVWs) but are not too sure what to do when we get there.  There are explanations for our uncertainties about these “uncanny” spaces (Bayne) which affect not just what we do, but how we present and conduct ourselves (McVey) and how we get on with others (Minocha and Roberts).  Some of the things we do in “real life” have counterparts in these IVWs, though they are rather different, resulting in hybrid activities  – thus we can solve problems and watch films within virtual worlds (Good et al; Middleton and Mather) requiring the new concept of “machinima”; we can use Moodle in Second Life (Daniel Livingstone’s Sloodle).  And these hybrids yield new insights: Fassbinder et al are finding that background music in IVWs support memory and learning.  So we’re no longer just playing games in IVWs – or if we are, when we’re supposed to be learning, they must be based on sound pedagogical principles (Whitton and Hollins).  There is a sense throughout all these papers of increasing maturity – an evolution with respect to academic use of these technologies.  The pioneers are able to show the novices what’s possible –