By: Dustin Smith

-multi-user virtual environment -online simulation of a geographical

location -students navigate an avatar around an

environment similar to a SIMS game in order to learn

Leading educational MUVE Created by several professors from a group of

universities Virtual Reality

-students gather data to determine the cause of health crisis

students work through their avatars to interview inhabitants of an 1800’s river town and explore the geographical terrain to determine the source of the medical problem

-students are able to interact with other students in other school systems to develop a theory for what is causing the disease in River City

-Not All Fun and Games -parents are skeptical of the technology because they

are unsure to what extent their children are interacting with others

-controls are setup to monitor chatting and email activity

-professors monitor the chat areas to ensure there are no inappropriate activities going on inside the chat room

some children may not have access to a computer at their home

-teachers help these students find access to the internet at public libraries

-teachers help these students find access to the internet in computer labs on campus

-Students introduced to Whyville technology showed improvement in biology -after the study, students showed a 32%-35%

increase of knowledge of biology using the Whyville technology

students learned inquiry-based learning by using the technology based on their responses to how and why the disease spread throughout the community

absenteeism decreased after integrating Whyville into lesson plans

-open internet forum -students used Whyville to learn how

disease spread -interactive, avatar driven environment

-Teacher as the guide -teachers are guides rather than answer givers -teachers become more proficient at inquiry-

based learning and teachers teach students by allowing them to ask and answer their own questions

Students learn to teach themselves and each other by interacting within the virtual environment

It encourages inquiry-based learning, which is essential for teaching biology

It forces students to discuss problems and ideas within the virtual world and elicits class discussion

References

Blaisdell, M. (2006). Educational gaming: all the right MUVEs. The Journal. Retrieved February 2, 2010. <http://thejournal.com/articles/2006/09/01/educational-gaming--all-the-right-muves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcNP7xjWKk4

www.whyville.com