3D distance education

For further information on the AVALON project see:

avalonlearning.eu

Talk overview

• The ‘next big thing’

• MUVEs

• Things we should take into account

The ‘next big thing’

• As with all developments in technology, it is expected that the next implementation will ‘save the world’

• Web 3.0 is not here yet for most of us, but we expect it to include ubiquity; open and knowledgeable systems (semantic web); and immersive spaces (3D and beyond)

MUVEs

The AVALON (Access to Virtual and Action

Learning live Online) project was concerned with

21st Century Multi-User Virtual Environments

(MUVEs), particularly 2nd Life (although now we

are exploring other 3D worlds, e.g. OpenSim in

Euroversity) for adult language learning and

language teacher education

MUVEsHave their roots in MUDS and MOOS.

They are:

• An immersive environment that make cyber space 3 dimensional. They have a ‘spatiality’ that can be ‘inhabited, explored, and designed’ (Benedikt et al, 2008: 3)

• An SL MUVE ‘space’ may be differently perceived and experienced by different people, e.g.:

• Space to take on a different identity: be the self/ the teacher/ learner you want to be

• Space to reflect/ be creative/ interact with others

• Space to ‘attend to a shared task’

• Space to form a community of like-minded people/ enthusiasts

• Space to…

Some learner issues to consider in any distance course

• Isolation• Expectations• Building community• Cultures• Experience• Individual differences

Emerging practice in distance learning

• Correspondence• + telephone + local tutorials + summer

schools• + online interaction• Mixed media → online + interaction• VLEs• MUVEs

MUVEs

• What they offer is a broader access to both the specific learning communities of the ongoing course as well as the larger community of practice (outcome for our project)

• VLEs tend to be modelled on a physical classroom, an enclosed space where only registered people are able to attend

• A MUVE allows people to conduct classes with the target group, but to bring people into the classroom, or to go and find other users in the world

• Can deploy a range of tools linking both inside and linking to outside