Demographics of Virtual Worlds

By Jeremiah Spence, Department of Radio, TV & Film, University of Texas at Austin. Virtual worlds, as both a concept and an industry, has changed radically over the past 10 years, from a toy for the technological elite, to an over-hyped marketing phenomenon, to a needed reexamination of the uses and utility of virtual world technologies and experiences, as provided in this paper.

Horizon Report > 2012 Higher Education Edition

The internationally recognized NMC Horizon Report series and regional NMC Technology Outlooks are part of the NMC Horizon Project, a comprehensive research venture established in 2002 that identifies and describes emerging technologies likely to have a large impact over the coming five years in education around the globe.

A Museum of Virtual Media

By Jim Blascovich and Jeremy Bailenson

Natural History Magazine presents a synopsis of the book "Infinite Reality: Avatars, Eternal Life, New Worlds, and the Dawn of the Virtual Revolution" © 2011 Jim Blascovich and Jeremy Bailenson. ( video )

Training Evaluation in Virtual Worlds:Development of a Model

In the abstract, many organizations have adopted virtual worlds (VWs) as a setting for training programs; however, research on appropriate evaluation of training in this new setting is incomplete. In this article, they address this gap by first exploring the unique issues relevant to evaluation faced by training designers working in VWs. At the macro-organizational level, the primary issue faced is an organizational culture unreceptive to or otherwise skeptical of VWs. At the micro-organizational level, two major issues are identified: individual trainees unreceptive to VWs and general lack of experience navigating VWs. All three of these challenges and their interrelationships may lead to poor reactions, read more...