Adult Learning Model for Virtual World Residents with Disabilities

This study was shared by Gentle Heron, of Virtual Ability Island, managed by Virtual Ability, Inc., a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation based in Colorado. This great study presents a clear understanding of target users as key components for developing optimal design for the Island.

PUTTING A SECOND LIFE “METAVERSE” SKIN ON LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

This paper outlines the advantages and weaknesses of Multi-User Virtual Environments for teaching and explores the possible benefits of integrating them closely with traditional Learning Management
Systems.

The teachers gave their opinions about integrating SL and Learning Management Systems (LMS) (WebCT, Blackboard, Moodle and other LMS) in their classrooms.

Implications of Online Learning for the Conceptual Development and Practice of Distance Education

The purpose of Randy Garrison's article is to examine the foundational principles and practices of distance education in the context of recent developments in the areas of online learning. The point is made that online learning had its genesis apart from mainstream distance education. As a result, it is argued that distance education has not fully embraced the collaborative potential of online learning. The paper concludes with the question of whether or not the concepts and practices of distance education can be reformulated and aligned to incorporate the potential and possibilities of online learning.

Distance Education in the Digital Age: Common Misconceptions and Challenging Tasks

Sarah Guri-Rosenblit's article discusses in its first part three common misconceptions related to the operation of distance education providers in the digital age: The tendency to relate to e-learning as the new generation of distance education; the confusion between ends and means of distance education; and the absence of the teacher’s crucial role in the discourse on knowledge construction. The second part of the article examines four challenging tasks for the future development of distance education in the digital age: Bridging over the digital divide; designing cost effective modes of utilizing the new technologies; redesigning the roles of actors in the distributed teaching responsibility within the industrial model of distance education; and creating effective quality assurance mechanisms.

Labor Day

Virtual Worlds Come Alive at AECT 2008 Convention

From the pages of TechTrends comes the following excerpts on the first AECT 2008 Virtual World Convention...
Thursday morning, November 6, 2008 began like most days at the AECT Convention with technicians frantically checking equipment, making last minute adjustments; presenters hustling to locate their rooms; and participants maneuvering to find a good vantage point, booting notebooks, and logging on to networks. But this was not just another session.After months of meetings, preparation, and anticipation, it was finally time to unveil the long-awaited venture into the unknown, to “go where no convention has gone before,” well, at least at AECT.

The makers of Second Life, Linden Lab, a San Francisco-based corporation, define their creation as “an online society within a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents, where they can explore, build, socialize and participate in their own economy” (Linden Lab, 2007). SL provides a collaborative, immersive, and open-ended experience where people create and inhabit a virtual world of their own design.