Preliminary Study On The Characteristics Of Virtual Environments For Reaching New Heights In Education

In researching virtual environments for educational purposes, it has been found that there are no set characteristic guidelines to develop educational material using virtual environments. Recognizing this fact, this paper is an attempt at listing and defining key characteristics for virtual environments for education. The approach that was used to identify these characteristics was a combination of literature reviews and experimental exploration of virtual reality over the Internet. The results from this project identify and document four key categories, namely interaction, navigation, fidelity, and components of education. Each of these key categories is further divided into sub-categories that provide the needed guidelines to develop educational materials using virtual environments. It is the intent and desired impact of this paper to establish criteria for virtual environments for education, which will enrich collaboration and knowledge of this technological resource for educational facilities. This is important because with the everincreasing technological advancements available in most universities, virtual environments could help education to reach new heights