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The Potential and Uniqueness of Virtual Environments for Education
Author(s) -
Bennett Leslie A.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
new horizons in adult education and human resource development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1939-4225
DOI - 10.1002/nha3.10317
Subject(s) - popularity , variety (cybernetics) , human–computer interaction , computer science , immersion (mathematics) , virtual learning environment , online learning , multimedia , virtual machine , psychology , artificial intelligence , mathematics , social psychology , pure mathematics , operating system
Virtual environments (VEs) are growing in popularity among educators and have unique potential for online learning. This paper describes the unique characteristics of VEs that make them an effective venue for online learning due to increased environmental presence. Unique characteristics of VEs include nature of visual stimuli, control of the environment, amount and variety of sensory information utilized by the learner, and level of immersion by the learner. Examples of learning opportunities in VEs are explored. Current disadvantages are also discussed.