Active Worlds: 3D Virtual Learning Environment

Active Worlds, is a virtual reality platform that lets you visit and chat in 3D worlds that are built by other users. Active Worlds has been actively embraced by the education community and as a result Active Worlds has launched The Active Worlds Educational Universe (AWEDU).

According to their website:

"AWEDU is a unique educational community that makes the Active Worlds technology available to educational institutions, teachers, students, and individual programs in a focused setting. Via this community, educators are able to explore new concepts, learning theories, creative curriculum design, and discover new paradigms in social learning."

As discussed here before, social interaction is at the heart of any effective constructivist-based learning environment, and this is probably even more important in an online space, where students may have limited opportunities for face-to-face interaction.

Active Worlds Educational Resources

• AWEDU Event Transcripts
• VLearn Initiative

Moreover, current research has shown that using social media as a means for students to create social bonds can be equally as important as the course content. In short, it's about relationships. Not technology.

Virtual spaces like Active Worlds are important for the online education space because they provide students with the necessary tools to create a social system of learners, self-regulate their level of interaction, control their identity, and ultimately share their knowledge within the social context of an online learning community.

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