Learning design and structured tasks in 3D virtual world

Abstract

E-Learning is one among the many positive implication of computer networking. It grew rapidly with the advent of World Wide Web. Soon many E-Learning paradigms flourished across the web. This resulted in the need for standardization, an effective guideline to make e-learning more structured and effective. The need for designing for learning resulted in many pedagogical models of which Learning Design has proved popular. Many platforms such as Learning Management Systems (LMS) were soon inspired by Learning Design and a significant success is seen over the last decade by the education sector adopting such systems. Also, the use of immersive environments like 3D virtual world has increased in the field of education. The scope and capabilities of these environments are interesting, so are the challenges associated in using them. The main problem for using these environments in education sector is the lack of ease with which authoring can be done in them. On the other hand, Learning Design engines such as LAMS offer much easier authoring in 2D. This paper proposes an approach to deploy the design sequence created in a 2D authoring interface such as LAMS into a 3D virtual world like Open Wonderland. The aim of the paper is to ease the difficulty of authoring in 3D environment as well as a unique attempt to integrate Learning Design concepts into any virtual world.