Abstract
A much more attractive way to use the internet was discovered. Users are represented by avatars in the fantasy persistent 3D world, and the avatars apparently come to occupy a special place in the hearts of their creators (Castronova, 2001). At present, millions of people worldwide have accounts to some kind of virtual environments. Virtual world may soon become the primary venue for all online activities (Castronova, 2001) including learning. Imagine that one can gain knowledge and skills by social interactions in virtual worlds. A massively multi-student online learning environment (MMOLE) is a pedagogically designed space where students would spend much time learning online by doing and interacting with others. Furthermore, massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) or massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs) allow individuals, through their avatars, to learn in the service of games goals and through problem solving and collaboration. This article aims at exploring the pedagogical potentials of virtual worlds. The strengths and weaknesses will be outlined and some of the issues will be discussed through case studies. Hopefully, lessons can be learned and the future virtual worlds can become a more powerful and effective environment to engage students in learning.
Highlights
A much more attractive way to use the internet was discovered
Why learn in virtual worlds? Students are facing the new challenges of the 21st century induced by globalization, information explosion and international competition (Cheng, Chow & Mok, 2004)
Rieber (1996), as cited in Sugumaran (2008), states that, "Research from education, psychology, and anthropology suggests that play is a powerful mediator for learning throughout a person's life" massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs) have the capacity to support collaborative learning approaches (De Freitas & Griffiths, 2007) and massively multi-student online learning environment (MMOLE) is designed to engage learners and to keep motivation levels high
Summary
The study by Galarneau and Zibit (2007): Online Games for 21st Century Skills, pointed out that players of MMOGs develop 21st century skills in a spontaneous and holistic way as a by-product of play, even though learning these skills is not a direct goal of these games. The successful MMORPG is reformulated as an MMOLE so that appropriate learning goals can be achieved predictably and consistency Students would develop their understanding of sociological principles through structured interactions within a set of simulated social scenarios. In the study: Fostering Motivation, Learning, and Transfer in Multi-User Virtual Environments (Dede et al, 2005), an MMOLE called River City is designed to teach scientific inquiry skills to middle school students. The study by Childress and Braswell (2006) gives examples using partner activities and group activities to deliver an online graduate-level Foundation of Instructional Technology course through Campus: Second Life – a special version of Second Life for educators to use in classes It illustrates that the highly social attributes of MMORPGs make them rich environment for cooperative learning-based activities. Advance in artificial intelligence will help to create virtual world pedagogical agents that can customize materials for each individual learner
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