In the natural world, learning emerges from the joy of play, experimentation, and inquiry as part of everyday life. However, this kind of informal learning is often difficult to integrate within structured educational curricula. This report describes an educational program that embeds naturalistic learning into formal high school, college, and…

This research article focuses on virtual reality (VR) and simulation-based training, with a special focus on the pedagogical use of the Virtual Centre of Wellness Campus known as ENVI (Rovaniemi, Finland). In order to clearly understand how teachers perceive teaching and learning in such environments, this research examines the concepts of…

In this article, the authors demonstrate how they modified a well-known game to use it as an educational simulation to help students understand difficult material, specifically critical theory. The goals for the simulation focus on improving the comprehension levels of critical theory for students in a course on the Sociology of Deviance, although…

Contemporary instructional approaches expect students to be active producers of knowledge. This leads to the need for creation of instructional tools and tasks that can offer students opportunities for active learning. This study examines the effect of a computational experiment as an instructional tool-for Grade 12 students, using a computer…

In this paper, the authors focus their attention on the way magnetic circuits and permanent magnets are usually treated in most textbooks and electrical engineering courses. This paper demonstrates how this important topic is too often presented simplistically. This simplistic treatment does not allow the students to develop a complete…

By means of a simple device, made by students themselves, the movements of the Sun and the Moon can be studied at different latitudes. Using this device, it is easy to explain phenomena such as the midnight Sun, zenith pass and why the Moon "smiles". In this article, we show various photos of the Sun's movements, alongside their simulations on the…

This study examines four induction models and teacher changes in science teaching practices, as a result of several mentoring programs. It explores three different computer-mediated mentoring programs, and a traditional offline induction program--in terms of interactivity, inquiry-based teaching, and topics of knowledge. Fifteen elementary science…

In the context of practicing intercultural communication skills, we investigated the role of fidelity in a game-based, virtual learning environment as well as the role of feedback delivered by an intelligent tutoring system. In 2 experiments, we compared variations on the game interface, use of the tutoring system, and the form of the feedback.…

As one of the emerging technologies, the Second Life virtual world provides learners of English as a Foreign Language with a unique opportunity of learning authentic language with native and non-native speakers of English in a virtual environment. It enables them to learn the target language in a real-life-like social communication environment. To…

Technology-informed approaches to L2 research and teaching have prompted great interest by both researchers and practitioners alike. This book highlights the relationship between digitally-mediated technologies and second language pragmatics by presenting exemplary applications of technology for both research and pedagogy. Part I presents…

The lab applications, which were started to be applied through mid 19th century, not only provide a new point of view but also bring about a new dimension to the lessons. At early times they were used to prove theoretical knowledge but lately they turned into environments where students freely discover knowledge as an individual or in groups. The…

Background: Integrating 3D virtual world technologies into educational subjects continues to draw the attention of educators and researchers alike. The focus of this study is the use of a virtual world, Second Life, in higher education teaching. In particular, it explores the potential of using a virtual world experience as a learning component…

Background: By rapid developing of the network technology, the internet-based learning methods are substituting the traditional classrooms making them expand to the virtual network learning environment. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of virtual systems on competency-based skills of first-year nursing students.…

There are compelling reasons for educators to consider incorporating virtual worlds (VWs) in their marketing curriculum. That said, the ways in which VWs can be implemented into the teaching curriculum are many and varied. This article reports on two studies in which notionally similar graduate classes are taught about marketing in Second Life…

Students (N = 101) used an introductory text and a computer simulation to learn fundamental concepts about statistical analyses (e.g., analysis of variance, regression analysis and General Linear Model). Each learner was randomly assigned to one cell of a 2 (with or without time advice) x 3 (with learning questions and corrective feedback, with…