Second Life (SL) has been gaining increased attention in Education since it was launched in 2003. Language educators explored SL mainly as a virtual learning environment where learners can interact with native speakers (e.g., Hislope, 2008; Wang, Song, Xia, & Yan, 2009). Although most studies concluded positively about using SL for language…

Learners need to have good reasons to engage and accept e-learning. They need to understand that unless they do, the outcomes will be less favourable. The technology acceptance model (TAM) is the most widely recognized model addressing why users accept or reject technology. This study describes the development and evaluation of a virtual…

The Web-based e-learning can benefit from the modern multimedia tools combined with network capabilities to overcome traditional education. The objective of this paper is focused on e-training system development to improve performance of theoretical knowledge and providing ample opportunity for practical attainment of manual skills in virtual…

Three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds (VW) have great potential for contemporary art education. This article introduces the key characteristics of 3D VWs and reviews the research literature and application of VWs in education and art education. After explaining how 3D VWs provide unique possibilities as a contemporary art medium, learning tool,…

Business communication educators need to realize that as technology changes and evolves, they must also change and evolve their teaching methods and content. Cell phones, email, blogs, wikis, and text messaging are just a few examples of business communication technologies that not so long ago were viewed as entertainment for teens or techies, but…

The development of a professional identity plays an important part in pre-service teacher education. However, very little is explicitly taught about how one can develop a teacher professional identity via pre-service teacher education (Allen, 2005:1). Rather, as a pre service teacher progresses through their degree, they are expected to develop…

Online learning critically relies upon good communication between engaged parties in order to convey ideas, meanings, and values. Emerging technologies in collaborative virtual environments are providing new affordances in establishing greater online presence and, in turn, greater abilities to communicate and learn. This study examines how…

Virtual spaces allow abstract representations of reality that not only encourage student self-directed learning but also reinforce core content of the learning objective through visual metaphors not reproducible in the physical world. One of the advantages of such a space is the ability to escape the restrictions of the physical classroom, yet…

Traditionally, at least according to popular wisdom, learning took place in venues that were custom-designed for the purpose. The purpose, given the evidence of the artefacts with which we are confronted, seems to have been the educational equivalent of the production line that so succinctly characterised the industrialisation of society. One…

Massively Multiuser On-line Learning (MMOL) Platforms, often called "virtual learning worlds", constitute a still unexplored context for communication-enhanced learning, where synchronous communication skills in an explicit social setting enhance the potential of effective collaboration. In this paper, we report on an experimental study of…

Faculty who have taught in a traditional classroom are finding themselves having to teach in a setting in which they are unable to interact face-to-face with their students. Online instruction increases yearly. An important factor in the success of online instruction is the degree of student engagement. Though academic content remains…

Second Life has become increasingly popular with educators and educational institutions, because of the educational possibilities it seems to offer. While there has been a lot of hype and academic publications about educational design or the theoretical framing of teaching in virtual environments, there have been few publications focusing on…

The number of games, simulations, and multi-user virtual environments designed to promote learning, engagement with subject matter, or intended to contextualize learning has been steadily increasing over the past decade. While the use of these digital designs in educational settings has begun to show promise for improving learning, motivation, and…

In this paper we will focus on a specific category of Collaborative Virtual Environments that aims to support Collaborative Learning. We call these environments Collaborative Educational Virtual Environments. Our aim is to analyze the evaluation process through the study of relevant bibliography and by doing so reveal the existing research gap…

Eight teams of elementary and middle school teachers developed pilot online courses for the North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) in the USA. A qualitative case study with focus groups and a follow-up survey helped to identify common needs of these non-traditional course designers during course development efforts. Findings suggest virtual…