Purpose: This paper aims to report on a project aimed at using simulation for improving the quality of teaching and learning modeling skills. More specifically, the project goal was to facilitate the students to acquire skills of building models of organizational structure and behavior through analysis of internal and external documents, and…

Gendered appearance in "World of Warcraft" is of particular interest because it seems to infiltrate interactions between individuals without serving a functional purpose within the game itself. It provides an opportunity to look at avatar choice in environments that have a primary purpose aside from existing as an arena for creating identity, and…

As a subset of distance education, online learning takes place primarily in learning management systems through asynchronous interaction, that can cause transactional distance between instructor and learners. This study investigated how transactional distance may be affected by the use of Second Life, a 3-D virtual world, as a learning environment…

In a previous work the author created the Education and Entertainment Grid by combining various taxonomies from the fields of play and learning. In this paper, a section of this grid known as the Entertainment Grid will be extended by including previously unused elements of Richard Bartle's online player types and Robert Caillois' play complexity.…

This paper presents a framework for facilitating communication among STEM project teams that are geographically dispersed in synchronous or asynchronous online courses. The framework has been developed to: (a) improve how engineering and technology students and faculty work with collocated and geographically-dispersed teams; and (b) to connect the…

Lack of motivation and of real-world relevance have been identified as reasons for low interest in science among children. Game-based learning and storytelling are prominent methods for generating intrinsic motivation in learning. Real-world relevance requires connecting abstract scientific concepts with the real world. This can be done by…

The purpose of this article is to present how one university incorporates immersive simulations through platforms which employ avatars to enhance graduate student understanding and learning in educational leadership programs. While using simulations and immersive virtual environments continues to grow, the literature suggests limited evidence of…

Learning physics often requires overcoming common misconceptions based on naïve interpretations of observations in the everyday world. One proposed way to help learners build appropriate physics intuitions is to expose them to computer simulations in which motion is based on Newtonian principles. In addition, playing video games that require…

Emerging technologies are providing opportunities for designing new learning environments, especially environments in which students can learn by putting their skills into practice. Knowledge about the development of these experiences needs to be accumulated and processed so that they can be integrated effectively into training programmes. In this…

Previous studies on the effects of virtual and physical manipulatives have failed to consider the impact of prior knowledge on the efficacy of manipulatives. This study focuses on the learning of plane geometry in junior high schools, including the sum of interior angles in polygons, the sum of exterior angles in polygons, and the properties of…

Alternate reality games (ARGs) are a relatively new form of collaborative game that make use of both the virtual and real worlds to engage players in a series of challenges within a compelling narrative. The Alternate Reality Games for Orientation, Socialisation and Induction (ARGOSI) project aimed to use this game format to provide an alternative…

This article introduces StoryTech, a smart storytelling toy that offers children a mixed reality environment in which to tell imaginative stories. During usability testing, an empirical study was carried out with 90 child participants. The findings indicated that StoryTech creates a rich storytelling experience, especially for ages five and six.

Virtual Patient Simulations (VPS) are web-based exercises involving simulated patients in virtual environments. This study investigates the utility of VPS for increasing medical student clinical reasoning skills, collaboration, and engagement. Many studies indicate that VPS provide medical students with essential practice in clinical decision…

"N3xt Practices" is a ground-breaking advisory book for education decision makers. Its purpose is to challenge the top trends and initiatives of the previous decade in educational technology and bring light to their short-falls and misses. It also highlights successful endeavors and strategies and details a common-sense methodology to…

A mini-economy is an ongoing classroom project in which elementary school students apply for jobs, receive simulated income, go shopping at the classroom store, and ultimately create their own businesses. This study uses design-based research methodology to find out what classroom practices emerge when the College, Career, and Civic Life Framework…