2019 #VWEDU: #DTA: Seven major educational affordances from virtual worlds and how they can work together

Seven major educational affordances 
from virtual worlds and 
how they can work together

Virtual worlds offer many of the educational affordances that are wanted in classrooms. But with more space, easier travel, more resources, more security, and lower costs.   This article is explicitly licensed Public Domain (CC0).

Group project planning template

Click image to enlarge

The affordances

1. Situated learning
2. Spatial memory (place learning)
3. Social learning
4. Concept maps
5. Project road-maps
6. Controlled learning environment
7. Error-friendly environment
8. Search on page:Ctrl f gets search bar. 

• The Digital Teaching Assistant (DTA) for MUVES (vitrual worlds): Summary

• #VWEDU: update 10/24/2019: OpenSim conference seeks presenters. Free Ghost Story Radio Stream (Seanchai Library ). OpenSim land increase.

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Situated learning

• All learning is in some situation.  
• "Formal" learning is often in a classroom situation.
• With multiple students around, but without managed social interaction.
• Another part of "formal" learning is at home or dormitory.
• To mention situated learning is to ask whether those situations are best for learning. 
• More to the point, are those situations best for all learning objectives? 
• Situated learning (Wikipedia)
• Situated learning (search)

Spatial memory (place learning)

• Spatial is a subset of situated learning
• Spatial memory (WIkipedia) 
• Method of loci (Wikipedia)
• Method of loci (search)

Social learning

• Social learning is a subset of situated learning
• Social learning  (search)
• Social learning theory  
• Students who come to a physical school get social learning.
• But much of it is unsupervised and may be teaching things not intended by the school system.
• Students who study online may get no experience in social learning.
• Courses that use project-based or inquiry-based instruction can have students meet for collaboration.   
• Those meetings can be in a resource-rich environment controlled by the school.

Concept maps

• Concept maps are a specialized form of spatial learning.
• Mind Maps (Wikipedia)
• Mind Maps  (search)
• Cognitive maps  (Wikipedia)
• Cognitive maps (search)
• Concept maps (search)
• Concept map (Wikipedia)
• Flowcharts (Wikipedia)
• With procedural maps, one dimension of space is used to represent time.
• A second dimension of space may represent parallel processes.
• With other concept maps, the space may be used for clustering related ideas.

Project road-maps 

• Road-maps are procedural maps specifically used for planning a project.
• Project Roadmap
• In a virtual world, the DTA can give a student or work-group a template map
• The map can function as a to-do list for the project.
• And as a meeting place for a work-group.
• Intermediate products can be placed in objects at the appropriate step.
• As can action items needed for completing the step. 
• The teacher can meet with the student or group to review progress.

Controlled learning environment

• Controlled access--only authorized people can get in
• No bullies, no pedophiles, no shooters, no armed guards. 
• Nobody gets in without authorization. 
• In the Kitely model, the school manages the grid and controls all access.  
• The environment can be used for both classes and homework.  

Error-friendly environment

• Error-friendly means that errors have only minor consequences. 
• Students can safely try new skills and learn from errors.
• Error-based learning 
• Scholarly articles for error based learning
• Error based learning in writing.  Project-based learning meets test-based learning.

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Visit me on the web

• Drop by my web offices Weekdays: 12:-12:30 pm Central time (US)
• I am available for free consulting on any topic in this blog.
• Cybalounge and 3DWebWorldz (Orientation room)
• I will be in both places, so you may need to speak to get my attention.
• Web-worlds, 3D virtual worlds running in a browser. Summary
• And we can visit the Writer's Workshop on the Web
• Don't register -- enter as guest.  

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License

• Original text in this blog is CC By: unless specified public domain
• Use as you please with attribution: link to the original.
• All images without attribution in this blog are CC0: public domain. 
• Second Life, Linden, SLurl, and SL are trademarks of Linden Research Inc.
• Annotated screenshots made with Jing
• This blog is not affiliated with anything.   Ads are from Google.
• Selby Evans in Kitely and hypergrid, Thinkerer Melville in Second Life.