Virtual Learning and the Avatar Generation by Samantha Cleaver

Educators have moved beyond simply exploring the concept of learning via virtual worlds and are now working to perfect the art. It's none too soon, because in coming years educators will be confronted with students who know the metaverse well.


Online learning is evolving into much more than discussions via Blackboard. Today's online learners are spending time engaged in discussions, meeting in virtual classrooms, and combining online and on-the-ground learning, even if they live time zones away from campus. In response, universities are adjusting their curriculum, learning expectations, and changing how instructors approach topics online. One major challenge, creating and maintaining learning communities in virtual space, is testing both existing and emerging online tools.

Jeremy Kemp, assistant director of San Jose State University's Second Life Campus, never meets his students. Instead, he gets to know them through their avatars. The first thing Kemp teaches his library science graduate students is how to do basic things, like how to share information without interrupting each other, how to outfit their avatars and how to deal with technology problems, like when one avatar is in and out of class as their computer crashes and reboots.
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Source: LinuxInsider