Computer Science Department and Institute for Simulation and Training
University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, USA
14 November 1995
The Virtual Academy Model
Our goal is to investigate the applicability of virtual communities to peer mentoring, cooperative learning, and adaptive problem-solving. Using a fully immersive virtual world would require tremendous financial resources, and today's 3d technology would severely constrain the complexity of the worlds to be used. Fortunately, rich social interactions can happen in simple environments such as Habitat (Farmer 94.) In fact, graphics is not even a requirement for social interaction, as is evident from research on interactions in textual role-playing software environments called MUDs (Multi-User Domains). (Curtis 92)
The environment through which we are supporting the evolution of these virtual communities is ExploreNet, a form of graphical MUD. In ExploreNet simulations, the world appears as a collection of background scenes, computer-controlled objects (props), and user-controlled objects (avatars or characters). Each member of the virtual community generally controls a single character, although one player can control several characters from the same workstation. This character becomes the incarnation of the human participant within this world.
The objectives of the Virtual Academy include seeking answers to these questions:
€ How can virtual worlds be used to bring new human assistance to teachers and students? How can older students in other classrooms, industrial partners in their workplaces, or community volunteers, interacting from their home computers, help?
€ Can students learn better by expressing their understanding of complex subjects as simulations and acting roles within them?
€ Can improved teaching techniques such as constructionism (Harel 91) be propagated between schools by means of collaborative world-building projects?
€ What user interface and simulation techniques are best suited to the support of multi-age virtual communities? Where are the technical bottlenecks? What new tools and systems need to be invented and built?
These issues are posed and dealt with in more detail in several documents that we have produced including