EUROVERSITY

GOOD PRACTICE FRAMEWORK

[1st draft]

INTRODUCTION

This manual aims at providing guidance for organisations and individual teachers in getting started with teaching in virtual worlds (for example Second Life and Club Penguin) and other virtual reality environments.[we need to be careful throughout the framework and the entire project to use the terms 3D and world very carefully. We are interested in both 2d and 3d worlds AND virtual reality which is not necessarily a world] The information found in this guide has been drawn from a range of different projects[1] and teaching experiences[2], both from public and private institutions from across Europe and in Israel. These participating institutions have experience in the use and development of online virtual platforms for education across a range of disciplines (i.e. language education, cultural studies, literature, economics, religious studies, media studies,  intercultural communication, digital design, computer science and software engineering, science) and contexts (lower and higher education, educational and business) . The guide aims at supporting other practitioners on best practice implementation of courses/learning events within virtual worlds.

[I have added "learning events" alonside "courses" here. Something which I think needs a brief discussion either here or somewhere else is a suggestions of models for learning in virtual reality: it can be courses, blended learning, self-access, informal - I am thinking of the examples of the Virtlantis language meetings and some of the work Barbosa does in SL - offering in-promptu sessions. And this is what I know about langauge learning; are there different learning set-ups for other subjects?]

The manual includes recomendations about pre-course preparation, course implementation and evaluation and assessment and further guidance on organizational, technical and ethical issues. Best practices (reflections, evaluations, lessons learned) are described and discussed and more in depth resources are indicated where appropriate.

The manual has a modular structure, related to preparation, implementation and evaluation issues. Within the pre-course preparation section the focus will be on the decision making process, aims and objectives of the course, funding, the environment and the learners, logistics and timetabling, course syllabus and advertising. In the course implementation section the following issues will be tackled: technical issues and support, interaction, resources and ethical issues. Finally, the third section (post-course) will deal with the assessment and evaluation part. Throughout the guide EUROVERSITY specific documents (case studies) are combined with links to good practices.

All EUROVERSITY partners have contributed in one way or another to the assembly of the guide; therefore, the manual includes examples from different disciplines and subject areas. However, it aims to be general in its approach while pointing to the existence of literature and information for the teaching and learning of specific subjects. [I think it is really important that we stay general and then point to other sources for more subject related information. We cannot get bogged down in too much detail in the framework]

This EUROVERSITY “Good Practice” guide focuses particularly on:

-       Pre-course preparation

-       Course implementation

-       Post- course assessment and evaluation.

The guide is available on-line and is downloadable. [where?]

Why you might want to use this guide....

How to use this guide....

Who can use this guide....

How to contribute to our wiki....

Who to contact for additional information.....

[1] AVATAR, NIFLAR, AVALON http://avalon-project.ning.com/ , ST.ART

[2] Talkademy, University of Hull, University of Cyprus, Linnaeus University, Coimbra University