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How are Australian higher education institutions contributing to change through innovative teaching and learning in virtual worlds?
PROCEEDINGS

, , University of New England, United States ; , University of South Australia, Australia ; , University of New England, United States ; , University of Queensland, Australia ; , University of South Australia, Australia ; , University of Western Sydney, Australia ; , Queensland University of Technology, Australia ; , Charles Sturt University, Australia ; , Curtin University of Technology, Australia ; , Victoria University, Australia ; , TAFENSW Western Institute, Australia ; , , University of New England, United States ; , Macquarie University, Australia ; , University of Ballarat, Australia ; , Deakin University, Australia ; , Monash University, Australia ; , , Southern Cross University, Australia ; , Monash University, Australia ; , University of Tasmania, Australia ; , University of Southern Queensland, Australia ; , University of Western Australia, Australia ; , Victoria University, Australia ; , Monash University, Australia ; , Griffith University, Australia ; , University of Canberra, Australia ; , University of Tasmania, Australia ; , Central Queensland University, Australia ; , The University of Sydney, Australia ; , RMIT, Australia ; , James Cook University, Australia ; , Southern Cross University, Australia ; , Swinburne University of Technology, Australia ; , RMIT, Australia ; , Curtin University of Technology, Australia ; , University of Western Sydney, Australia ; , The University of New South Wales, Australia ; , Swinburne University of Technology, Australia ; , La Trobe University, Australia ; , University of Melbourne, Australia ; , , The University of Sydney, Australia ; , MUVEDesign.com, Australia ; , Monash University, Australia ; , University of Western Sydney, Australia

ASCILITE - Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education Annual Conference, Publisher: Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education

Abstract

Over the past decade, teaching and learning in virtual worlds has been at the forefront of many higher education institutions around the world. The DEHub Virtual Worlds Working Group (VWWG) consisting of Australian and New Zealand higher education academics was formed in 2009. These educators are investigating the role that virtual worlds play in the future of education and actively changing the direction of their own teaching practice and curricula. 47 academics reporting on 28 Australian higher education institutions present an overview of how they have changed directions through the effective use of virtual worlds for diverse teaching and learning activities such as business scenarios and virtual excursions, role-play simulations, experimentation and language development. The case studies offer insights into the ways in which institutions are continuing to change directions in their teaching to meet changing demands for innovative teaching, learning and research in virtual worlds. This paper highlights the ways in which the authors are using virtual worlds to create opportunities for rich, immersive and authentic activities that would be difficult or not possible to achieve through more traditional approaches.

Citation

Gregory, B., Gregory, S., Wood, D., Masters, Y., Hillier, M., Stokes-Thompson, F., Bogdanovych, A., Butler, D., Hay, L., Flintoff, K., Schutt, S., Alderton, R., Stupans, I., Orwin, L.M., Cram, A., Meredith, G., Grenfell, J., Collins, F., Ellis, A., Jacka, L., Larson, I., Fluck, A., Farley, H., Jegathesan, J.J., Linegar, D., McCormick, D., Zagami, J., Campbell, J., Thomas, A., Muldoon, N., Abbas, A., Burnett, I., Scutter, S., Ellis, D., Sinnappan, S., Neville, K., Aitken, A., Simoff, S., Wang, X., Salomon, M., Souter, K., Wadley, G., Jacobson, M., Newstead, A., Hayes, G., Grant, S. & Yusupova, A. (2011). How are Australian higher education institutions contributing to change through innovative teaching and learning in virtual worlds?. In Proceedings of ASCILITE - Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education Annual Conference 2011 (pp. 475-490). Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education. Retrieved March 19, 2024 from .

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