Q: Identify five virtual environments available for classroom use.
A: First, what is virtual environment? It is technology that allows a user to interact with a computer. This can be as basic as your keyboard and/or mouse, which allows you to type words and give some commands to your computer - this is a form of interacting with your computer. It can be more advance such as wearing a data glove, which allows you to interact with the computer by pointing the glove at the screen. This glove acts as a tracking device that gives the computer commands. Because of the high cost for this technology many schools cannot afford it. Those that can have included games which are reality worlds - one game called "Whyville" has 1.7 million registered. This game teaches real world situations - like having a job, which teaches them a variety of skills. Other games such as "River City" creates a problem and students work as a team to solve the problem. This problem could be an heath issue of years ago or a current problem that society faces today.
The future for games will continue to grow and become an everyday part of the curriculum. The more game developers create games that educators can incorporate into the classroom the more the gaming industry will produce. The supply and demand will create an affordable market for more schools to be able to have gaming technology in their classrooms.
Cindy
I can imagine the data glove technology would be pretty expensive. It would be pretty neat to try out though. These virtual environments seem pretty snazzy, but some of the ones I came across just seemed like virtual reality social networking. It seems like some of these would actually hinder real-life social skills, but the truly educational ones do seem pretty beneficial for student learning.
ReplyDeleteI agree that games will continue to be integrated into mainstream classrooms. Games seem to help kids learn and recall information easier and also motivate students to learn. I also think games encouarge risk taking which is an important quality in our world today.
ReplyDeleteI just love that by creating a virtual environment you can take students somewhere they may never have the chance to experience in real life. This would be incredibly beneficial in teaching history. I know that Fort McHenry offers a virtual environment to offer.
ReplyDelete"Whyville" and "River City" seem pretty interesting. It's cool how they teach people about having a job. I like that "River City" requires the students to work as a team to solve problems. This helps them develop teamwork.
ReplyDeleteI agree that as more educational software becomes available it will become more affordable. I think that all schools should have access to technology for their students so it is great that there will likely be a trend that makes this type of technology more affordable.
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