Virtual world used for study
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 07/09/2008
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A Purdue professor will create a new center that will serve as a central location for researchers to study virtual environments.
Bill Watson, an assistant professor of curriculum and instruction, created The Purdue Center for Serious Games and Learning in Virtual Environments as a place for professors to collaborate on their work with virtual environments and video games. Watson said the reason professors are devoting so much time to studying virtual environments is so they can see how the virtual world can be used as a learning environment.
"With the center we can look at the best way to utilize that environment (virtual), whether it be for business training or K-12 education," Watson said. "We can promote learning by focusing on virtual environments."
While multiple virtual environments can be used as a learning environment, Watson said the computer game Second Life has been analyzed by numerous professors. He said he taught a distance learning course where he and his students used Second Life as a meeting place to discuss class material.
Watson said students were able to choose characters called avatars which created a virtual representation of their personalities. He said in Second Life his students could ask him questions, discuss topics with other classmates and even upload files such as PowerPoint in a physical space, unlike on Blackboard. He said it enabled students to have a more normal form of communication.
"It allowed us to have a little more natural learning experience and come online and share resources," Watson said. "With the high cost of gas and flying, more companies may move towards virtual meetings online."
While more online courses may choose to utilize virtual learning environments in the future, Watson doesn't believe the classroom will ever disappear. He said he does think that by using virtual environments, the traditional classroom will be changed in how they set up a learning-centered atmosphere.
"We can look at students engaged in learning and get them in an environment where they can explore and solve problems and actively pursue learning."
The center will be located be Beering Hall in room 3122 and will be opened in October. It will have computer stations for developing environmental games, as well as less powerful stations where users can play games like Second Life in a stable environment. The center is being funded by Purdue Discovery Learning Center, the Office of the Vice President of Purdue for Research and the College of Education. Watson hopes to have the center involve faculty across the campus in the future.
"Purdue has a lot of people very strong in the area (virtual learning environments), which is one of the reasons I came to Purdue last year," Watson said. "The center will be a place to bring that strength together to serve as a strong area for research."