EIDVW
From SimTeach
Effective Instructional Design in Virtual Worlds*
The purpose of this project is to explore a variety of educational spaces in the virtual world that is Second Life®, to observe the effectiveness or utility of each design; and then, to identify the characteristics that shaped that result.
- Premise: In the absence of standards (or conventions) for educational content, usability will become more of a problem as we increasingly rely on virtual world design to deliver and support instruction.
Goals
- Explore educational content in SL observing design components and strategies
- Promote the discussion about effective instructional design in virtual worlds
- Identify and accumulate VW design guidelines and conventions
Process
- Issues >> Guidelines >> Conventions
Design issues and specific design elements that have been observed in the grid (or noted by others) are being catalogued in the known issues page. Each issue will be considered, with the goal of identifying a guideline that would be useful in broad application. Where solutions for these issues are demonstrated in world, a convention may be suggested.
A simple classification system is being developed to organize the issues; notes about that system are recorded in the classification page.
This page contains material that supports a discussion being held in the SLED listserv, a RezEd discussion forum topic, and this weblog. Invitations are being sent to specific individuals by email, and anyone is welcome to participate. What examples of effective instructional design can you share? Or, is there an example of a location in SL where you puzzled over what you were supposed to do next? What principles of effective design might we discover?
