ABSTRACT
There is no single, agreed upon de£nition of “virtual world.” However, all de£nitions acknowledge that a virtual world is an online simulation of either a real or fantasy world environment populated by “avatars,” which are pictorial or graphical representations of the human participants. A virtual world can also be described as “a synchronous, persistent network of people, represented as avatars, facilitated by networked computers” (Bell 2008, 2). EDUCAUSE, a nonpro£t association concerned with leveraging technology to improve higher education, de£nes a virtual world simply as an “online environment whose ‘residents’ are avatars representing individuals participating online” (the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative 2006, 1). Still other de£nitions that address the speci£c affordances of this modality help us understand the potential of the technology as well. Examining popular virtual world applications can help frame an understanding of virtual worlds as “online 3-D virtual worlds . . . within which residents are able to establish identities (avatars), explore, create and communicate. [Further, a virtual world may] lend itself well to social networking, collaboration and learning” (IEEE).
