ABSTRACT
This chapter concerns itself with the use of virtual environments (VEs) for learning of the kind expected to occur in schools, colleges and universities, that is, the acquisition of general problem-solving skills, mastery of facts and concepts, and improvement of the learning process itself. The chapter systematically explores the potential of VE for education as well as potential obstacles to its use. As of mid-2001, there are no commercially available VE systems deployed for regular instructional use in K-12 or university education, so this review relies on research projects for insight. In analyzing the major experiments thus far carried out, one can discern various combinations of three basic educational approaches to VE: exploration, world building, and world sharing. This chapter is not a general survey of VE-based educational research. Rather, it examines in some detail six research projects, focusing on two of these projects to explore each of the approaches above. An excellent survey of the educational use of VE technology can be found in Youngblut (1998).
