ABSTRACT
There is growing interest in learning that occurs is non-formal environments such as museum. Unfortunately, learning at museums can be limited by access—students rarely visit museums more than once a year. Potentially, informal learning on the internet has the advantage that learners have far greater access to the site allowing for more in-depth and extended learning experiences. There remains a significant challenge to create an online experience that matches the appeal and impact of a visit to a real museum. The development of multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) makes it possible to replicate some of the social atmosphere of a museum on the internet. One of the innovators in this area is a website called Whyville (Numedeon Inc. 1999) which provides a virtual village for kids to learn about science. Although Whyville attracts a large number of users and includes rich science activities, science accounts for very little of the discussion on the site (Foley, Jones, McPhee-Baker, & Aschbacher, 2002). In order to make science more ubiquitous in the environment, the site management instigated a virtual virus called the Why-Pox which quickly infected users on the site causing spots to appear on then- avatars. We examine the impact of the Why-Pox on the community and how it led to increased interest and inquiry in science.
