The integration of emerging technologies in higher education presents a new set of challenges and opportunities for educators. With a growing need for customized lesson plans in online education, educators are rethinking the design and development of their learning environments. "Utilizing Virtual and Personal Learning Environments for Optimal Learning" expertly combines informative chapters and relevant case studies on the effective use of technology to enhance online education for students of varying learning styles and abilities. This publication is an essential reference source for educators, researchers, professionals, and upper-level students with an interest in leveraging digital technologies and virtual environments to enhance personalization in learning. This publication features timely research and case studies focused on online teaching and learning techniques in higher education including immersive technologies, research methodologies, and pedagogical designs. Following a foreword by Jonathon Richter and a preface by the editors, chapters include: (1) Eight Years of Utilizing Virtual Worlds for Education: A View from the Trenches (Stefan Schutt and Dale Linegar); (2) Teacher Perceptions of the Practicality and Effectiveness of Immersive Ecological Simulations (Shari J. Metcalf, Amy M. Kamarainen, Cailean B. Cooke, Selen Turkay, Tina Grotzer, and Chris Dede); (3) Students as Designers of Virtual World Learning Environments (Lisa Jacka and Kate Booth); (4) Teacher-Created Augmented Reality Experiences: An International. Perspective (Patrick O'Shea and Daniel Curry-Corcoran); (5) Using Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) to Support Second Language Learning: A Case Study of the Student Journey (Rebecca Strachan, Isara Kongmee, and Alison Pickard); (6) Participation and Interaction in Learning Environments: A Whole-Network Analysis (Oskar Casquero, Manuel Benito, Jesús Romo, and Ramón Ovelar); (7) Trajectory of an Institutional PLE in Higher Education Based on an e-Portfolios System (Jesús Salinas and Victoria I. Marín); (8) Applying E-Portfolio Evaluation Criteria to the Blackboard LMS E-Portfolio (Gary F. McKenna, Gavin J. Baxter, and Thomas Hainey); (9) Revisiting the Effects and Affordances of Virtual Manipulatives for Mathematics Learning (Patricia S. Moyer-Packenham and Arla Westenskow); (10) Identity, Citizenship, and Moral Constructs from the Virtual Self (Stewart Martin); (11) Facilitating Communities of Practice in Online Immersive Learning Environments (Krista Terry, Amy Cheney, Les Bolt, Terry McClannon, and Robert L. Sanders); (12) A Research Lens for Studying Power in Learning Games: Critical Ciné-Ethnography (Scott Joseph Warren and Jonathan S. Gratch); and (13) Design-Based Research with AGILE Sprints to Produce MUVES in Vocational Education (Todd Cochrane, Niki E. Davis, and Julie Mackey). An index is included.