This study investigates the classroom integration of an innovative technology, augmented reality. Although the process of adding new technologies into a classroom setting can be daunting, the concept of augmented reality has demonstrated the ability to educate students and to assist with their comprehension of a procedural task. One half of the…

This paper describes designing and implementing a scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) study in a basic electrical circuits course at LaGuardia Community College. Inspired by my understanding of Shulman's (2005) concept of "signature pedagogy" and Mazur's (2009) emphasis on student-centered approaches, and aware that our students…

How can educators make use of augmented reality technologies and practices to enhance learning and why would we want to embrace such technologies anyway? How can an augmented reality help a learner confront, interpret and ultimately comprehend reality itself ? In this article, we seek to initiate a discussion that focuses on these questions, and…

Just a few years ago, virtual worlds were credited with the power to transform the universe. Used since the late 1990s in military and medical applications, virtual worlds first gained mainstream media attention when Linden Lab released Second Life in 2003. While other worlds, including open source environments, have launched since then (examples…

To determine if and how using immersive virtual platforms might further educational purposes, the report examines three graduate, teacher-education, online courses that were conducted in part in Second Life (SL). By studying students' SL-related debriefings and assignments, by considering the type, format, and scheduling of SL events, and by…

For a growing group of educators, the online role-playing game World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment's massively popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), is a place to go to relax, network, and discover potential learning strategies-- and slay a few monsters if they get in the way. The online role-playing game World of…

According to the 2008 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE): 82 percent of community college students surveyed have part-time jobs (and over half of this group works more than 20 hours a week); almost all (93 percent) reported commuting to campus and 21 percent said they spend between six and 20 hours a week in the commute;…

This article presents the results of a three-year study of "Gamestar Mechanic" (www.gamestarmechanic.com), a flash-based multiplayer online role-playing game developed for the MacArthur Foundation's digital media learning initiative by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Gamelab in New York. The game's objective is to help children…

Virtual Enterprises International (VE) is a high school program that teaches students about business through task-oriented and hands-on coursework. With the assistance of a coordinator and business mentors, VE students create and oversee a virtual firm, conducting business with other virtual firms nationally and internationally. The program…

Virtual Reality (VR) is primarily a visual technology. Elements such as haptics (touch feedback) and sound can augment an experience, but the visual cues are the prime driver of what an audience will experience from a VR presentation. At its inception in 2001 the Centre for Advanced Visualization (CFAV) at Niagara College of Arts and Technology…