Business communication educators need to realize that as technology changes and evolves, they must also change and evolve their teaching methods and content. Cell phones, email, blogs, wikis, and text messaging are just a few examples of business communication technologies that not so long ago were viewed as entertainment for teens or techies, but…

Games have always been a part of the human experience. Even the earliest of civilizations created games for enjoyment and entertainment. However, the educational value of those games is a relatively recent consideration. Over the previous fifty years, scholars have questioned the potential positive lessons learned from games such as Monopoly[R],…

Purpose: Gaming and interactive virtual simulation environments support a learner-centered educational model allowing learners to work through problems acquiring knowledge through an active, experiential learning approach. To develop effective virtual simulations and serious games, the views and perceptions of learners and educators must be…

Nursing education programs are proliferating rapidly in the United States in an effort to meet demand for nurse professionals. Multiple challenges arise from this rapid expansion. One challenge is finding sufficient clinical sites to accommodate students. Increased competition for scarce resources requires creativity in clinical contracting. This…

This study aims to reveal Second Life (SL) residents' profiles, first hand experiences, opinions about SL and its potential as an educational environment. The members of 14 Turkish Island in SL answered a questionnaire including Likert-type, open ended and multiple-choice items and participated in interview sessions. Researchers collected 118…

Background: Integrating 3D virtual world technologies into educational subjects continues to draw the attention of educators and researchers alike. The focus of this study is the use of a virtual world, Second Life, in higher education teaching. In particular, it explores the potential of using a virtual world experience as a learning component…

Introduction: This study describes (a) process goals, (b) success factors, and (c) barriers for optimizing simulation-based learning environments within the simulation setting model developed by Dieckmann. Methods: Seven simulation educators of different experience levels were interviewed using the Critical Incident Technique. Results: (a) The…

The purpose of the observational study was to investigate whether spaces in Second Life (SL) displaying interactive scientific exhibits can become potential avenues to promote inquiry in teaching scientific concepts. 42 SL spaces (islands) were selected using inclusion/exclusion criteria out of 155 spaces that were found using three different…

Purpose: In the authors' experience, the biggest issue with pose-based exergames is the difficulty in effectively communicating a three-dimensional pose to a user to facilitate a thorough understanding for accurate pose replication. The purpose of this paper is to examine options for pose presentation. Design/methodology/approach: The authors…

This study reports a case study in which a pedagogical model, namely the Global Virtual Education (GloVEd) model, which is based on the teaching-studying-learning process (TSL process) and the characteristics of meaningful learning, is developed and used to evaluate students' meaningful learning experiences during the Global Virtual Collaboration…

For the first time in history, an entire statewide public institution of higher education is extending all of its 16 campuses into the online virtual world of Second Life and is creating one of the largest virtual collaborative learning communities in the world. There are three levels of assessment and research for this initial-entry project: (1)…

Purpose: This study aims to explore students' perceptions of a virtual reality simulation that enable nursing students to learn how to use a medical emergency crash cart. Design/methodology/approach: The study was designed to explore how students' perceptions of ease of use and perceived usefulness from the technology acceptance model and the…

Effectively presenting complex material is a crucial component of instructional design within simulation-based training (SBT) environments. One approach to facilitate the acquisition of higher-order knowledge is to embed instructional strategies within the systems themselves. Currently, however, there are few established guidelines to inform…

The present article is primarily targeted for the advanced college/university undergraduate students of chemistry/physics education, computational physics/chemistry, and computer science. The most recent software system such as MS Visual Studio .NET version 2010 is employed to perform computer simulations for modeling Bohr's quantum theory of…

This paper reports on the task-based interaction of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in the 3D multiuser virtual environment (MUVE) Second Life. The discussion first explores research on the precursors of MUVEs, text-based 2D virtual worlds known as MOOs. This is followed by an examination of studies on the use of MUVEs in Computer…