Call for Chapters Proposals Submission: April 15, 2009 Full Chapters Submission: June 30, 2009
Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments: Applying Dynamic Elements to the Modern Classroom A book edited by: Giovanni Vincenti, Gruppo Vincenti, S.r.l., Rome, Italy James Braman, Towson University, Towson, MD, USA To be published by IGI Global: http://www.igi-global.com/requests/details.asp?ID=609 Introduction In today’s world of education information is delivered through several strategies. There is the classic “lecture” approach, which has been the foundation for many schools and institutions. Then there is “debate” as a form of learning, inherited from the great Greek and Latin philosophers. In the last few years educators have also become familiar with the concept of online education through the use of tools such as “Blackboard”, “WebCT” and other online course delivery systems. An increasing number of institutions are utilizing online education as a means of instruction. At the very least online media functions as a support mechanism to be used in a parallel manner to the material discussed in class. Given the type of interaction with the students, this type of medium can be defined as an online static learning environment. The identification of “static” comes from the idea of the low interaction between the instructor and the students, or among the students themselves. Some tools offer chat rooms, which is a small step toward direct interaction. Virtual environments, such as Twinity, Second Life, WOW and Active Worlds, to name a few, have prompted the interest of many in the education arena. The idea of finding new and improved ways to deliver information to students is constantly on the minds of teachers. Educators are interested in teaching students with more interaction, more realism, and perhaps even immersive technologies that make the students realize how life looked and felt at the times of Imperial Rome. Virtual environments offer just that, and they add an incredible dynamic element to teaching online. Objective and Target Audience This book has several aims, listed here: * Affirming Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) as teaching tools * Distinguishing static and dynamic virtual environments * Advertising research being done on MUVEs as teaching tools * Advertising teaching practices revolving around MUVEs * Reporting teachers’ and students’ experiences with MUVEs utilized in the classroom * Discussing novel and experimental approaches to using virtual spaces * Discussing the benefits of 3D immersive learning This book would be of interest to all educators and practitioners (of any subject, at any level of primary, secondary and higher education) who wish to incorporate a dynamic online element to their classroom, and also to researchers of education, computer science, and instructional technologies. This book will be a one-stop resource for practices as well as research activities within the domain on Multi- User Virtual Environments. Topics Topics for discussion in this book include, but are not limited to the following five areas: * Static vs. dynamic online learning environments * Applying Multi-User Virtual Environments to education * Designing classroom activities for MUVEs * Classroom experiences * Education-oriented research activities conducted in MUVEs Each chapter will be of 8,000 to 10,000 words in length written by experts and leading innovators of their respective fields. Submission Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before April 15, 2009, a 2-3 page chapter proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by April 30, 2009 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by June 30, 2009. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project. Further information on this book can be found at http://www.teachingthroughmuves.info/. Publisher This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference), “Medical Information Science Reference” and “IGI Publishing” imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi-global.com. This publication is anticipated to be released in the second half of 2010. Important Dates April 15, 2009: Proposal Submission Deadline April 30, 2009: Notification of Acceptance June 30, 2009: Full Chapter Submission August 15, 2009: Review Results Returned October 15, 2009: Final Chapter Submission Proposals in WORD format can be submitted electronically to [email protected] or mailed directly to the authors at the addresses shown below. Giovanni Vincenti Gruppo Vincenti, S.r.l. Via dei Gracchi 123 Rome, Italy 00192 [email protected] http://sites.google.com/site/giovannivincenti James Braman Dept. of Computer and Information Sciences Towson University 8000 York Rd. Towson, MD 21252 United States of America [email protected] Apologies for cross-posting --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ http://groups.google.com/group/realxtend http://www.realxtend.org -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
