Immersive Environments as Enabler for Blended Gamified Learning Experiences #vwbpe

Another of the presentations I attended at the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education (VWBPE) conference yesterday was 3D Virtual Immersive Environments as Enabler for Blended Gamified Learning Experiences by Stylianos Mystakidis, e-learning Manager at University of Patras, Greece. 1500 school-age children have attended these sessions, which start with some games/challenges in the University's physical library, then involve watching a live, interactive quest and tour through locations in the virtual world Second Life, and finally producing a digital drawing which expresses their ideas about what they've done. The presentation is embedded below and teh picture was taken during his presentation yesterday.
Other interesting presentations included one on a collaboration between computer science and nursing students (creating 3D virtual simulations for training nursing: the nursing students specify the scenario and the computing students create it: videos here), and one on two 3D environments to encourage reflection on scientific ethics (one to do with genetically modified food, and one with the conflict of environmental and business/professional concerns).

3d Virtual Immersive Environments as Enabler for Blended Gamified Learning Experiences from Stylianos Mystakidis