The expectations raised by virtual worlds like Second Life, the power of addiction that exercise video games, the possibility of using open source platforms to deploy these airs, has opened a channel of research in e-learning.
We present a minimum set of facilities that enable the deployment of 3D virtual environments for learning through two case studies: learning of Castilian as a second language and assessment environment for the novel "The Invention of Morel" by A. Bioy Casares. In the first case study we focus on deploying the mechanisms that allow activities to acquire knowledge and skills in 3D virtual environments, the emphasis is on the introduction of collaborative tasks. In the second case study we focus on a specific phase of the teaching-learning process: evaluation, looking for new ways to assess both knowledge and skills and trying as far as possible to follow the patterns of QTI specification.
Author Biography
María Blanca Ibáñez (UC3M, http://www.it.uc3m.es ) is a Computer Engineer and M.Sc. in Computer Science from the University Simón Bolívar, Caracas. Doctor by the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble. He worked as a researcher at the European Computer Research Center (Munich), Heriott-Watt University (Edinburgh) and teaches at the Universidad Simón Bolívar. He is currently a visiting professor at the University Carlos III of Madrid, is attached to the Department of Telematics and undertakes research in the laboratory Gradient GAST group. His research interests include 3D virtual environments for learning and CSCL distributed applications.
