The Potential of 3D virtual learning environments: A constructivist analysis

In recent years, tertiary educators have seen a rapidly increasing demand for flexibility in the way that learning experiences are delivered or facilitated (Dean, 2002). One of the key implications of this demand is the need for innovation in the design of learning resources as an alternative to face-to-face classes. Alongside this change has been the widespread acceptance of constructivist theories of learning, which emphasise the importance of learners “actively interpreting and constructing individual knowledge representations” (Jonassen, 1991, p.5). Information and communication technologies can be important in the process of adapting to the new demands, as they have the potential to make learning resources more accessible, to allow a greater degree of individualisation and to make the learning process a more active one. Two important technological advances in this context have been the widespread adoption of the Internet and increases in desktop computer graphics and processing capability. Threedimensional (3D) environments, which have become almost ubiquitous within the computer games industry, have the potential to harness these technological developments and facilitate new levels of learnerlearner and learner-computer interaction.