Homo Virtualis: Virtual Worlds, Learning, and an Ecology of Embodied Interaction

This article previews the emergence of homo virtualis. Drawing on data from seven research studies, peerreviewed published research articles, and selected excerpts of 30 months of field notes taken in Second Life, the article examines virtual learning environments and embodiment through the lens of interactions of avatars with other avatars, virtual objects, landscapes, sounds, and spatial constructs. Analysis is grounded in the polyvocal evidence provided by select participants who experienced a sense of embodied co-presence and connection with others across geo-physical distances. The discourse ranges from that of high school girls, professional retirees, toxicology and design undergraduates, interdisciplinary graduate students, to educators and researchers from K-12 through university full professors collaborating in SL. In an ecology of virtual contexts, learners inhabit a broader landscape of their own and others' making that allows them to be teachers, designers, researchers, communicators, and collaborators.

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