Joe Sanchez from the University of Texas at Austin provides a basic overview of virtual worlds.

Overview of Virtual Worlds

A virtual world is located on an electronic grid that is composed of a connection of 3D regions or islands, similar to how the Internet is composed of a multitude of home pages (islands) and subpages (different areas of an island). Many grids exist, some for a specific purpose and audience. The link below provides a list of existing virtual worlds provided by the Federation of American Scientists. Some of these are gaming environments such as World of Warcraft. Gaming environments are goal oriented while social virtual worlds focus on meeting people. You can filter your search of this list of virtual worlds by use, level, subject, and other criteria to find one that interests you.

List of Virtual Worlds by FAS

Second Life is a well-known, proprietary social virtual world grid. Many universities and businesses have paid for a presence on this grid but it’s free to visitors. Additionally, Second Life has its own economy that might prove beneficial for teaching accounting, business, and economic type courses. This video introduces Second Life and how it is being used by the individual, by universities, and by business.

An Introduction to Second Life

These two videos provide guidance on design elements you might want to consider if you create your own island or region. Dr. Tony O’Driscoll and Dr. Karl Kapp developed a four layer design model for 3D learning environments. In the first video, they explain the seven ‘sensibilities’ layer that differentiates social virtual worlds from other media environments. In the second video, they describe the archetypes layer which addresses the 14 ways they feel how people learn best in 3D environments.

Seven Sensibilities

Archetypes