Immersive internet Australia: education

Immersive Internet Australia: Education documents the rise of online virtual environments, and how they can be utilised to promote active learning. The idea that virtual environments are places for community engagement has been understood by the gaming community for some time, however the rise of the online world, Second Life (SL) during 2005-7, brought wider recognition, when a fascinated media reported on the more sensational aspects of living in a pixelated world. Since then, the faint pulse has turned into a strong heartbeat. Globally, participation in online spatial environments is on the rise, spearheaded by a bullish kids and youth market, which sees constituents migrating comfortably to virtual worlds for social and gaming purposes. Equally, rapid improvements in the platforms themselves have prompted the serious consideration of 3D virtual environments for geographically dispersed or resource-limited communities, or where remote services and collaborative projects are being undertaken. These two factors, the wider uptake by younger generations, and the improvement in the technology itself, signal the increasing integration between the real and virtual world. It is timely therefore, to understand how multi-user virtual environments (MUVES) add value to the education sector. Take-up is mostly at the 'trial' or 'exploratory' phase; this befits the development of the immersive Internet itself, as platforms are in their relative infancy, with issues relating to virtual worlds' security, scalability and interoperability still being resolved. However, developers are working to meet the challenges. The user- to- producer feedback cycle is accelerating the rate of improvement and a new wave of lightweight, browser based, more robust services is discerned. Furthermore, the shortcomings of virtual worlds have not stopped innovative educators from exploring their potential. The report identifies a local cohort of innovators, both at the user end, and on the services side who display ingenuity, variety and depth. A significant feature of the immersive Internet is that it is an integration of well established online behaviours common to young people; these include participation in platforms that promote social connectedness, response to visual content, an enthusiasm for the sharing of media resources and ideas and a steep rise in the popularity of online games and kids worlds (often driven by trans-platform entertainment brands). These factors suggest that virtual worlds will become intuitive learning environments for digitally literate students. Whilst it is early days and further evidence-based research is warranted, examples collected for this report demonstrate how immersive Internet technologies are being used to engage students not just in learning, but also in knowledge production. In relation to the building of the National Broadband Network (NBN), many Australians are asking what the business case for a super-fast broadband service might be. Virtual environments ought to be considered in these discussions for they are generally bandwidth hungry; even lightweight platforms are impacted if user-groups are simultaneously looking at multiple embedded rich media, such as streaming video, streaming audio and presentations.