This volume fills a gap in the literature between the domains of Communication Studies and Educational Sciences across physical-virtual spaces as they intersect in the 21st century. The chapters focus on “languaging” - communicative practices in the making - and its intersection with analogue and virtual learning spaces, bringing together studies that highlight the constant movement between analogue-virtual dimensions that continuously re-shape participants' identity positionings. Languaging is understood as the deployment of one or more than one language variety, modality, embodiment, etc in human meaning-making across spaces. Languaging activities are explored through a multitude of literary artefacts, genres, media, and modes produced in and across sites. The authors go beyond “best practice” approaches and instead present “how-to-explore” communicative practices for researchers, learners and teachers. This book will be of interest to readers situated in the areas of literacy, literature, bi/multilingualism, multimodality, linguistic anthropology, applied linguistics, and related fields. Chapters 2, 5, 8 and 12 are open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com.

Virtual Immersive and 3D Learning Spaces: Emerging Technologies helps push the conceptual and applied boundaries of virtual immersive learning. Virtual immersive spaces bring with them plenty of promise, of sensory information-rich learning experiences that will enable a much wider range of experiential learning and training—delivered to computer desktops, augmented reality spaces, digital installations, and mobile projective devices. This work explains how these spaces may be exploited for effective learning in terms of the technologies, pedagogical strategies, and directions.

The emergent phenomena of virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality is having an impact on ways people communicate with technology and with each other. Schools and higher education institutions are embracing these emerging technologies and implementing them at a rapid pace. The challenge, however, is to identify well-defined problems where these innovative technologies can support successful solutions and subsequently determine the efficacy of effective virtual learning environments. Emerging Technologies in Virtual Learning Environments is an essential scholarly research publication that provides a deeper look into 3D virtual environments and how they can be developed and applied for the benefit of student learning and teacher training. This book features a wide range of topics in the areas of science, technology, engineering, arts, and math to ensure a blend of both science and humanities research. Therefore, it is ideal for curriculum developers, instructional designers, teachers, school administrators, higher education faculty, professionals, researchers, and students studying across all academic disciplines.

Technology has had direct impact on education in increasing the way that society continues to learn. Applications of immersive environments, virtual worlds, and augmented reality have significant implications for how teaching and learning are achieved in contemporary education. Immersive Environments, Augmented Realities and Virtual Worlds: Assessing Future Trends in Education brings together current research and performance in trends in education. While examining cyber behavior and the use of virtual worlds, immersive technologies and augmented realities aim to improve teaching and enhancing learning.

Modern technology has enhanced many aspects of life, including classroom education. By offering virtual learning experiences, educational systems can become more efficient and effective at teaching the student population. The Handbook of Research on Collaborative Teaching Practice in Virtual Learning Environments highlights program developments in the realm of digital worlds in educational settings. Featuring pedagogical methods and topics relating to cooperative learning, hands-on curriculum, and meta-cognitive dimensions, this publication is a critical reference source for pre-service and in-service teachers, school administrators, higher education faculty, and researchers interested in virtual reality incorporation in the classroom.

"This book highlights invaluable research covering the design, development, and evaluation of online learning environments, examining the role of technology enhanced learning in this emerging area"--Provided by publisher.--

Virtual worlds and other virtual environments offer an adaptable context for applied and situated learning experiences. In this book, educators, instructional designers, librarians, administrators and scholars reflect on how to leverage constructivist, authentic, collaborative and complex interactive educational experiences through the use of these multisensory environments.

A practical guide on how to transform your ideas from virtual world course ware to virtual world learning experiences. It argues that setting up learning in 3D virtual worlds requires a transformative approach.

As an increasing amount of information is made available online, the assumption is that people who visit Web sites will be able to strategize their learning to optimize access to this information. Constructing Self-Discovery Learning Spaces Online: Scaffolding and Decision Making Technologies raises awareness of the strategies supporting self-driven learner efficacy on a number of site types. This book reflects on existing literature about self-discovery learning and what learners need in terms of scaffolding to help them make the right decisions, assess their own level of learning, vet information strategically, collaborate with other learners, and build their own skill sets.

The book presents the possibilities and realities of virtual worlds in education through the application of 3D virtual worlds to support authentic learning, creativity, learner engagement and cultural diversity in higher education. It includes a unique variety of cross disciplinary approaches to research, teaching and learning in a virtual world, including analysis of data from the experiences of students in education, law, Chinese language, sustainability, computer architecture, business, health and the Arts. The book provides unique learning experiences that have celebrated the rich media of virtual world environments through the utilisation of affordances such as simulation, bots, synchronous interaction, machinima and games. The perspectives come from Australia and New Zealand higher education academics but transferable to any higher educational institution in the sector, worldwide, and is significant to various disciplines in the higher education field.