Annotated Outline

Annotated Outline

After review of the articles that I have added for my annotated bibliography, I have outlined 3-5 overarching ideas that join them together cohesively.  The contrast of the research study on virtual worlds and how it is used in education are the following;

I.     Virtual worlds are useful as an educational tool.

II.     Interactions using virtual worlds are beneficial, and helps disabled students, students, and educators effectively with their academic and social skills.

III.     Pedagogies and implementation of virtual worlds in distance education increase social skills activity.

IV.     Virtual worlds reviewed as an effective instructional teaching method

V.     Issues and uncertainty is current when using virtual worlds for education.

These main ideas are summarized in all of the references that have been compiled for my annotated bibliography.  The research theory will help researchers understand the validity of virtual worlds and the uncertainty of using it in academia.  Therefore, there are many instructional methods that are very effective, but not as engaging as the social skills and interaction that a virtual world provides.   More insight on this particular research can validate the basis of using virtual world platforms as a powerful educational tool.

References

Aldrich, C. (2009). Virtual Worlds, Simulations, and Games for Education: A Unifying View. Innovate: Journal of Online Education, 5(5).

Bradshaw, Q., Tomaso, P., Keeling, R., Martinez, J., Lavieri, E., McGinnes, E., Shaffer, M., Calongne, C., Archiquette, S. & Bisson, L. (2011). Into the Twilight Zone: Innovations for Education, Virtual Worlds and Emerging Media. In Proceedings of TCC Worldwide Online Conference 2011 (pp. 29-42). TCCHawaii.

Jestice, R.J. Learning in virtual worlds: Results from two studies. Ph.D. thesis, State University of New York at Binghamton.

Ouyang, Y., Yang, S., Franklin, T., Michaelson, K., Morge, S., Sheybani, E., Hayden, K., Narayan, S., Tagliarini, G. & Talaiver, M. (2010). Games, Sims and Virtual Worlds in K-20 STEM education. In D. Gibson & B. Dodge (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2010 (pp. 2024-2028). Chesapeake, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).

Savin-Baden, M., Gourlay, L., Tombs, C., Steils, N., Tombs, G. & Mawer, M. (2010). Situating Pedagogies, Positions and Practices in Immersive Virtual Worlds. Educational Research, 52(2), 123-133.

Sheila Webber and Diane Nahl (2011). Sustaining learning for LIS through use of a virtual world IFLA Journal, March 2011; vol. 37, 1: pp. 5-15.

Steinkuehler, C. & Duncan, S. (2008). Scientific Habits of Mind in Virtual Worlds. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 17(6), 530-543.

Stendal, K., Balandin, S. & Molka-Danielsen, J. (2011). Virtual Worlds: A New Opportunity for People with Lifelong Disability? Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 36(1), 80-83.

Suzanne C. Baker, Ryan K. Wentz, and Madison M. Woods (2009). Using Virtual Worlds in Education: Second Life as an Educational Tool. Teaching of Psychology, January 2009; vol. 36, 1: pp. 59-64.

Wang, F. & Lockee, B.B. (2010). Virtual Worlds in Distance Education: A Content Analysis Study. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 11(3), 183-186.