Learning in Virtual Worlds: A Situated Perspective - Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments - page 130

was not, however, able to show that the newly
learned knowledge could transfer to other learn-
ing contexts. More recently, Seo, Byk, and Collins
(2009) wrote a paper on how to apply the ap-
prenticeship methodology to design 3D online
educative simulations; they were interested in
finding more user-centered, interactive and flex-
ible ways to build online learning environments.
They acknowledged that the dynamics of new
technologies call for a different conceptualization
of cognitive apprenticeship, mainly because the
virtual world allows students to take into their
own hands much of what used to be part of the
teacher's responsibility. For instance, in a learning
environment built in a virtual world, like Second
Life, learners are more producers than consumers
of information. The authors present a series of
tables where they list specific instructional recom-
mendations according to all of the strategies
proposed by the Collins et al. (1989) model of
cognitive apprenticeship (for the complete list see
Seo, Byk, & Collins, 2009).

community. Examples of this type of MUVE that
could be developed in a school would be: a virtual
learning environment where teachers learn how to
integrate technology in their teaching practices; a
community to learn about global warming; or a
MUVE where students exchange ideas about cur-
rent national and local politics. A type 1 MUVE
can be built considering the following strategies:

• The MUVE should declare explicitly the

common domain of interest around which
the community of practice will be started
and that will give coherence to the practic-
es and actions performed by its members.
This common domain of interest would be
expected to naturally change along with
the practices that the community members
engage in. For example, first a community
of practice for teachers could be declared
as having the common interest of learn-
ing how to integrate technology into their
teaching practices; however, after a while,
teachers, through their mutual activities
and interests, might modify it to learning
how to apply a constructivist view to the
integration of technology.

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATegIeS

Three Types of mUVes • During their learning experiences within

the MUVE, members engage in collab-
orative activities, which include negotia-
tions, discussions, processes of reflection-
in-action, and the sharing of relevant and
pertinent information. During this process,
members should feel free to propose differ-
ent viewpoints and ways to perform activi-
ties and solve problems.

According to the theoretical discussion presented
in the Background, this paper identifies three
types of MUVEs, based on the situated learning
paradigm, that can be built and used as teach-
ing tools: 1) MUVEs based on the community
of practice concepts; 2) MUVEs based on the
cognitive approach; and 3) MUVEs that combine
both approaches.
Type 1. Taking into consideration the anthro-
pological ideas around the concept of community
of practice, a MUVE can be built to create an
online community of practice and sustain its
existence over time. Its main objective would be
to promote mostly social learning experiences
embedded in a constant dynamic exchanging of
ideas so as to contribute to the knowledge of the

• The MUVE should have members that act

as question-asking persons, members that
provide guidance and consultation, and
members that give administrative and tech-
nical support (Jones and Bronack, 2007).
At the start of the community of practice
these services can be provided by experts,
teachers, and assistants. Over time other
members could and should assume these