Virtual worlds are simulations of real life experiences that take place through digital technologies. The ways in which virtual realities can be used are limitless. We can create environments that provoke learning. For example, The Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and Technology discusses a scenario where fifth grade students engage in a role-playing simulation set during the Industrial Revolution. The students can interact with their avatar's family and co-workers, perform work at a textile mill, and decide how to spend the pay that they have earned based on their job. These kids get to experience life in a setting that no longer exists, rather than just reading about it in a textbook. Alternatively, we can also use these virtual worlds to digitally experience the very same world we are currently living in. As mentioned in the article, "I've Been in That Club, Just Not in Real Life", Virtual Lower East Side is a website that provides users with an online version of a small segment of Manhattan.
One of the great benefits of virtual worlds is, as I have mentioned, that we can create new and better ways of learning. Students can live in past time periods, rather than reading about them; employees can train through simulations that mirror their actual encounters on the job. However, a great drawback to be considered here is the addiction factor. To some, virtual worlds will not only be an escape from reality but a second reality in itself. Similarly to video games, the pleasure of portraying characters that we normally cannot, is enough to make people spend more time on their virtual lives than their real ones.
Despite this, virtual technologies provide us with the opportunity to nurture our imaginations like never before. Just like Minecraft, which has captured the hearts of millions of kids. Both give us the freedom to build anything that we can think of. Specifically, in virtual worlds there are no norms or rules as to what should or shouldn't be, allowing room for creativity to flow freely.
1. Situated Learning in Virtual Worlds and Immersive Simulations
http://mfile.narotama.ac.id/files/Jurnal/Jurnal%202012-2013/Situated%20learning%20in%20virtual%20worlds%20and%20immersive%20simulations.pdf
2. "I've Been in That Club, Just Not in Real Life" by Dave Itzkoff, The New York Times, January 6, 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/arts/television/06itzk.html?_r=0
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