If you’re interested in the use of virtual worlds in education and immersive learning, it’s always a challenge finding good research papers on the subject.
Which is why I was so excited today when I discovered Olle Sköld’s paper “The effects of virtual space on learning: A literature review.”
It’s a fantastic resource full of great references and summaries, and it’s also very timely (was published in Jan 2012). Best of all, the full paper is freely accessible online.
More about Olle:
Olle Sköld is a doctoral student at the Department of Information Studies, School of Business and Economics, Åbo Akademi University, Finland, and an adjunct in Archival Science at the Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences, Lund University, Sweden.
Great work, my friend!
-John “Pathfinder” Lester
Chief Learning Officer
ReactionGrid Inc.
Be Cunning and Full of Tricks 
Great resource, John, thank you. There is an active educational group that started in There.com called ‘The University of There’. As of late they have branched out into other virtual worlds and call themselves ‘There University of Terra’. They have taught countless people how to create virtual world content within a virtual world classroom where people make friends that last for years. It’s an excellent way for anyone, especially those with handicaps to learn and socialize. You can learn more at one of their groups located here: http://thumdar.com/forum/university-of-terra-uot.html
Thanks for that information, Jay. I’ll definitely check out the site you mentioned.
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