Implementation+and+History+of+virtual+worlds

=**The implementation of existing eLearning tools in new innovative ways **=

Existing virtual worlds can be used in new innovative ways to teach content using methods that are considered new. Rogers (1962) described innovators as “venturesome and educated, have multiple sources of information and show greater propensity to take risks. They appreciate technology for its own sake and are motivated by the idea of being a change agent in their reference group. They are willing to tolerate initial problems that may accompany new products or services and are willing to make shift solutions to such problems.” As shown in Rogers (1962) model for the adoption and diffusion of innovations shown below, those that implement a virtual world in their eLearning system in an innovative way are a minority of people who work in the education market

While the exact percentages of the model may differ for adoption of virtual worlds as an eLearning tool when compared to innovation in general the diagram indicates that innovators are by far the smallest percentage of people in regard to the adoption of new technologies.


 * Brief history of innovation in virtual worlds**

Some would say that virtual worlds existed before MUD1 was released in 1978 however for the purpose of eLearning the development of the first MUD (Multi User Dungeon) was the first true innovation that started the use of virtual worlds in eLearning. The Mud Connector (2010) defines a MUD as ‘an environment where multiple people may be logged on and interacting with one another’ This definition differed from the original as MUD became a word used for virtual worlds that were not simply games but could also be educational tools, some of which are still used today. MUDs were originally text based environments but later graphical MUDs were also introduced. An example of an educational MUD is The Builder Academy which is a Mud designed to teach people how to create virtual worlds. Below is an example of a text based environment that you would expect to see. This image was taken from the MUD Aaezure odyssey.



The computer game industry has had a huge impact on virtual worlds used for educational purposes. Many of the innovations developed for these computer games are also eventually utilised in eLearning systems. Just as technologies developed for uses in war, such as the internet, later became used to facilitate learning, the gaming industry is often first to develop new innovative technologies which the education industry can then adopt for use in virtual worlds designed for eLearning purposes. Historically the first virtual worlds used for gaming were the MUD’s and their variants. However the development of the MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) changed the industry and brought it to the mainstream community. The first significant MMORPG was Ultima online who according to the Electronic arts (2008) ‘was the first MMORPG to reach the 100,000 subscriber base’. EverQuest was another popular MMORPG which released in 1999 and reached over 450000 subscriptions according to Sony (2003). Although the previous two MMORPGs were significant in the evolution of virtual worlds, World Of Warcraft has become the best known MMORPG and had an active subscription of 11.5 million people in 2008 according to Blizzard Entertainment (2008). Many other MMORPG have been developed such as Runescape, Aeon, Age of Conan and Warhammer Online. It is important to recognise many users of MMORPG are also users of virtual worlds in an educational setting making it important for developers of educational virtual worlds to utilise innovative features and controls from the gaming industry to reduce the learning curve of new virtual worlds and better improve the quality of content delivered to users.

PlayStation Home (also marketed and referred to as Home) is a community-based social gaming networking service. Home allows users to create a custom avatar, which can be made to suit the user's liking. Users can decorate their avatar's personal apartment ("HomeSpace") with default, bought, or won items. (Wikipedia) PlayStation Home has public areas, private areas, gaming areas and allow users to interact in a virtual environment. One of the benefits of it are that many people already own a Playstation console. Although it is still lacking content it is a growing platform that is proving to be very popular with the younger users and does have educational possibilities in the long term. Currently the only educational applications of Home are the range of educational games that are available in PS3 rather than simulated classroom environments that are available in Second Life.