Collaboratories and Virtual Safaris as Research in Virtual Learning Environments Scholarship

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. One of the most compelling interests in virtual learning environments research is, I believe, in pursuing ways to advance this research through the incorporation of these virtual environments, themselves, as effective methods for displaying and disseminating evidence of learning. By shooting movies made of virtual learning situations and adding relevant citations and scholarly notes, for example, researchers may compose “annotated machinima” to provide an academic context for the learning milieu characterized by video games, virtual worlds, or augmented reality experiences. Educational researchers investigating virtual learning environments can make use of such records to capture the rich, interconnected, and/or unique affordances and contexts to be found in these virtual situations – something that is difficult and at least more laborious, if not impossible to do when relying on the printed word alone. Collaboratories and Virtual Safaris as Research in Virtual Learning Environments Scholarship