III.+Teaching+in+Future+Online+Environments+(Web+3.0)

=Teaching in Future Online Environments= ==

= =

====In previous sections of this module we looked at aspects of teaching from the beginning of online instruction (Web 1.0) to modern day online teaching (Web 2.0). This section will focus on teaching in future online or virtual environments.====

**What is Web 3.0?**
====It is important for us to first try and comprehend the term Web 3.0. Garry Hayes (2006) through a blog titled, [|Virtual Worlds, Web 3.0 and Portable Profiles], provides a clear graphical illustration shown below. ====

**What will online teaching look like in the future?**
====Although difficult to understand exactly what online teaching might look like in the future, we will begin by looking at a course designed by Elizabeth Losh (2007) titled, [|Digital Rhetoric: Social Media and Persuasive Games]. This course uses many Web 2.0 tools like blogs and wikis but also incorporates virtual environments (Web 3.0), as we see in the following video about the class.====

media type="youtube" key="F66qju9N0SE&hl=en" height="355" width="425"

**Immersive Social Spaces**
====[|MMORPGs] (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) such as Second Life and River City have created enough interest in education to result in a name change that does not include the term "game". The new term that represents these non game-specific, virtual worlds is [|MUVE] (Multi-User Virtual Environment). To learn more about the educational potential and how teaching is currently being conducted in Second Life, view the following video by xxArete2xx (2007).====

media type="youtube" key="TMGR9q43dag&hl=en&rel=0" height="355" width="425"

====A research project at the London Knowledge Lab titled, [|Learning From Online Worlds; Teaching In Second Life] will be wrapping up in May 2008. The aim of this research project is to, "develop theoretical accounts of learning in immersive social spaces and, based on these findings, to develop and test practical recommendations for teaching" (Carr, Oliver & Burn, 2007). A full project description can be viewed at: http://learningfromsocialworlds.wordpress.com/project-description/====

====A draft report, [|Learning to Teach in Second Life] (Carr, 2007) has been released by the project. This report provides a summary of findings from sessions taught in Second Life.====

====//In 1976, Diana Ross queried, “Do you know where you’re going to? Do you like the things that life is showing you? Where are you going to; do you know?” What direction(s) do you see online teaching going in the immediate future, and why? Do you agree with the future direction of online teaching? Please support your answers.//====