Bellevue Community College has just published a Virtual Worlds Trends Analysis for Program Builders. It is directed at Community College program builders, but is very general and could be applied to all levels of education. The introduction to the paper is provided below.
Introduction
The arrival of the Digital Native to Community and Technical College campuses sparks new drive to incorporate social media technologies in teaching and learning and campus services. Virtual Worlds have been identified by early adopters as an engaging tool for distributed learning. Community and Technical Colleges also use Virtual Worlds to promote their institutions, orient and recruit new students with virtual campuses, and as meeting and exhibit spaces for virtual conferences and corporate training.
This analysis identifies current trends for Virtual Worlds in education, and provides resources for further exploration. Because of the open and collaborative nature of Virtual Worlds, new advances and enhancements occur daily. Connected communities of practice provide the best real-time examples of Virtual Worlds and their educational opportunities. Several of these communities are referenced within this document.
Regards
Aaron/Isa Goodman