Abstract

A Walk on the Virtual Side: teaching with virtual landscapes
Track: Education
Authors: Susan Bergeron

Increasingly, educators and researchers in a number of disciplines are recognizing the potential power of virtual landscape reconstructions as tools in representing and conveying knowledge through the experience of navigating through and interacting with information embedded within such virtual worlds. These technologies and their application to historical landscape reconstruction have opened up new opportunities to synthesize and spatialize disparate historical resources and qualitative data through immersive and interactive virtual environments. In addition, such reconstructions offer unique opportunities to engage students in a dynamic, interactive learning environment by allowing them to participate in the development of the virtual world. Through a case study based on historic Conway, South Carolina, this paper will demonstrate how students can be involved both in the design and development of the virtual landscape, as well as learn through the experience of exploring the completed reconstruction.