CU-Boulder Professor David Monarchi and a group of undergraduate business students will present a new learning environment 聳 or virtual world 聳 that Monarchi has developed over the past 18 months with a grant from the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.
The presentation will be from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, April 10, in room 224 in the College of Business and Administration.
Monarchi, an information systems professor, received the CCHE grant to research ways students can learn to use new technology.
"Grounding our work in research on learning and education, we have developed an environment which supports multiple learning styles, encourages active learning, and combines course content and mechanics," Monarchi said. "The environment integrates virtual reality, multimedia, collaborative groupware, a layered help mechanism, textbooks, and the instructor in a system which can be used to enhance resident, as well as, distance education."
Monarchi and his students have created a world where students can use different modes of learning. Students enter the world, which exists on the World Wide Web, and become a character of their choosing. They can attend classes and office hours or visit with other students in common areas.
They also can work on collaborative projects. Participants are given space in the world to build whatever they choose. For example, one student has a high-tech house complete with a waterfall.
The world has a 3-D computer for visitors to walk around in, which explains the computer. Monarchi also has designed a 3-D computer screen that demonstrates how information is displayed on the screen.
His work has attracted course content providers and publishers, including Course Technology (a division of International Thompson Publishing), McGraw Hill and Prentice Hall.
Monarchi and his students will present their world at a technology and learning conference at Highline Community College in Seattle at the end of next week. Monarchi also will meet with Joe Dougherty, President and CEO of Course Technology, to discuss possible joint ventures.
The technology could be used in many disciplines besides business, Monarchi said, to teach anatomy, journalism or other subject areas. Monarchi has actually explored and developed new ways to teach and learn using the new technology.
The undergraduate development team will be on hand at the presentation including Rich Mogull, 735-0170; Michael Miller, Michael Turner and Dan DeKalb; and Ed Shappell 492- 6236.