Inside Curriculum-Embedded Virtual Worlds

The use of multi-user virtual environments in K-12 education is sparse due in part to the lack of research demonstrating student learning within these environments. The purpose of this study was to explore a key component of learning, collaborative talk, within the Quest Atlantis virtual gaming environment and to look for the relationship between collaboration and progress markers within the game. Three questions guided this study: (a) What is the nature of collaboration? (b) Is there a difference in the nature of collaboration in a structured environment (required collaboration for student success) and an unstructured environment (no collaborative effort required)? and (c) What is the correlation between collaboration and the progress markers in the game environment? To accomplish the goals of this study, game talk of ten students from around the globe was examined within two different sectors of the Quest Atlantis virtual environment. The findings of this qualitative study indicate that non-curricular unstructured virtual environments foster participant collaboration as well as exploration.