Supporting Diverse Needs of Learning Groups: Towards Highly Flexible Learning Settings in Collaborative 3D Virtual Environments

Abstract

Three-dimensional virtual worlds have become popular over the last few years for various application scenarios such as communication and collaboration as well as for learning and training activities. A number of learning environments for various learning and training activities have also been developed. Almost all of these environments have been designed for a specific purpose and the development work in this area is resource intensive and time consuming. There is a strong demand for flexible and easy-to-adjust learning environments according to the specific needs of learning groups in a particular context. The situation has motivated us to initiate research towards a flexible system which supports adaptation and configuration of virtual collaborative learning environment according to the learning communities’ specific needs.