1

Virtual Campus in the Context of an Educational Virtual City

Mikhail FominykhEkaterina Prasolova-Førland

NTNU, Norway

Mikhail MorozovAlexey Gerasimov

MarSTU, Russia

23.06.2009, Honolulu

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Virtual Cities and Virtual Worlds

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Idea Learning

tools

EducationalVirtual City

Citycontext

Web 2.0tools

Social virtualworlds lack in

connectingvirtual and real

Virtual citieslack in learningand socializing

support

4

Social software

Virtual City of Yoshkar-Ola (VCYO)

Learning toolsCity context

5

Case study

• Direct observation• Archival records

– Chat– Notes with comments– Photo-sharing– Path recordings– Social network

• Essays and questionnaire

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Navigation

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Community network

• Social networking – Profiles, friend lists, blogs

• List of online users• Text chat

– Global, local and personal• Notes and photos

– Posting and commenting

8

Virtual places

• Meeting place– Announcements

and notes – Resources

• Exhibition– Attracting interest– Discussing the

exhibition online

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Virtual lecture

• Place– Auditorium; – Slide show, web

browser and video;– Text-chat;

• Foreign lecturer• Discussion• Feedback

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Campus + City

PlacesVirtual campus

Citycontext

Hanging out

Festivals

Games

History

Architecture

Culture

SpaceResources

L

S

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Appearance

• Points of interest– Creating familiar

atmosphere

• Places for learning and socialising – Serving specific

goals

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Atmosphere

• Accurate design• Music and Sounds• ‘Alive’ objects and

creatures• Presence of other

users

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Resources and tools

ModelResources

Tools

Exploring Learning Hanging outNetworkingContributing

Learning more

Acquisition

++

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Navigation facilities

• City tours• Transportation routes• Tourist offices• Searchable maps• Social navigation facilities

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Conclusion

• The concept of integrating a virtual campus and a virtual city

• Results of a case study in VCYO

• Guidelines

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Thank you!

Mikhail Fominykh, Ekaterina Prasolova-FørlandNTNU, Norway

Mikhail Morozov, Alexey GerasimovMarSTU, Russia

E-mail: mikhail.fominykh@svt.ntnu.noSlides: http://www.slideshare.net/mfominykh/VCYO: http://virtyola.ru/