Loyalist College Wins LERN Award for Programming

However, some may argue that a virtual learning environment could lead to learning filled with distractions and diversions. A virtual world, unlike a textbook, is packed with sound, colour, and dialogue. Kirkpatrick believes they have eliminated certain aspects that help with this potential drawback.

“One of the things that we do for all our educational applications of this is minimize some of the disruptions you would see with a virtual world,” said Kirkpatrick. “You create your own avatar, but we minimize the amount of changes you can make.” [pullquote]One of the things that we do for all our educational applications of this is minimize some of the disruptions you would see with a virtual world[/pullquote]

Another criticism is the likelihood a mature learner might be intimidated by the format and the technological aspect of these programs. When asked if he felt that a younger generation was drawn to the classes more so than mature students, Kirkpatrick said, “We don’t find age to be an impairment at all. We have a number of these environments we’ve done not just for institutions, but also for others across North America, and age has not really been a hindrance.

“The use of these environments are commonplace these days for a multitude of people. Yes, youth tend to use them more often because they tend to be gamers, but I know a lot of forty year olds that spend a lot of time gaming, male and female.”

Besides the fact that this type of learning is award-winning and beneficial, it also carries with it a cool factor. Gone are the hours spent behind a desk listening to a professor. Gone are the dusty projector slides and chalkboards. It’s a new and exciting world and each student gets to play a role. Students are learning safety procedures not from a safety training video but by immersing themselves in a realistic 3D world.[pullquote]Gone are the dusty projector slides and chalkboards. It’s a new and exciting world and each student gets to play a role.[/pullquote]

“The comment we get from students when they do these simulations is, ‘I felt like I was there,’” said Kirkpatrick. “And that’s the key; you hear the word ‘I’ a lot. ‘I did this, I accomplished this, I was able to solve the problem, I made the factory work again,’ and that is a very powerful statement to Loyalist.”

While technology continues to evolve, types of classroom learning will inevitably evolve as well. Perhaps one day there will be virtual surgeries performed in medical school or a virtual environment where Shakespeare comes alive. If Loyalist College is an example, this type of virtual learning environment will produce a generation of confident and capable students.