Instructional design in virtual worlds

I attended a class this week in instructional design for virtual worlds hosted by the Gronstedt Group in Second Life (SL). As an aside, you might want to check out the article Anders Grondstedt wrote about training and 3D worlds in Training and Development magazine. When the class began, we teleported to MIST Island and were shown instructional design examples by our guide, Abbott Bundy (his SL name), a teacher in SL.

We learned some interesting things in the class, almost all of it related to instructional layout and design for 3D worlds. In the image above we are seen entering a large classroom with floating chairs for viewing three screens. The instructor spoke about optimal layout and design for maximum viewing. We also discovered techniques for learner engagement, such as creating treasure hunts to gather information and learner checkpoints to measure progress. We also learned how to build a training center that gives the idea of a separate space without a huge time investment spent building the architecture.

I'm convinced the need for sound instructional design will not go away. With the currently changing information landscape, there are many new ways to deliver content to learners. What is exciting are the variety of ways we can engage learners, a vital component of today's knowledge economy.