Living in Virtual and Real Worlds: A Didactic Experience

Abstract

During the last decade some technologies have achieved the necessary maturity to allow the widespread emergence of Virtual Worlds; many people are living an alternative life in them. One objective of this paper is to argue that the blending of real and virtual worlds has been happening for centuries, and in fact is the mark of “civilization”. This project presents a proposal to improve student motivation in the classroom, through a new form of recreation of a mixed reality environment. To this end, two applications have been created that work together between the real environment and the virtual environment: these applications are called “Virtual Craft” and “Virtual Touch”. Virtual Craft is related with the real world and Virtual Touch is related with the virtual world. These applications are in constant communication with each other, since both students and teachers carry out actions that influence the real or virtual world. A gamification mechanics was used in the recreated environment, in order to motivate the students to carry out the activities assigned by the teacher. For the evaluation of the proposal, a pilot experiment with Virtual Craft was carried out in a Secondary Educational Center in Valls (Spain).