Using Virtual Worlds to Engage Typical and Special Needs Students in Kinesthetic Computer Science Activities: A Computer Science Unplugged Case Study

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Authors

Daniela Marghitu, Auburn University, United States ; Tim Bell, Ben Kearns, Brett Ward, Kim Stephen-Pope, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

EdMedia + Innovate Learning, Jun 22, 2009 in Honolulu, HI, USA ISBN 978-1-880094-73-0

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Abstract

Abstract: Students with disabilities are often overlooked when it comes to majoring or having a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. It is well known that innovative hands-on science and math activities increase the content knowledge and confidence of students with disabilities thereby increasing their likelihood of majoring in STEM disciplines. In this case study we investigate the use of Virtual Worlds to provide “hands-on” activities in Computer Science, without requiring students to learn to program before they can participate. Two different kinds of virtual worlds are explored: Second Life (where users interact through a personal avatar in real time), and the Alice programming language (where users control characters in a virtual world through program instructions).

Citation

Marghitu, D., Bell, T., Kearns, B., Ward, B. & Stephen-Pope, K. (2009). Using Virtual Worlds to Engage Typical and Special Needs Students in Kinesthetic Computer Science Activities: A Computer Science Unplugged Case Study. In G. Siemens & C. Fulford (Eds.), Proceedings of ED-MEDIA 2009--World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications (pp. 183-188). Honolulu, HI, USA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved August 14, 2024 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/31499.

© 2009 AACE