«Virtual Craft: apps and virtual worlds»

Abstract

VIRTUAL TOUCH is an educational 3D virtual world based on Opensim, and supported by the GHIA research group at EPS (UAM). Teachers and students can created content, do all kinds of exercises, make 3D constructions, use written chat, created virtual presentations, and share documents with the goal of learning content from all kinds of curricular areas. Students can work at the classroom, supervised by the responsible teacher, and also at home, in a multidisciplinary way, developing basic skills and doing work based on multiple intelligences. Teleworking and social networking among students is also encouraged in this virtual environment. During the last 10 years, many VT projects have been developed, involving an approximate number of 600 users; most of them secondary school students, students with special educational needs and diversity students (reinforcement classrooms, “aulas de acogida” or open classrooms).

An evolution of this educational tool, VirtualCraft, is currently being developed: an app and a web interconnected with the virtual world VT, that involves a gamified environment for learning both at home and in the classroom, in a coordinated way.

Biografía

María José Lasala Bello holds a Degree in History and Geography from the University of Barcelona (1990). She completed her doctoral studies in 1992 under the programme: The History of Art from the Theory (UB). Currently, she is a PhD student in the Educational Technology programme of the URV. She has been working as an ESO and Bachillerato teacher and as a tutor of welcome, reinforcement and ordinary classrooms since 2002. She teaches Social Sciences at the Narcís Oller Institute. Since 2007 she has been part of the coordinating team of the “Projecte Espurn@” and “Projectes Espurn@”, (ICE, UAB). And she participates in “e-Training and e-Coaching for social and labour integration -eIntegra-” (Ministry of Science and Innovation), and in innovative and geolocation projects: Eduhack, Tarraconada, Vilaniuada. Member of the TAC Commission in his work centre as well, and trainer of trainers in the ICT+C field (ICE, UAB) and of 3D environments in different CRP, she coordinates and co-creates the virtual worlds: Espurnik, V-Leaf and VirtualTouch, through the ICE (UAB/URV). She is currently developing VirtualCraft: app and 3D virtual world for learning (EPS, UAM)