The development of educational 3D virtual interactive learning environments for art, design & architecture

Online interactive 3D virtual environments are becoming increasingly globally populated and integrated into everyday physical society. The paper discusses the development of online interactive 3D games technologies and how integration of these media can extend the ‘traditional’ learning and teaching experience.
In this paper the initial stages of the research project are described and the development of the technology and methods used for creating an online 3D virtual interactive learning and teaching for the School of Art & Design environment are discussed and presented.
The funded University research project is exploring the explosion in popularity of Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOGs) and on-line interactive 3D programming tools, that when integrated are enabling new and innovative pedagogies to evolve, that will influence the future of our learning and teaching experiences.
At the University of Huddersfield 1st Teaching & Learning conference in 2006 we presented the development of the 3D virtual interactive learning environments, where virtual 3D students and staff can interact and experience University life as part of an online virtual educational community. The interactive 3D virtual learning environment can include online teaching support materials, link to ‘live’ lectures and provide real-time distance learning experiences for off campus students and international/franchise courses.