Tim Johnson's Blog – February 2013 Archive (2)

I’ve been taking a number of classes online through websites like Coursera and the MIT Opencourseware. While the MIT courses are entirely self-paced, the Coursera classes are done in real-time and vary from 2-weeks to 12-weeks in length. The one I’m currently taking is about algorithms and programming in Java. It’s run by teacher assistants, alongside the professor, and is exceptionally well-designed. The site itself is easily navigated, well maintained, and can be viewed from just about any…

It was very difficult to find any information in opposition to virtual reality. Most of what I found were asides in pro-VR papers talking about the possible loss of actual human interaction and how if the VR world fails to adequately represent the real world it can cause problems for those that rely on it as a teaching tool. After doing the research I am even more convinced that VR will be a useful component of future education.

The VR worlds can offer a number of things that…