Pedagogical Innovations and Technology

VERG has experimented with the educational applications of variety of technologies including streaming audio and video, podcasting, tablet technology, online discussion boards, virtual worlds and online gaming.

Support for Technological Innovation

VERG is concerned with support for technological innovation in instruction as well as the sustainability of communities of practice supporting such innovation. The link below is to a recent article in the Community College Journal describing the VERG model of support for collaboration around technological innovation.

Cady, D., Kalivas, D., Margulis, D., & Olson, M. (2006) Creating a community of pratice to support technological innovation in the community college. Community College Journal, Oct/Nov 2006. Download article

Virtual Worlds and Gaming in Education

VERG has experimented with both academic virutal worlds such as Activeworlds and commerical gaming worlds such as World of Warcraft.

Activeworlds
For five years VERG members have experimented with the use of Activeworlds in their instruction. This online video, "Engaging Students Through Virtual Worlds" describes some of the results of using Activeworlds in community college courses.

World of Warcraft
In the spring semster of 2007, VERG members collaborated in a modified learning community to use the commercial MMORPG, World of Warcraft (WoW) in a college course. Instructors thematically linked WoW through the archetypal Hero’s Journey to the literature genre SciFi/Fantasy encouraging students to use their experiences in WoW to gain personal and deep understandings of major course themes, reinforced through an integration of traditional and nontraditional texts.

This course was intended to illustrate the potential of a new variety of hybrid courses, attempting to use the most effective aspects of established online learning technologies, combined with virtual gaming world interaction to create an integrated learning experience. Results of this pilot effort will be shared at the League for Innovation in the Community College's CIT Conference in November of 2007 at a presentation called The WoW Factor: Using MMORPGs in Instruction.