Kelsey, like many towns scattered throughout Middle America, is a quaint affair of some 53,000 souls. The only difference between Kelsey and the thousands of towns just like it that dot the American landscape is that Kelsey isn’t real: it’s a virtual sandbox created for the purpose of generating interactive case studies for University of Phoenix students.
This virtual scenario allows University of Phoenix students an unprecedented level of interaction with the case studies they examine. In fact, nearly 500 of the University of Phoenix’s classes use the simulation—wholly a third of all UoP students are enrolled in courses that use Kelsey’s population and industries to examine real-world phenomena.
While UoP students interact with Kelsey’s denizens, students at traditional schools still sift through tedious case studies, leaving one wondering why more schools haven’t followed UoP’s lead. The gradual adoption of simulated environments as teaching aids will surely help create a more dynamic learning environment for students, in addition to providing them with an experience that is far more applicable to the real world.
One Response to “University of Phoenix Uses Virtual World to Teach Students”
Gandhi// Aug 13, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Do I detect a note of sarcasm, editor? It is questionable, at best that such sandboxes (see :15 of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mTLO2F_ERY) would provide a more “real world” experience for these searching scientific minds.
Do I detect a note of sarcasm, editor? It is questionable, at best that such sandboxes (see :15 of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mTLO2F_ERY) would provide a more “real world” experience for these searching scientific minds.