A Design for Global Art Studies in an Immersive Virtual World.
Abstract: While most educators will agree that an on-ground classroom education is the preferred pedagogic method, circumstances don’t always allow for this. Most traditional survey of art history courses have relied upon the time tested pedagogical model built on the darkened classroom dual side-by-side slide projector format. This approach dates back to the mid 19th century and the advent of early glass photographic slides placed into a magic lantern projector, a method which has been inadequately optimized for an online learning environment in the intervening century and a half. The curriculum presented in this paper, Shadowglen: Global Art Studies in Virtual Reality, has been created to engage undergraduate learners in a scaffolded, immersive, gamified course of global art studies across a multi-platform virtual learning environment. The design encourages participants to explore art and artifacts from cultures around the globe and across time in an interactive virtual setting.