WHAT IS VIRTUAL REALITY AND HOW DO WE CONCEPTUALIZE, CREATE, USE, AND INQUIRE INTO LEARNING SETTINGS THAT CAPTURE THE POSSIBILITIES OF VIRTUAL LIFE? THE INTERNATIONAL HANDBOOK OF VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS WAS DEVELOPED TO EXPLORE VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS (VLE’S), AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH DIGITAL, IN REAL LIFE AND VIRTUAL WORLDS.
THREE ISSUES ARE EXPLORED AND USED AS ORGANIZERS FOR THE HANDBOOK. FIRST, A DISTINCTION IS MADE BETWEEN VIRTUAL LEARNING AND LEARNING VIRTUALLY. SECOND, SINCE THE FOCUS IS ON LEARNING, AN EDUCATIONAL FRAMEWORK IS DEVELOPED AS A MEANS OF BRINGING COHERENCE TO THE AVAILABLE LITERATURE. THIRD, LEARNING IS DEFINED BROADLY AS A PROCESS OF KNOWLEDGE CREATION FOR TRANSFORMING EXPERIENCE TO REFLECT DIFFERENT FACETS OF “THE CURRICULUM OF LIFE”.