We have one project devoted to the use of Virtual-U in mathematics courses, which have always been the most difficult to deliver visually. We're also learning how to deliver university engineering lab courses online. SFU's Dr. Lucio Teles is leading the field test project with instructors in various Canadian universities and colleges to collect data and to investigate Virtual-U's effectiveness for course delivery. Students access Virtual-U classrooms around the clock seven days a week. Furthermore, we've learned that students tend to participate in online class discussion more actively than in traditional classrooms.
Most courses use collaborative strategies and have ongoing peer interaction.
Increasingly, Virtual-U users are integrating multimedia and hyperlinks in their messages. Another of the eleven Theme Five projects underway is one concerned with building virtual reality environments to make learning easier as well as addressing the needs of learners with disabilities. Dr. Barrie Frost's group at Queen's University has completed several virtual reality platforms that can be explored by individuals riding a stationary bicycle or walking. All of this takes place in two distinct settings. The other, the virtual component called TACT, is an Internet link that student teachers can use to build and acquire teaching materials for lesson planning or to share with teachers elsewhere.