Lansdown Centre

The Vertex Project: Exploring the Creative Use of Shared 3D Virtual Worlds in the Primary (K-12) Classroom

• Magnus Moar

Year : 2002

Moar’s research seeks new uses for interactive technologies, focusing on how learners, particularly the young, may use ITCs as creative tools for learning. Taking a Vygotskian and Constructionalist approach, Moar investigates how new technologies can be applied to formal (classroom) and informal learning contexts. Young learners’ achievements using advanced technologies are shown to exceed the expectations generally made of them.

This internationally peer-reviewed paper describes VERTEX, an NFFR-funded project (£220,000) which adopted a ‘learning by making’ approach to the construction of virtual interactive 3D environments by children. ACM SIGGRAPH is an international conference for innovation in computer graphics. The paper gives an overview of the project and its findings, summarising the new insights into learners’ 3D modelling.

Using an integrated classroom-based action-research methodology, two principal research questions were addressed:

1. What methods can be developed to help children create shared 3D worlds?
2. What implications are there for classroom based learning?

This work showed for the first time that young learners were able to use professional modelling tools to produce competent, working, shared 3D Worlds. The methodology devised revealed the importance of integrating such research projects with ongoing classroom projects and themes.

The methodology developed and outlined in the paper was subsequently used in the FATHOM project (presented at the National Maritime Museum, June 2004).

Joint paper with Bailey, temporary researcher on project. Moar directed the pedagogic and technical aspects of the Vertex project and facilitated work in four schools where Bailey assisted in supporting and liaising with learners and teachers.

This research was also disseminated through a 2001 book chapter for Vince J and Earnshaw R (Eds), ‘Digital Content Creation’, London, Springer-Verlag (ISBN 1-85233-379-0).

Location : SIGGRAPH'02 Conference Abstracts and Applications, San Antonio, Georgia. 52-54. ISSN: 1-58113-525-4

RAE Nominated : Yes

RAE Year : 2008

Download OutputRAE_1_VERTEX.pdf...

The paper in the ACM Digital Library (subscription required)