Adults Learning in a Virtual World

Abstract

Learning theories have been around for more than a century, however, the theories of how adults learn are relatively new, having only been developed in the past 50 years. These theories are all based around learning in a face-to-face environment or online in digital environments using Web 2.0 (i.e., social computing) tools. This paper explores current and emerging theories of how adults learn in a virtual world. These theories are examined to propose a framework of how adults learn in a virtual world, i.e., a computer-generated world that is inhabited by individual avatars (persona) to interact with the environment and people (other avatars) as a learning space. At present, there does not appear to be a specific theory developed to explain how adults learn in virtual worlds. This paper will explore which adult learning theories, if any, underpin adult learning in a virtual world.