Virtual worlds, and collaborative virtual environments (CVEs), provide interesting visual environments to visit. Most, however, lack educational content and seem ill-suited to educational purposes. This presentation discusses several challenges, such as visualizing theoretical constructs of a discipline, and embedding content within a virtual world.
It also demonstrates Policy World, a collaborative learning environment integrating policy theory and policy history into a virtual reality world. Based on the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) of Paul Sabatier and Hank Jenkins-Smith, Policy World portrays a 28-year history of information resources management (IRM) policy and e-Government policy, tracking policy changes and events influencing those changes from 1975 through 2002. It specifically tracks six policy issues over this time period: privacy; paperwork; computer security; IT acquisition; records and information; and management reform. This collaborative virtual learning environment provides a theory-based exploration of key issues in IRM and e-government policy.
