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The use of virtual worlds for learning is attracting further attention after the explosion of Second Life™ and similar online virtual communities. However, unleashing the power of virtual collaborative worlds to instructional designers and authors demands much higher levels of openness, accessibility and reusability in the underlying technologies and tools on the one side and lower levels of required investments and skillsets to master the solutions on the other.
Giunti Labs, Europe's leading vendor of e-learning and mobile learning content management solutions has now addressed the gap between virtual worlds technology and e-learning by launching eXact VLW™ (Virtual Learning Worlds), a revolutionary authoring environment, to create, manage and deliver 3D objects, artefacts and scenes within collaborative virtual learning worlds compatible with SCORM, the de facto standard for creating, reusing, tracking and sequencing online educational contents compatible with any learning management system (LMS) and virtual learning environment (VLE).
Now an optional module of Giunti Labs’ world leading learning content management system (LCMS), learn eXact, the new eXact VLW environment allows e-learning instructional designers and authors to create interactive virtual worlds, populated with 3D objects, artefacts and standard SCORM learning content, to be then published online on collaborative VW platforms where avatars can join in to collaboratively solve games, simulations and learning activities transparently tracked and sequenced within any LMS/VLE by means of the SCORM standard.
Uniquely, authors of the eXact VLW need no technical knowledge of VRML, X3D or any other 3D programming language needed to create the virtual learning experiences they have in mind, nor any deep knowledge of SCORM to seamlessly integrate them within their existing LMS/VLE solutions in their companies, universities and schools. Coding in XML and SCORM standards is automatically performed internally by the available tools and, so, are completely shielded from users.
The eXact VLW technology was originally conceived by Giunti Labs for the Sculpteur project, grouping Europe’s leading museums such as the Uffizi Gallery in Italy, Le Louvre in France and The National Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in the UK, for accessing distributed repositories of 3D artefacts and 2D imagery in world museums and building immersive learning experiences.
During Sculpteur, experts in art education and cultural heritage used the eXact VLW technology to harvest 3D artefacts from existing online repositories by using 3D samples and metadata as well as open query standards to create a number of virtual exhibitions and learning experiences, containing 2D images and 3D models to enhance users’ learning opportunities.
“In eXact VLW, 3D objects are not the only objects that can be imported and positioned in the 3D environment,” pointed out Fabrizio Cardinali, CEO of Giunti labs. “2D images, videos, text and any standard SCO learning object - all adhering to open standards and tracking protocols - can be used to create virtual learning worlds, making the new power of 3D learning experiences seamlessly available within traditional LMS/VLE systems managing learning curricular and training plans in academic and industrial set ups.
“Originally designed for education in cultural heritage, our new eXact VLW solution should appeal to any industry and corporate organisation which needs to recreate mission-critical scenarios for just-in-time training and performance support, such as the blue light emergency, industry maintenance, medical and defence training verticals,” Cardinali commented.
About Giunti Labs
Giunti is unique in the international publishing industry.
In 1497, Giunti publishers and typographers in Florence, together with others in Venice, began modern book manufacturing. Over the years Giunti has built a ‘historical catalogue’ of huge dimensions, through a gradual process of ‘fusion’ of different publishers, but also through the creation of new brands, including Giunti Labs. Giunti Editore now includes 20 companies in the publishing sector.
Giunti Labs, which has its EMEA headquarters in Italy and offices in Milton Keynes (UK), Frankfurt (Germany) and in Boston (US), provides a wide range of services, in response to any content, learning and knowledge management need, covering:
• Content production
• Research and development
• Technological solutions for content, learning & knowledge management
• Architectural and technological solutions for mobile & wireless
• Training and consulting
Giunti Labs provides the learn eXact® suite, Europe's leading e-learning and mobile learning content management technology. This suite is interoperable with all major vendor-driven and open source LMS and VLE solutions in the market including Plateau, Oracle, SumTotal, Saba, WebCT, Blackboard, Sakai, LRN and Moodle.
Moreover, Giunti Labs does not just adhere to the international standards relating to the LMS/LCMS world, it is one of the organisations that helps to determine and drive these standards: co-writing and developing them. Giunti Labs plays a key role in most of the international institutions for the definition of eLearning specifications (IEEE LTSC, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC36, CEN/ISSS WSLT, AICC, IMS, ADL-SCORM and OKI).
About Giunti Labs’ learn eXact® suite
Giunti Labs’ learn eXact is an e-learning and mobile learning content management system (LCMS) that enables users to create, manage and deliver content based on learning objects, XML, standards and international specifications. It delivers learning content to location-based mobile devices, interactive TV and wearable computer devices. Now the solution with its new eXact VLW plug in also delivers standard learning contents into 3D Virtual Worlds.
Further information from:
Angus Turpin, Giunti Labs, +44 (0) 7733 365063
Minna Leikas, Giunti Labs, +39 3489 399127
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