AN ONLINE THREE DIMENSIONAL E-LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION

Three dimensional (3D) virtual environments provide an artificial world where computer users can perform different tasks and works according to rules of the developed world. Compared to two dimensional (2D) systems, 3D virtual environments enable users to work on a highly interactive platform to analyze and solve problems from different viewpoints. Nowadays, many advanced 3D virtual environments are designed and developed to be used in different fields of daily life. Education is one of these fields that 3D virtual environments can be used for.

This paper describes an online 3D E – Learning environment that allows teachers and students to make educational activities in a highly interactive and effective system. Teachers and students can connect to the system over the Internet. After connecting to the system, they can create 3D virtual characters and start to make E – Learning activities by using these characters. The virtual world includes 3D buildings and objects that were designed and developed to create a realistic school environment. Each building has some rooms that can be used by teachers and students for different E – Learning activities. Teachers and students can use 3D objects to make specific E – Learning activities and interact with other users. Students can use these objects to make activities like viewing lesson contents, playing media contents and communicating with other users. On the other hand, teachers can use 3D objects to make management activities like preparing lesson contents or examinations, organizing E – Learning activities and viewing statistical information. Developed 3D environment has a fast and advanced 3D engine that provides an effective education process for both teachers and students. The system has been designed and developed to be used for high school education. So, educational tools used in the system are suitable for high school students. By using this E – Learning environment, teachers and students can make educational activities in a 3D, realistic school environment and students can learn their lessons in a fast and effective way that standard E – learning environments can not provide.