UC Berkeley

This study examines a project through which elementary school and high school students collaborated with university Architecture/New Media students in building models of virtual, immersive libraries. It presents the project in the context of multiple and cross-disciplinary fields currently investigating the use of virtual and immersive environments for learning. Focusing on two groups, a fifth/sixth grade "Structures/Architecture" class, and three twelfth grade English classes, this study examines the multiple ways youth represented their design ideas, the non-school activities that influenced their contributions and the changes in literacies that their participation heralds. Consideration of the affordances as well as the barriers to implementation of virtual and immersive environments in school settings, contributes to the beginnings of a framework on which researchers, educators and designers might develop an enhanced understanding of learning and literacy in the digital age.