Epilogue

[Extract] This book has focused on discipline-based uses of virtual worlds to enhance the learner experience in online education, including both fully online and hybrid or blended learning settings. The cases reported yield insight into how practitioner-scholars from across the globe have addressed key needs, problems, and issues that have lent themselves to the use of a virtual world. In particular, authentic learning opportunities that can prepare learners for the workplace feature heavily, as do the notion of ―practice‖ and the engagement of students in reflective and meta-cognitive processes.