At the University of Leeds, researchers are working on a project called ‘ImREAL’ to bridge the real-world and virtual-world for training environments. Hoping to avoid inevitable budget cuts that tend to slaughter training programs in every line of work, a virtual-world training program could be more inexpensive, and they’ve found even more effective than the real thing.
The €4 million research project involves an interdisciplinary team of computer scientists, psychologists, business and social scientists, experts in adult learning and two SMEs who produce training software, from across Europe. Radically new intelligent technologies for learning will be developed by adopting the latest advances in computerized learning tools such as Semantic Web, context modelling, and dialogic interaction. Technical implementation will be grounded in sound socio-pedagogical theories, such as ‘activity’ theory, andragogy, and self-regulated learning.
