title: Virtual environments special needs and evaluative methods.
abstract: This paper presents an overview of the development of the Learning in Virtual Environments programme (LIVE), carried out in special education over the last four years. It is more precisely a project chronology, so that the reader can sense the historical development of the programme rather than giving emphasis to any one particular feature or breakthrough, which are covered in other papers and available through the authors. The project conception in a special school in Nottingham is followed by a description of the development of experiential and communicational virtual learning environments. These are followed, in turn, by the results of our testing programmes which show that experience gained in a virtual environment can transfer to the real world and that their use can encourage self-directed activity in students with severe learning difficulties. Also included is a discussion of the role of virtual learning environments (VLEs) in special education and of its attributes in the context of contemporary educational theory.
authors.affiliation: VIRART, Virtual Reality Applications Research Team, Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Operations Management, University of Nottingham, UK.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Standen
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Cobb
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003196:Computer Graphics / Q000295:instrumentation; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003479:Curriculum; D004519:Education, Special; D004739:England; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000534:rehabilitation; D012931:Social Environment; D012984:Software; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014584:User-Computer Interface