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Top2. Literature Review
Immersive learning pedagogy is not a new paradigm, as the significance of context, application, and practice have been well documented throughout history, principally through apprenticeships, cooperative education and on-the-job training. In the 20th century, unprecedented forms of distributed education, role playing, case studies and simulations have become common forms of immersive education.
Immersive learning is utilized for preparation in the professional fields of teaching (Nieto, 2006) and medicine (Mak, Watson, & Hadden, 2011) to train students to be prepared for careers that often find practitioners in situations where they are working in locations where they are alien to the local culture. Similarly foreign exchange student programs at all levels deal with this issue on a recurring basis. Many such programs have adopted procedures where the sojourning student is placed with “host families” or paired with a “buddy” who are members of the local culture to assist them in their process of acculturation. Other programs provide opportunities for interaction with people from the sojourner’s own or more similar culture who are going through similar circumstances through resources such as international student organizations. Each of these types of program leverage social constructionism to aid the individual in making meaning of their experiences in a “new” culture. In some cases the relationship is cultural member/non-member and in other cases it is mutual non-member. In either case there is a social relationship that aids in developing meaning and context through shared experiences. As immersive education has an extensive theoretical base, it is practical to view MUVEs, through that well documented lens (Johnson, Levine, & Smith, 2008).