Keywords: Immersive Group Projects, Virtual Environments, Web 2.0, Cloud Computing, Innovative Teaching. A novel approach for conducting immersive group projects has been developed and implemented for the graduate level ITEC620, Information Technology Infrastructure, multi-sections core course at UMUC. The teams utilize Second Life, Twitter and Twibes, and Google Docs, which respectively are representatives of virtual environment, Web 2.0, and cloud computing technologies. Second Life is used for conducting bi-weekly group meetings, research on course related virtual resources and simulations, and conducting the final project presentations. Tweeter and Twibes are utilized through the semester to share real time experiences into one common repository. Google Docs is used to collaborate on producing final project presentations. Virtual worlds are key tools for social networking, entertainment, collaboration, and business opportunities. Second Life is a very popular web-based virtual world and the most promising virtual platform for supporting collaborative online learning. As avatars, the students can conduct team meetings and presentations, explore new educational sites, participate in interactive demonstrations and simulations, and attend informative virtual meetings and conferences. Web 2.0 refers to the second generation of web technologies that is characterized by user communities and a wide range of services, including social networks, blogs, wikis. and folksonomies, all encouraging collaboration and efficient exchange of information. Twitter, a social media service for transmitting and receiving short messages, called tweets. Twibes is also a Web 2.0 application which allows a group of Twitter users to post tweets in one thread with the rest of the twibe members. Cloud computing involves moving part or the entire technical infrastructure (e.g. resources, software, and information) to the Internet. Google Docs is an online cloud-based office suite that enables users to create, collaboratively review and edit, and store documents and presentations completely online. The immersive group project approach has been developed with the following goals in mind: (1) To provide students with hands-on experience on the technologies that will lead to the "Next Generation Internet": Web 2.0, Web 3.0 (including virtual worlds and avatars,) and cloud computing. (2) To utilize Second Life, Twitter and Twibes, and GoogleDocs for research on dynamic virtual demonstrations and simulations related to the ITEC 620 course objectives. (3) To enhance the support for team-building, presentation, and communications skills development in an online environment. The preparation activities for the group project include creation of Second Life accounts, avatars, and Tweeter accounts. Next, the avatar names have to be provided to the instructor for gaining access to the UMUC Second Life Island. Once the groups are formed, the students have to join the common ITEC620 Twibe, and schedule a kick-off meeting at one of the UMUC Second Life class-rooms. The meeting starts with a given by the instructor presentation that formulates the project goals, requirements, and organization. The briefing is followed by a Second Life tour, demonstrating educational locations with virtual resources and simulations. While synchronous participation is recommended, students may review the kick-off meeting recording and follow the demonstrative tour itinerary asynchronously (by teleporting to the locations when their time permits). During the tour, the students are encouraged to take pictures in Second Life and share at least one immediate impression by tweeting to the ITEC620 Twibe. After the tour, the students have to collaborate on filling with content a preset Google Docs presentation, placing taken from Second Life pictures, notes, and conclusions in a chronological order among the items already placed by other team-mates. The briefing, the tour, and the related activities are meant to serve as guidelines on how the teams are expected to organize and conduct their group project meetings, research work, reflections sharing, and collaborative presentation creation. To start on the group project work, each team has to create its own group Twibe account and all the team members have to join that twibe. Each team has to decide on their presentation title and outline, and create the framework of a presentation in Google Docs. The presentation has to focus on the utilized for the group project technologies and on explored virtual resources and simulations related to ITEC620 course objectives. The group has to schedule bi-weekly meetings in Second Life to discuss the project work status and plan the next steps. The group research focus has to be on virtual words and avatars, Web 2.0, and cloud computing technologies, and in particular on Second Life, Twitter and Twibes, and GoogleDocs. In addition, each team member has to locate one Second Life site with reach virtual simulations that support the ITEC620 course objective; and to provide detailed instructions on how the rest of the group can utilize these virtual simulations. Each student has to visit and explore (asynchronously or synchronously with other team members) the suggested by the rest of the group locations, taking snapshots, and periodically tweeting on the group Twibe. At the end, the group has to complete the collaborative Google Docs presentation, and schedule and conduct the final presentation in Second Life. The final presentation slides and recordings have to be shared with the rest of the class for comments and follow-up discussions. Virtual environments, Web 2.0 technologies, and cloud computing represent the underlying foundations for the next generation Internet. Their unique integration creates a new rich and engaging platform for conducting group projects, that supports team-members interaction, research, reflection, and collaboration. The team-members have the opportunity to learn-by-doing, experiencing firsthand cutting edge technologies, researching on dynamic virtual demonstrations and simulations, and conducting real-time virtual presentations. Student surveys and project evaluations confirm definite improvement in student engagement and satisfaction, as well as in team-building, presentation, and communications skills development. This presentation will describe procedures for integrating virtual environments, Web 2.0, and cloud computing technologies, identify the targeted outcomes of the immersive group projects, relate key lessons learned and recommended teaching strategies, and identify future plans on using cutting edge technologies for conducting engaging and skills developing online group projects.
