iSocial is a three dimensional virtual learning environment, developed using Sun Microsystem’s Project Wonderland toolkit for creating virtual worlds, for teaching social competence to youth who have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The goal of iSocial is to provide learners with competencies that make social participation possible in both virtual and natural settings. To this end, iSocial enables social interaction and provides supports for the development of social competence in a safe, completely controlled environment.
Because the proximity of families to the location of qualified trainers and the times available for physical meetings restricts access to social competence curricula, such training and instruction can be made accessible to only a small number of the youth who could benefit from it. We intend to develop an existing curriculum into a cost-effective school-based model of social competence intervention that can be delivered via a networked, 3D-based virtual learning environment (3D VLE). The ultimate goal is to develop and then test the feasibility and promise of using 3D VLEs to make social competence curricula available in schools to youth with ASD who have no or limited access to high quality face-to-face programs.
