Investigating Entertainment and Learning in a Multi-User 3D Virtual Environment

How can we include entertainment into an ITC-based educational experience? Edutainment is the blending of education and entertainment; it is about engaging, enjoyable experiences providing a learning value. Understanding better how to make a pedagogical intervention engaging, to stimulate significant effort and reasoning from all kinds of students, could generate a positive impact on education. We analyze the entertaining features in the design of Learning@Europe (www.learningateurope.net), an edutainment experience on European history for high-school students, based on a shared 3D virtual world. L@E has involved since 2004 over 6,130 students (aged 14 to 19) from 18 European countries plus USA, with highly rewarding results in terms of engagement and learning