A STUDY OF PROCESS VIRTUALIZATION: THE USE OF VIRTUAL WORLDS FOCUSED ON TEACHING-LEARNING

ABSTRACT

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have allowed processes that used to depend on physical presence of individuals or objects at the same place and time to occur without such limitations. ­Teaching-learning process (TLP), for instance, has gained notoriety, although there is still doubt as to the suitability of these technologies. Thus, this research aimed to identify the relationship between requirements of a process and capabilities of ICTs. Adequacy of virtual worlds in TLP virtualization, starting from a general model based on the Process Virtualization Theory, was specifically assessed using evidence from three courses, with techniques of content analysis and multidimensional scaling. Results allow a better comprehension of the alignment between ICT and requirements of a process in its virtualization, also providing evidence that ICTs have been enabling the TLP.

KEYWORDS:
process virtualization; teaching-learning process; virtual worlds