The VLS uses Active Worlds—a multi-user virtual environment that allows individuals to move and see themselves and others as avatars. Participants can access web resources, and they can communicate with other participants in a chat window; a special whisper mode allows users to communicate privately with one another. Active Worlds is different from text-based virtual environments, such as Tapped In and CSILE, because users can visually interact with each other to establish co-reference with the task at hand (e.g., a common science problem), and they can simultaneously discuss their interactions. This differs from the common approach of having teachers discuss experiences that occurred elsewhere, experiences that were not necessarily shared among the participants.

In initial tests of the virtual learning spaces, we asked teachers from the U.S.A. and Hong Kong to meet in the virtual world to teach students in real time. (The teachers and students had not met one another outside the virtual world.) The results indicated that teachers from both cultures developed an appreciation of one another’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as an appreciation for the teaching methods from other cultures. For example, when shown a video of teaching practices from the other culture, the teachers who participated in the VLS experience were likely to notice the strengths of the teaching methods, whereas teachers who had not participated were likely to dismiss the differences in teaching style.