The effective use of virtual environments in the education and rehabilitation of students with intellectual disabilities

Computer based learning has enjoyed an increasing role in mainstream educat ion with the development of more powerful personal computers available at a lower price. This article reviews work on a specific form of computer soft ware, virtual environments. It aims to illustrate the potential of this com puter application in the education and rehabilitation of people with intell ectual disabilities. Virtual environments appear to be a fruitful method of teaching skills for independent living to people with intellectual disabil ities. Initial studies demonstrate that learning in this way transfers to t he real life situation in which the skills are required. However, to effect ively exploit their educational potential, interaction with virtual environ ments needs to be guided, This can be done using a human tutor and a softwa re tutor and preliminary findings from current research suggest guidelines for the effective employment of both, Future directions involve ensuring th e availability of the software, making the technology accessible to a wider range of users and researching staff support to ensure that use is facilit ated and that this technology is appropriately exploited.