context matters

i read three articles for my videogame class that focus on design and context and the interelatedness of these two things.  These articles made me think of online education. currently it seems English educators (those teaching 101/102) are intimidated by virtual space.  typcially we're known for teaching shakespeare and austen so of course the internet intimidates us.  but, we're moving toward the internet with classes, so educators within English trying to help with this transition are trying to make the internet less frightening by telling educators you can simply translate your face-to-face assignments to virtual space, and wahlah, you're now teaching a virtual class.  in this way the big bad scary internet is no longer scary.  but this approach is supposing there is nothing really going on in a face-to-face classroom outside the assignments, and it's assuming that the context of virtual space has no impact at all on the classroom environment.  well . . .we all know what they say about assuming.

so, based on these articles, the design of a given videogame influences the literacy practices in and around that game.  some of the skills developed to learn to be in (literacy as more than just reading and writing and into learning how to be and how to communicate within spaces) a given videogame can transfer, but essentiall the game stands alone.  so, what i want to know is how do we apply these ideas to online education (hello dissertation). 

thinking about the importance of context: How do we create context "to be encountered by a participant, from which meaning emerges" while teaching a virtual course (Zimmerman, 28)? how do we design the context to be condusive to more traditional school based learning, where students still feel engaged with the instructor, their peers and the institution (which just helps graduation rates in the end)? I especially like the idea that "people pick up different skills, values, and attitudes in different literacy practices. Thus, we need to study literacy in terms of specific practices situated in specific social and cultural contexts" (Gee & Hayes, 2). If we apply this idea to the virtual classroom we also have to ask questions about different classroom experiences students may have due entirely to the context, and what are the advantages, disadvantages? how do we teach students how to be students, and learn when they aren't sitting in front of us? how do we transfer all the social work we do through language into virtual space, since Gee & Hayes are making space important to all that other stuff?