193 Copyright © 2019, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Chapter 9 DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-8179-6.ch009 ABSTRACT Heated debates involving reforms in the educational system are becoming more and more frequent in recent years, mostly due to the increasingly evident shortcomings in the educational system and its dif- ficulties to evolve at the same pace as technological development. Since nowadays people spend much of their time interacting directly or indirectly with technological devices, one can think of using this involvement with educational purposes. Through this interaction people have easy and inexpensive ac- cess to a vast amount of information. In this sense, one can think of methodologies to improve education by focusing on the foundations of knowledge rather than the emphasis on the memorization of contents. Therefore, the aim of this work is to propose and validate an interactive content authoring system as well as a virtual classroom where lessons are taught by avatars in an attempt to make learning experience richer and more motivating to students. 3D Virtual Learning Environments: An Avatar-Based Virtual Classes Platform Tiago Cinto University of Campinas, Brazil Harlei Miguel de Arruda Leite UFOP, Brazil Sarah Negreiros Carvalho Federal University of Ouro Preto, Brazil Cecilia Sosa Arias Peixoto UNISAL, Brazil Dalton Soares Arantes UNICAMP, Brazil