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Conference: Learn, teach and play in 3D virtual worldsCity University London, 18/03/09presentation by Trevor BarkerDept. Computer ScienceUniversity of Hertfordshire
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The affordances of studying in a virtual world.
Learn, Teach and Play in 3D Virtual Worlds
City UniversityMarch 18,2009
Trevor Barker
Dept. Computer Science
University of Hertfordshire
Contents of presentation
IntroductionPast Research
Current ResearchEmpirical study on the group working in virtual environments and affordances of studying in virtual worlds
Conclusion
Second Life: A virtual campus
Some issues
Living in a virtual world is not the same as living in a real world
When you turn a virtual corner, the world moves and you stand still
Desktop virtual reality imposes new challenges Navigation Location Orientation
It requires new life skills and rule sets Practical Social Communication
Will this disadvantage learners who cannot meet these challenges?
Previous Research
My PhD student Eyal Haik spent four years looking into problems of performing tasks in desktop virtual environments
Our research showed that individual differences were crucial in understanding how people
Interact Learn Perform tasks Remember information Move around Find objects
Virtual Variables
Some tools developed and tested
Figure 2. Tool 2 (simple map and arrows) –Clicking on the arrows that appear in the environment provides guided navigation. General navigation is also enabled by mouse movements.
Figure 3. Tool 3 (navigation map) – Clicking on the map provides the user with targeted navigation.
ResultsResults
Variables' Results
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Control -Environment
only
Simple map Simple map +Arrows
Navigation map
Conditions
Scor
e
Navigation
Mouse
Overall Task
Orientation
Finding
Preference
Overall easiest
Overall preference
Variables' Results
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Control -Environment
only
Simple map Simple map +Arrows
Navigation map
Conditions
Scor
e
Navigation
Mouse
Overall Task
Orientation
Finding
Preference
Overall easiest
Overall preference
Eyal Haik, Investigation into Effective Navigation in Desktop Virtual InterfacesEyal Haik, Investigation into Effective Navigation in Desktop Virtual Interfaces
Interpretation: Post hoc analysis
Users could perform the tasks significantly quicker by using the assistive maps
Information was not remembered any better in test condition (with assistive map) than the control
Information about the location of rooms was remembered worse in test conditions than in the control
Second Life as a social network
Some findings from these studies are important in the context of social networking:
1.Task performance is more efficient in worlds where there is greater assistance
2.The more you assist learners, the more constrained they feel and the less they remember about their world
3.This suggests that in highly assisted environments, learners are less immersed and interact less with the environment
Studying in Virtual Worlds: Team work
An important component of software development is the requirement to work in teams
Team working has always proven difficult on software development courses, not least due to difficulty in arranging face to face meetings
In the past we have tried video conferencing and text chat with some limited success
This year a group of 80+ final year students have undertaken their group project work using SL
In order to support this, the following has been established in SL
Group project work
Induction sessions Secure area for group working Meeting areas Online resources within study areas in second life
Lecture notes Audio files PowerPoint presentations
Note taking and recording facilities Online lectures
Asynchronous Synchronous
Avatar Real life video-based
13
Induction
To set up user accounts on Second Life www.secondlife.com
Create an account
14
Last names?
15
Induction – part 2
You all should have an account by now You should be members of the AMMIS group
You should have completed the training Log in and explore the world Locate the AMMIS group area Look at the lecture resources
Notes, podcasts and powerpoints
16
Finding your area
17
Voila
18
Lecture resources
19
HCI Lecture 17
20
This lecture
Audio resources
21
Group meetings
22
Small Lecture room
23
Lecture Theatre
REC ME (UCase)
25
Recording meetings
26
Copy to a doc
27
Report of meeting
28
Help documentation
Help documentation
Lectures: Avatar
Lectures: Streamed video
Data collection
We are using qualitative and quantitative research methods in order to assess the efficacy of this approach
These include: Individual and group reflective reports Screen capture and data logging Questionnaire and focus group sessions Results of group projects
quality of process and product Comparison with previous cohorts
Reflective reports
Reflective report part A
Reflective report part B
Reflective report part C
Teachers
How do we get teachers to use SECOND Life in their normal teaching?
Useful Simple Robust: It must never let you down in front of students Pedagogical benefit
Problems for the experts: Skype record
Ah no!
Some questions being answered
What are the affordances of virtual worlds for teaching learning?
How can we engage learners and teachers? What is the true cost / benefit? More research on factors such as the educational
benefits of social interaction in virtual worlds is necessary.
What are the pedagogical benefits of teaching and learning in a virtual world?
What about Accessibility? Exclusion? Are any disadvantaged (teachers?, students?)
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