Dr Simon BignellSenior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Derby

Week 3 - Cyberpsychology

Using Multi-User Virtual Worlds for Research and Education

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‘JISC - Moving into Virtual Worlds - Emerging Practice in a Digital Age’

• Guide and Video– With Aston University

• JISC resources feature commentary and reflection on pedagogical applications of virtual worlds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aTvE2OBQHc

Emerging Practice in a Digital Age JISC VIDEO http://www.jisc.ac.uk/emergeresource

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The Emergence of Virtual Worlds in Higher Education

• The Hype Cycles from Gartner provide a graphic representation of the maturity and adoption of technologies and applications.

http://www.gartner.com/

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Photo of Virtual Lecture

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Virtual Neonatal Ward: for a Developmental Psychology Module at University of Derby

Video of Neonatal Unit (1m16s): http://youtu.be/sEd9s0toHuk

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Project webpage: http://previewpsych.org/

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“We worked as a team... this seemed much more valuable than just writing an essay or having a discussion.”“I was thinking more about the real life Psychology because the avatars represented real people with real psychological problems.”

“...the content was easy to access and the tasks very enjoyable.”

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Download available here:http://previewpsych.org/BPD2.0.pdf

Best Practices in Virtual Worlds Teaching: A guide to using problem-based learning in Second Life

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Using problem-based learning within 3D virtual worlds

• Published book chapter with Dr Vanessa Parson

(Sunderland University, Previously at Aston).

– Parson, V. & Bignell, S. (2011). in Hinrichs, R and Wankel, C (Eds), Transforming Virtual World Learning: Cutting-edge technologies in higher education, Vol. 4, pp. 245–265. Emerald Group Publishing Limited: Teynampet, India.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Transforming-Learning-Cutting-edge-Technologies-Education/dp/1780520522

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Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)

• In 2009 updated their strategic statement and action plan – Sustainable Development in HE.

• “Sustainable development principles must lie at the core of the education system, such that schools, colleges and universities become show cases for sustainable development among the communities that they serve” • Securing the future; delivering the UK’s sustainable development strategy.

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• Two Sustainability / Technology-Enhanced Learning Projects:– With Rosemary Horry (Environmental Sciences), HEA.– With Zaheer Hussain (Psychology), HEA Psychology Network.

• Evaluated different methods of embedding ESD in the curriculum.• Used Second Life to rate people’s pro-environmental behaviour and

attitudes to ‘green’ issues such as resources, recycling and energy use.

• Participants reported more ‘real world’ pro-environmental behaviour a week after seeing the videos.

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• In the problem-based learning scenarios we used programmed avatar interactions to lead the students to ask the question of

‘What is Sustainability?’ • The scenarios had some concrete examples from a contemporary

lifestyle perspective. • We constructed a series of learning scenarios for staff and students

that highlighted the motivational and behavioural factors that impact on sustainability

(e.g. resources, recycling and energy efficiency…)

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• Scenario 1. Resources: Small groups of students find out who has been using the most water in the virtual household and why, by interacting with the avatars and each other.

• Issues such as beliefs and behaviour about showers vs. bathing, washing the car and using the dishwasher were explored along with wider issues of sustainability of resources.

•

Example project video (3m20s):http://youtu.be/N_0FNyUX1Uo

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• Scenario 2. Recycling: Students were tasked to establish what the issues are with one particular member of the family who is refusing to engage in pro-environmental behaviour.

• Issues such as beliefs about recycling paper, card and metal were explored in an attempt to find out why they think recycling is a good idea but nevertheless fail to engage in these activities.

•

Project video (2m26s):http://youtu.be/i4FOB6Yf_HQ

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• Scenario 3. Energy Efficiency: Students worked in teams to answer questions about home energy use (e.g., leaving things on standby), replacing light bulbs with low wattage equivalents, whether using a microwave is better than the oven or the energy consumption of a washing machine at 30°C rather than 40°C.

Example project video (2m20s): http://youtu.be/EusqbduUejg

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‘Spin-Offs’ to Engage Students: ‘Teaching Cartoons’

• Staff & Students can use virtual worlds to create educational cartoons for learning.

• Rapidly developed and deployed to modules.

• Import straight into the virtual learning platform, web, YouTube or .pdf.

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A Framework for Learning, Support and Research in Multi-User Virtual Worlds

A Framework for Learning, Support and Research in Multi-User Virtual Worlds.

• Learning and Teaching– Sound pedagogy, Blended,

Supplementary.• Support– User-oriented, Dynamic, Responsive.

• Research– Ethics, Methodology, Validity.

• The interaction between these three factors is critical for success.

A Framework for Learning, Support and Research in Multi-User Virtual Worlds

• Tools• Virtual Infrastructure, Avatars, Presenters, Gadgets,

Web Integration, Audio/Visual [Building and Scripting].

• Techniques• Inductions, Camera, Movement, Inventory, Communion,

(text, voice and video), Appearance, Groups, Mashups/Blended contents, Overcoming Resistance, Facilitating Virtually, Dealing with Disembodiment.

• Technologies• Bandwidth, GPUs, CPUs, Server-side, Lag(s), Clients,

Firewalls, Peripherals, Updates.

A Framework for Learning, Support and Research in Multi-User Virtual Worlds

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How to visit the University of Derby Second Life Islands: 1) Create and avatar: http://tinyurl.com/GETAN-AVATAR2) Install Second Life: http://tinyurl.com/Download-SL 3) Teleport to us: http://tinyurl.com/DERBYSECONDLIFE

Virtual CampusFlythrough (1m6s): http://youtu.be/GQnyb87Zj0o

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Websites and Blogs etc.Project Websitewww.PREVIEWPsych.org

Blog www.MiltonBroome.com

Second Life Web Portalhttp://psychology.derby.ac.uk/secondlife/

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Contact Dr Simon Bignell

Centre for Psychological Research University of Derby, UK

s.bignell@derby.ac.uk@miltonbroome www.MiltonBroome.com

www.PREVIEWPsych.orgwww.Cyberpsychology.org

Second Life Video Playlisthttp://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX4ftfKp-z4EAKaTUO9ALkvbbjCTYJj0G

Week 8 Seminar• Further Applications of Virtual Worlds

– A Virtual Quarry (3.39)– Virtual Hallucinations (3.38)– Occupational Health House (1.38, no audio)– Mental Health Second Life (1.27)– Virtual 3D Environment for Learning in High School (9.55)

• Seminar Task:– Come up with your own innovative use of a 3D

online virtual world.• Teaching, Research, Training, Promotion, Marketing etc.

– Present your ideas to the group.• Rationale, Purpose, Design, Advantage & Benefits