Managing cognitive load in educational multi-user virtual environments: reflection on design practice

In this paper, we explore how the application of multimedia design principles may inform the development of educational multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs). We look at design principles that have been shown to help learners manage cognitive load within multimedia environments and conduct a conjectural analysis of the extent to which such principles can help manage cognitive load in the highly immersive “beyond multimedia” environments that 3-D educational MUVEs represent. We frame our discussion as a design practice analysis of the River City MUVE, a science inquiry environment that has middle school students collaborating to develop and test hypotheses regarding illnesses sweeping a virtual town. We analyze the current River City interface design using a framework describing cognitive overload scenarios and associated approaches to manage cognitive load. We also discuss the potential difficulties that may be seen as multimedia principles are applied to 3-D MUVEs. Our discussion describes a blueprint for research implementations that we are undertaking to systematically investigate the effect of an educational MUVE interface design based on multimedia principles—implementations that we hope will provide an action framework for other MUVE researchers to use in their own studies.     

Virtual realities in environmental education: the project LAKE

This article proposes the use of virtual realities (VR) in environmental education. It also presents the first results of an application to the phenomenon of eutrophication in lakes. Although our virtual environments are not immersive, they give the opportunity to students and educators to develop their own worlds and understand the population dynamics in a lake. The learning environment can be manipulated and controlled in a powerful way, enhancing students experiences leading to knowledge construction, and sensitizing students to current environmental problems. Our pedagogical approach is to build a theoretical model for virtual learning environments, expanding constructivism and combining it with experiential learning. Our operational and practical approach is to exploit the characteristics of desktop VR systems in virtual learning environments     

The future for (second) life and learning

This paper highlights the potential of three-dimensional multi-user environments such as Second Life (SL) from the perspective of future developments in the service of learning. It notes trends within the SL innovation to date, including the provision of realistic settings, the exploitation of pleasant simulated environments for groups and the links with other learning technologies. It also considers the creativity sparked by SL's potential to offer the illusion of 3-D 'spaces' and buildings, and points to infinite imaginative educational possibilities. It explores aspects of the construction of virtual representations of learners and teachers as avatars, and reveals a wide range of intriguing issues yet to be researched.     

Second Life的教育应用现状及其功能述评

Second Life虚拟世界自2003年问世,获得了语言学、商业、医学、教育学等众多领域研究者青睐,成为其理论与实践研究的创新视角。当前国内外SL教育应用现状及其功能的研究成果主要聚焦于5个方面:(1)SL可作为多学科教育教学的实践环境;(2)SL提供不同学习情境体验与能力迁移;(3)SL可作为网络学习社区;(4)SL提供多样化教学实践形式;(5)SL提供创新性教学活动设计。当然SL教育应用研究也存在一定缺陷,如技术门槛、硬件需求、活动设计以及资源创设等方面。未来的SL教育应用研究将会在研究方法、呈现工具、技术强度以及沉浸体验等方面获得更多的关注。     

三维虚拟学习环境下的外语教学——来自实习教师的报告

当下,许多教育研究者主张利用多用户虚拟环境辅助课堂教学。在基于多种媒介的多用户虚拟环境中,＂第二人生＂是最受欢迎的一种。论述美国有关职前教师对中国学生在＂第二人生＂三位虚拟学习环境下的英语外语教学这一研究项目的案例,集中探究职前教师在使用＂第二人生＂进行英语教学实践中的体会与相关讨论,并为该项目的进一步深入研究提出建议。     

Teaching Cases in a Virtual Environment: When the Traditional Case Classroom is Problematic

The rise in interactive digital media has catapulted faculty‐student contact abilities from the traditional Web 1.0 model to a post‐Web 2.0 world where students and faculty can have much more interaction in classroom exchanges. Since business cases have long been a pedagogy of choice among professors concerned with training the next generation of decision makers, the intent of this exploratory teaching execution was to gain insight into the case teaching experience in Second Life (SL). SL is a virtual world developed by Linden Lab that enables its users to interact with each other through avatars (virtual representations of the self). While online classrooms in SL are not new (a number of universities throughout the world have set up virtual campuses), business education scholarship is lacking as related to the use of virtual worlds for educational purposes. The aim of the execution was not to suggest that SL case teaching should displace the traditional case classroom interactions. Rather, the exercise found that a case‐based class can be held and attended independent of time, distance, and location should the need arise. Case teaching in SL offers an availability alternative or supplement to the traditional case teaching and learning approach.     

Developing the Media Zoo in Second Life

Second Life (SL), an immersive virtual environment, is increasingly being adopted in education for both formal and informal teaching and learning uses. This paper addresses the process of developing a demonstrator presence in SL, the potential of the system for formal teaching and some practical ideas on how to successfully integrate such emerging technologies into practice.     

Counseling via Avatar: Professional Practice in Virtual Worlds

Professional counselors (n = 5) from the United States (2), Australia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands were interviewed about the provision of counseling services in the multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) Second Life (SL). Using Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) method, qualitative data analysis yielded four themes: (i) encapsulating the immersive experience inherent in virtual worlds, (ii) contributions to successful avatar-based counseling, (iii) the practice of MUVE counseling, and (iv) practitioners’ pioneering spirit. This study contributes to distance counseling knowledge and lays the foundation for future avatar-based counseling research and practice.     

Bolstering the quality and integrity of online collaborative university- level courses via an open Sim standalone server in conjunction with sloodle

The contemporary era provides several challenges which extend from the reconstitution of an innovative knowledge domain and curricula to candidate learning platforms that support online course delivery methods. Educators and scholars on these demands have recently started to rethink alternative ways for the assimilation of the experiential knowledge in three-dimensional (3D) technologically advanced environments, like 3D multi-user virtual worlds. In spite the widespread dissemination and proliferation of novel educational implications by utilizing 3D multi-user virtual worlds combined with the 2D interface of LMS (Learning Management Systems) and the assessment of the effectiveness based on the online course delivery method in a long-term usability is still absent from the international academic literature. This study presents interoperability issues focused on the utilization of the virtual world Open Simulator (Open Sim) in conjunction with Sloodle (Simulation Linked Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) as a free plug-in module. The evaluation of this online learning process according to an empirical research method became possible with the assistance of ninety-five (95) students by two different academic sectors that participated in this project and measured the capabilities and instructional affordances of this platform. The evaluation process was focused on four multi-dimensional parameters (psychological-pedagogical, technical-operational, organizational-financial, and socio-cultural). The study findings based on students’ experiences revealed that both platforms could be sufficiently connected as a unique platform which can increase the users’ learning abilities. This “hybrid” platform can adequately convert the ordinary multi-user virtual world of Open Sim and Sloodle in a common “incubator” of knowledge for online courses at university level. At the end, the instructional affordances and implications for future-driven directions are also discussed.     

替代性世界：学习环境新方向

教育领域一直以评价和采用交互创新技术为先驱,这些交互创新技术为教育技术专家探索计算机辅助的教学提供了实践的土壤＂。替代性世界＂（Alternative worlds）是完全实时的、高保真的、用户高度介入的学习环境。其特点是具有丰富的环境、丰富的接口、操作驱动和有效应用于教与学＂。替代性世界＂在混合式学习中可以冲破传统教育屏障,拓展教师和学习者角色,为学习者提供时间和空间的便利,实现终身学习＂。替代性世界＂学习环境是一个新的研究领域,它为专注于人机交互、社会网络和虚拟现实的教育技术专家开拓了新方向和新空间。     

Motivation and beliefs about the nature of scientific knowledge within an immersive virtual ecosystems environment

We explored Grade 6 students’ (n = 202) self-efficacy, epistemic beliefs, and science interest over a 10-day virtual ecology curriculum. Pre- and post-surveys were administered, and analyses revealed that (1) students became more self-efficacious about inquiring scientifically after participating in the activity; (2) students on average evinced a shift toward more constructivist views about the role of authority in justifying scientific claims; (3) students who identified more strongly with being a science person evinced greater gains in self-efficacy, developed a less constructivist view about the role of authority in justifying claims, and became more interested in science overall; and (4) students who held an incremental theory of ability evinced greater gains in self-efficacy. We discuss the implications of these findings for science educators and instructional designers in the design and use of immersive virtual worlds for middle school science students.     

The efficacy of an immersive 3D virtual versus 2D web environment in intercultural sensitivity acquisition

Relatively few studies have empirically tested computer-based immersive virtual environments’ efficacy in teaching or enhancing pro-social attitudes, such as intercultural sensitivity. This channel study experiment was conducted (N = 159) to compare what effects, if any, an immersive 3D virtual environment would have upon subjects’ intercultural sensitivity, compared to a 2D web environment. Significant gains in intercultural sensitivity were found, with subjects exposed to the Second Life-based immersive virtual environment scoring higher than web-based subjects, both toward other cultures in general and toward Chinese culture in particular. An interaction effect for gender and channel was found, with males experiencing greater intercultural sensitivity outcomes than in a web environment. These empirical findings add to our theoretical understanding of channel effects and intercultural sensitivity. The results can guide cultural instructors or trainers toward the best platforms for content delivery to learners. These findings are worthy of future investigation to better understand their application in educational endeavors as well as in other fields.     

Three-dimensional virtual worlds and distance learning: two case studies of Active Worlds as a medium for distance education

Online three‐dimensional (3D) virtual worlds are emerging technologies that offer unique learning opportunities for traditional and distributed education. One of the more popular 3D virtual worlds, Active Worlds, is currently being used as a medium for synchronous and asynchronous distance learning. This investigation presents two exploratory case studies of different, but exemplary educational activities using Active Worlds for formal and informal education. The focus of each case study is to investigate how Active Worlds is being used for distance learning and to determine the type of learning experiences afforded by this 3D virtual environment. Whilst more research is necessary to explore fully the potential of 3D virtual worlds for learning, this initial investigation illustrates how Active Worlds affords opportunities for experiential learning and situated learning within a collaboration learning environment.     

Children’s Participation in a Virtual Epidemic in the Science Classroom: Making Connections to Natural Infectious Diseases

This study investigated students’ understanding of a virtual infectious disease in relation to their understanding of natural infectious diseases. Two sixth-grade classrooms of students between the ages of 10 and 12 (46 students) took part in a participatory simulation of a virtual infectious disease, which was integrated into their science curriculum. The results from our analyses reveal that students perceived the simulation as similar to a natural infectious disease and that the immersive components of the simulation afforded students the opportunity to discuss their understandings of natural disease and to compare them to their experiences with the virtual disease. We found that while the virtual disease capitalized on students’ knowledge of natural infectious disease through virtual symptoms, these symptoms may have led students to think of its transfer more as an observable or mechanical event rather than as a biological process. These findings provide helpful indicators to science educators and educational designers interested in creating and integrating online simulations within classroom environments to further students’ conceptual understanding.     

谈《周易》和孟子的教育思想

《周易》是我国古代重要的哲学著作，其中蕴涵了丰富的教育思想：教育者要运用启发式教学．对不同受教育者施加不同的教育方法；受教育者要积极主动、虚心求教；教与学要彼此顺应，形成良好的教育环境。孟子在《周易》的启发下，形成了完整的教学思想。     

The Vertex Project: Children Creating and Populating 3D Virtual Worlds

This paper outlines early investigations and initial outcomes of The Vertex Project, a school‐based action research project currently underway at Middlesex University. The project aims to explore the potential of Shared 3D Virtual Environments as creative learning tools for children, and looks into the challenges facing their practical integration into the primary classroom. Working in partnership with three primary schools, the project sets out to investigate the teaching and learning possibilities offered by Internet based 3D virtual environments, placing particular emphasis on the opportunities provided by the active participation of children in the design and construction of their own virtual worlds, and in the creation of avatars with which to represent themselves within these spaces.