Effects of virtual learning environments: A scoping review of literature

Education and Information Technologies - The purpose of this scoping review is to isolate and investigate the existing data and research that identifies if the synchronous face-to-face visual...     

Issues and challenges of teaching and learning in 3D virtual worlds: real life case studies

We aimed to study the characteristics and usage patterns of 3D virtual worlds in the context of teaching and learning. To achieve this, we organised a full‐day workshop to explore, discuss and investigate the educational use of 3D virtual worlds. Thirty participants took part in the workshop. All conversations were recorded and transcribed for analysis. Thematic analysis was carried out to identify prominent issues and topics. We found that to fully utilise 3D virtual worlds for teaching and learning, students, tutors and educational institutions face a number of socio‐psychological, pedagogical and technological challenges. The paper highlights and discusses the issues that emerged from the workshop, supporting them with real life experiences and case studies provided by the workshop participants.

Probleme und Herausforderungen des Unterrichtens und Lernens in virtuellen 3D Welten: “echte” Lebensfallstudien

Wir hatten zum Ziel, die Eigenschaften und die Gebrauchsweise von 3D‐virtuellen Welten im Zusammenhang mit Unterricht und Lernen zu studieren. Dazu organisierten wir einen ganztägigen Workshop, um den Gebrauch von 3D virtuellen Welten im Bildungsbereich zu erforschen, zu besprechen und zu untersuchen. Dreißig Teilnehmer nahmen an diesem Workshop teil. Alle Gespräche wurden aufgezeichnet und für die Analyse transskribiert. Eine thematische Analyse wurde ausgeführt, um gängige Probleme und Themen herauszufinden. Wir meinen, dass, um virtuelle 3D‐Welten komplett zu verwerten, um darin zu unterrichten und Erfahrungen zu sammeln, Studenten, Tutoren und Bildungseinrichtungen mehreren sozialpsychologischen, pädagogischen und technologischen Herausforderungen gegenüberstehen. Dieser Beitrag beleuchtet und bespricht die Probleme, die innerhalb des Workshops auftauchten und unterstützt ihr Verständnis durch von den Workshopteilnehmern selbst zur Verfügung gestellten Lebenserfahrungen und Fallstudien.

Problèmes et défis de l’enseignement/apprentissage dans des mondes virtuels en 3D: des études de cas empruntés à la vie réelle

Nous avions pour but d’étudier les caractéristiques et les schémas d’usage des mondes virtuels en 3D dans un contexte d’enseignement et apprentissage. Pour y parvenir, nous avons organisé un atelier d’une journée entière pour débattre, explorer et mener une recherche sur l’emploi éducatif des mondes virtuels en 3D. L’atelier a accueilli 30 participants. Toutes les conversations ont été enregistrées et transcrites à des fins d’analyse. On a effectué une analyse thématique pour identifier les problèmes et les thèmes les plus marquants. Nous avons découvert que pour utiliser à fond les mondes virtuels en 3D pour l’enseignement et l’apprentissage, les étudiants, les tuteurs et les institutions éducatives doivent faire face à un certain nombre de défis socio‐psychologiques, pédagogiques et technologiques. Dans cet article l’accent et le débat portent sur les questions qui sont apparues au cours de l’atelier, le tout appuyé sur des expériences de la vie réelle et sur des études de cas fournies par les participants à l’atelier.

Problemas y desafíos de la enseñanza/aprendizaje en mundos virtuales 3D: estudios de casos de la vida real

Nuestro propósito era el estudio de las características y de los esquemas de uso de los mundos virtuales 3D dentro del contexto de la enseñanza/aprendizaje. Para llevar esto a cabo hemos organizado un taller de un día completo para explorar, discutir y investigar el uso educativo de los mundos virtuales 3D. Treinta personas participaron en el taller. Todas las conversaciones fueron grabadas y transcribidas para ser analizadas. Un análisis temático fué realizado para identificar los temas y problemas más destacados. Hemos descubierto que para aprovechar plenamente los mundos virtuales 3D para la enseñanza/aprendizaje, los alumnos, los tutores y las instituciones educativas tienen que hacer frente a un número de desafíos socio‐psicológicos, pedagógicos y tecnológicos. En el artículo los autores destacan y discuten los problemas que han surgido del taller, apoyandoles con experiencias de la vida real y estudios de casos suministrados por los participantes del taller.     

A review of literacy frameworks for learning environments design

This article charts the development of three literacy research frameworks: multiliteracies, new literacies, and popular literacies. By reviewing the literature surrounding three current conceptions of literacy, an attempt is made to form an integrative grouping that captures the most relevant elements of each for learning environments design. Rather than showcasing the merits and weaknesses of each perspective (resulting in theoretical ‘winners and losers’), the frameworks are used to derive a core set of principles which might inform the design of interventions and artifacts to promote learning within informal learning environments for youth. These principles include exploring lifeworlds, recognising sources of power, multimodality, intertextuality, play and popular culture, design and production, and changing roles for adults.     

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.     

Inclusion of pupils perceived as experiencing social and emotional behavioural difficulties (SEBD): affordances and constraints

This paper takes as its principal theme barriers to the inclusion of pupils perceived as experiencing social and emotional behavioural difficulties (SEBD) and how these might be overcome. It draws upon an evaluative case study of an initiative, devised by the author, to support pupils – the Support Group Initiative (SGI) – which was conducted over a five‐year period in a Scottish Secondary School situated in an area of multiple deprivation. The central focus of the discussion is the range of variables that impacted upon pupil outcomes, illustrating the ways in which these variables acted as affordances or constraints in the pursuit of inclusive practice. The paper takes as its starting point the contested nature of inclusion and introduces, briefly, the Scottish policy context as it pertains to inclusion before exploring the nature of the problem – the barriers to the inclusion of and the difficulties presented by the inclusion of pupils perceived as having SEBD, as discussed in the literature. The findings of the study are discussed in relation to central themes – the ethos of the Support Group; the process of re‐signification through which pupils are enabled to effect improvement; the classroom context; and wider variables relating to school policy, practice, ethos and the management of change. The paper concludes by exploring what inclusion has meant to the pupils involved within the intervention, summarising the affordances and constraints to its realisation, before reflecting upon the significance of the study.     

Learning activities as enactments of learning affordances in MUVEs: A review-based classification

Three Dimensional Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) are promising tools in education because of the unique affordances they offer. These learning affordances imply certain actions that in turn can lead to corresponding learning activities. There seems to be a lack of reports on which of the affordances of MUVEs for learning and teaching are used and how they are enacted by relevantly designed learning activities. This study investigates the learning activities conducted in Second Life, the most popular and widely used among the "sandbox" type MUVE platforms, as reported in 205 empirical studies, by associating them with the learning affordances they enact. As necessary step towards this goal, the study proposes a new classification of learning affordances of MUVEs and a new concrete set of learning activities based on the literature review. Learning affordances include free navigation, creation, modeling and simulation, multichannel communication, collaboration and cooperation and content presentation and/or delivery. By using the open, axial and selective coding offered by the grounded method, the learning activities that emerged from the exhaustive empirical review, are well associated with the proposed six learning affordances, validating in return the functionality of the proposed set of learning affordances. The five more general learning activities, resulting from the selective coding, are content creation, content exploration and interaction with content, social interaction, gaming, participation in representations of real life events and situations. Further research on other MUVEs is needed to establish this framework.     

The pragmatics of virtual worlds for K-12 educators: investigating the affordances and constraints of ActiveWorlds and SecondLife with K-12 in-service teachers

The purpose of this study is to address the pragmatics of integrating virtual worlds for teaching and learning for K-12 education. Specifically this qualitative investigation focuses on a reflective dialogue gathered from a group of K-12 (primary and secondary school) educators about their experiences using both Active Worlds Educational Universe and Second Life. Reflections consist of both their experiences as (a) a learner within both applications, (b) developing instructional content in both applications, and (c) perceptions of value of each application for teaching and learning. The goal of this research is to investigate how K-12 teachers’ perceptions of virtual worlds may impact the integration of new tools for teaching and learning.     

The effect of feedback on academic achievement in technology-rich learning environments (TREs): A meta-analytic review

This study aimed to investigate the effect of feedback on students' academic achievement in a technology-rich environment through a systematic and quantitative synthesis of the studies conducted over several decades. We focused on three issues: (a) the effectiveness of feedback in enhancing learning performance; (b) possible factors (feedback characteristics and study features) associated with different studies that could have resulted in the inconsistent findings across the studies; and (c) how different types of feedback differed in their effect in enhancing academic achievement. Based on 182 effect sizes extracted from 61 studies, we found that, compared with no feedback condition, feedback had at least a medium effect (g = 0.44, 95%CI [0.324, 0.555]) in enhancing academic achievement, and the effect of explanation feedback was the strongest compared to other types of feedback. The study further revealed that the feedback in blended learning was more effective than that in online learning. Possible explanations and implications of these findings, as well as limitations and future research directions were discussed.     

Using affordances and constraints to evaluate the use of information and communications technology in teaching and learning

Abstract

Evaluating the nature and extent of the influence of information and communications technology (ICT) on the quality of learning is highly problematic, owing to the number and complexity of interacting variables involved in settings for teaching and learning. Yet, for those responsible for allocating large sums of money to the development of ICT in education, it is important to identify, characterise, measure and model more precisely the features and processes through which technology impacts upon teaching and learning activities. This article offers a framework for analysing the effects of ICT in combination with the other factors which may enhance or ameliorate the positive impact of ICT in the classroom and beyond. This framework is applicable to different levels of evaluation, including large scale curriculum development programmes, curriculum and pedagogical change in particular schools, and individual teachers' planning and reflection. Its use in evaluating new ICT-based teaching approaches at classroom level is illustrated and analysed in the context of an in-service teacher education programme in the United Kingdom, and suggestions are made concerning the development of evaluation tools based on the framework     

Modeling of an instructional design process based on the problem-based learning approach in three-dimensional multi-user virtual environments

Education and Information Technologies - In this study, the instructional design process in three-dimensional multi-user virtual environments (3D MUVEs) based on a problem-based learning approach...     

Grounded practice and the design of constructivist learning environments

A variety of instructional approaches has been studied and implemented across educational and training settings. Vastly different design practices have been proposed that reflect fundamentally different philosophies, beliefs, and biases. Yet, evidence of mismatched frameworks and methods are widespread. This has become particularly problematic in advancing emerging constructivist learning environments. In this paper, we advance the concept of grounded design, a process that involves linking the practices of learning systems design with related theory and research. The purposes of this paper are to introduce the fundamentals of grounded design, to describe how underlying foundations and assumptions can be aligned with the corresponding methods, and to introduce examples of grounded constructivist learning environments.     

Innovative learning environments and new materialism: A conjunctural analysis of pedagogic spaces

Abstract

An Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development research priority, innovative learning environments (ILEs) have been translated into policy and practice in 25 countries around the world. In Aotearoa/New Zealand, learning spaces are being reconceptualised in relation to this policy work by school leaders who are confronted by an impetus to lead pedagogic change. The article contributes a conjunctural analysis of the milieu around the redesign of these education facilities. Recognising that bodies and objects entwine in pedagogic spaces, we contribute a new materialism reading of ILEs as these are instantiated in New Zealand. New materialism recognises the agential nature of matter and questions the anthropocentric narrative that frames the post-enlightenment conception of what it means to be human. The decentring of human subjects through a materialist ontology facilitates a consideration of the power of objects to affect the spatial politics of learning environments. The article traces a relationship between the New Zealand strategic plan for Education 2015–2021 and principal conceptions of ILE as the lived spaces of this policy actualisation and the disciplinary/control society conjuncture. Informed by theories of spatial practice, we argue that principals’ understandings of ‘space’ are integral to pedagogic approaches within open-plan spaces. A conjunctural analysis can expand the capacity to act politically. By examining the complex conditions of a political intervention, in this case ILEs, we trace the displacements and condensations of different sorts of contradictions, and thus open up possibilities for action.     

Model construction as a learning activity: a design space and review

Modeling is becoming increasingly important both as a way to learn science and mathematics, and as a useful cognitive skill. Although many learning activities qualify as “modeling”, this article focuses on activities where (1) students construct a model rather than explore a given model, (2) the model is expressed in a formal language rather than drawings, physical objects or natural language texts and (3) the model's predictions are generated by executing it on a computer. Most research on such learning activities has focused on getting students to successfully construct models, which they find very difficult to do. In the hope that new research can find ways to remove this bottleneck, this article attempts to list all the major ideas that have appeared in the literature and might be useful to those developing new learning activities involving model construction. The ideas are organized into a design space with five dimensions: (1) modeling language types, (2) ways for describing the systems that students should model, (3) instructional objectives and their corresponding assessments, (4) common student difficulties and (5) types of scaffolding.     

Learning design and learning analytics in mobile and ubiquitous learning: A systematic review

Mobile and Ubiquitous Learning (m/u-learning) are finding an increasing adoption in education. They are often distinguished by hybrid learning environments that encompass elements of formal and informal learning, in activities that happen in distributed settings (indoors and outdoors), across physical and virtual spaces. Despite their purported benefits, these environments imply additional complexity in the design, monitoring and evaluation of learning activities. The research literature on learning design (LD) and learning analytics (LA) has started to deal with these issues. This paper presents a systematic literature review of LD and LA, in m/u-learning. Apart from providing an overview of the current research in the field, this review elicits elements of common ground between both communities, as shown by the similar learning contexts and complementary research contributions, and based on the research gaps, proposes to: address m/u-learning beyond higher education settings, reinforce the connection between physical and virtual learning spaces, and more systematically align LD and LA processes.     

Understanding enactivism: a study of affordances and constraints of engaging practicing teachers as digital game designers

This study is intended to deepen our understanding of enactivism, an emergent theoretical paradigm, through empirical exploration of teacher undertakings as digital game creators. Specifically, it explores the affordances and constraints, two important enactivism concepts, of practicing teachers?? experiences in designing and developing games for instructional purposes. This paper is guided by the following questions: what were the affordances perceived by the teachers in their design and building experience, and how did they enact to these affordances? What constraints presented challenges to teachers in the process? This is a case study focusing on capturing and interpreting teachers?? experiences and thinking resulting from game creation and sharing. Data are collected from practicing teachers who enrolled in a graduate course. A significant finding of this study is that the game design and building experience afforded opportunities for teachers to re-conceptualize pedagogy and teaching practice. Implications for design and limitations of the study are also discussed.