Created By Tawana Stiff EDUC 7102-3 Instructor: Dr. Amar Almasude

1. Presentation for A Professional Distance Education Conference Virtual Worlds The World At Your Fingertips Created By Tawana Stiff EDUC 7102-3 Instructor: Dr. Amar Almasude

2. Virtual Worlds In this presentation, we will address the following… What virtual worlds are, how they work, and the origin Common uses and authentic applications for virtual worlds Components of virtual worlds that can be utilized in conjunction with today’s best educational practices The impact that educational technology has on virtual worlds and vice versa The benefits versus barriers of virtual worlds

3. Virtual Worlds What is a virtual world? How does a virtual world work? How did virtual worlds come to fruition? A world at your fingertips… Cinematographers sought to stimulate the senses and make people experience different places without leaving the room Personalized Avatars complete tasks for rewards http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_world#History

4. I can reach my reward if I keep trying Virtual WorldsCompatibility and Continuity Virtual Worlds inspire students to tackle educational endeavors to earn rewards.

5. Virtual WorldsCommon Uses & Authentic Applications Entertainment Education

6. Virtual WorldsUses for Knowledge Expansion • International Conferences • Online Training/Tutorials • Cooperative Environments • Gaming • Authentic Problem Solving

7. Virtual Worlds: Authentic Applications • Club Penguin enables users to customize clothing and emoticons to construct and express identity (via avatar) within a social system, use environmental hints and resources to access information that will aid in the completion of quest. • Press Play to view this popular virtual world for kids.

8. Virtual Worlds: Authentic Applications • -Second Life enables users to attend virtual conferences and interact with attendees in other parts of the world. Individuals who attend these virtual conferences can then serve as conduits to the rest of their colleagues who were not in attendance. Real life networking and alliances can be forged through these online interactions. • Press Play to view this virtual conference

9. Virtual WorldsThe Impact of Education Technology on Virtual Worlds and Vice Versa • Educational Technology Virtual Worlds

10. Virtual Worlds Advantages • Addresses diverse motivational needs • Incentive Based Experiences • Social Networking provides a sense of belonging • Authentic Learning Experiences • Interactive learning • Dynamic experiences allow learners to construct knowledge • Allows parental/teacher monitoring Disadvantages • Unclear findings regarding the adverse effects of undesired outcomes • Limited accessibility due to technology requirements • Web-based programs are not always operated with fidelity • Susceptible to security breach or exploitation in unsecured sites (e.g., computer viruses)

11. Virtual Worlds • How do you convince students to persevere if they keep running into a brick wall? Success is on the other side…I think???

12. Annotated References • Dieterle, E., & J. Clarke (under review). Multi-user virtual environments for teaching and learning. In M. Pagani (Ed.), Encyclopedia of multimedia technology and networking (2nd ed). Hershey, PA: Idea Group, Inc. Retrieved November 10, 2006 from:http://muve.gse.harvard.edu/rivercityproject/documents/MUVE-for-TandL-Dieterle-Clarke.pdf • The authors of this research are both affiliates of Harvard University. The research findings are aligned with the River City Project as noted in my annotation for Harvard University (2005). The sample group for this study includes teams of 2-4 students from classrooms with a high ESL and free/reduced lunch population. The methodology for collecting data was the use of a Lab Notebook to assess student responses to questions they answered along their virtual journey. Findings suggest that virtual worlds enable users to contextualize knowledge and apply it to authentic, situation-specific contexts. In alignment with best practices, the authors adequately support this notion by highlighting a virtual environment’s capacity to eradicate the limited interactive barrier presented in offline environments.

13. Annotated References continued… • Educause (2005). 7 things you should know about gamification. Educause learning initiative (ELI) series. Updated annually. Retrieved from: http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7075.pdf • The organization who published this article is comprised of educators, institution affiliates, and any other corporations vested in the education realm. The sample group for this study includes a group of sophomore students who are divided into groups of six to competitively identify and take the most pictures (of an assigned plant species) within a 2 hour time frame. The methodologies for collecting data include informal student observations and interviews to determine the student reactions to participating in gaming in an educational setting. The findings suggests that students gaming heightens student engagement through motivational factors such as point accumulation. Although the student task(s) within the study correlates with best practices in the sense that students work cooperatively to engage in a student-centered activity, its validation is limited due to lack of student input. The authors base their findings on a female student who was in the winning group. Therefore, it is not clear if winning is what heightened the student’s level of motivation; or, if the gaming activity itself heightened the level of motivation.

14. Annotated References continued… • Harvard University (2005). The river city project. Studying situated learning and knowledge transfer in a multi-user virtual environment. Updated annually. Retrieved from: http//128.103.%20176.29/rivercityproject/prior%20_research/grant%20_02.html. • The publishers of this research are affiliates of Harvard University, Arizona State University and Active Worlds. The sample group for this study includes teams of 2-4 students from classrooms with a high ESL and free/reduced lunch population. The methodology for collecting data was the use of a Lab Notebook to assess student responses to questions they answered along their virtual journey. Research findings suggest that while virtual environments support teaching and learning, they are not substantiated as a primary source of either. Virtual environments provide a means for facilitating best practices as students are able to construct knowledge in an authentic setting. These findings are supported with detail and elaboration of student involvement and are further validated by Dieterle, E. and Clarke, J. (2006).

15. Annotated References continued… • Marsh, J. (2011, April/May/June). Young Children's Literacy Practices in a Virtual World: Establishing an Online Interaction Order. Reading Research Quarterly, 46(2), 101–118. doi: 10.1598/RRQ.46.2.1 Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=54b4d380-992a-47fd- • 8680-9d11378e1ad3% 40 sessionmgr110&vid=4&hid=106 • The author, Jackie Marsh, is an affiliate of the University of Sheffield (UK). The sample group for this study includes children ranging from ages 5-11. The methodologies for collecting data include an online survey completed by 175 children in the specified age range, interviews conducted with 26 of those participants and home video footage of three 11 year old participants. Marsh’s research findings indicate that literacy practices are developed in a face to face or offline environment. Those literacy practices may be utilized online in a virtual world interface to establish and enhance social cohesiveness within social systems. Due to the role that offline environments play in developing literacy practices, Marsh finds that a heightened level of development in this realm cannot be exclusively attributed to virtual world or offline environments. The best practices that correlate with these findings in terms of virtual world use are accessing information, knowledge and identity construction, and sustaining social networks. Marsh’s findings are validated by the inclusion of specific online tasks children complete (on ClubPenguin)to further their development in each of these areas.

16. Annotated References continued… • Mitchell, S., Heyden R., Heyden N., Schroy P., Andrew S., Sadikova E., Wiecha J. (2011). A pilot study of motivational interviewing training in a virtual world. Journal of medical internet research. Retrieved from: http://www.jmir.org/2011/3/e77/ • The authors of this research are comprised on both education consultants and medical practitioners. The sample group includes 13 physicians and an unspecified age range of patients receiving counsel on colorectal cancer screening. The methodologies for determining the effectiveness of a virtual world platform was based on tape recorded interviews done both before and after the training sessions. The findings suggest that 77% of the physicians coined Second Life as an effective interface for facilitating this type of training. The findings are adequately supported with quantitative data that show both the pre- and post training scores with regards to patients’ aptitude to practice patterns relevant to screening. Comparable to student-centered education, this study concludes the possibility of a patient-centered approach to medical counseling.

17. Annotated References continued… • Yee, N. (2006). The demographics, motivations and derived experiences of users of massively-multiuser online graphical environments. Presence Teleoperators and virtual environments, 15, 309-329. Retrieved from: http://www.nickyee.com/pubs/Yee%20-%20MMORPG%20Demographics%202006.pdf • The author of this article is an affiliate of the Communication Department at Stanford University. The sample group for this study includes 30,000 users of online graphical environments ranging from ages 11-68. Methodologies for data collection involved surveys and an exploratory factor analysis based on user trends, demographics and perception (in retrospect to online experiences). The findings suggest that users are motivated (to varying degrees) by one or more of the following factors: Achievement, relationship, immersion, escapism and manipulation. These findings coincide with best practices as virtual worlds have the capacity to motivate a diverse body of learners based on their varying motivational needs. There is adequate support to correlate each motivational factor with the purpose of a given virtual world. However, the large quantity of participants leaves room for inconsistencies in terms of the thoughtfulness of user responses. The data may be skewed if some users did not put the same level of thought and precision into their responses as others. Furthermore, the study does not take into consideration the personal situations that could have been occurring in the lives of the participants (to trigger those motivational needs) at the time the student was conducted.

18. References • Laureate Education, Inc. (2008).  Diffusion and Integration of Technology in Education Baltimore: Author • Moller, L. (2008). Static and dynamic technological tools. [Unpublished Paper].