Lessons Learned about Virtual Worlds for Learning

1. Lessons Learnedabout Virtual Worldsfor Learning Chris Dede Harvard University Chris_Dede@harvard.edu http://www.gse.harvard.edu/~dedech

2. Problems in Middle School -I Start with a Problem, Not with a Technology • Higher order skills and deep content are driven out of the curriculum by broad, shallowstate curriculum standards and high-stakes tests • Many middle school science teachers are unprepared for their subject, their students,and for their pedagogy • Many middle school teachers are waryof technology and have low self-efficacyin using interactive media for active learning

3. Problems in Middle School - II • Middle school students are focused on peers and puberty • Many students have given up on themselvesas successful learners (low self-efficacy) • Particularly in SMET fields • Particularly girls, minorities, low SES,and ELL students • Many students think middle school is boringand perceive their education as meaninglessin its content and process • Many students have high rates of absenteeismand mobility

4. Opportunities in Middle School • Many middle school students are sophisticated in how they learn outside of school • Many middle school students are motivated by using information and communication technologies, particularly Web 2.0 tools/media • Most middle schools now have at leasta marginally adequate technology infrastructure • Most communities are intrigued by gaming, virtual worlds, and similar “cool” technologies

5. Fundamental Precepts in Technology-Based Design - I • Technology aids learning through pedagogyand content – a catalyst, not a cause • No single type of instruction is best forall studentsSleeping -------- Eating -------- Bonding simplecomplex • Need “a low floor and a high ceiling”

6. Fundamental Precepts in Technology-Based Design - II • Need instructional strategies that can scaleto relatively barren educational contexts • Engagement is central to learning, retention,and transfer • Games in education are not necessarilya good idea • Too many scoring systems now • Too many winners and losers now • Too much extrinsic motivation now

7. The Importance of Purposein Virtual Worlds • Watch videoat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v373r0to8Pk • Table 1 summarizes significant educational MUVEs active in the past few years, their learning goals, their functionality, and their corresponding URLs. • From Dieterle, E., & Clarke, J. (in press). 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. • Link to article: http://muve.gse.harvard.edu/rivercityproject/documents/MUVE-for-TandL-Dieterle-Clarke.pdf

11. “Next Generation” Interfacesfor Distributed Interaction • World to the Desktop:Accessing distant experts and archives forknowledge creation, sharing, and mastery • Multi-User Virtual Environment (MUVE):Immersion in virtual contexts withdigital artifacts and avatar-based identities • Ubiquitous Computing:Wearable wireless devices coupled tosmart objects for “distributed cognition”

12. 21st Century Pedagogy in RC Use of situated technologies to simulateauthentic contexts Watch videoat http://louisville.edu/education/ciidl/summer08/Dede-Video.wmv • Experimentation unfettered by laboratory constraints • Mediated collaboration in creating knowledge • Scientific Inquiry: • Connecting personal understandingswith those of sound science • Designing experiments • Investigating phenomena • Constructing meaning from data and observations Problem Finding

13. Focus on A Particular Suite ofUnderstandings and Performances Collaborative Problem Resolution viaMediated Interaction and Situated Learning: • Problem Finding Before Problem Solving • Comprehension by a Team, Not an Individual • Making Meaning Out of Complexity: • Utilizing sophisticated tools and representations • Recognizing and matching patterns • Judging the value of alternative formations • Communicating to others with differing perspectives

14. Low Floor,High Ceiling • Travel Back in time to 1878-79 • Bring 21st century skills and technology to 19th century problems • Commissioned by the Mayor to help town understand and perhaps solve a piece of the problem of “why are so many residentsbecoming ill?” • Work as a research team • Keep track of clues that hint at causes of illnesses • Form and test hypotheses • Make recommendations based on experimental data

15. The Importance of Identity • MUVEs allow students to assume an identity as a scientific investigator • Students create their own avatar name • Students choose virtual identities in worldto represent them • Students experiment with identitiesother than “academic loser” • Students take on role of scientist • Students take on the role of hero

16. Intrinsic Motivation through History: The “Powers” Mansion The Opportunity to be a Hero

17. Many Paths to Participationand Success • River City Resident conversations • Tacit Clues • Appearance of river, trees • Weather • Sounds: mosquito buzzing, coughing, water flowing • Hospital Admission chart • Environmental Health meter • Clues associated with Pictures • Sampling stations: • Water Purity • Mosquito nets

18. Teachers LeadingInterpretive Discussions Teachers stay in the real world to provide support to those in the virtual world, like Tank Students travel between the real and virtual worlds like Neo and Trinity

19. Assessment data: Pre-post content Pre-post affective Embedded assessments (formative) Performance assessment (summative) Contextual Data: Attendance records Demographic data School data Observations Interviews Active Data: Team chat Notebook entries Tracking of in-world activities: Data gathering strategies Pathways Inquiry processes Richer Means of Assessment

20. Event Logs as Observational Data Watch video(“Tour of River City”) athttp://muve.gse.harvard.edu/rivercityproject/view/rc_videos.html Indicates with Timestamps • Where students went • With whom they communicatedand what they said • What artifacts they activated • What databases they viewed • What data they gatheredusing virtual scientific instruments • What screenshots and notations they placed in team-based virtual notebooks unobtrusive observational data

21. Princess – in River City

22. Shorty’s (1169) Team, Session 2 Shorty’s Team, Session 3

23. Online Notebook

24. What is a “Game”? Jesper Juul (Half-Real, 2005) 1) Rules: Games are rule-based 2) Variable, quantifiable outcomes:Games have variable, quantifiable outcomes 3) Value assigned to possible outcomes:That the different potential outcomes of the game are assigned different values, some being positive, some being negative. 4) Player effort: That the player invests effort in order to influence the outcome. (i.e. games are challenging.) 5) Player attached to outcome: That the players are attached to the outcomes of the game in the sense that a player will be the winner and "happy" if a positive outcome happens, and loser and "unhappy" if a negative outcome happens. 6) Negotiable consequences: The same game [set of rules] can be played with or without real-life consequences.

25. Concerns about“Educational” Games Salen & Zimmerman (Rules of Play, 2003) A game is a system in which players engagein an artificial conflict, defined by rules,that results in a quantifiable outcome. • The outcome is the primary goal • Numbers tell you how you are doing • 2nd place is the first loser • To win, figure out the rulesand optimize your behavior • Success in games is a precursorto success in life

26. Beyond “Winners” and “Losers” The “School Game” • Teacher sets rules • One right answer via formulaic reasoning • Failure is fatal, via “dumbing down”and opting out • Assumption that “winners” and “losers” leads to engagement is true only for some students Game-Like Immersive Collaborative Simulations • Multiple causal factors ensurevariety of paths to success: Choice, not Control • Everyone can triumph; No one “dies” • Hypotheses are not classifiable as winnersor losers; Contributions to knowledge • No “finish line”; Self-actualization

27. Life is not a Game • Distorting life into a game leads to disastrous outcomes • Wars that assume “victory” is possible • Political processes that optimize“dashboards” rather thandevelop wise policies