Ken Hudson, Virtual World Design Centre Loyalist College, Belleville, Canada SLOAN-C – October 30, 2009 They Became What They Beheld: Immersive Role-play in Virtual Environments

Edmund Snow Carpenter

Edmund Snow Carpenter

Media are environments

We are their content

… they engulf us, tattoo us..

We are immersed

Movies and Television

Sports

Music

Video Games

We are our game markers

“ We shape our tools and then our tools shape us.”

Mirror Neurons

Chameleon Effect

“ Our virtual identity is not separate from our physical identity.” Jeremy N. Bailenson April 4, 2008 Chronicle of Higher Education

Proteus Effect: We infer our behavior and attitudes from our avatar

Behavior transfers from virtual world to real life

We modify our attitudes by observing our own behavior

Loyalist College

Border Security Restrictions

Port of Entry Process

Canadian Border Lansdowne

Second Life Border Simulation

Canadian Border Simulation

Border Crossing Interviews

Simulation on Screen

Identification Process

Traveler Team

Secondary Search

“ More realistic than traditional role plays.”

“ Learned from watching classmates.”

“ Interview questions stuck.”

“ As close as it could be to real life.”

“ Seeing hearing doing…we were actually there.”

CBSA Pilot

CBSA Second Life Pilot Overview Piloted over one complete intake of 179 recruits. Objective: provide additional practice during distance-learning phase Participation was voluntary but was strongly encouraged.

Piloted over one complete intake of 179 recruits.

Objective: provide additional practice during distance-learning phase

Participation was voluntary but was strongly encouraged.

Loyalist College 37% increase in grades over 2 years CBSA Recruits 39% increase in success at testing milestone Increased Confidence Accelerated Learning Pace

America’s Army

America’s Army in-game Medic Training

Publication of Results Journal of Virtual Worlds Research Volume 2, Number 1:Pedagogy, Education and Innovation in 3-D Virtual Worlds Linden Lab Case Study Virtual World Simulation Training Prepares Real Guards on the US-Canadian Border: Loyalist College in Second Life Learning in 3D: Bringing a new dimension to enterprise learning and collaboration by Karl Kapp and Tony O’Driscoll Handbook of research on virtual environments for corporate education: Employee learning and solutions Forthcoming 2010:

Ken Hudson Managing Director Virtual World Design Centre Loyalist College SL: Kenny Hubble Twitter: kennyhubble [email_address]