Design for Learning in Virtual Worlds

Dr Steven Warburton, King’s College London, UK Margarita Perez Garcia, Menon EIGG, BE ReLive08

21st November 2008

design for learning in virtual worlds:

the tension between control and pedagogical approach

context

Practitioners are faced with multiple challenges when shifting their first life experiences to their second life teaching:

What are the particular demands of MUVEs that impact on the creation of meaningful learning activities?

What happens to expertise when we move from real to virtual spaces?

How do we address the design problems that these issues raise?

Hatmaking workshop Analysing Hands-On Workshops: small group, tutor-led teaching settings where the virtual learning space can be found configured in a variety of ways.

Workshop aims: Development of specific competencies in building and/or scripting in-world objects. Text based instruction. Average length: One hour. Organised by non-formal learning providers and offered to the Second Life ‘public’

Methodology: participatory observation (n=20) Followed by: tutor and instructor semi-structured interviews (n=10)

Assessment: of quality of student learning experience

Towards: developing a taxonomy of good practices

Validation: by deploying the taxonomy against a new panel of teachers

key dimensions

two polarities are clearly defined:

structure: control of the environment

pedagogical approach

when we map these polarities against each other what do they say about teaching practices in SL?

Mapping control of the environment against pedagogy disorientating mechanical good practice overload

unveiling practitioner profiles

Four scenarios:

unstructured space + reflective learning : disorientating

Not easy and difficult to carry out. The innovator who does not possess SL teaching skills.

unstructured space + directive learning : cognitive overload

The behaviorist, not innovator or not experienced. The inexperienced teacher that has not mastered SL for teaching.

structured environment + directive learning : mechanical

Limited transferability. The most common situation: not educational innovators but master the technical aspects of SL for teaching.

structured environment + reflective learning : good practice

The ideal situation: the innovator fully trained in the use of SL for teaching, using reflection and play to build transferability.

expertise in virtual worlds: teaching versus technical

transferring real world teaching experience into virtual spaces is not straightforward and can undermine a sense of expertise

how does the teaching ‘expertise’ become destabilised inside a virtual world?

the expert actor-network

the teacher/teaching assemblage consists of a network of human and non-human actors:

student [uniform] dress code, classroom layout, the school bell, the teacher voice, teacher appearance and dress codes, tools: whiteboard, teacher position … and so on

over time certain behaviours, such as obedience , become stabilised, resistance decreases and these become the norm

teaching expertise becomes destabilised when new actors, such as technology , are bought into this network

“ Although the teacher has 15 years of experience in academia he found problems while designing the lecture and during the delivery due to the relatively unknown media capabilities.” Martinez (2007). Proceedings SLCC.

the taxonomy as a design tool

three design domains 1. space 2. tools 3. processes

design factors we need to address

examples of the recurring factors that were uncovered:

the need to establish clear communication and interaction policies between students and teacher/s;

individualisation of the learning experience is often overlooked;

the significant time required for design and preparation of the workshops;

the validation of workshops is an iterative process, over time;

RL teaching experience does not guarantee SL teaching expertise

identifying recurring problem spaces

we are good at telling stories but bad at sharing design knowledge

the explorer and prophet; research and practice - how do we fill the gap?

we need to mobilise good design solutions that already exist

recurring problem spaces in Second Life:

managing identity, self representation;

establishing meaningful collaboration: co-construction, cooperation, co-ordination;

facilitating authentic relationships via socialisation;

developing competences - visual grammar, space design, digital literacies;

adopting sound pedagogical approaches;

overcoming multilayered technical constraints.

design patterns

articulating and sharing good design solutions:

by sharing stories/narratives of practice (what worked and what did not work)

e.g. situation/context, task, activities, results, reflection

where were you, what were you trying to do, what did you do, what happened, what was successful, not successful

identify recurring problems and associated forces

abstract the successful [design] solutions

share and refine these patterns* and link them together (a design language)

* “a problem which occurs over and over again in our environment, and then describes the core of the solution to that problem, in such a way that you can use this solution a million times over, without ever doing it the same way twice” (Christopher Alexander, 1977)

creating pathways to good design through patterns “ Socialisation before collaboration” - establishing identity leads to authenticity and trust and meaningful collaborative activity “ Think carefully before teaching in the nude” - projecting the correct image is a skill as is reading in-world cultural codes – these both relate to caring about ones avatar and the image projected.

Liquid Learning ( www.liquidlearning.org ) - personal research blog

espheres identitaires ( www.margaperez.com ) - personal research blog

MUVEnation ( www.muvenation.org ) - EU funded project, 2 years

LLL3D ( www.lll3d.org ) - EU funded project, 2 years

OpenHabitat ( www.openhabitat.org ) – JISC funded, 15 months

Planet ( www.patternlanguagenetwork.org )

these projects aim to:

examine good practices for teaching in MUVEs; investigate what works and what does not; explore different learning contexts; develop and test specific learning scenarios