Effectiveness of Virtual Worlds, Why Play in a Virtual World?, Virtual World Features, Issues/Problems and time to create, Instructional Design and ADDIE, Features / Demonstration of 2 Virtual Worlds: – Emergency Medical virtual world Play and Learn, – Dusty the Dragon Virtual World game and the Evaluation results.

1. Virtual Worlds:
Serious Play, Learning and Gaming
This presentation will focus on:
Effectiveness of Virtual Worlds
Why Play in a Virtual World?
Virtual World Features
Issues/Problems and time to create
Instructional Design and ADDIE
Features / Demonstration of 2 Virtual Worlds:
- Emergency Medical virtual world Play and Learn
- Dusty the Dragon Virtual World game and
Effective Learning Results
Carole Bagley, Ph.D.
The Technology Group, Inc.
President, Team Lead, Consultant
University of St. Thomas
Distinguished Service Professor - Adjunct

2. Virtual Worlds Effectiveness
2
• Virtual Worlds are increasingly being considered as a
way to experience and play in the real world and to
improve human performance.
• The literature indicates that virtual worlds are optimal
learning environments because studies show no
significant difference between the learning in and
outside a virtual world. Studies also indicate that if the
virtual world is developed with the focus on the
appropriate details, learning transfer is higher due to
what is known as “the practice effect” (higher level
Bloom’s taxonomy). Virtual learning environments
have been used successfully as a substitute for live
training & play exercises where danger, cost, or logistics
are obstacles.

3. Virtual World Effectiveness
3
• Group dynamics and collaboration in
virtual worlds is considered to be a good
alternative to face-to-face
communication.
• While it is no substitution for face-to-face
communication and collaboration, it is
deemed optimal when compared to
webinars or lower-tech methods of
interpersonal interaction.

4. Why Virtual Worlds?
4
• Serious Real Play environment
• Immersive Environment
• Customizable world
• Customizable scenarios
• Tracking of objects, people and states
• Consistently Repeatable
• Train Nationwide Simultaneously
• A Growing number of Platforms: Second Life, Open
Sim, Science Sim, WebGL, Teleplace, Unity, …

5. Why Virtual Worlds?
5
• Virtual worlds increasingly augment the economic
and social life of physical world communities
• Mirror worlds are informationally-enhanced
• Virtual models or “reflections” of the physical world
• Their construction involves sophisticated virtual
mapping, modeling, and annotation tools, geospatial
and other sensors, and location-aware and other
lifelogging (history recording) technologies

6. Why Virtual Worlds?
6
• One of the primary draws of virtual training
is increased motivation on the part of the
learner, the National Research Council
concluded that motivational design and
strategy must also be taken into account
during design (National Research Council
2011). The Council emphasized that the
entertainment and game playing value
motivating learners must not overshadow
the goal of instruction, but rather should be
grounded in it.

7. Why Virtual Worlds?
7
• Other research has led to this conclusion as
well, including Keller’s motivational model,
which is based on expectancy theory which
proposes that a person will decide to
behave or act irreverently/disrespectful in a
certain way because they are motivated to
select a specific behavior over other
behaviors due to what they expect the
result of that selected behavior will be
(Oliver 1974).

8. Why Virtual Worlds?
8
• The ARCS model is a problem solving approach to
designing the motivational aspects of learning
environments to stimulate and sustain students’
motivation to learner (Keller, 1983, 1984, 1987).
• This model presents an opportunity for designers
to leverage the full potential of virtual worlds so
that it entertains the learner without that
entertainment value overshadowing the goals of
the instruction (Keller 2000; Keller 2006).

9. Virtual Worlds features
9
Affordances of
virtual worlds
Individual-focused benefit Group-focused benefit
Graphical User
Interface
Offers visual context of envir-
onment & other inhabitants
Offers visual context of environ-
ment and other inhabitants
Persistence Maintains 24/7 existence;
provides convenient access
Enables progress and change to
take place regardless of
individual log-in status; helps
close the distance/time gap
Presence Defies distance; Provides
situated context
Minimizes feelings of
“disconnectedness”
Co-creation Fosters peer-to-peer support
and tutoring
Fosters multi-user content
development or modification
Co-existence Enlivens communication and
interaction; Blurs the line of
distance
Enables multi-user simultaneous
interaction in a shared
environment
Collaboration Enables users to self-select
groups based upon goals or
needs
Encourages users to develop
peer, affinity, skill, interest,
and/or groups

10. Time needed to learn how to use
Virtual Worlds & create the world
10
• A stumbling block for learners new to any virtual
world is the time required to learn how to navigate
the environment. Navigating a virtual world takes
time to learn.
• Without the knowledge of how the environment
works, learners can only use the environment
superficially. Virtual world designers must account
for the necessary time commitment and learning
curve of the target audience (Hay & Pymm 2010;
Ketelhut & Nelson 2010).
• Also, consider the time to create the world.

11. Issues/Problems with Virtual Worlds
11
• Research indicated that the primary reason for failure
of virtual world projects was lack of planning. Ensuring
that sufficient attention is applied to this phase will
impact the entire project.
• Some guidelines gleaned from existing virtual world
projects and related learning development projects
(e.g., e-learning design) provide insight on the
considerations prior to embarking on a virtual world
design project.

12. Instructional Design
12
• Design principles for virtual learning environments are
similar to those that already exist in experiential and
constructivist learning contexts.
• Learning in 3D: Adding a new dimension to enterprise
learning and collaboration establishes the requirement
for the learning to be instructionally sound is at the core
of design requirements for learning in a virtual world, as
is the case in any other learning context.
• The unique requirement for designing learning for virtual
worlds is the need to create an environment that has a
consistent & constant interaction, discovery, authenticity,
learner-centric design, while employing principles of
social learning and metacognition.

13. Addie Phases
13
Analysis Identify needs and constraints,
rationale for the project
Design Identify Learning objectives and
design/collect content for the
lessons/modules/sections of the
world
Plan media utilization and design the
interface
Create storyboards
Development Author and produce
Implementation Promote, deliver and report
Evaluation Evaluate the results

14. Emergency Medical (DEMPS)
Virtual World
14
• The Emergency Management virtual world consists
of three phases: Pre-deployment which
encompasses preparation of the volunteers ;
Deployment which includes check in and meeting
with the area manager to prepare for performing
duties as part of a team in response to a disaster or
emergency and Post-deployment which entails
returning home and reporting on with the DEMPS
(Disaster Emergency Medical Personnel System)
coordinator. Successful execution of each phase is
essential to the success of the mission.

15. 15

16. Goals
16
1: To design and implement an educational
program in a multi-user virtual environment that
will effectively support and enhance the delivery
of DEMPs training across all phases of their
education (pre-deployment, deployment, post-
deployment).
2: To evaluate the usability and effectiveness of
the DEMPs training program for volunteers,
support personnel, and leaders.

17. Emergency Medical Training
Competencies/Objectives
17
1. Maintain “personal readiness” for personnel deployment.
2. Maintain "family readiness" for personnel deployment.
3. Maintain "professional readiness" for personnel deployment.
4. Receive and respond to notification at all times when on call for
deployment according to the home organization's protocols.
5. Accomplish required tasks in the deployment mobilization process
within the designated timeframe.
6. Conduct all in-transit tasks to successfully travel to and from the home
organization and the reporting-in site for the supported organization, or
to travel between deployed locations.

18. Emergency Medical Training
Competencies/Objectives
18
7. Demonstrate completion of designated initial engagement activities upon
arrival to the intermediate or supported organization’s report-in location.
8. Effectively perform within the general incident operations of the supported
organization.
9. Effectively perform the specific job assignment in the deployed location
10. Follow safety, security and health maintenance guidelines during job
activities and during billeting and other daily living activities during
deployment.
11. Demonstrate completion of all personnel demobilization activities
designated by your home organization and by the supported organization.
12. Demonstrate completion of all recovery activities designated by your
home organization.

19. Learners
19
• Cohorts and individuals
– leaders
– volunteers
– support personnel – travel, fiscal (each with
different learning perspective)

20. Learners
20
Abbreviated course Support Personnel
(e.g. fiscal, travel)
Primary targeted student volunteer
More detailed training
and skill in VR
leaders

21. Emergency Medical Training Process
21
Pre-
Deployment
Pack-Prepare
Airport
Hotel
Deployment
Check in
Post-
deployment
Check out
Meet with
coordinator

22. Disaster Emergency Medical
Personnel System Virtual World
22
• Demonstration of the DEMPS (Disaster
Emergency Medical Personnel System)
virtual world.

23. Dusty the Dragon
student performance
School Percentage increase of mean
from pre to post test
Amery class1: 5th grade 19% increase
Amery class2: 5th grade 37% increase
Hudson: 6th grade 22% increase
CVA class1: 5th grade
with many special needs students 16% increase
CVA class2: 4th grade 15% increase
Comparison of the Pre-test and Post-test shows there is a statistical significant difference
overall for all schools. There were 10 questions on the pre and post tests. The pre test has
an average score of 5.5, the post test has a average score of 7.86 .

24. Dusty the Dragon
Female/Male performance
24
Gender N
Female
Male
44
59

25. Dusty the Dragon
Virtual World/ Game
7/24/201
8 25
• Demonstration of Dusty the Dragon
Phase 1 Virtual world/Game

26. 26
END