Virtual Worlds and Education

Virtual Worlds and Education

From Skyrim to School

Lance

My son Lance (12 year old) LOVES video games!

He spends hours (he would spend even more if I would let him) exploring interactive worlds like Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and building entire virtual worlds in games like Minecraft. The entire time that he is doing this he is interacting with his friends, and people around the world, via onscreen text or voice interaction. It is easy to think of this as just another kid playing video games.

What I realized the other day is that he is not just playing! He is learning from these virtual worlds and learning how to interact, in new ways, with people. In essence, xBox 360 is preparing my son (and thousands of others) to learn in 3D virtual environments. Perhaps it is time that education capitalizes on this?

Exploring a mountain range in Skyrim. Fully interactive and highly detailed. It would take hours for your character to walk from one side of this world to the other. In that time you would interact with people, environments, and geography. Think of the power of this type of immersive tool! Think of the simulations and observations that students could participate in.

Map of Skyrim. Lance knows the geography, weather, and politics of this place like the back of his hand. He can even direct you to specific people's houses. What if students could explore the real world or historical sites in this way?

A Google Search of Virtual Worlds and Education produced 9,070,000 results! This tells me that people are trying to figure out how to use virtual environments in education.

"Over 400 universities and 4,500 educators participate on the second life educators list." (Calongne, 2008)

Some benefits of Virtual Worlds in Education (Antonacci, DiBartolo, Fritch,  McMullen,  Murch-Shafer, 2008)

• "Virtual worlds’ persistence allows for continuing and growing social interactions, which can serve as a basis for collaborative education."
• "Virtual worlds give users the ability to carry out tasks that could be difficult in the real world due to constraints such as cost, scheduling or location." 
• "Virtual worlds can adapt and grow to meet different user needs." 

This quote really summarized the benefits for me:
"These students were so immersed in the learning experience that they did not realize they had accomplished the goals of several classes in a single term. Virtual environments are stimulating, creative landscapes. When virtual worlds are populated with the right mix of content and discovery, students remain long after class ends." (Calongne, 2008)

Here is a little mental exercise for you to try:

In keeping with Calongne's suggestion (2008) let's think of the benefits first. Forget all the reasons that you think it will not work (many of these were shared during the Cloud Party discussion). 

• Describe a Virtual World that would relate to your subject area. What would the world look like? 
• How could the students benefit from interacting with this environment? 
• How could the students benefit from interacting with each other in this environment? 
• How could you structure activities to make sure students were focused while in environment (e.g., scavenger hunt, construct an object, explore and make observations, etc.)? 
• What advantages could this platform hold for you?

If you want to learn more about Virtual Worlds in Education here are some resources that may interest you:

A Virtual World MOOC (Best Practices)

David W. Deeds' Slide Share (a Slide Share site for a High School Teacher that actually used 3D environments with his class)

A Teacher's Guide to Using Virtual Worlds in Education (A Best Practices presentation and testimonial from a student)

Tapping virtual Worlds for Education: Futuristic Paths or Realistic Directions? (Case Study of one class that used virtual environments)

A taxonomy of Virtual Worlds Usage in Education (Really good scholarly article summarizing and synthesizing 90 current articles)

Perhaps some day, if we capitalize on this rich new tool, class will happen while sitting on a virtual version of Saturn's Rings. Perhaps students will interview a virtual Napoleon while walking across the  battlefield at Waterloo ("So Napolean where do you think things went wrong?"). Perhaps students will interact with the avatar of people from all over the world learning from them and their interests ("Why are you moving like that Vanity Fair?"). Perhaps we will not be limited in the number of Field Trips we can take each year because we could take a Virtual Field Trip everyday! 

Lance is ready to experience virtual worlds. Are schools ready to make this exploration educational?

Taking a Crack at the Golden Art of Online Instructing

Good seasons start with good beginnings.

Sparky Anderson

Before you can:

You have to:

Before you are ready for the first inning of teaching your online or hybrid course, preparing will make all the difference to your course’s success.  Clear course objectives, a syllabus, and weekly plans, all combined with a good learning management system make for a great launching pad for students to succeed, but these are just the fundamentals. There is an art to online teaching, and the role of the teacher is very different than that of a classroom teacher, with heightened need for detailed plans and a great first couple of weeks.  You have to get the bases loaded right away.

Getting the students to understand the rules of how things work online, getting them to work with you and with each other, and getting them invested in their own learning inquiries, processes, and projects are key. Your creativity sparks theirs, and you have to bring your A-game upfront, even more than in typical classes, according to the experts, or you might lose the students.

As an online instructor, you light the fire, stoke the fire, and keep the fire in safe parameters, but to be successful online, you’re aiming to light the students' torches—and the goal is for them to run with the torches on their own two feet, in some good direction, with you coaching from the sidelines. As instructor, you are sometimes in the foreground, but you often move into the shadows.

In The Golden Climate in Distance Learning (Kostina and LaGanza) we are let in on the secrets of 1) creating learner engagement (with other learners, teacher, content, LMS, and creative process); 2) building trusting, positive, and collaborative online communities that encourage constructive discussion, risk-taking and which withstand scholarly disagreement; and 3) real-world team projects that are important to learners. 

The instructor is guide and facilitator, always trying to find just the right

“golden distance” 

that magic balance of finding “how to be at the same time present for [students] and to let them be.”

 (Kostina and LaGanza).

Hang onto your copy of Judith Boettcher and Rita-Marie Conrad’s The Online Teaching Survival Guide—it’s worth the price of admission for its checklists and outline for upfront course prep. Here is my cheat sheet of their outline for beginning a course. 

Projects that are relevant to students’ experience or ambitions, and which are presented to other students for discussion during and after development bring meaning and purpose to distance learning. (Kostina and LaGanza)

Both books emphasize getting learners excited about their own learning, and early successful interactions in online discussions are critical. For students to feel part of the community they must come to understand that they have to "show up" and take interpersonal and scholarly risks in order to learn online. Both books state that the first discussion questions in the course are really important to getting everyone acclimated, engaged, and buying in.

To Share

What are some of your favorite opening discussion questions?

What starter questions have worked? Bombed?

How do you like to get students engaged, right from the start?

Do you have any tips to add about preparing for an online class? 

Here is another source for setting up an online course.

And here's an article about getting rich as an online instructor. in case you want to.

Tangentially,  here's a video on "Blended Learning," ways schools can use non-traditional class configurations to use online and hybrid learning. Interesting!

Hoping your beginnings lead to a

Education Delivery Methods: What Say You?

Open this link (trust me, it’s not spam, graphic pictures, or a dancing fox).

Got it open? Good. Now… Yawwwwnnnnn….

(Try this! Google Image search "yawn" and try not to yawn. Good luck)

I'd imagine you share in my feeling of this journal article making you question what year it is. Seriously, Google Image search "first web page ever" See what I'm talking about? 

I first opened it and thought I was looking at an Encyclopedia Britannica article from 1997...when I was 9….

Once I got over this initial reaction (and wiped the “BAM! In a coma” drool from my keyboard), I dove into the content and here’s what I thought:

In your personal life, think about which you would prefer: a class fully online or meeting face to face. This journal article didn’t take a look at which method was better, but at comparing student learning outcomes in a face to face environment compared to a fully online environment. Do you think students were found more successful in on delivery method over the other? I have my thoughts on this, what say you?

After analyzing the meta-analysis of studies, outcomes, and quantitative performance indicators (see what I did there…) the article FINALLY draws to a conclusion. Here’s my educational journal interpretation of the results:

Based on the aforementioned, empirically-based quantitative analysis, the sum of indicators for student learning outcomes show the linkage in the previously mentioned delivery methods, in an aggregated range of data.

Christian Translation (me, not the religion): There aint no difference.

There’s no difference in student learning outcomes when comparing face to face and fully online, which I 100% would agree with and am not shocked by the findings. It’s my opinion that anyone can be successful in either environment, but will develop preferences based on previous experiences. There’s such a big online learning push right now, which is great for technology and innovation. However I don’t ever see the day where we don’t have our students experience some type of face to face instruction and learning.

Conclusion

The awesome thing about providing students with these opportunities at a young age is they start to develop what works best for them. Isn't that what education is all about? Being able to personalize and differentiate instruction for our students? Of course this study found no difference in learning outcomes. Online learning works for some students and doesn’t work for others. The same way that face to face learning works for some but not others. I personally don’t like drawing so wouldn't you know, I’m not an artist? We cannot pigeon hole our students and expect a one size fit’s all model. Everyone is different, everyone learns differently, everyone grows at a different pace and ultimately becomes skilled in different areas. Thankfully we all aren't good at the same thing and work towards the exact same goal - or we'd all be fighting for the exact same job and position in life!

Bottom line

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Education is a personalized experience - not a one size fits all. Students can be successful in a multitude of teaching methods. They will develop preferences and skills that will ultimately enhance their learning and comprehension, based on a variety of experiences in learning.

Breaking Ground....[Andrea]

A comparison of techniques to get your online class off the ground.  

For many teachers, especially the ones who prefer the "old ways," creating an online course may seem like a project that will inevitably end up on DIY Disasters.  Students won't engage...discussions and projects become lifeless....and the course load for the teacher is more than the students!  BUT, these are fears we must face and overcome.  I enjoyed reading these chapters on online course start-up, because it helped alleviate the thought,

 "Where do I even begin?"

So, if you are having trouble like I was, here's a great video to help you become inspired.

                                   Daphne Koller, Co-founder of Coursera

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Inspired?  Let's get started:  

Choosing the best method to get started can be as versatile as our courses themselves. Comparing the two texts we are reading is proof of that. Both offer sound advice and tools/tips for starting up an online course, but who is the advice actually meant for? 

As I read up on Boettcher's Survival Guide, I felt that the tips were more for the novice, not the tech savvy. The authors make many valid points, such as going slow and starting small, but many people who are embarking on online courses are further along than the basics. 

On the other hand, Kostina encourages people to jump in, guns blazing. In The Golden Climate of Distance Learning, my head began to swim with all of the tips and examples for startup. 

Here is a little organizer that sums up the two main strategies from our texts.  The Online Teaching Survival Guide strategies are on the left, The Golden Climate in Distance Learning on the right.

As you can see, our texts are highly contrasting in many areas; however, one of the most important ideas is front and foremost for both texts: Have a PRESENCE online.

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So, with all of this in mind, I think it's necessary that we all take a moment to reflect:

What is best for you?

 In your replies, answer the questions below, and take the first steps to starting your online class:

Who do you want to be online?

What is your ideal teaching self?

What would you like learners to say about you as a teacher?

How are you going to be that person, right from the beginning?

What is your ideal learner?

How are you going to help your learner become that person?