Hi all,
After yesterday class, probably most of you realize that I am skeptical about the use of virtual reality. I am thinking the same question over and over again: what additional benefit we get from virtual reality than what we can get from other medium such as simulation program, and communication software (e.g. Marratech/Skype). I come up with some answers and I will share in the second part of this message. Now, I first shared my experience in Second Life this morning.
Kathy's presentation suggested that we can visit Morocco in Second Life and I questioned what good about visiting Morocco virtually. We can see picture, watch live video of Morocco over the internet. Deniz suggested that it was the interaction. I guess we can also have some "first hand experience" if we use the virtual reality. So, I went there (I hope I went to the right place). It is a small island. I saw two people: one man (with two guns), and one lady (naming herself sexy something). Then, the lady comes to talk to me. I am scared. You don't talk to stranger (at least it is something I learned in kindergarten), especially in an unfamiliar place. So, I did not response. One thing I learn - there may be some etiqutte in virtual reality. It is important to learn. Also, the general culture is different in virtual world. So, many factors that affect learning may change. For example, gender may have an effect on some learning outcomes (I really don't know, but I guess there may be). Now, we don't even know the lady who talked to me is actually a male or a female. What I would like to say here: if culture matters in learning, now, we have a totally new space with a "new culture". Maybe each island has its own culture. So, culture can be a manipulatable variable in virtual reality. It is something interesting to investigate. Of course, what will happen if you don't have a clue about the new culture. Then, what will happen? I was an example in virtual Morocco. I fled.
Then, I went to the democracy island - as some of you may know, I am a politics junky. So, that is an interesting island for me. It looks like a museum with computer screen that I can click virtually. Information shows up. Actually, some screens direct me to an actual web site with more information. I see the advantage of the feeling of visiting a museum when I was in the virtual world. Even though we can have all the information (such as pictures and video clips) in a web site, we may not able to re-create the feeling of visiting a real museum. For me, I feel motion sickness when I see the screen moving. So, I still prefer a plan web site. It is just my personaly issue.
In conclusion, I think there are real benefit of virtual reality in learning. I think Dawley has started one very good research path - the social persistence. Will the virtual reality help people to immerse in the environment longer and deeper (I already use the word immerse which implies a positive answer)? Cultural effect will be an interesting phenomenon because the culture can be totally different in the virutal world. Also, people can visit one place and then to the next place with a different culture in seconds. How will it affect learning? Of course, the opportunity for interactions in VR is probably positive for learning. However, how can we design the enviornment to foster positive interactions in virtual reality? I am not skeptical about the effect of VR, but I see a lot of unknown (research opportunities). However, my problem with motion sickness may still prevent me to visit the virtual world too much (or at least walking/flying too fast in VR).
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3 comments:
I think that one possible advantage that virtual reality can have is that a learner does not have to be attached to their current identity. Less attachment to past failures or pressure to maintain a current reputation. Also, the putting on and testing of a number of different roles could allow the learner to think about what they are presented with in different ways depending on the role they play. By design, virtual reality allows interaction without inhibition. There is no reason not to try and test new things.
Also, I question why you assume that immersion implies a positive answer? Is it possible to argue that too much immersion could confine the learner's experience only to the virtual environment, That it may never be transferred to the real world?
As far as the question in our email: "What is Learning?" I tend to favor Richard Saul Wurman's definition "Learning is remembering what we are interested in." This is related to what Victor said about long term retention. There is no reason to remember all the information that is thrown at us, we will only really become experts at the things that we pursue with interest.
I think Shayna made a good point. Immersion may not be always good. The reason why I said immersion is good because people claim that game/VR is good for learning because people engage in the activities. Immersion and engagement should have a positive relationship.
The question is if someone "too engage" in the VR, will it be bad for learning purpose? Shayna's argument is the problem of transfer. We may talk about two types of transfer here. 1. the physical transfer - people may not want to engage in the "real world". Then, it is a problem. 2. the knowledge transfer - it depends on how good the VR is. If it is really good (and it really mimicking the key features of the reality), people may develop the "expertise" in VR and can be use in the real world right away.
As Shayna suggested, the "fake" identity is something really interesting in learning, too. So, role playing is a plus in VR. Kathy in the streaming video talking about role playing in supreme court.
Shayna raises interesting points about identity and immersion. Let me throw in my two cents:
1. IDENTITY ISSUE: Shayna said, "I think that one possible advantage that virtual reality can have is that a learner does not have to be attached to their current identity..." This advantage is clearly shown with special education students and with students whose school performance suffer from social factors, peer pressure, etc. Research shows that especially for students-at-risk, virtual environments have the potential to increase their motivation for learning and engagement in class activities because it allows them to redefine themselves through creating avatars that can do whatever they cannot do in real life (for instance, imagine a student who is in a wheelchair that can freely walk in SL or a students who is outcast in the class because s/he is this or that who can create a type of identity that enables him or her to be accepted socially etc). Similar research findings also exist for online classes and ESL students. They tend to engage better in online classes than in face-to-face classes because they have time to read, understand, reflect, and carefully craft their responses in online courses.
2. IMMERSION ISSUE: Shayna said, "I question why you assume that immersion implies a positive answer? Is it possible to argue that too much immersion could confine the learner's experience only to the virtual environment, That it may never be transferred to the real world?" One of the advantages of advanced learning environments we cover in the class is in their affordances to enable creation of a situated learning environment that can...(sorry, I gotta go- I am being pulled into a meeting...I will continue this post afterwards)
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