Virtual Worlds: Serious Play, Learning and Gaming Effectiveness and Features

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 • 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. 2

3. Virtual World Effectiveness • 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. 3

4. Why Virtual Worlds? • 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, … 4

5. Why Virtual Worlds? • 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 5

6. Why Virtual Worlds? • 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. 6

7. Why Virtual Worlds? • 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). 7

8. Why Virtual Worlds? • 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). 8

9. Virtual Worlds features 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 9

10. Time needed to learn how to use Virtual Worlds & create the world • 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. 10

11. Issues/Problems with Virtual Worlds • 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. 11

12. Instructional Design • 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. 12

13. Addie Phases 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 13

14. Emergency Medical (DEMPS) Virtual World • 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. 14

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16. Goals 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. 16

17. Emergency Medical Training Competencies/Objectives 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. 17

18. Emergency Medical Training Competencies/Objectives 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. 18

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

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

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

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

23. Dusty the Dragon student performance School Percentage increase of mean from pre to post test 19% increase Amery class1: 5thgrade Amery class2: 5thgrade 37% increase Hudson: 6thgrade 22% increase CVA class1: 5thgrade with many special needs students CVA class2: 4thgrade 16% increase 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 Gender N Female Male 44 59 24

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

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