1. Learner participation and motivation in virtual reality
Luisa Panichi
CLI-University of Pisa, Italy
Department of Modern Languages, University of Hull, UK
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2. L. Panichi - CALL 2010 Universiteit Antwerpen
Overview
Virtual worlds
The Avalon project
Discussion of motivation
Literature in the field/theoretical perspective
Research in the field:
Questionnaires/recordings/transcripts/observations/interviews
Conclusions about motivational factors
Avalon feedback questionnaires (ongoing research)
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3. L. Panichi - CALL 2010 Universiteit Antwerpen
Virtual worlds
MUVE’s (Multi-user virtual environments)
3 Dimensional: movement
Avatar: a 3D rendering of yourself
Games (role play): The Sims
Gaming: WoW (World of Warcraft)
Socialising and entertainment: Active Worlds, Second Life
Highly immersive and participatory/hot culture
Media studies refer to virual worlds as hot culture environments
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4. L. Panichi - CALL 2010 Universiteit Antwerpen
The AVALON project
Access to Virtual and Action Learning Live Online
A two year multilateral and transversal project funded under KA3 (ICT) of the LLP of the EACEA ending in December 2010.
Partnership: 26 European partners
10 state funded universities
16 other public and private organisations
Access is important
Virtual we will see
Action learning we will see
Live means synchronous
Online
The ICT Multilateral Projects support the development of innovative ICT-based content, services, pedagogies and practices for lifelong learning. They complement ICT enhanced learning activities and projects under the sectoral programmes Comenius, Erasmus, Grundtvig and Leonardo da Vinci, by addressing ICT teaching and learning needs across two or more of those sectors.
They are to to encourage innovation and creativity in learning and teaching and boost the use of new ICT tools and trends, particularly for groups at risk of exclusion such as early school leavers, ethnic minorities and elderly people
EACEA European Agency for Culture Education and Audiovisual
The 26 participating European partners include10 state funded universities and 16 other public and private organisations operating in the following areas: language education, teacher training, intercultural training, language testing and certification, online education, publishing, business communication and networking, design of 3D environments and language learning in Second Life®. The project is a transversal programme which targets language learners from the Leonardo da Vinci, Erasmus and Gruntdvig communities
Leonardo: vocational education and training. Grundtvig: adult education sector
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5. Experiment with and explore virtual worlds for language education
Create and test activities
Design and run a teacher training course
Design and run Language courses
Provide models and best practice guidelines
We have created the Island of Avalonlearning in SL
Create a motivational model
that rewards learner
engagement
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6. Interest for language education
Virtual platform for online and distance education
Complement to face-to-face learning
Integration with other LMS (sloodle)
Communication: synchronous, multimodal (text chat; voice chat), streaming (sound and video)
Creative and representational: Building/cultural artefacts (permanent/non permanent)
Performative: Avatar
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7. Motivation in virtual worlds
Motivation to participate and engage
Why is it helpful to investigate them?
Participation and motivation in virtual worlds are a general educational concern
Participation and throughput/dropout rates
Project mandate to consider individual accessibility and community sustainability
Designing for participation includes an understanding of learner motivation
Today my focus will be on motivation as motivation to participate and engage.
Gilly Salmon (2004) 5 steps which all combine elements of technical and pedagogical support:
Access and motivation; 2) online socialisation
3) Information exchange; 4) Knowledge construction; 5) Development.
We are interested in 1 and 2 for our discussion.
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8. Participation and engagement in virtual worlds
What is participation and why is it important to us?
In online learning it is indicated as some form of activity (i.e. White 2003; Hratinski 2007)
Participation is a high-stake issue in online education.
The special nature of participation in virtual worlds:
Lack of visual cues and body language
Increased Importance of linguistic cues
Participation as engagement/involvement leading to further participation
What is participation? Democratic participation, political participation. Some idea of activity. Room for educational debate. Participation in the classroom.
High stake concept because student grades are often dependent on it.
But what is the relationship between participation and motivation?
Engagement is used in this paper in in the reasearch below as a qualitative indicator of participation: not only doing something but doing something meaningfully either for one’s own learning or for that of others.
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9. Motivation and the reward model
Molka-Danielsen et al. 2010
Discussion of motivation in language education in virtual worlds
Gaming theory
Self-determination theory
The ultimate reward for learners is access to full participation in the learning community
Motivation in language learning in virtual worlds has already been discussed in Molka-Danielsen et al. (2010). We discuss motivation in relation to Gaming theory and Self-determination theory: Deci & Ryan 2002/2008.
There is a strong link between the discussion of motivation and participaiton.
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10. L. Panichi - CALL 2010 Universiteit Antwerpen
Panichi et al. (2008)
Small scale, qualitative and exploratory investigation under Kamimo Islands
An American/Swedish telecollaboration course
Student questionnaires about beliefs about language learning, collaboration, digital literacy and the specific environment.
Questionnaires were complemented with student interviews and teacher/researcher/course designer feedback and observations.
This exploratory research phase was very important to us. It lead to the published research that I will be mentioning shortly and it gave us additional knowledge which then led to us making a successful application for our AVALON project.
Kamimo funded under the Norwegian University Programme in 2007, a joint collaboration between three universities in support of life-long learning.
Approximately 30 students (15 per group)
Two teachers
Pre-course questionnaire
Post-course interviews (less than half)
Post-course teacher-led discussions (notes from both teachers)
Feedback from teacher/researcher observations
Only 8 replies to questionnaires
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11. L. Panichi - CALL 2010 Universiteit Antwerpen
Learner beliefs
Learner beliefs about language learning
Learner pre-conceptions of the environment
Learner digital literacy
Learners’ expectations
Learners’ experience
Summary of the areas we looked at in our investigation.
This framework is used in Swertz et al 2010 below and in the ongoing research we will look at at the end of this presentation.
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12. Key areas potentially influencing motivation and participation
Compulsory or optional course
Previous experiences of virtual environments (degree of technology literacy)
Previous experiences of intercultural contact and a pre-existing degree of intercultural awareness
Belief that peer to peer interaction is beneficial to learning
Belief that you can learn a language from interacting with a native speaker
Degree of acceptance of SL for language education
In the specific environment
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13. Example of a successful exchange
Frequency of meetings
Suitable times
Buddy was more knowledgeable about SL and willing to provide information
Turn taking occurred
Alternated between course related topics and personal conversation
Activities were motivational learning opportunities for both
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14. Indications and results from Swedish students
Students we were working with already displayed high levels of language learning awareness and intercultural awareness
Prior experience of Second Life is not necessary for the exchange to be a successful learning experience
Curiosity about SL may play an important role in motivating students
These are highlights
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15. Similar feedback from the American students showed:
The educational value of SL is not immediately apparent to learners
Students who volunteered for the buddy exchange were more verbally active in the composition course
Students tend not to talk about their learning experiences from an affective perspective (beliefs)
Prior intercultural experiences (or lack there of) may contribute to less effective engagement with language learners
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16. Additional recommendations for future exchanges
Create more formal joint tasks and specific requirements within the courses
Creating pedagogical space for talking about the affective aspects of learning
Need to make the “rules of engagement” as clear as possible (language and technical skills that are required)
Make all participants clear as what to expect and what is expected of them in the student exchanges
Increase feedback opportunities
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17. L. Panichi - CALL 2010 Universiteit Antwerpen
Deutschmann et al. 2009
Course designer for learner participation in a CMC context
Oral participation in terms of floor-space, turn length and turn-taking
We conclude that meaning-focussed task design involving authenticity and collaborative elements had a direct impact on learner participation and engagement.
Results also suggest the importance of including technical and social initiation in complex environments
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18. Deutschmann & Panichi (2009)
Learner engagement and Language Awareness
We compare two courses in SL
We look at floor space and turntaking patters (quantity)
We carry out discourse analysis of back-channelling and elicitors (quality)
We conclude that supportive linguistic behaviour of teachers is important in increasing learner engagement
We find that students become more active in signalling involvement over time
Backchannelling: supportive minimal responses by the listener in a conversational exchange
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19. Swertz et al. (2010) The environment
The bias of the environment and the mediatic turn (Friesen & Hug, 2009)
3D worlds are a cold media (McLuhan, 1964)/multimodal communication
Hot culture expects involvement with other people and participation in activities
The nature of the environment has an impact on learner participation preferences
The mediatic turn theory [14] aims to understand the bias of media in teaching and learning. While for example the book forces the learner to learn alone and by doing nothing than just reading, online environments bias learner toward a much more cooperative and active learning style. These changes, that are supported by our evaluation results, can be understood by considering the specific mediatization [15] that is caused by 3D environments. We describe the mediatization by reverting to the media theory suggested by the Toronto school. According to McLuhan, a cold medium like 3D environments creates a hot culture. A member of a hot culture expects involvement with other people and participation in activities. Thus, the media habitus [16 ] of these learners can be described by involvement and participation. Accordingly, a learner that often uses computer technology will probably prefer intense cooperation and a high participation level.
Friesen, N.; Hug, T.: The mediatic turn (2009):
media today can be said to structure our awareness of time, shape our attentions and emotions, and provide us with the means for forming and expressing thought itself. Media, in slightly differ- ent terms, become epistemology: the grounds for knowledge and knowing itself.
McLuhan, M.(1964)Understanding Media: the extension of man. London:Routledge,
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20. Swertz et al. (2010) The teacher perspective
Most important learning objective for teachers is to get the students involved and that the students feel comfortable in the process.
The learning process itself becomes a learning objective
Anonymity is considered an important advantage by teachers
Task design: Careful task design is very important in virtual learning environments
Best practice in teaching in virtual worlds
Teacher interviews and questionnaires
Student pre-course and post course survey
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21. Swertz et al. (2010) The learner perspective
Anonymity is not preferred and not considered helpful in language learning by students.
Individualisation is important
Task design: Assumption that careful task design is very important in virtual learning environments is confirmed by students
Group and peer work vs teacher-led activities:
Group sessions vs teacher-led sessions are preferred by learners but
Teacher-led sessions are also helpful depending on the type of task at hand
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22. Swertz et al. 2010 Technical initiation
Most students experience technical problems at the beginning of the course (i.e. sound)
Most students feel comfortable by the end of the second lesson
Technical initiation for newbies contributes to learner comfort in the environment and to the speed at which this is achieved
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23. Conclusions about motivational variables in virtual worlds
The nature of the environment
Appropriate technical initiation
Strong sense of identity/need for self-determination/autonomy
Strong group ties/community/Peer and group work/relatedness
Clear framework (expectations, roles, tasks)
Meaningful course design (individualisation and authenticity)
Teacher as facilitator and model for interaction
Feedback and discussion opportunities (course ownership)
Conclusions about motivation in our specific context
Some of these conclusions make sense in face to face language education as well.
The research questions I asked at the beginning still stand.
Additional focus on the difference between participation in virtual platforms and in face-to-face education.
Take a new look at participation and motivation in face-to-face education based on our experience of Computer Mediated Communication (CMC)
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24. Avalon course feedback questionnaires 2010
Questionnaires are part of the Avalon course design to maximise participation
Examine changes in learner beliefs before and after the learning experience
Determine what factors bring about change in beliefs
Implement changes to our course design
Results are pending
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25. Final considerations about participation
Participation, engagement and motivation can be promoted by appropriate course design
Participation is both an indicator of motivation and a catalyst for motivation
Participation is a learning skill which can be developed over time
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