Outline of Research Essay - 10 points

Topic: Education in Virtual Worlds – gauging the effectiveness, looking at case studies, assessing Second Life and making recommendations for the future.

Title: Combing Content and Context: Assessing the Effectiveness of Virtual Learning Environments and Exploring New Methods of Education

1. Introduction:
-Virtual environments have gained immense international popularity
-Virtual worlds are “computer-based, simulated multi-media environments, usually running over the Web” and often involving user interaction through avatars, which are an individual’s own graphical self representation (Kamel Boulous et al. 233).
-Quote Blake Melnick (2002):
Virtual schools hold out the possibility of the global classroom, democratization of knowledge. Student-driven learning, and robust, authentic curriculum that is constantly being improved upon by each successive group of learners. [Virtual Schools] can remove geographical, socioeconomic, and cultural barriers. The question is how can this potential be realized in the face of present education structures, which hearken back to the Industrial Age? (85).
-the 2007 Horizon Report from the New Media Consortium (NMC) and Educause predicts that virtual learning environments will be embraced on a wide scale basis in education within the next five years

2. Thesis:
Situating education in virtual worlds within Theodor Adorno and Max Horkeimer’s (1944) idea of culture industry, this paper will evaluate the effectiveness of virtual worlds as an educational forum, and argue that Second Life is a virtual world that has considerable educational potential. As well, this paper will draw on Lave and Wenger’s (1991) Situated Learning theory and Albert Bandura’s (1977) Social Learning theory to argue that traditional methods of education need to be reworked and new approaches that are appropriate for the new environment of virtual worlds need to be identified and implemented.

3. Define Culture Industry: The idea of “culture industry” was conceived by two members of the Frankfurt school, Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer (1944). These two theorists believed that mass culture was becoming identical through standardization and mass production (Adorno and Horkheimer). The term culture industry is used to illustrate the “production of mass culture and power relations between capitalist producers and mass consumers” (Cox et al. 7). In the culture industry, society conforms to a social hierarchy that has been well established. Cox et al. (2004) argue that the culture industry can be viewed as a process of mass deception, because it allows the consumers to believe that they are producers who chose what they consume, when they are simply consuming this ideology of false freedom (13;17)

4. Apply Culture Industry to Virtual Worlds and Education: Virtual worlds are networked environments that can look similar to the physical world, and are able to create a sense of place for the individual navigating the virtual space (Maher 1). Many educational corporations and institutions have recreated traditional learning environments online, with customary seats, screens and podiums within virtual worlds. Pat Galagan (2008) argues that this is not the best approach since a new learning environment should warrant a new style of learning (37). This idea of reproducing traditional teaching styles relates to ideas surrounding the culture industry since learning styles of “real” life are being replicated into virtual reality and therefore dominant worldviews regarding learning are being implemented and reinforced. This can also be viewed as the continued standardisation of culture, since ideologies of real life are spilling over into virtual life.

5. Describe theories being used:
Situated Learning Theory - Unlike most methods of classroom learning that involve abstract knowledge which is and out of context, Lave contends that learning is situated; that is, as it normally happens, learning is embedded within activity, situation and culture. It is also usually inadvertent rather than deliberate. (Learning theories)
Social Learning Theory - People learn from each other, through “observation, imitation, and modeling”. This theory outlines four conditions for effective modeling: Attention, Retention, Reproduction and Motivation. (Learning theories)

6. Discuss the benefits of Virtual Education:
-Galagan : more than 300 universities and colleges are experimenting with accredited courses in Second Life
Meredith Bricken (1990) observes that virtual worlds allow for a shared learning experience - learners tend to be more productive in group situations
Mary Lou Maher - virtual campuses are valuable because they can enhance traditional styles of teaching and provide interactivity for distance learners. A virtual campus allows for students to feel a sense of place and community even if they are not in the physical setting of the university.
Cobb et al. (1998) - project to create a virtual city comprised of real world settings that allows for people with learning disabilities to learn about living skills and prepare for independent living
-Rizzo et al. (2001) discusses the ongoing development of a virtual classroom that is being specifically created to assess individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
-Healthinfo Island, a project that is funded by the US National Library of Medicine and is located within Second Life. At Healthinfo Island, users can find out information about various health issues and speak to people in the medical field. Also, users who are unfamiliar with current concerns in the medical field are able to become aware of pressing issues they may not have heard of otherwise.
-clinical students are able to have immersive educational experiences
-Dede: The use of virtual learning environments may actually add a whole new dimension to traditional learning styles such as auditory, visual and kinaesthetic and benefit individuals who are perhaps “shy, reflective [and] more comfortable with emotional distance” but who still have valuable contributions to share with others that they may not be comfortable doing in a traditional learning environment.

7. Negative Factors involved with Virtual Learning Environments
- Melnick (2002) has noted that “when you remove the face-to-face component, retention rates drop dramatically” (87).
-Chris Hughes and Lindsay Hewson (1998) note that when using “WebTeach”, an asynchronous web conferencing system, there is often a “wait time” during class discussions and presentations while students think about their answers (7).
-Delwiche (2006): professors should warn students about the possibility of becoming addicted to virtual worlds, especially if the environments involve gaming (167-168).
- Melnick: teachers are insufficiently trained to teach in an online forum and create curriculum that upholds the learning potential that is available in these environments
-Melnick: “technology can be very isolating” (87).

8 a). Examining the potential of Second Life
- Linden Lab’s virtual world of Second Life has been argued to be “the most popular virtual platform in use today” (Kamel Bolous et al. 233).
-Since January 2007, the population of Second Life has more than doubled. When measured on May 2, 2007, the citizens of Second Life reached over six million (Kamel Bolous et al. 233).
- Numerous corporations and universities that have a presence within Second Life.
-In Second Life, students are able to browse different information spaces, sample new cultures, attend live events (lectures, conferences, festivals, concerts etc.) and develop new skills (Kamel Bolous et al. 234).
-a more immersive experience than that of a web page (Kalay 203).

8 b). Case Studies: Princeton University & VNEC
Princeton
- Campus is comprised of different buildings which includes an art gallery and
- There are three large screens that can be used for different types of presentations. Within the buildings, there are also various lecture halls for classes.
-The Princeton online campus provides “a place for the Princeton University community to experiment with the potential uses of Second Life for education” (Princeton University Island).
VNEC centre
- Users can select a range of neurological symptoms that animate their avatar and experience what it is like to have a limited range of movement and coordination.
-beneficial for medical students, practitioners and researchers, and also appeals to users who are looking to gain more information on the subject of neurological disorders.

9. Argue that there needs to be new methods of learning
- Melnick (2002) : “Virtual schools tend to use existing educational models – those of the typical classroom – and simply transplant these in an online environment” (84).
-school boards, teachers and administrators need to be familiar with these learning environments and their positive and negative attributes (87).
-Hughes and Hewson (1998) argue that there needs to be new specialized communication tools that support and facilitate the interactivity involved in virtual environments.
-Boulos et al. (2007): educators need to “think out of the box” and develop new and creative ways of teaching.

10. Conclusion:
-virtual worlds are changing the very nature of education.
- Virtual worlds have great potential for providing productive and effective learning environments.
-Second Life is a leader in virtual learning
-need to do more than duplicate the traditional classroom online
- It is crucial that the methods of education change along with its context.