Mediating Media Studies – Stimulating critical awareness in a virtual environment

Second Life has become increasingly popular with educators and educational institutions, because of the educational possibilities it seems to offer. While there has been a lot of hype and academic publications about educational design or the theoretical framing of teaching in virtual environments, there have been few publications focussing on actual teaching and learning experiences of lecturers and students in Higher Education institutions. This article uses practical examples from an introductory course on Media studies taught at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to demonstrate that even simple tasks in Second Life can be used to great effect if properly contextualised into the course being taught. High levels of technical skills, or extraordinary educational designs are less important to employing Second Life successfully in a Higher Education environment, than a proper evaluation of student learning outcomes, and teaching goals.     

Not just fun, but serious strategies: Using meta-cognitive strategies in game-based learning

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of the meta-cognitive strategies on the academic and gaming achievements. Exploring the effects of those achievements on the social problem solving of students is also of interest. For this purpose, the MMORPG Gersang was used. The participants, consisting of ninth graders, played the game until they all reached the third level to ensure that they have the same gaming ability prior to gaming for the study. Three meta-cognitive strategies were developed: self-recording, modeling and thinking aloud. Those strategies are specially related to gaming activities and applied in pre-gaming activities, gaming activities, and post-gaming activities. Three meta-cognitive strategies were set as independent variables. The social problem solving ability was set as a mediating variable, and academic achievement and scores in the game were chosen as dependent variables. The path between meta-cognitive strategies and both academic achievement and game performance by mediating social problem solving abilities were discovered. The social problem solving ability, which is the mediating variable, affects the academic achievement and the game performance very strongly. These results imply that a commercial game playing in conjunction with meta-cognitive strategies can be an effective way to increase students’ performance both in learning and gaming by keeping them involved. Talking and observation activities such as thinking aloud and modeling are more effective than writing activities in enhancing the students’ achievements both in learning and gaming.     

Fostering collaborative learning in Second Life: Metaphors and affordances

In this paper we examine the transferability of the Jigsaw and Fishbowl collaborative learning techniques to the Second Life platform. Our aim is to assess the applicability of Second Life for collaborative learning by developing virtual tools and metaphors and exploiting the representational richness of this novel medium. In order to enhance the existing metaphors and affordances of SL, our research team implemented educational spaces, avatar clothing, and tools for non-verbal communication and visualisation. By implementing a blended learning evaluation approach we attempted to answer three research questions focusing on student collaboration, avatar representation and learning space awareness. We can conclude that SL can supplement and/or augment face to face interactions, improving upon previous approaches in distance collaboration and communication. Furthermore, although our team augmented SL’s ability to support collaborative learning, avatar representation does not seem to scale well. Finally, the majority of the implemented affordances and metaphors seem to have enhanced collaboration and learning space awareness.     

Interactive augmented reality system for enhancing library instruction in elementary schools

Due to limited budgets and manpower, most elementary schools in Taiwan do not plan or provide library instruction for students. Although students can use libraries, they typically lack the knowledge needed to use library resources effectively. Consequently, students have difficulty finding the books they need and can easily become overwhelmed by the massive amount of information in libraries. Computer-assisted instruction for teaching basic library skills to large numbers of students is an appealing method. Particularly, developing augmented reality (AR) technologies for learning have garnered considerable attention in education research. Many researchers and scholars believe that integrating teaching and AR enhances student learning performance and motivation. This work develops an educational AR system based on situated learning theory, and applies innovative augmented reality interactive technology to a library’s learning environment. Student library knowledge can be enhanced via the proposed augmented reality library instruction system (ARLIS). Experimental results demonstrate that student learning performance is improved significantly by using the proposed ARLIS. Moreover, this work demonstrates that using the proposed ARLIS for library instruction results in the same learning performance as conventional librarian instruction and there is no gender difference on learning performance between the proposed ARLIS and conventional librarian instruction. Moreover, the proposed library instruction system overcomes shortcomings of personal teaching skills of librarians that may adversely affect student learning performance by conveying the same learning content to all students. Additionally, the proposed system results in better learning performance for learners with the field-dependent cognitive style than learners with the field-independent cognitive style. Further, the proposed system provides more benefits in terms of library skills of application and comprehension than conventional librarian instruction. Moreover, the learning performance of students is not affected by their gaming skills. Therefore, student gaming skills do not need to be considered when adopting the proposed system in library instruction programs.     

Information security – Professional perceptions of knowledge-sharing intention under self-efficacy,trust, reciprocity,and shared-language

Knowledge sharing is an important component of knowledge management systems. Security knowledge sharing substantially reduces risk and investment in information security. Despite the importance of information security, little research based on knowledge sharing has focused on the security profession. Therefore, this study analyses key factors, containing attitude, self-efficacy, trust, norm of reciprocity, and shared language, in respect of the information security workers intention to share knowledge. Information security professionals in virtual communities, including the Information Security Professional Association (ISPA), Information Systems Security Association (ISSA), Society of Information Risk Analysts (SIRA), and LinkedIn security groups, were surveyed to test the proposed research model. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique were used to analyse the data and evaluate the research model. The results showed that the research model fit the data well and the structural model suggests a strong relationship between attitude, trust, and norms of reciprocity to knowledge sharing intention. Hypotheses regarding the influence of self-efficacy and reciprocity, to knowledge sharing attitude were upheld. Shared language did not influence either the attitude or intention to share knowledge.     

Board’s IQ: What makes a board smart?

The amount of investment that has been made in interactive whiteboards (IWB) in the Turkish educational system during the past several years is quite striking. This investment is part of a plan to integrate information and communication technologies (ICT) into the Turkish educational system, with the goal of increasing the qualitative and quantitative aspects of schooling. Prior to IWB investments, hundreds of thousands of computers, projectors, and printers were distributed to schools in efforts to raise a generation able to respond to the demands of the 21st century. In addition, 98% of secondary school students and 93% of primary school students were provided with Internet access via ADSL. The aim of this study is to analyze the emerging trend of smart board investment in Turkish primary and secondary schools, with consideration of problems that hinder the effective use of IWBs in classrooms as compared to previous ICT integration efforts by the Ministry of National Education. The research is designed as an evaluative case study. The required data are collected through online questionnaires, teacher and pupil interviews, and document searches from teachers and students from various Turkish primary and secondary schools. It is not surprising that the factors hindering the use of IWBs in education are similar to the inhibiting factors in previous ICT integration projects. The findings show that when the needs for in-service training, digital education materials, support, maintenance, and administration are not addressed, educational ICT is unlikely to deliver the expected results.     

Learning in serious virtual worlds: Evaluation of learning effectiveness and appeal to students in the E-Junior project

The objective of this study is to present and to evaluate the E-Junior application: a serious virtual world (SVW) for teaching children natural science and ecology. E-Junior was designed according to pedagogical theories and curricular objectives to help children learn about the Mediterranean Sea and its environmental issues while playing. In this study, we present data about the E-Junior evaluation. A class in a serious virtual world (virtual group) was compared with a traditional type of class (traditional group) that contained identical learning objectives and contents but lacked a gaming aspect. Data collection consisted of quantitative and qualitative measures on a sample of 48 children. With regards to learning effectiveness, the results showed that the serious virtual world does not present statistically significant differences with the traditional type of class. However, students from the virtual group reported enjoying the class more, being more engaged, and having greater intentions to participate than students from the traditional group. The plausible explanation for this can be found in the qualitative data. The implications of these results and improvement proposals are also discussed in this work.     

The impact of Web3D technologies on medical education and training

This paper provides a survey of medical applications that make use of Web3D technologies, covering the period from 1995 to 2005. We assess the impact that Web3D has made on medical education and training during this time and highlight current and future trends. The applications identified are categorized into: general education tools; tools for diagnosis; procedures training; and collaborative training. A summary of work that has been carried out to validate these tools is also included in the survey.     

Second Life as a support element for learning electronic related subjects: A real case

Looking for more active and motivating methodological alternatives from the students’ perspective, which promote analysis and investigation abilities that make the student a more participative agent and some learning processes are facilitated, a practical study was conducted in the University of La Sabana (Chía, Colombia), in Computing Engineering (INF) and Agroindustrial Production Engineering (IPA) academic programs under the guiding question: Is Second Life an attractive tool for students, does it increment motivation, promote participation and facilitate learning processes in electronic related subjects in Engineering degrees?Second Life (SL) platform was then used as a traditional on-site class complement in electronic related subjects. A follow up was conducted with several groups during a year and a half, some students followed the subject with the traditional on-site methodology and others did it following a mixed methodology that combined traditional on-site lessons with virtual sessions trough SL, making a comparison and applying a quantitative as well as a qualitative methodology for the information analysis and recollection.After the specified study period it was found that using SL as part of the methodology, increments motivation toward electronic related subjects, and promotes participation and investigation, due to the fact that this tool makes learning possible in a funnier, more interactive and deeper way than if it had been taught in a master class. Having real-time access from a virtual classroom to all types of audiovisual information, helps more senses get involved in the learning process, making it more effective; nevertheless a weakness was detected related to the attention and concentration: students tend to get distracted, because their classroom is the computer and from there they have access not only to the many worlds of SL but to all the social networks and the Internet in general.     

Learning and motivational impacts of a multimedia science game

The power of a web-based forensic science game to teach content and motivate STEM careers was tested among secondary students. More than 700 secondary school students were exposed to one of the three web-based forensic cases for approximately 60 min. Gain scores from pre-test to a delayed post-test indicated significant gains in content knowledge. In addition, the game’s usability ratings were a strong predictor of learning. A positive relationship between role-play experience and science career motivation was observed, which suggests a role for authentic virtual experiences in inspiring students to consider STEM careers.     

A constructivist computational tool to assist in learning primary school mathematical equations

In constructivist principles, learning is a process in which individuals construct knowledge. Research in Mathematics Education looks for ways to make mathematics education less dry and more attractive. When solving polynomial equations of the first degree, it is very common for teachers to work with the mistaken idea of “changing the sign” when “moving” the member. To minimize this problem, a balance can be used to illustrate the idea of equilibrium and also properties of equality. The objectives of this study were (1) develop a computational tool to replace a conventional balance in practical mathematics exercises thereby solving two material challenges for Brazilian teachers: verifying the accuracy of balances and the lack of student physical and social activity through direct participation; (2) determine how substituting the conventional balance with a computational tool for the solution of first degree polynomial equations affected the aspects inherent in the learning process like motivation, cooperation, dialogue, discussion, reflection, reciprocity, negotiation and responsibility. The results indicate that the cognitive computational tool met the challenges of Brazilian teachers. First, because it lacks mechanisms that need to be verified for accuracy in order to demonstrate equilibrium. Second, because it allows the direct participation of students (physical experience) and the use of the tool in small groups (social experience). The hands on completion of the activity, realistic appearance, the interaction with the tool, visual feedback on the panel, and two students using the same tool awakened motivation, responsibility for completing the activity, dialogue, cooperation, discussion and reflection. Doing the experiment with others aroused concern about the learning of others and reciprocity of knowledge for the improvement of the procedure to be constructed for solving 1st degree equations.     

Efficient learning using a virtual learning environment in a university class

This study examines a blended learning setting in an undergraduate course in psychology. A virtual learning environment (VLE) complemented the face-to-face lecture. The usage was voluntary and the VLE was designed to support the learning process of the students. Data from users (N = 80) and non-users (N = 82) from two cohorts were collected. Control variables such as demographical data, attitude towards the learning subject, computer literacy, motivation, learning effort and available infrastructure were captured by means of a self-report. As a learning outcome, the grade in the final exam was included. For the VLE-users, the mean performance in the VLE was taken as a predictor for success in the final exam. Two different groups of VLE-users were observed and classified into ’light and ’heavy’ users. The results showed that among those students who had spent two or more hours per week for pre- and post processing of the lectures, ‘heavy’ VLE-users performed better than non-users in the final exam. Additionally, the ‘heavy’ users’ performance in the VLE was the best predictor for the grade in the final exam. We discuss the results in the context of self-regulated learning competence.     

Parental acceptance of digital game-based learning

In research about digital game-based learning, the likely negative perceptions of parents are often enlisted as a barrier toward the adoption of games in classroom settings. Teachers, students and policy makers appear to be influenced by what parents think about games in the classroom. Therefore, it is important to study these parental beliefs about games. The present research develops and validates a path model to explain and predict parental acceptation of video games in the classrooms of their children. The hypothetical model was found reliable and valid, based on a survey of 858 parents with at least one child in secondary education. Overall, the results show that 59% of the variance in parents’ preference for video games can be explained by the model comprising hypotheses about learning opportunities, subjective norm, perceived negative effects of gaming, experience with video games, personal innovativeness, and gender.     

Exploring the behavioral patterns of learners in an educational massively multiple online role-playing game (MMORPG)

Massively multiple online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are very popular among students. Educational MMORPGs, however, are very rare, as are studies on gamers’ behavioral patterns during such games. The current study is an empirical observation and analysis of the behavioral patterns of 100 gamers participating in an educational MMORPG called Talking Island^©. In our study, we recorded and summarized the gaming behaviors demonstrated by these participants over 335 days of observation from December 2009 to October 2010. We coded the recorded behaviors and conducted a frequency analysis, sequential analysis and cluster analysis to explore the behavioral distributions, behavioral-frequency transition and behavior-cluster patterns in the MMORPG. Gender differences in behavioral patterns were also compared and discussed. Based on the results, we discuss the potential and limitations of the game and provide suggestions for future research on and the development of educational MMORPGs.     

Investigating the impact of video games on high school students’ engagement and learning about genetics

The popularity of video games has transcended entertainment crossing into the world of education. While the literature base on educational gaming is growing, there is still a lack of systematic study of this emerging technology’s efficacy. This quasi-experimental study evaluated a teacher created video game on genetics in terms of its affective and cognitive impact on student users. While statistical results indicated no differences (p > .05) in student learning as measured by our instrument, there were significant differences (p < .05) found in the participants’ level of engagement while interfacing with the video game. Implications on this emerging line of inquiry are discussed.     

Technology uses and student achievement: A longitudinal study

Based on data collected from a middle school, this study investigates how the quantity and quality of technology use affect student learning outcomes. Specifically, this study examines how technologies are used by students, what technology uses are popular among students, and what technology uses are effective for increasing student academic achievement. Results suggest that the quantity of technology use alone is not critical to student learning. “How much” matters when “how” is identified. Moreover, when the quality of technology use is not ensured, more time on computers may cause more harm than benefit. With students’ change in GPA as an indicator, technology uses that had positive impact on students were those related to specific subject areas and focused on student construction. In addition, analysis of the frequency of technology uses found that, in general, technology uses that had positive impact were not popular; on the contrary, some of these technology uses were the least frequently used. Implications for practice and future research are discussed in this paper.     

Stochastic frontier estimation of efficient learning in video games

Stochastic Frontier Regression Analysis was used to investigate strategies and skills that are associated with the minimization of time required to achieve proficiency in video games among students in grades four and five. Students self-reported their video game play habits, including strategies and skills used to become good at the video games they play. Results indicated an association between game play time spent during vacation weeks and proficiency at the game, but no such association existed with game play time during typical weeks when school is in session. Several strategies and skills were associated with the minimization of time spent to achieve proficiency at the game, while a few strategies and skills held a negative association with efficient learning in games. Some of the findings paralleled those of prior research on formal education. Gender differences, as well as implications for games and learning are discussed.