Digital fragments and lives online   Digital fragments and lives online Maggi Savin-Baden, Coventry University

We are digitally tethered

Lives online What is taken for granted? What is seen as normal?

Interesting research Virtual worlds in higher education Problem-based simulations Chat bots

Two examples Sociopoltical impact of Learning in Virtual worlds Use of chatbots to examine cyber influence

Sociopolitical impact of learning in virtual worlds Three studies Pedagogy Student experience Identity Combined using participatory action synthesis

The studies Tutors’ experiences of VW use in HE, and the design and development of VW pedagogy – using case study methodology (Creswell, 2013) Students’ perspectives on using VWs as learning technologies – using constructivist grounded theory methodology (Charmaz, 2006) Students’ understandings, expressions, and management of identity in VW learning – through narrative inquiry methodology (Riessman, 2008).

Participatory action synthesis Participatory Action Synthesis (PAS) is a methodology for synthesising primary research data from different but associated studies. It is participatory as it comprises a team process that acknowledges and integrates not only the different backgrounds of participants and contexts but also those of the different researchers involved. PAS integrates cycles of individual and group analyses and interpretation and re-analysis and re-interpretation, taking account of findings from the initial individual studies.

Issues The notion of plausibility: ‘a technique for ensuring rigour is qualitative research synthesis that involves locating the truths and the realities in the study, adopting a critical approach and acknowledging the complexities of managing ‘truths’ in research.’ (Major and Savin-Baden, 2010: 181)   What was not said, and ensuring shared views were not privileged What expressed realities were accepted without any scrutiny Which experiences/opinions initially seemed improbable, and what conditions might have shown those to be real What contradictions were revealed

Findings In order to enhance learning and teaching through the use of educational technologies, and in particular VWs, there needs to be a focus on the implementation of ‘liquid curricula’ (Savin-Baden, 2008: 158). Liquid curricula are defined here as curricula that focus on students’ and tutors’ stances and personal identities and provide opportunities to design modules and lessons in open and flexible ways. Three key themes were evident across the project :   Designing courses and modules in HE that enhance flexibility and uncertainty in curricula. Charting the discourses that shape students’ experiences of learning in VWs. Taking account of students’ perspectives on using VWs in order to understand their learning and support needs.

Chatbots Chatbots – virtual characters that can have a natural language conversation with a human 12 12

Past Research Realism of the chatbot (e.g. Turing 1950) Anthropomorphic (Baylor 2011) Seven themes affecting realistic interaction (Morrisey & Kirakowski 2013) Computer synthesized voices (Clark & Mayer 2008) Split-attention effect (Garau et. al. 2003, Demeure et. al. 2011) Most research has focused on the realism of the pedagogic agent e.g. Turing Test (1950). Anthropormorphic - human like avatar prefered rather than cartoon like Seven themes affect perceptions of realistic chatbot-human interactions: Maintenance of themed discussions Responding to specific questions Responding to social queues Using appropriate linguistic register Greetings and personality Giving conversational cues and inappropriate utterances and damage control Computer synthesized voices not prefered or well liked by users Split attention (first ref) – split attention i.e. increases cognitive load due to increased demand for attention, distracting from the task at hand. E.g. voice not synced properly with lip movements, facial features not moving realistically or drawing the focus of attention away from the main message /dialogue. (Second ref) – potential for reduced believability and trustworthiness and again potentially reducing the learning potential.

Chatbots Chatbots – virtual characters that can have a natural language conversation with a human 14 14

Use of chatbots to examine cyber influence The study used responsive evaluation to explore how the use of pedagogical agents might affect students’ truthfulness and disclosure by asking them to respond to a lifestyle choices survey delivered by a web-based pedagogical agent. Not a new methodology, but new research area

Research Questions How do pedagogical agent appearances affect student perceptions? To what extent do students prefer and respond to different styles of pedagogical agent? How much information are users happy to disclose when engaging with the pedagogical agent? To what extent might pedagogical agents influence or affect a person’s reactions and responses with regards to truthfulness, disclosure and personal engagement?

Findings The findings of this study suggest that 3 key issues are important: the appearance of the agent, the issue of choice The issue of disclosure. Data also suggested that body language is critical to the learning effectiveness of pedagogical agents. The appearance of the pedagogical agent and the images it invoked, determined partially by students’ ability to choose their own pedagogical agent, were found to play a role in students’ willingness to disclose information.

Others things to use Ethnography for the internet Immersive ethnography Digital arts-based research

Ethnography for the internet ethnography of, in and through the virtual – we learn about the Internet by immersing ourselves in it and conducting our ethnography using it, as well as talking with people about it, watching them use it and seeing it manifest in other social settings. (Hine, 2000)

Immersive ethnography This combines ethnography with studies on immersion, suggesting that to gain in-depth understanding of virtual worlds researchers need to: Live and work immersively in virtual worlds for over a year Collect data through residing in virtual worlds and observing and participating in activities Problematize culture norms See everything in virtual worlds as data This approach moves beyond just collecting interviews and watching what people do in world. Rather the focus is on in-depth immersion whereby the researcher experiences the collision of being researcher, researched and participant.

Digital arts-based research User centric story telling Digital installation art Vidding Digital métissage

User centric story telling Participatory narratives involve creating, critiquing, and curating so that everyday heroes create their own quests and journeys. For example, interactive installation, From Memory to Action, at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. Collective narratives: where the authorial voice is formed by the contributions of many, who in turn create aggregated mega stories e.g. The Question Bridge project which defines itself as a collective trans-media project that is creating a ‘mega-logue’ among black men in the U.S. Mobile narratives: told through whatever sources people choose to use on the move: apps or superimposing video, poems and animation in any environment. ‘Gradually Melt the Sky,’ creates a performance event ‘at once cosmic and mundane, an action painting and a protest’ (Skwarek, & Pappenheimer, 2011).

Digital installation art Activities such as projects, interactive videos, virtual worlds interactions, and installations. For example, projection techniques are used to create immersive environments so that audiences will feel engaged and immersed. Some of these installations are portable and can be reconfigured to accommodate different presentation spaces, so that they might mix media, and might be static, dynamic or interactive.

Vidding Vidding is where content is refashioned or recreated in order to present a different perspective, usually based on music videos and television programmes. The purpose of vidding is to critique, re-present and explore an aspect of the original media. Such an example of this is an Anime music video (AMV) that is usually fan made and comprises a range of clips from a variety of sources such films, songs and promotional trailers.

Digital métissage Digital métissage is based on the idea of literary métissage as which is the process of creating stories that are braided together and rooted in history and memory, as well as being stories of be-coming. Digital métissage captures the idea of blurring genres, texts, histories and stories in digital formats that recognise the value and spaces between and across cultures, generations and representational forms. The process of digital métissage requires co-production and co creation with participants in ways that braid data and stories.

Carl Leggo As a poet and fiction writer, I am always seeking ways to compose stories and essays in creative performances. Digital métissage is a way of creative braiding

do I need to know where I have come from where I am going the whirling dervish of derivation & delineation   perhaps I should make up stories and learn to live well in the places of métissage where stories know what I can’t know: even as I braid the possibilities & braid me

Interesting questions Does digital research really exist? ( add in other things from Hines talk and reading for book)

Who has a question?