1 Virtual Worlds: Which Type is Right for Your Institution? Donald J. Welch, Ph.D. Merit Network Michael Macedonia, Ph.D. Forterra Systems Copyright Donald Welch This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non- commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

2 Agenda l Introduction l Comparison considerations l Effectiveness l Domain specificity l K-12 cooperation l Content l Usability l Technical l Reliability l Performance l Integration l Business l Behavior l Control l Perceptions l Cost l Intellectual Property l Summary

3 Introduction l Future of Virtual Worlds in Education l Web → Course Management Systems l Wireless l In 2003 I was on the cover of Communications Week for our classroom wireless network <5 years ago l Distance Learning l Parallels with the Web and wireless l Early adopters l From “justify” to “why don’t we have it” l Real value

4 Introduction l The way young people “Gamers” like to learn l Inquiry based education l Trial and error l Contributory l Social

5 Introduction l VWs enable learning that we won’t be able to practically do any other way l First do the same things with new technology l Then do new things l It will be mainstream: Sometime l 2 years? l 10 years? l Decisions in the near future will have a major impact l Investment of scarce resources l Failures

6 Description of virtual worlds Multi-FunctionSingle-Function Public Private Second LIfe ActiveWorlds There World of Warcraft Everquest Link Trainer UCT Forterra Open Virtual Worlds Beyond

7 Comparison Considerations Educational Effectiveness

8 Domain Specificity l Entertainment l Business l General Purpose l Education l Chemistry l History l Engineering l Scale l Interface l Physics l Communication l Collaboration l Virtual Travel

9 Domain Specificity l Enterprises are looking for value l Enterprises are looking for stability vs. limited functionality l Entertainment will trade Wow for stability l Is a virtual world the best metaphor for everything in the domain l Web pages l Flash l Video l Text l VTC l Optimized for 1 st person shooter l Teamwork and communication l Optimized for creativity l Flexibility

10 Content l Most of the education occurring in virtual worlds today is not any different than what can be done with other online tools l This will change with new content, increased functionality, and new paradigms l How will we get a critical mass of content? l Ability to share? l Commercialization? l Who will set the standards? l OpenSource? l Commercial providers? l Collaborations?

11 Usability l Access for the disabled l Usability – ability to master complex interfaces l Different audience for UI than games l Gamers vs. Professors vs. Non- Traditional Students l Can’t be a barrier for those who don’t or can’t game l Optimized for education l Simple interface (based on other experiences?) l Integration with other online systems l Segregation and control

12 Comparison Considerations Technical

13 Reliability l Uptime requirements for educational use are different than for commercial use l Classes that depend on it l Students have tight schedules l Lots of dials that can be turned to balance stability l New Functionality l Maintenance windows l Infrastructure investment

14 Performance l Performance l Educational VW may take more performance and may be enabled by a high performance campus network l Public VWs have to work for the lowest common-denominator l Will the VW engine have enough investment to keep up with performance needs? l Hardware l Software l Bandwidth

15 Integration l Sharing of pedagogy l Sharing of objects and environments l Environments that can be used l Environments that can be aggregated l Environments that can be modified l Movement between virtual worlds l Image l Interface l Abilities l Assets

16 Business Considerations Comparison Considerations

17 Cost l Before the effectiveness has been developed/proven l After it is mainstream l In what will the university invest? l Infrastructure l Content creation l Risk

18 Privacy l Ability to Evaluate and Assess Students l Immediate feedback is valuable but who will know about it? l Classroom is controlled l Good practice l Ethics l FERPA l Evaluation must be secure l Who can observe the evaluation l What resources can be brought into the evaluation

19 Behavior l Theft, fraud, exploitation of the vulnerable l Stealing of virtual valuables l What virtual assets can be brought into an educational setting? l Inappropriate behavior l What is appropriate behavior in an educational setting? l Protection from outsiders l Control of insiders l Increasingly lawsuits in the real world based on virtual world actions l Perceptions l Advertising l Social network convergence

20 K12 Integration l Many higher education institutions increasingly have programs with K-12 students l When virtual worlds are part of the program are the behavior and privacy standards appropriate for high school students? l This may be harder in VWs than with current educational technology

21 Control l University image l Great learning environment l High-tech, cutting edge l Advertising/commercial activities l Image of educators and students l Both have different roles l Are there new roles? l Trade-offs between new functions and stability l Trade-offs between scalability and stability l Government involvement l Taxes l Regulations l Privacy l Funding

22 Intellectual Property l Piracy l Significant investments in object creation, content creation, pedagogy l How do we assign credit and ownership? l How does a university keep control of its core product? l Some universities are comfortable putting course content into the public domain l What about inquiry-based learning where students learn from each other – the professor is less important?

23 Integration with other systems l Learning specific environments l Blackboard, SAKAI, etc. l Education Specific Environments l Banner, etc.

24 Summary l Virtual Worlds are coming to education l Critical decisions will need to be made as it unfolds l Important considerations include l Effectiveness l Technical l Business l Wrong decisions can l Slow adoption l Cause problems for the institution l Cut off promising potential l Cause unnecessary cost

25 Answers?