Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential When Was the Last Time You Saved a World? Children’s Informal Science Learning in a Multi-User Virtual Environment (MUVE) Ron Blonder & Sherman Rosenfeld The Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential An avatar, a personalized virtual character which represents the player in the game Playing games in order to gain money, Purchasing clothes and accessories for their avatar Chatting with other avatars in the MUVE MUVEs: Multi-User Virtual Environments CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential ekoloko MUVE: For children age 8-12 Focuses on ecology and the natural environment CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential ekoloko The largest community for kids in Israel 250,000 registered users 45,000 new registered users per month Active users spend on average 4.5 hours per week Over 1,500,000 games played in ekoloko every week Over 15,000,000 different activities performed every week CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Developing quality content Science content experts: Identify interesting content for kids Provide valid scientific concepts Creative experts: Prepares general storyline Translates the scientific content into storyline narratives Content is implemented through: Community quests Adventures Games Trivia questions Newspaper NPCs CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Knowledge: To increase the scientific knowledge of the young players regarding ecology and the natural environment, Affect: To develop positive attitudes of these users towards ecology and the natural environment, and Behavior: To promote user behaviors which represent a positive approach to the natural environment. Educational Design Goals CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Challenge: Extremely Large Number of Users e.g., during one week in April 2009 Number of recorded playing events: 416,000 CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Research Questions: (1) How do the kids use the ekoloko MUVE? (2) To what extent does the ekoloko MUVE influence the knoeledge, affective and behavioral Development of the players? CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential User Baseline Data: Age, gender, experience Analysis of Game Use: Frequency and duration Knoeledge: Trivia scores Affective Goals: CHEAKS questionnaire Behavioral Goals: “ekos” donation and activity in community events Research tool: Data Mining CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Results CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential How do the kids use the ekoloko MUVE? N=416,000 playing events CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential How do the BOYS use the ekoloko MUVE? CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential How do the GIRLS use the ekoloko MUVE? CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Gender Comparison CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Using ekoloko: Focus and duration increase with experience 3 CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Patterns in Using ekoloko: Frequency vs. Duration Data Most of the games – Same duration for both; Higher frequency for boys. Jeans Factory (8) – Higher duration for girls, same percentage for both Farting Lambs (17) – Higher duration for boys, same percentage for both Focus and duration increase with experience CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Cognition: Age differences N=4160,000 CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Cognition Novices Vs. Experts N=4160,000 CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Cognition Gender differences N=4160,000 CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Summary: Cognitive Effects Accumulative for age and expertise Equal for both genders CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Attitudes: Design Criteria Develop a storyline theme of good vs. bad as the basis for hundreds of narratives Place strong emphasis on activities that encourage interaction Individual path: Kids take responsibility and make an impact in the world Community path: Community events, eko-rangers CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Attitudes: Highly environmental positive NegativePositive Item 7%84% To save water, I would be willing to use less water when I bathe. 22%64% I would not be willing to save energy by using less air conditioning. (reverse) 23%62% I would not give 250 kokos of my own money to help the wild animals. (reverse) 8%79% I would be willing to separate my family’s trash for recycling. 10%76% I would be willing to stop buying some products to save animal’s lives. 21%53% I would be willing to go from house to house asking people to recycle. N=1228 CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Attitudes: Gender differences Positive boysPositive girls Item 85%82% To save water, I would be willing to use less water when I bathe. 59%69% I would be willing to save energy by using less air conditioning. 74%80% I would give 250 kokos of my own money to help the wild animals. 83%79% I would be willing to separate my family’s trash for recycling. 75%77% I would be willing to stop buying some products to save animal’s lives. 55%52% I would be willing to go from house to house asking people to recycle. kids N=1228 CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Attitudes: Time in the game Experience Medium Beginners Item 84%86%83% To save water, I would be willing to use less water when I bathe. 68%73%64% I would not be willing to save energy by using less air conditioning. (reverse) 80%64%58% I would not give 250 kokos of my own money to help the wild animals. (reverse) 79%80%82% I would be willing to separate my family’s trash for recycling. 79% 75% I would be willing to stop buying some products to save animal’s lives. 57%53%54% I would be willing to go from house to house asking people to recycle. N=1228 CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Attitudes: Time in the game Experience Medium Beginners Item 84%86%83% To save water, I would be willing to use less water when I bathe. 68%73%64% I would not be willing to save energy by using less air conditioning. (reverse) 80%64%58% I would not give 250 kokos of my own money to help the wild animals. (reverse) 79%80%82% I would be willing to separate my family’s trash for recycling. 79% 75% I would be willing to stop buying some products to save animal’s lives. 57%53%54% I would be willing to go from house to house asking people to recycle. N=1228 CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Summary: Attitudes Players have a strong emotional attachment with the environment Players develop stronger attitudes towards the ekoloko environment, the longer they play No consistent gender difference CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Behavior Community Event: In order to prepare a proper dump site, money is needed and the players are asked to contribute their money they have earned in ekoloko. Question: What variables (e.g., age, gender, game level, weeks in ekoloko, etc.) correlate with levels of donations? CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Behavior CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Behavior Kids completed the quest before the dead-line: They acted as a community CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Behavior Two Answers: (1) Weeks in ekoloko and game level correlate with donation level. The more time players spent in this ecological MUVE, the more likely they would behave in an ecologically-responsible way (p<.0001, Pearson Correlation Coefficient test, N=19,070) This result correlates with the attitude survey CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Behavior (2) Gender effect: boy players contributed twice as much money as girl players. Hypothesis: External motivation played an important role through a high-score table. CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Conclusions & Implications CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Conclusions 1.We can use analytical tools (e.g., frequency vs. duration analysis) to make sense of large amounts of data regarding Game use Cognitive, affective and behavioral effects For different populations of users (e.g., gender, age, experience) 2.Another important outcome is interesting and non-obvious “emerging questions” that can guide future research. CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential Implications 1. Research Methodology: We propose that our research can be used in data-mining educational MUVEs. 2. Informal learning: This kind of research can increase our understanding of kids’ behavior in informal learning environments called educational MUVEs. 3. Educational Design: It can also be useful for MUVE designers. CHAIS, 2010, Israel

Virtual Tweens ltd. All rights reserved Confidential The kids absorb values and knowledge through fun activities in an environment that they choose to be in CHAIS, 2010, Israel