Place Metaphors in Educational CVEs Ekaterina Prasolova-Førland Department of Computer and Information Science Norwegian University of Science and Technology

2 Motivation n A wide range of 3D educational environments n Great diversity in place metaphors used: from replicas of real universities to other planets or abstract constructions

3 CVEs and learning communities n Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) can support learning communities by – Supporting community building – Supporting communication – Supporting information sharing – Providing alternative space structure

4 Characterization of CVEs n Inspired by Activity theory n Activities are performed by learners n Activities are mediated by artifacts n Learners and artifacts are contained in places

5 Place n Outlook – how a place ”looks like”, – e.g. a campus, a village or a palace n Structure – mutual relations between different parts of the environment, e.g. mutual position of rooms and buildings and teleportation links between places – visualizes social structures and power relations n Role – places serving specific purposes – meeting and working place, information space etc

6 Artifact n Outlook – the way it looks like – e.g. a table, a flower, a link to a document, a sign n Structure – “visible” connections between parts – “invisible” links such as teleportation and functional links n Role – decorative, link to resources, symbolic etc – correspondent functionality

7 Learner n Outlook – choice of avatar (child, tutor, alien etc) – body language (waving, dancing) n Structure – learner’s place in the social structure/network – connections between nick, created artifacts and traces left n Role – teacher, student, moderator, depending on context – supported by corresponding functionalities

8 Existing classification of place metaphors in educational CVEs n Resemblance of physical place: – Buildings and campuses – Frontiers n Virtual places for specific purposes: – Meeting places – Information spaces – Virtual stages – Demonstrations and exhibitions – Workplaces

9 Extended characterization Resemblance of physical place, outlook n Resembling concrete, real places (e.g. university) n Only ”looking” real (e.g. virtual houses without direct counterpart in real world) n Abstract (abstract constructions, defying physical laws etc) n Frontiers (extending virtual “land”)

11 Extended characterization Resemblance of physical place, structure n Rigid/free n Structure generation method (e.g. automatic, by agents, manually by users etc) n Defining factors (e.g. social structure, structure of the course) n Structure components (e.g. “visible” walls, bridges and roads, “invisible” links etc)

13 Extended characterization Role n Creator/originator of the place – Teacher, students or agents n Purpose/goal of the place – Socializing vs. working – Demonstration of art vs. scientific concepts – Roleplaying vs. stage design – Presenting course materials vs. student projects n Design elements/facilities to meet the goal – Appropriate outlook/structure elements for the goal – Templates/tools for storing/retrieving multimedia elements – Visualizations, simulations, interactive elements etc

15 Viras n A 3D world for supporting social awareness in a learning community n Based on Archipelago metaphor – Islands connected by bridges – Provides an informal atmosphere – Allows flexible place structuring – Recreates the way communities and groups are created n Learners create/modify places and artifacts, expressing their personality and activities

16 Ongoing and future work n Using the characterization as a framework for examination of the place metaphors used in educational CVEs n Identifying connection between the metaphor features, the underlying goals and success factors n Refining the characterization framework n In-depth case studies – Exploration of potentialities and limitations of information space metaphor in 3D world vs. 2D – Other metaphors, e.g. “real-place resemblance” metaphor

17 Construction of common information space in 3D vs. 2D n Constructing FAQ in CSCW course in Course Forum and Active Worlds n Advantages & disadvantages n How the effectiveness and user-friendliness of 3D CVE can be improved

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