Place Metaphors in Educational CVEs

Ekaterina Prasolova-Førland

Department of Computer and Information Science

Norwegian University of Science and Technology

ekaterip@idi.ntnu.no

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Motivation

A wide range of 3D educational environments

Great diversity in place metaphors used: from replicas of real universities to other planets or abstract constructions

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CVEs and learning communities

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

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Characterization of CVEs

Inspired by Activity theory

Activities are performed by learners

Activities are mediated by artifacts

Learners and artifacts are contained in places

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Place Outlook

– how a place ”looks like”, – e.g. a campus, a village or a palace

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 Role

– places serving specific purposes– meeting and working place, information space etc

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Artifact

Outlook– the way it looks like– e.g. a table, a flower, a link to a document, a sign

Structure– “visible” connections between parts– “invisible” links such as teleportation and functional

links Role

– decorative, link to resources, symbolic etc– correspondent functionality

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Learner

Outlook– choice of avatar (child, tutor, alien etc)– body language (waving, dancing)

Structure– learner’s place in the social structure/network– connections between nick, created artifacts and traces

left Role

– teacher, student, moderator, depending on context– supported by corresponding functionalities

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Existing classification of place metaphors in educational CVEs

Resemblance of physical place:

– Buildings and campuses– Frontiers

Virtual places for specific purposes:

– Meeting places– Information spaces– Virtual stages– Demonstrations and

exhibitions– Workplaces

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Extended characterization Resemblance of physical place, outlook

Resembling concrete, real places (e.g. university)

Only ”looking” real (e.g. virtual houses without direct counterpart in real world)

Abstract (abstract constructions, defying physical laws etc)

Frontiers (extending virtual “land”)

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Extended characterizationResemblance of physical place, structure

Rigid/free Structure generation method (e.g. automatic,

by agents, manually by users etc) Defining factors (e.g. social structure,

structure of the course) Structure components (e.g. “visible” walls,

bridges and roads, “invisible” links etc)

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Extended characterizationRole

Creator/originator of the place – Teacher, students or agents

Purpose/goal of the place– Socializing vs. working– Demonstration of art vs. scientific concepts– Roleplaying vs. stage design– Presenting course materials vs. student projects

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

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Viras

A 3D world for supporting social awareness in a learning community

Based on Archipelago metaphor

– Islands connected by bridges– Provides an informal atmosphere– Allows flexible place structuring – Recreates the way communities

and groups are created

Learners create/modify places and artifacts, expressing their personality and activities

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Ongoing and future work

Using the characterization as a framework for examination of the place metaphors used in educational CVEs

Identifying connection between the metaphor features, the underlying goals and success factors

Refining the characterization framework 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

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Construction of common information space in 3D vs. 2D

Constructing FAQ in CSCW course in Course Forum and Active Worlds

Advantages & disadvantages

How the effectiveness and user-friendliness of 3D CVE can be improved

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