Researching Virtual Worlds

With my first article, I would like to briefly tell you what it is about and how it can help educators in using virtual worlds in education.

"Technical Problems Experienced in the Transformation of Virtual Worlds into an Education Environment and Coping Strategies" 

by Murat Coban, Turkan Karakus, Asiye Karaman, Fatma Gunay and Yuksel Goktas

In this study, the authors observed Second Life and OpenSim. These two platforms help users create environments for others, anyone can join from access to the internet, and both have been used for educational purposes. The study helped researchers identify 5 themed problems with designing virtual worlds for educational use. The 5 themed problems identified were: 1) Physical environment in which the platform would be established, 2) The platform to be formed, 3) Design decisions, 4) Characteristics of the environment in which the application would be conducted, 5) End user. The authors point out that the platform limitations were the biggest hurdle developers faced when designing these learning environments. The authors suggest that instructional designers should look at these potential problems before designing material for learning purposes and work around them.

Coban, M., Karakus, T., Karaman, A., Gunay, F., & Goktas, Y. (2015). Technical Problems Experienced in the Transformation of Virtual Worlds into an Education Environment and Coping Strategies. Journal Of Educational Technology & Society, 18(1), 37-49.

"An Augmented Reality-based Mobile Learning System to Improve Students’

Learning Achievements and Motivations in Natural Science Inquiry Activities"

by Tosti H. C. Chiang, Stephen J. H. Yang and Gwo-Jen Hwang

In this article, the authors studied how augmented reality could enhance motivation in an inquiry based lesson. Two groups of 4th graders were used in the study, one control group and one experimental group. Students in the experimental group were given an augmented activity of plants and were allowed to use tablets and smartphones outside. The augmented views the students saw were text, video, pictures, and animations that moved as the tablet or smartphone moved. The experimental group showed increase in the following aspects of engagement: 1) Motivation, 2) Attention, 3) Relevance, 4) Confidence, and 5) Satisfaction. The authors conclude by saying they will continue to study the motivation of augmented reality and look into behavior patterns that are associated with them.

Chiang, T. C., Yang, S. H., & Hwang, G. (2014). An Augmented Reality-based Mobile Learning System to Improve Students' Learning Achievements and Motivations in Natural Science Inquiry Activities. Journal Of Educational Technology & Society, 17(4), 352-365.