2016

CMC: Virtual Worlds

Group 5:
A Banoo _____ (213503406)
A Vawda_____ (213532665)
W Mbongozi__ (209530278)
Z Makhaye____ (216072182)
L Maphalala___ (211559088)

AJ
1/3/2016

Introduction
A Virtual World (VW) is a computer-based online community environment that is designed
and shared by individuals so that they can interact in a custom-built, simulated world. In this
simulated world the users keep interacting with each other through text-based, twodimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) graphical models called avatars. Avatars are
graphically renders using computer graphics or any other rendering technology; which a
graphical representation of the user (Minocha & Reeves, 2010).
According to Hodge and Collins (2010) the virtual environment allows the interaction and
communication amongst the students and others through collaborative environment.
Nowadays students are mostly technology native and can process multiple multimedia
platforms; 3D virtual worlds serve as one of the good interactive learning applications in
online education.
Bosch-Sijtsema and Sivunen (2013) Stated that reveals that VM is a communication and
collaboration tool that supports well the geographical distributed, working as visualization
and learning around the globe. These environment provides lots of opportunities to work as
groups. The organizations can also find new ways of collaboration using VMs and minimizes
the travelling costs.
According to Minocha and Reeves (2010) reveals that 3D VWs are more effective in
communication and collaboration than 2D VWs. They also emphasize the point of using
Second Life (SL) for learning primarily for collaboration through avatars.

The Current Applications of Education in Virtual Worlds

Confucius once said I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
(Kasuto & Stoltenkamp 2010). Virtual world can be used as pedagogical tool in universities
or schools. Students now have an opportunity to collaborate with each other and escape
the real world to a more virtual 3D environment. Virtual reality is not a dull learning tool,
but it is free, fun and easy to learn. This tool is mostly used by spontaneous, fun and
versatile educators.
Virtual worlds have different functions and are versatile, and can work with various needs.

Virtual reality in astronomy, it easy to grasp and practice since students can
represent all the works of a solar system, like how the planets revolve around the
sun.
Surgery simulation has been practiced in medical schools in the UK and abroad. This
gives the students a chance to acquire new skills or enhance their skills by operating
a virtual patient. This reduces mistakes often made during surgery also boosts the
confidence of a surgeon to be.
Safety focused lessons, this is of assistance to students or learners, when they are
required to be involved in risky activities or life threatening activities, that may
include, trauma, terrorist or evacuation training.
Student activism, students may have campaigns to promote peace and stability by
avoiding bullying, violence and discrimination. These campaigns can be in second life
in a form of workshops, movies or exhibition to raise on these issues.
Language and learning, podcasts and messages forms of language can be combined
to output results that can be in line with learning.
Research Studies Cornell University Weill Medical College is conducting a research
on whether virtual reality will be able to help with PTSD related to the world Trade
Centre bombings.
Virtual Centres, the POC centre is an examples of research labs and centres, which
emerged neurotechnology. These centres design virtual offices where discussions,
research methodologies or computer research are shared.
Conference Facilities, an example of a virtual conference facility is the MAYO clinic in
second life, gives an explanation of residents diseases and has a book store.
Staging an Exhibition, some students may use this as a platform for presentations or
display of their work, like the fashion students in London that presented their final
project in Second Life.
Developing Tools,3D or virtual reality can be used to enhance learning. The
University of Western Cape used ATel to help learners better understand
equipment limitations and potential cause of possible problems. (Kasuto &
Stoltenkamp 2010).

Virtual classrooms, can be used for distance learning, where students can use a set
of videos, eBooks or 3D models for learning.
Collaboration, a virtual environment can be used together with traditional learning
tools, e.g. .in a civil engineering course where students can design a bridge.
Virtual world or Virtual environment has the ability to break down complicated data in a
simple, easy and accessible manner. This allows students to be more engaged in their
projects or milestones, thus gaining more information on their particular studies.

Second Life:
Due to the very nature of Second Life (this virtual world has no objective or endgame), the
limits of its applications lie solely with its user base. Used as a social network, a learning tool
and perhaps even a place to escape reality, Second Life had approximately 900 000 active
users in 2015 (Business Insider 2015). Linden Lab, the creators of Second Life, are currently
in the process of getting Second Life ready to work in tandem with the Oculus Rift virtual
reality headset.
In recent years Second Life has been used by universities and schools to present lessons to
students in its virtual environment. Researchers at Texas A&M University used Second Life
to teach chemistry lessons and found that the use of the interactive environment presented
by Second Life improved students retention of the lesson (Merchant, Goetz et al. 2012) .
Second Life has also been used Medical faculties at various universities to deliver interactive
lessons to students in a range of topics: the impact of foods on the body and proper
nutrition in a fast food to cardiac auscultation training in a virtual clinic. (Boulos,
Hetherington et al. 2007).

Minecraft
As of June 2015, Minecraft has sold over 70 million copies since its launch in 2009(Hexus.net
2015). Its sales, coupled with the fact that Minecraft is the most searched video game as
well as the second most searched term on YouTube (techtimes.com), should make
educators sit up and take notice.
Fuelled by Minecrafts success and as well as its incredible potential, Microsoft purchased
Mojang, the company that created Minecraft for a staggering $2.5 billion (mojang.com
2015). Subsequently, Microsoft has announced Minecraft Education Edition that seeks to
provide educators and learners with a set of tools to facilitate learning through Minecraft.
Currently, Minecraft has been used to teach lessons and improve students understanding in
fields such as: physics (Middle School Minecraft 2013) and quantum physics (qcraft 2014),
genetics (Middle School Minecraft 2013), computer programming (gamebased 2013).

Playing Minecraft is encouraged by Michael Dezuanni, an Associate Professor at Queensland

University of Technology, as his research has shown that it can improve students problemsolving, engagement and creativity (The Educator 2015).
Apart from teaching lessons in virtual worlds, Dr Valerie Shute of Florida State University
suggests educators use virtual worlds as an assessment platform as well assessing
students understandings of the material taught in the virtual world, in the virtual world. She
suggests stealth assessment as a means of engaging and testing learners in an engrossing
environment (PsychCentral 2015).

Advantages and Disadvantages of Virtual Worlds in Education

Advantages

Communication and collaboration spaces.

Virtual communication spaces are providing an alternative delivery format for
distance education students. The use of translation technologies available in some
VWs overcome language barriers and hence increase communication (Dawley &
Dede, 2014). Learners begin as neophytes, working through the cycle to eventually
become mentor/leader on a given topic.
(Devlin et al, 2014) mentioned that inter-life provides a safe space that supports
induction mediated by active learning tasks using learner-generated, multi-modal
transition tools and also support and foster the development of critical reflective
thinking skills through the provision of private space.

Spatial simulations
Immersive technologies are effective when learners need practice with repetitive
tasks where it may not be possible or realistic to repeat these tasks in real life, such
as practicing take off and landings in a plane simulator, or practicing administering
medications to a patient in a simulated hospital setting (Dawley & Dede,2014).

Experimental learning
(Dawley & Dede,2014) also mentioned that educational activities in virtual worlds
emphasize experience and exploration over recall strategies, e.g. In medical and
school simulation scenarios, for example, learners can conduct repetitive tasks in the
environment (such as sanitary protocols), take risks, and try alternative strategies at
no cost and without fear of harming the students or patients.

Assessment
VWs provides a virtual performance assessment which comes as a new vehicle for
innovative observation and sophisticated analysis of complex student performance
(Dawley & Dede, 2014).

Ability of virtual seminars and virtual office hours and virtual lectures and Second
Life brings the virtual reality at hardly any costs.
Minecraft has one form of educational means, it brings the skill of teaching and
learning while playing games and Minecraft offer a mathematical teaching tool i.e.
adds the value of edutainment.
Offer the motivational factor that encourages the mental state include empowering
the participant in an experience to initiate actions that have novel, intriguing
consequences, invoking powerful semantics associations and cultural architypes via
the content of experience sensory immersion through extensive visual and auditory
stimuli (Dawley & Dede,2014).
SL promoted discussion, justification and critical learning skills which is a benefit of
most learners (Minocha & Reeves,2014).
(Qian, 2009) also revealed that VWs promotes and encourages the learning of
science using Quest Atlas, River city, Geology explorer and virtual cell, SciCentr etc.
Provides bridge between informal and formal.
The advantage for SL and other VEs are tremendous. Some of the benefits include
accessibility for persons otherwise unable to participate fully in the real world, the
affordances lend themselves to learning various content in authentic environments,
and the opportunity to unite people.

Disadvantages

According to (Devlin et al, 2014) some students expressed a wish for more training in
the functional and social skills required to navigate and experience the Inter-life
world more effectively which is time consuming.
When education is the main focus as opposed to fun or social, motivation and
engagement can decrease for users (Dawley & Dede,2014).
These types of environment can be hard to integrate into traditional school
environment due to concern with student safety resulting from exposure to
unknown online players, design intent that only partially meets educational goals
and inability to customize the design.
(Minocha & Reeves,2014), the text based communication system used in SL also act
as a barrier to learning with issues including typing skills and inability of the text
window structure to show parallel conversations.
Freedom to play with the identity can cause confusion and users must learn to
manage their reputation when using avatars in professional context such as teacher
or that are associated with their institution and organizations.
The assessment provided in VWs is difficult to conduct using traditional paper and
pencil item-based assessment which neither richly evoke construct to be measured
nor provide a detailed stream of evidence about what learners does or does not
know (Dawley & Dede,2014).

VWs and simulations often revolves around technical problems with equipment,
internet connectivity, scalability of the platforms, and institutional firewalls, as well
as prohibition of the use of VWs in public computers.
Cost and time needed to learn new technologies, student safety and privacy issues
and institutional barriers to adopt pose challenge.
Students dislike the inability to access the virtual world environment through older
computers, the general prohibition of the use of such virtual world software in public
computers, having to instantaneously formulate responses and type fast in order to
communicate textually through the chat tool. The lack of provision of turn-taking or
threaded discussion because of the chat function, and unfamiliarity with the virtual
world software (Hew & Cheung, 2008).
Many people today are worried that spending extended period of time looking at
computer screens and other electronic devices is bad for your vision (American
Optometric Association) and it is also bad for your attention span.

Guidelines for the use of Virtual Worlds in Education

Here are a few points explaining how virtual worlds should be used for education:
Create unique environments
Firstly, if people are going to visit an environment, it has to be unique. Something that
students do not usually see in real life. Something different to attract the attention of the
students. If the environment is unique, people will actually feel like visiting that
environment. This is how an educator can attract more students.
Simulation of real world situations
By simulating a real world situation, students can experiment with situations they never had
the opportunity to be involved in. Students can be taught what to do and how to respond in
the given situation should they be involved in such a situation in the real world.
Virtual Field Trips
Another know problem is when students leave college, they are often not familiar with the
working environment. Some students see and use the actual equipment for the first time
when they start working. Virtual reality can help familiarise students with the different
equipment and machinery used in the real world. These kinds of simulations can build a
persons confidence when working with said equipment.
Use virtual experiments
Scientific experiments can be dangerous in the world. By letting students run these
experiments in the virtual world, they can be taught about how dangerous these
experiments really are, and how these experiments can affect the students and the
environment. A popular example is chemistry. Mixing certain chemicals can have a

catastrophic effect on students and the environment, which is why it is a good idea to rather
let students experiment in the virtual world.
Using slides, video, and audio presentations
These should be kept to a minimum. People may lose interest very quickly as they are
familiar with, and see these kinds of presentations all the time. Keep the presentations short
and exciting.
Lectures and conferences in the virtual world
These should not be used too often as they resemble the real world, however, they will help
in familiarizing students how conferences take place in the world and how to behave during
these conferences. Lectures on the other hand, are not recommended as students can learn
more from a hands on approach and have more fun.
Use virtual quizzes
Again, this is something that is often done in the real world and should be kept to a
minimum. From time to time, quizzes can be a good way to judge how much a student has
learned and how well the method of using virtual reality for education is working for each
student.

References
Bosch-Sijtsema, P. M., & Sivunen, A. (2013). Professional virtual worlds supporting computermediated communication, collaboration, and learning in geographically distributed contexts.
Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions on, 56(2), 160-175.
Hodge, E. M., & Collins, S. (2010). Collaborative efforts: Teaching and learning in virtual worlds.
Educause Review, 45(3), 62-63.
Minocha, S., & Reeves, A. J. (2010). Design of learning spaces in 3D virtual worlds: an empirical
investigation of Second Life. Learning, Media and Technology, 35(2), 111-137.
http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/top-20-uses-of-virtual-worlds-in-education/
http://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality-education/
http://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality-education/virtual-worlds.html
Kasuto, J., Stoltenkamp, J. (2010). Opening new Boundaries. University of Western Cape, Cape Town,
South Africa.
Boulos, M. N. K., et al. (2007). "Second Life: an overview of the potential of 3D virtual worlds in
medical and health education." Health Information & Libraries Journal 24(4): 233-245.
Business Insider (2015). "Second Life is still around and getting ready to conquer virtual reality."
Retrieved 22 March 2016.
gamebased (2013). "Danish students learn coding in Computercraft." Retrieved 22 March 2016, from
http://gamebased.tumblr.com/post/51887268749/danish-students-learn-coding-in-computercraft.
Hexus.net (2015). "Minecraft sales reach 70 million, 20 million copies sold on PC." Retrieved 22
March 2016.
Merchant, Z., et al. (2012). "The learner characteristics, features of desktop 3D virtual reality
environments, and college chemistry instruction: A structural equation modeling analysis."
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Middle School Minecraft (2013). Measuring the Speed of Minecarts in Minecraft. Retrieved 22
March 2016, from http://www.middleschoolminecraft.com/2013/04/23/measuring-the-speed-ofminecarts-in-minecraft/.
Middle School Minecraft (2013). "Genetics in Minecraft: Wool, Mendel and Brownies." Retrieved 22
March 2016, from http://www.middleschoolminecraft.com/2013/04/08/genetics-in-minecraft-woolmendel-and-brownies/.
mojang.com (2015). "YES, WE'RE BEING BOUGHT BY MICROSOFT." Retrieved 22 March 2016, from
https://mojang.com/2014/09/yes-were-being-bought-by-microsoft/.
PsychCentral (2015). "Using Video Games As a Stealth Teaching Tool." Retrieved March 22, 2016.
qcraft (2014). "q-Craft Curriculum." Retrieved 22 March 2016, from
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Retrieved 22 March 2016, from http://www.techtimes.com/articles/53182/20150514/minecrafttops-watched-games-youtube-list-what-others.htm.

The Educator (2015). "Minecraft can boost student outcomes, research shows." Retrieved 22 March
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414-426.

Percentage Contribution for Each Member: Virtual Worlds Task 1

Name

Student Number

% Contribution

A Banoo
A Vawda
W Mbongozi
Z Makhaye
L Maphalala

213503406
213532665
209530278
213072182
211559088

100%
100%
100%
100%
100%