Virtual worlds unlock frontiers in education that were unimaginable a few years ago. This presentation examines student responses to virtual world role-play experiences. The presentation uses first-hand examples, student interviews, theoretical models of learned behavior, and contemporary research in examining this topic. Presented at the 15th SLOAN CONSORTIUM International Conference on Online Learning, Orlando, Florida, October 20, 2009. http://www.slideshare.net/event/sloanc-aln-2010

1. Ken Hudson, Virtual World Design Centre Loyalist College, Belleville, Canada SLOAN-C – October 30, 2009 They Became What They Beheld: Immersive Role-play in Virtual Environments

2. Edmund Snow Carpenter

3. Edmund Snow Carpenter

4. Media are environments

5. We are their content

6. … they engulf us, tattoo us..

7. We are immersed

8. Movies and Television

9. Sports

10. Music

11. Video Games

12. We are our game markers

13. “ We shape our tools and then our tools shape us.”

14. Mirror Neurons

15. Chameleon Effect

16. “ Our virtual identity is not separate from our physical identity.” Jeremy N. Bailenson April 4, 2008 Chronicle of Higher Education

17. Proteus Effect: We infer our behavior and attitudes from our avatar

18. Behavior transfers from virtual world to real life

19. We modify our attitudes by observing our own behavior

20. Loyalist College

21. Border Security Restrictions

22. Port of Entry Process

23. Canadian Border Lansdowne

24. Second Life Border Simulation

25. Canadian Border Simulation

26. Border Crossing Interviews

27. Simulation on Screen

28. Identification Process

29. Traveler Team

30. Secondary Search

31. “ More realistic than traditional role plays.”

32. “ Learned from watching classmates.”

33. “ Interview questions stuck.”

34. “ As close as it could be to real life.”

35. “ Seeing hearing doing…we were actually there.”

36. CBSA Pilot

38. Loyalist College 37% increase in grades over 2 years CBSA Recruits 39% increase in success at testing milestone Increased Confidence Accelerated Learning Pace

39. America’s Army

40. America’s Army in-game Medic Training

41. Publication of Results Journal of Virtual Worlds Research Volume 2, Number 1:Pedagogy, Education and Innovation in 3-D Virtual Worlds Linden Lab Case Study Virtual World Simulation Training Prepares Real Guards on the US-Canadian Border: Loyalist College in Second Life Learning in 3D: Bringing a new dimension to enterprise learning and collaboration by Karl Kapp and Tony O’Driscoll Handbook of research on virtual environments for corporate education: Employee learning and solutions Forthcoming 2010:

43. Ken Hudson Managing Director Virtual World Design Centre Loyalist College SL: Kenny Hubble Twitter: kennyhubble [email_address]