My invited presentation "Learning in 3D Virtual Worlds, enabling vAcademia in CAVE" at the VISIONAIR General Assembly and Open Forum. VISIONAIR is an EU project that provides Trans National Access (TNA) to visualization and virtual reality facilities in European universities.
Visionaire project learning in 3D virtual worlds, enabling vacademia in cave
1. Project: Learning in 3D Virtual Worlds, Enabling vAcademia in CAVE
Mikhail Fominykh
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Project conducted at
University College London, UK
VisionAir Open Forum
Poznan, Poland | February 4–6, 2014
2. Enabling vAcademia in CAVE
Learning
Threshold Concepts
ReaCTor
IPT / CAVE
vAcademia
3D Virtual World
3. Enabling vAcademia in CAVE
Learning
Threshold Concepts
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
http://ntnu.no/
ReaCTor
IPT / CAVE
Virtual Environments & Computer Graphics Group
University College London
http://vecg.cs.ucl.ac.uk/
Molde University College
http://himolde.no/
vAcademia
3D Virtual World
vAcademia
Multimedia Systems Laboratory
Volga State University of Technology
Virtual Spaces LLC
http://mmlab.ru/
http://vacademia.com/
4. Enabling vAcademia in CAVE
Learning
Threshold Concepts
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
http://ntnu.no/
ReaCTor
IPT / CAVE
Virtual Environments & Computer Graphics Group
University College London
http://vecg.cs.ucl.ac.uk/
Molde University College
http://himolde.no/
vAcademia
3D Virtual World
vAcademia
Multimedia Systems Laboratory
Volga State University of Technology
Virtual Spaces LLC
http://mmlab.ru/
http://vacademia.com/
5. Enabling vAcademia in CAVE
Learning
Threshold Concepts
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
http://ntnu.no/
ReaCTor
IPT / CAVE
Virtual Environments & Computer Graphics Group
University College London
http://vecg.cs.ucl.ac.uk/
Molde University College
http://himolde.no/
vAcademia
3D Virtual World
vAcademia
Multimedia Systems Laboratory
Volga State University of Technology
Virtual Spaces LLC
http://mmlab.ru/
http://vacademia.com/
6. Theoretical grounding
Threshold Concepts: parts of a knowledge domain that is most difficult for the
learner to achieve*
• How to ”think like an engineer/dentist/accountant”, the underlying game of a
knowledge domain
• Requires a transformation in the learner, an ”unlearning” process preceded by a
state of liminality
* Meyer, J.H.F., and Land, R. (2006) Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge: Issues of Liminality.
13. 3D Virtual Recording Step 4. Re-immersing into the activity
Recorded trainee
Live trainee
14. General Motivation: Learning Threshold Concepts in 3D Virtual Worlds
ThriVE initiative
Threshold Concepts in Virtual Environments for Creativity and Learning
(work in progress)
15. Specific Motivation: Enabling the Educational 3D Virtual World
vAcademia to work with the CAVE facility
The technical objective: explore the possibilities of an educational virtual world
accessed through a CAVE interface
The research objective: explore new ways of learning that stimulate and enhance the
potential of human creativity
The prototype design should consist of two development elements
• Implementation of learning scenarios involving ‘Threshold Concepts’
• Integration of the capability of 3D virtual recording to be functional between
CAVE and vAcademia
16. 3D virtual recording in a CAVE: Scenario examples
•
Changing perspective
– Conducting/Recording a session in vAcademia as a single user accessing via CAVE
– Re-immersing into the recorded session as a group via desktop to discuss it
•
Learning from reflection
– Conducting/Recording a session in vAcademia with one user accessing via CAVE (+
possibly multiple users via desktop)
– Re-immersing into the recorded session via CAVE to observe you own actions
17. Hypothesis
Using the 3D recording feature of vAcademia in the CAVE could potentially reveal
patterns of (1) becoming aware of one's own reflective learning patterns and (2)
deciding to use them consciously
Method
Sequential interviews have been found to reveal this pattern*. The effect on learning
of being able to replay one’s life-size avatar representation and see one’s previous
actions would be investigated.
* Boyd E.M., Fales A.W.: Reflective Learning: Key to Learning from Experience. Journal of Humanistic Psychology 23 (2):99–117, (1983)