Presence in a Collaborative Science Learning Activity in Second Life

Vrellis, Ioannis; Papachristos, Nikiforos M.; Natsis, Antonis; Mikropoulos, Tassos A.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-1083-6_18

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Although spatial presence was found to be moderate, social dimensions and engagement scored high, similarly to Vrellis et al (2012). The medium scores of spatial presence are related to the desktop virtual reality nature of SL, while the higher scores of engagement and social dimensions of presence are related to the social nature of MUVEs and the collaborative nature of the PBL activity.…”

Section: Presencementioning

confidence: 80%

“…Along with many other research teams, our team owns land in SL (the Earthlab Education Island) for the implementation and evaluation of various learning activities ranging from classroom lessons (Papachristos, Vrellis, Natsis, & Mikropoulos, 2014) to laboratory PBL activities (Vrellis et al, 2010;Vrellis, Papachristos, Natsis, & Mikropoulos, 2012). Our experience indicates that SL provides adequate technical affordances for the creation of learning activities and also engenders positive attitudes in the users.…”

Section: The Muve: Slmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Learning outcome, presence and satisfaction from a science activity in Second Life

Vrellis

Avouris

Mikropoulos

2016

AJET

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Although problem-based learning (PBL) has many advantages, it often fails to connect to the real world outside the classroom. The integration with the laboratory setting and the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been proposed to address this deficiency. Multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) like Second Life (SL) are 3D collaborative virtual environments that could act as complementary or alternative worlds for the implementation of laboratory PBL activities offering low-cost, safe, and always available environments. The aim of this study was to compare a simple laboratory PBL activity implemented in both the real and virtual worlds, in terms of learning outcome, satisfaction, and presence. The sample consisted of 150 undergraduate university students. The results show that the MUVE provided similar learning outcome and satisfaction to the real-world condition. Presence was positively correlated to satisfaction but not to the learning outcome. Finally, there are indications that the MUVE was perceived as more pleasurable and informal learning environment, while reality was perceived as more stressful.

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Section: Presencementioning

confidence: 80%

Section: The Muve: Slmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning outcome, presence and satisfaction from a science activity in Second Life

Vrellis

Avouris

Mikropoulos

2016

AJET

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“…Its dominance as a MUVE for teaching and learning, as shown by the number of articles reporting its educational uses 638 British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 45 No 4 2014 compared to rivals (Gamage et al, 2011), was the main reason for this choice. Furthermore, the research team already had experience in teaching about the educational uses of SL, in undergraduate laboratory courses (Vrellis, Papachristos, Natsis & Mikropoulos, 2012). The course lasted 10 weeks and was divided in two phases.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of environment design in an educational Multi‐User Virtual Environment

Papachristos¹,

Vrellis²,

Natsis³

et al. 2013

Brit J Educational Tech

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This paper presents empirical results from an exploratory study conducted in an authentic educational situation with preservice education students enrolled in an undergraduate course, which was partially taught in Second Life. The study investigated the effect of environment design on presence, learning outcomes and the overall experience of the students. Two different educational virtual environments (a traditional university auditorium and an open‐air setting) were designed and presented to different groups of students (n = 51). Results indicate that students' experience from the educational activities, their attitudes toward the environment and the induced sense of presence are not affected by the design of the educational setting. Learning outcomes seem to be slightly better in virtual educational settings that replicate traditional educational settings. Experience shows that undergraduate university classes can be successfully taught in Second Life and such environments elicit satisfaction, positive experiences and attitudes and high levels of social presence from the participants. Course design in a Multi‐User Virtual Environment (MUVE) should take into account the time and training necessary for all students to become familiar with the virtual environment and possible time losses due to technical issues. This study could act as support to construct and test hypotheses regarding the role of educational setting design in teaching and learning in MUVEs.

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“…The major examples are Witmer and Singer's (1998) presence questionnaire (PQ) (Schrader & Bastiaens, 2012;Witmer & Singer, 1998), Slater et al's place presence, copresence scale (Bulu, 2012;Durlach & Slater, 2000) and Vrellis et al's temple presence inventory (TPI) questionnaire (Vrellis, Papachristos, Natsis, & Mikropoulos, 2012). The results from these questionnaires and scales are scores on predefined items.…”

Section: Measuring Youth With Asd Embodied Social Presence In 3d Cvlementioning

confidence: 98%

“…For example, in NP #1 and #2 students were in a virtual room with a shared virtual board. As Bulu (2012) and Vrellis et al (2012) point out, the representational fidelity of the environment is important to facilitate development of presence. Furthermore, fantasy-embedded environmental settings encourage exploration activity (PrasolovaFørland, 2008) and promote motivation for students to participate in the learning activities (Dickey, 2006).…”

Section: Fantasy Settingsmentioning

confidence: 99%