Introduction
The necessity of measuring learning in virtual worlds continue to grow since virtual worlds became increasingly and widely utilized in education to deliver instructions. Because of the tightening budgets and tuition competition, many higher education institutions tend to start distant courses within academic programs (Fischman & Young,2008). Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as BlackBoard and WebCT have dominated much of the higher education sector. Both of them provide synchronous and asynchronous tools which allow students to communicate, to collaborate, and ultimately to create communities of inquiry (University of Massachusetts, 2009). Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as BlackBoard and WebCT have dominated much of the higher education sector, and are also making their way to K-12 schools who wish to offer classes online (Project Tomorrow, 2008).
Multi-user virtual environments are 3-D environments that support exploration, simulation, role-play, interaction and experimentation via avatars, or 3-D self-representations (Clarke, Dede, Ketelhut, & Nelson, 2006). Second Life (SL) (Linden Research, 2006) is one kind of MUVE that has the user population of over eight million since its first beginning in the year of 2003. This virtual environment is created by its residents who have the ability to build objects within their world for purposes which including entertainment, retail, academia, advertising, and marketing. “Linden Dollar” currency enables residents to purchase in-world items such as virtual islands, clothing, and furniture. In addition, SL also provides a space for learning, socialization, exploration, discovery and creativity. With over 200 higher educational institutionswith a presence in SL, there has been experimentation with delivering courses online via this medium.
Building upon Mckerlich and Anderson’s (2008) exploratory study, the researchers of the study used the Community of Inquiry’s (CoI) Mutil-User Virtual Environment Education Evaluation Tool(MUVEEET), as well as CoI Survey to measure observational and perceptual data in the multi-user virtual environment (MUVE), Second Life (SL), among instructional technology graduate students.
Cognitive Presence is the first construct of the CoI model and can be identified through an examination of online discourse (i.e., connection of ideas, sharing of related experiences, curiosity, and application of new ideas).
Social Presence is the second construct and is also identifiable through an examination of online discourse among learners (i.e., emotions, expressions, collaborations, and group cohesion).
Teaching Presence, the third construct, is essential to the CoI model and may have additional or differing—indicators (Garrison et al., 2004, p. 74) in a MUVE. According to Collins and Berge (2008), all the instructors in MUVE are well-informed to follow the guidelines such as create an environment that facilitates the expansion of knowledge to students via building and exploring within MUVEs; Activities within virtual worlds should be adapted to the ability of the student and the objective of the curriculum within the class. Besides, instructors in MUVEs also shouldering social responsibilities, managerial responsibilities and technical responsibilities as well.
Purposes of the study
The purposes of this study is to examine and observe the extent to graduate level instructional technology students experienced social, cognitive and teaching presence in class activities held in SL, and to examine the extent to which students perceived themselves to experience social, cognitive, and teaching presence within SL.
Two research questions:
1: To what extent do graduate level students enrolled in an instructional technology course experience social, cognitive, and teaching presence in activities taking place in the Multi-User Virtual Environment, Second Life?
2: To what extent do graduate level students enrolled in an instructional technology course perceive themselves to experience social, cognitive, and teaching presence with the Multi-User Virtual Environment, Second Life?
Research method
1. Sample, participants, and setting
Ten (8 females and 2 males)participants ranged in age from ages 23 to 34 enrolled in online instructional technology class in 2009. The specific setting for the learning activities in this study took place within various educational islands within SL.
2. Instruments
Both observational and perceptual data were gathered from two instruments derived from the CoI model — the Multi-User Virtual Environment Education Evaluation Tool (MUVEEET) (McKerlich & Anderson, 2008) and the CoI Survey (Arbaugh et al., 2008).
3. Data collection
For the duration of both SL class meetings, two trained outside coders observed and recorded information using the MUVEEET instrument, noting specific indicators of social, cognitive and teaching presence.
4. Data analysis
Participants' responses to the CoI Survey were analyzed through the use of descriptive statistics. The MUVEEET observations were analyzed slightly differently from that of McKerlich and Anderson's (2008) original MUVEEET analysis. For this study, the observers compared their Second Life observations and any duplicate observations were only counted as occurring once. A category occurrence range was developed by the observers to rate each category as having a low, medium, or high occurrence within each corresponding presence. For cognitive presence, the occurrence ranges were: (1–12) Low; (13–24) Medium; and (25–35) High. For teaching presence, the occurrence ranges were: (1–10) Low; (11–20) Medium; (21–30) High. For social presence, the occurrence ranges were: (1–10) Low; (11–20) Medium; (21–30) High.
Results
The results of this study indicates that CoI model served as a promising framework to measure all three constructs within MUVEs. For all three CoI presences, nearly half of the participants supplied a response of Strongly Agree on the survey items. Students who selected Agree made up 45.6% of responses. no participants selected either the Disagree or Strongly Disagree categories. What’s more, the results also indicates that both participants and coders experienced a developed community of inquiry during two SL classes.
In a word, the results are encouraging to the future research studies. This information bodes well for educators who are interested in using Second Life for online learning. One particular aspect of the MUVEEET the researchers discovered was its versatility. There are indeed many ways to utilize this instrument to analyze observations or behaviors within SL, therefore expanding the possibilities for varied research opportunities. Following McKerlich and Anderson's lead on using the CoI model to study educational activity in MUVEs, this study supports the efficacy of assessing social, teaching and cognitive presences within a MUVE from the points of view of both participant perceptions and objective observations.
Reference
Arbaugh, J. B., Cleveland-Innes, M., Diaz, S. R., Garrison, D. R., Ice, P., Richardson, J. C., et al. (2008). Developing a Community of Inquiry instrument: Testing a measure of the Community of Inquiry framework using a multi-institutional sample. Internet and Higher Education, 11, 133−136.
Clarke, J., Dede, C., Ketelhut, D. J., & Nelson, B. (2006). A design-based research strategy to promote scalability for educational innovations. Educational Technology, 46(3), 27−36.
Collins, M. P., & Berge, Z. L. (2008, November). Instructors' changing roles in multi user virtual environments. eLearn World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government Las Vegas, NV: Healthcare & Higher Education (AACE).
Fischman, J., & Young, J. R. (2008). Search for savings through technology dominates Educause Conference. Chronicle of Higher Education, 55(12), 14.
Garrison, D. R., Cleveland-Innes, M., & Fung, T. (2004). Student role adjustment in online communities of inquiry: Model and instrument validation. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Network, 8(2), 61−74.
Linden Research. (2006). What is Second Life? Retrieved July 9, 2009, from http:// secondlife.com/whatis/.
McKerlich, R., & Anderson, T. (2008). Community of inquiry and learning in immersive environments. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 11, 35−52.
Project Tomorrow. (2008). 21st century students deserve a 21st century education. Retrieved June 7, 2009, from Project Tomorrow Website: http://www.tomorrow. org/docs/National%20Findings%20Speak%20Up%202007.pdf.
University ofMassachusetts, Boston, Faculty Council Subcommittee on E-Learning. (2009, August).Quality online education:Awork in progress. Retrieved July 9, 2009, from The Transference of 23 University of Massachusetts Boston Website: www.umb.edu/ academics/faculty_council/documents/E-LearningSubcommitteeFinalReport.
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