tkohlri's blog

McKerlich, R., Riis, M., Anderson, T., & Eastman, B. (2011). Students Perceptions of Teaching Presence,

Social Presence, and Cognitive Presence in a Virtual World. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning

     and Teaching , 7 (2), 379.

I chose this article because it is important to have a presence as a teacher, whether in the classroom or online. The study conducted research on classrooms that used VW as a platform and then interviewed the students afterwards. The study wanted to find out if the VW provided a teaching presence, social presence and a cognitive presence. Surprisingly the research found that a VW can produce presence. In one class the students and teacher meet in a VW that has an opinionator (a tool that can be used in a VW) The students are presented with a theoretical statement and then the students can position themselves with a theoretical position by asking questions. Students then can exchange ideas and present their opinions. What happens is a real life exchange of ideas in a VW. During the discussion students can change their positions based on another students argument.

What I found most interesting about this article is that VW is producing cognitive learning the same as if those students were in the classroom.  This is a great tool to use in a distance learning classroom.

Wigert, B., Imed, B., & Ikram, B. (2012). The Role of the Facilitator in Virtual World

Colaboration: An Exploratory Study. Virtual Worlds Research , 5 (2), 20.

I selected this article to learn more about Virtual Worlds. I plan on teaching online, and I realize that VW’s will play a role in how I will connect with my students. Business’ have to be on the cutting edge of technology when conducting business. I would like to learn all I can to make use of what technology is helpful. I found the BGSU Virtual World very interesting.

The research was a questionnaire sent out to people that had extensive experience in Virtual Worlds. The researchers were interested in finding out all about how a facilitator in a VW should colaborate with the participants, and whether this colaboration is different then real life colaboration. The researchers asked five questions:

Q1: “What specific opportunities do VW environments provide for team collaboration?

Q2: How does the role of the facilitator change when interacting in a VW, and how does it
remain the same?

Q3: What would you consider the best and worst practices that a facilitator could use in VW
collaboration?

Q4: Could VWs be useful for training future facilitators? What might be different from
traditional training?

Q5: What are the greatest strengths and weaknesses of GSS based facilitation in virtual
environments?

The research found that in VW people act differently then in real life. Since a person can create an Avatar, it gives them more confidence in the presentation. The faciltator needs to keep and upbeat tone in the presentation, and ensure that everyone is participating. The facilitator does not necessarily have to be charasmatic, because this does not translate well in VW. The faciltator also needs to make sure everyone in the presentation understands the technology beforehand.

I will use Second Life for an icebreaker for the class. The students can create there Avatar and show up to class in the VW.  After that I would have students make a presentation in VW. As the facilitator I would ensure the students understand the technology, keep an upbeat tone and make sure they have fun while doing it.

After reading this article and reading other material about VW, I could see a business create a VW for their business. For example, a hospital could create a VW and invite propective patients to visit the hospital in the VW. For kids especially, I think it would help ease any anxiety they had in going to the hospital.

I thought the research method was rather weak in this article. They interviewed 18 people and asked only five questions. I don’t think you can get enough information with a pool that small. In fact, one of they questions, barely any participants answered. In spite of that, I did find some information useful. I found out that some people feel bad about themselves in real life, but when given an Avatar in a VW they become very confident. That was interesting to me.