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.
9:40 pm - 12-2-2012
I also find the virtual worlds very interesting. I can see why people would feel more confident because it bascially can be anonymous and they can create any type body they want. I think when your physical appearance is attractive it gives you more confidence. If you were using it in the classroom, everyone would know what each Avatar actually looked like, but I think it still could give confidence to those that are a little shy. I think that’s a good idea about having prospective patients visit a hospital. I think anytime you have to go somewhere new that would be helpful to take a virtual tour first.