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Formal and Informal Collaborative

Learning in 3D Virtual Campuses
Mikhail Fominykh and Ekaterina Prasolova-Frland
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
The Sixth International Conference on Collaboration Technologies
August 2729, 2012
Sapporo, Japan
Peter Leong
University of Hawaii-Manoa, USA
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3D Virtual Worlds and Virtual
Campuses
o Why 3D Virtual Worlds
Three dimensional
Sense of presence
Collaboration
Visualization and creativity
3D content manipulation
o Why Virtual Campuses
Authentic environment
Learning tools and facilities
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Formal and Informal Learning in 3D
Virtual Campuses
o Formal
Blended or virtual courses
Lectures, discussions, exams, and more
o Informal
Virtual tours, scavenger hunts, role playing, and
games
Rich interactions, authentic content and culture,
identity play, simulation, community presence
Visualization, and content production
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Case Study across Two Virtual
Campuses
o RQ
How to design a 3D virtual campus?
o Goal
Develop implications for virtual campus design to
facilitate formal and informal learning
o Analysis framework
Learner
Place
Artifact
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Study settings
o Participants
37 Students (Cooperation Technology course at NTNU)
Presenters and attendees
o Activities
3D Visualization of the major curriculum topics
Two events in two virtual campuses
o Observation
Design of Virtual Campus facilities for different
learning modes
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Virtual Campus of NTNU
o Facilities
Reconstructions of campus buildings
3D educational visualizations (student projects)
Virtual Science Fair
Meeting and working places
o Activities
Virtual tours
Cooperation technology course projects/role plays
Research project presentations
International seminars

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Virtual Campus of NTNU
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Role-playing presentation of a student
project
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Role-playing presentation of a student
project
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Cooperation seminar in the virtual
campus of NTNU
o Formal learning
Seminar (five virtual presentations of EU projects)
Question-and-answer session
o Results
+ Geographical independence
+ The novelty and excitement
+ The comfort of use for the lecturer and the audience
Technical problems
Attention distractions both inside and outside the
virtual environment


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Cooperation seminar in the virtual
campus of NTNU
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Implications for facilitating formal
learning in 3D virtual campuses
o Learner
More active use of the avatar, such as moving around,
body language, visual effects, changing appearance
o Place
Minimalistic appearance to avoid disruption of attention
Structure facilitating better deployment of the 3D space
and flexible moving and grouping of avatars and tools
o Artifact
Integrating social tools normally used by the students
In-world tools for interactivity, e.g. quizzes and polling


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Virtual Campus of COE UHM
o Facilities
Reconstructions of campus buildings
Authentic Hawaiian places and simulations
New fictitious social spaces
o Activities
Courses/seminars
Conference sessions
Virtual graduation ceremonies
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Virtual Campus of COE UHM
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Wist-Everly Hall complex
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Holomua Learning Area
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Dockside coffee shop
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Official launch of COE SL Island
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Virtual Graduation Ceremonies
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Guided tour to the virtual campus of
COE UHM
o Informal learning
Virtual tour (guided tour)
Feedback in student blogs
o Results
11 themes including general impressions, campus
atmosphere & infrastructure, learning, experimental
teaching, Hawaiian culture, navigation problems, etc.
Majority felt immersive Hawaiian sense of place


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Guided tour to the virtual campus of
COE UHM
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Implications for facilitating informal
learning: 3 major themes
o Appreciation for strong Hawaiian sense
of place
o Recognition of need for social spaces
o Frustration with navigation problems


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Implications for facilitating informal
learning in 3D virtual campuses
o Learner
Improve navigation - teleportation & thematic areas
Spaces for social & community building
o Place
Appearance - replica & fictitious places
Structure - buildings connected by paths & teleports
Roles - demonstration/exhibition, social/workplace,
information space, virtual stage
o Artifact
Some SL tutorials & Hawaiian-theme artifacts
Need to develop tools to support course activities


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Future Work
o Formal and informal educational
activities in 3D virtual campuses
Important to sustain a balance between formal and
informal learning
Adjusting for specific formal or informal approaches
in both academic and corporate settings
Exploring and extending implications to apply for
virtual campuses, classrooms, offices, conference
facilities, and other types of environments developed
on different platforms


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Thank you!
Mikhail Fominykh
mikhail.fominykh@svt.ntnu.no
https://my.secondlife.com/Mihail.Palace
http://slideshare.net/mfominykh/

Ekaterina Prasolova-Frland
ekaterip@idi.ntnu.no
https://my.secondlife.com/Amaritis.Miranda

Peter Leong
peterleo@hawaii.edu
https://my.secondlife.com/Ikaika.Miles