The Evolution and Development of Self in Virtual Worlds

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard H. Wexler ◽  
Suzanne Roff-Wexler
Keyword(s):  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Laws Of Nature ◽  
The Self ◽  
Competency Assessment ◽  
Relevant Research ◽  
Evolution And Development ◽  
Self And Identity

Understanding the concept of Self and its relationship to virtual worlds is not a luxury. Virtual worlds render a universe not limited to present laws of nature, where perception of gravity may be suspended and humans may morph and communicate in ways yet imagined. As technology progresses, distinguishing virtual from reality may become more difficult. For some, this offers gains. For others, such as individuals with a confused sense of Self and fractured identity, this is problematic. Venturing deeper, it is necessary to explore who one is and what it means to be human. Does the concept of Self, transform and evolve in virtual worlds into something different than it is in the “real world?” If the Self is transformed, what are the implications for mental health and pathology, competency assessment, and development and experiential learning? This article explores such questions in the context of the evolution and development of the concept of Self in virtual worlds. It describes differences between major philosophical frameworks developed to explain the concept of Self and identity and provides relevant research and literature. It presents a working model to understand how virtual world technology affects the concept of Self and identity and how to maintain a healthy and stable Self and identity.

Signs and Guideposts

2011 ◽  
pp. 86-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keysha I. Gamor
Keyword(s):  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Collaborative Environments ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Traditional Courses ◽  
Technological Tools

Experiential learning has long been touted as critical to deep understanding, learning, and ownership of knowledge. Technology has ushered in many new ways for people to interact; a virtual world is one such category of technological tools that enhance engagement in a learning experience. Using a virtual world for instruction does not and should not be an ‘all or nothing’ proposition. Virtual worlds are flexible, rich, collaborative environments which can be used in a variety of ways to augment a traditional, instructor-led course, Web-based courses, and other types of courseware, in addition to serving as a ‘stand-alone’ solution. Grounded in experiential learning and constructivist theory, this chapter explores ways in which one may exploit the flexibility of a virtual world to meet the real-life demands of traditional courses.

Virtual world global collaboration: an educational quest

2017 ◽  
Vol 118 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 547-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Hill ◽  
K. Brant Knutzen
Keyword(s):  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Mediated Learning ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Skill Levels ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Field Notes

Purpose This research case study shares the partnership between librarians and educators to create a live digital literacy experience at The Quest (Camelot Project), a virtual world medieval simulation. The purpose of the partnership was to gain understanding of the learning elements addressed with a group of participants from across the globe, working at various skill levels and interacting with an immersive virtual world simulation. Design/methodology/approach Using field notes, machinima and interviews (participatory action research), the study identifies learning elements within three contexts: technological, pedagogical and content. Learners cycle toward intended learning outcomes in a virtual-world treasure hunt game from the perspective of both designers and participants. Findings Findings of the case study illustrate the value of collaboration in a digital game-based learning (DGBL) environment through scaffolding of knowledge and skills in a virtual world. Findings exemplify the experiential learning cycle within a virtual world for constructing learning, and support a proposed new theoretical framework of technology-mediated learning which may help educators in both design and implementation. Originality/value As virtual worlds and immersive learning opportunities continue to expand for learners and educators, this study shares the value of experiential learning from the perspective of both the teacher and the learner. Socially constructing knowledge and acquiring skills across distance with a team of librarians and educators are innovative examples of DGBL in an alternative reality setting.

Ethical harm in virtual communities

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bastiaan Vanacker ◽  
Don Heider
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
The Self ◽  
Caveat Emptor ◽  
Norm Violation ◽  
Online Environments

This article analyzes under which conditions ethical relevant avatar harm occurs in virtual worlds. The authors argue that this is most likely to occur when there are some norms of acceptable behavior in a virtual world and when players see avatars as constitutive to their identity. Other than online environments characterized by a ‘caveat emptor’ approach, Second Life is governed by certain norms of acceptable behavior. While Second Life inhabitants do not see a need for an additional code of ethics for their community, they do have notions of wrong and right behavior. However what exactly constitutes norm violating behavior and ethically relevant avatar harm is often times contested, as the example of online reactions to an avatar upskirt gallery in Second Life illustrate. Players who see their avatars as extensions of themselves are more at risk of ethical harm when a norm violation occurs than players for whom their avatar constitutes an entity distinct from the self.

scholarly journals In search of a method to assess dispositional behaviours: The case of Otago Virtual Hospital

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Swee-Kin Loke ◽  
Phil Blyth ◽  
Judith Swan
Keyword(s):  
Medical Education ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Junior Doctors ◽  
Assessment Of Student Learning ◽  
Clinical Cases

<span>While the potentials of virtual worlds to support experiential learning in medical education are well documented, assessment of student learning within these environments is relatively scarce and often incongruent. In this article, a conceptual framework is proposed for formatively assessing dispositional behaviours in scenario-based learning within a virtual world. The framework was devised for use with medical students playing the roles of junior doctors as they solve open-ended clinical cases within an environment called the </span><em>Otago Virtual Hospital</em><span>. Drawing upon Perkins, Jay and Tishman's (1993) dispositional theory of thinking, it is proposed that the assessment of dispositional behaviours in scenario-based activities can be carried out by measuring the number of times students either seize or miss an opportunity to engage in a particular dispositional behaviour. The approach can potentially also be used for assessing scenario-based learning in other disciplines (e.g. law, business, military).</span>

scholarly journals Technocultural education

Seminar.net ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Løvlie
Keyword(s):  
John Dewey ◽  
Liberal Education ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Discourse Ethics ◽  
The Self ◽  
Political Education ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Self And Identity ◽  
Relational Concepts ◽  
The Way

In this essay I try to describe the development of a traditional liberal education into a technological liberal one. I propose that we start by dropping the classical oppositions between man and animal, and man and machine; that we stop pitting morality against technology and rhetoric; and that we do away with the idea that ICT in our schools will necessarily tear the fabric of education apart. We should rather try and re-describe the idea of an unencumbered and independent self in terms of relational concepts, like the cyborg or more radically: like the self as interface. John Dewey led the way to this view a century ago, by coining the word intelligence as the name of educative interactions between man, animal and machine. The self as interface is a self of differences rather than identities. But that idea does not do away with our emplaced body, or our personal sense of self and identity. In the postmodern world, the cyborg is a migrant with the ability to interpret signs, understand symbols of power, see through rhetorical games, engage in argumentation, and in these activities partake in his or her own political education. The Internet nomad does not bode anarchy. He or she is the radically decentred subject that may well participate in Kant’s cosmopolitanism, Jürgen Habermas’ discourse ethics and Jacques Derrida’s deconstruction. –  But this is to go slightly beyond the text submitted here …

Design and Robots for Learning in Virtual Worlds

2012 ◽  
pp. 268-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Vallance
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Science Education ◽  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Real World ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Virtual Tools ◽  
Technological Developments

The meme of the physical university is changing and moving swiftly, due mostly to virtual technological developments, towards the “multi-versity” where Higher Education Institutes will exist in both the real world and a virtual space: a term this chapter names “augmented education.” Augmented education requires innovation in technology that can deliver new ways of learning. Therefore, virtual worlds that support effective experiential learning need to be designed beyond merely established real world replication. The concern for researchers and educational practitioners is the need to provide evidence-based frameworks for tasks of measurable complexity that result in verifiable learning in an augmented virtual world. In an attempt to develop a framework for science education this chapter summarizes the theoretical and technical progress of research in the iterative, leaner centered design of virtual tools and associated tasks for evidencing the processes of learning (witnessed as measurements of six cognitive processes and four knowledge dimensions) of participants communicating the programming of LEGO robots within a virtual world.

scholarly journals The pixelated professor: Faculty in immersive virtual worlds

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Blackmon
Keyword(s):  
Faculty Member ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
The Self ◽  
Punk Rock ◽  
Privacy Concerns ◽  
Immersive Virtual Environments ◽  
Number Of Factors

Online environments, particularly virtual worlds, can sometimes complicate issues of self expression. For example, the faculty member who loves punk rock has an opportunity, through hairstyle and attire choices in the virtual world, to share that part of herself with students. However, deciding to share that part of the self can depend on a number of factors: departmental guidelines, ideas of professionalism, privacy concerns, or the need for separation between the in-class self and the out-of-class self. In my study on faculty in virtual worlds, I examined faculty members’ perspectives on recreating and being themselves in immersive virtual environments.

scholarly journals Fire Image Set for Evoking Panic

2020 ◽  
pp. 346-354
Author(s):  
Iqbal Sabilirrasyad ◽  
Achmad Basuki ◽  
Tri Harsono
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Specific Problem ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Fire Disaster ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Image Set ◽  
The Right

Fire is the closest disaster to us, a person who put cigarettes around flammable objects could burn one to dozens of houses. The last thing that happens was a mass panic. In this kind of situation, panic is one of the keys to determine how much probability someone will survive. However, detecting someone's panic during a fire is impossible. This leads some scientists to assume that mass panic was never happening and some studies use simple functions to determine someone when panic. Currently, thanks to technological advances we can easily build virtual worlds that resemble real events. To build a virtual world that could evoke panic we still need the right stimulus. In this paper, we will discuss with terms of fire disaster stimulus that possible to impel someone to feel panic. While some stimulus datasets that already exist have more broad categories, we wanted to focus on a specific problem. The determined parameters are considered through several elements that could cause a person to panic, either before or during a fire. By using the Self-Assessment Manikin system to obtain valance and arousal matrix, we conduct a test to see how much influence the fire categories stimulus provided.

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