Srpernews

1. Augmented Reality | Emerging Tech | Video Games | Virtual Worlds
ARVEL
www.ArvelSig.com
Applied Research in Virtual Environments for Learning
EXCLUSIVE
E-Interview Research Framework by
JANET SALMONS
ASK CHRIS
Research Advice
from CHRIS DEDE
PROPHETS OF
SCIENCE FICTION
Science Fiction book reviews
by SHARI METCALF
RE-THINKING
ASSESSEMENT
New Media, New Methods
by LISA DAWLEY
OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2011

2. arvelsigSuperNews
Applied Research in Virtual Environments for Learning
The ARVEL SuperNews is an initiative of The Applied Research
in Virtual Environments for Learning special interest group of the
ARVEL SuperNews was powered by …..http://writtenkitten.net
American Educational Research Association.
EDITORS: Jonathon Richter and Sabine Lawless-Reljic
AUGMENTED REALITY EDITOR: Patrick O‘Shea
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY EDITOR: Jeremy Kemp
VIDEO GAMES EDITOR: Moses Wolfenstein
VIRTUAL WORLDS EDITOR: …still rezzing
ASK CHRIS: Chris Dede
EDITOR AT LARGE: Jodi Asbell-Clarke
SCIFI COLUMN EDITOR: Shari Metcalf
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: …roaming
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2011-2012
HONORARY CHAIR & NOMINATION COMMITTEE CHAIR: Chris Dede
CHAIR: Lisa Dawley PAST CHAIR: Jonathon Richter
PROGRAM CHAIR: Scott Warren PROGRAM CHAIR ELECT: Amy Cheney
FINANCE/SECRETARY: Brian Nelson SPECIAL EVENTS: Patrick O‘Shea
COMMUNICATIONS: Sabine Reljic MEMBERSHIP: Dennis Beck
AWARDS: Shari Metcalf WIKI: Nicole Miller
CONTACTS:
WEBSITE: http://www.arvelsig.com
NING: http://arvelsig.ning.com
EMAIL: arvelsig173@gmail.com

3. CONTENT S
WHAT’S THE BUZZ SPECIAL FEATURE
4 Winter in ARVEL 14 E-Interview Research
Framework
5 Letter from the ARVEL Chair
AUGMENTED REALITY REGULAR FEATURES
7 Teacher-Designed AR 6 Movie Review
9 Software/App Reviews 17 Ask Chris
EMERGING TECH. 18 SciFi Column
10 Let‘s Talk about Bodies 25 Club Photo
13 Software/App Reviews 26 Blog Alert
27 ARVEL@AERA
VIDEO GAMES
28 Art Reviews
19 Rating Video Games
29 Announcements
VIRTUAL WORLDS
21 Jonathon Richter and Sabine
Lawless-Reljic
3

4. |What’s the Buzz?
Winter in
ARVEL
inter: brings to mind thoughts of snow, hot
chocolate, and gifts. As companies offer new video
games, new apps, and a myriad of new gadgets to
interact with and learn from, the commercial hype is at
its peak. Winter also marks the end of the year as
daylight in the northern hemisphere ebbs and we reflect
and prepare to renew ourselves with the rising of a new
sun. We note the passing of efforts in our field: the loss
of funding at the federal level for many areas of vital
research, the closure of LEGO Universe MMO, and
many other difficulties faced by children, educators,
and the learning research community at this point in
history. Now it is time that we all create hope and face
the future.
Scanning the horizon, things look like they will be
increasingly interesting.
Here at ARVEL, we‘ve been looking inward, too: times
are changing quickly and we‘re galvanizing our
determination to not only stay the course, but to be
stronger and better at fulfilling our mission. While this
fundamentally means stewarding a healthy Special
Interest Group within the American Educational
Research Association and all that that entails – we look
to support that core by growing and engaging our
community of practice.
We‘re looking to better use the many media outlets that
ARVEL has sprouted – the Research Wiki, the listserv,
the ARVEL Ning Social Network, the ARVEL
Immersive Learning Research Forum, the hands-on
workshops and on-site experiences – and of course the
high quality program at the AERA Annual
Conference… as well as the ARVEL quarterly
SuperNews – TOGETHER. Our organization is
focusing on the purposeful, efficient, and meaningful
use of this array of engagement opportunities to weave
a fabric that embraces everyone in our immersive
learning research community throughout the year.
Together, we look to stick to our knitting and create
this cozy ARVEL virtual sweater.
On behalf of all of us at the ARVEL SuperNews, we
wish you Happy Holidays and a sunny, enlightening
and immersive new year!
Jonathon Richter, Co-Editor
4

5. ASSESSMENTS
still very much alive. Instead of
thinking about assessment as the
evaluation of ―getting it right,― how
can we engage in ongoing cycles of
data collection, reflection and
improvement that are customized to
individual people? What types of
data can we provide to learners that
help them reflect on and interpret
achievement of their own goals and
interests, and in what forms can it be
provided to create engagement and
motivation in the learning process? I
appreciate how Moses Wolfenstein
and others start to lead us down that
path in this issue with discussions of
games-based learning.
As an academic who thrives on
applied research and the use of
design-based research in my work,
I‘m very excited about seeing the data
from my designs put into action.
Dr. Lisa Dawley is Mali Young in Second Life What data sets are meaningful, how
do we aggregate and display the data,
Re-thinking Assessment what patterns can we discern, and
when we do, what do we do with that
for a New World information? How do the players
(learners) actually encourage the
design of the system itself? Asbell-
How do immersive visualize a multiple choice test Clarke‘s article on educational gaming
learning environments where I must completely fill in the ecosystems helps us understand how
bubble, only to be informed of the the players themselves are part of a
change the nature of results and how far I am from still larger community and ecosystem that
assessment? being perfect, the 100%, the gold actually influences the design of the
By Lisa Dawley star on the paper. I‘m sure this game, that then returns to have an
stems from some childhood impact on the player and community
trauma, or perhaps my lessening (issue Summer 2011). Very cool.
A hearty welcome to our new
tolerance for testing practices that
editors in this issue of the
have gone awry in today‘s Enjoy the issue. And get ready.
ARVELSIG SuperNews! We‘re
educational system . AERA is just around the corner, and
thrilled to bring our members a
the ARVELSIG team has been busy
variety of new perspectives and
One of my goals as an educator is behind the scenes to make this our
latest news about immersive
to encourage others in the field best conference yet—we hope you‘ll
learning.
(and myself) to reframe our join us on our Scholar‘s Journey
thinking about the dreaded (super secret project) where you can
Now, on to this issue‘s topic:
assessment word. This can be experience alternative assessments
assessment. I don‘t like the word
hard to do in K-12 educational first-hand. We hope to see you in
―assessment.‖ My mind begins to
system where high stakes testing is Vancouver in April!
5

6. Movie
Review
Source: http://www.mobile2u.com.pk/blog/desktop_wallpapers/hd_avatar_wallpaper.aspx
2008, p12 (I, Avatar. New Riders:
W hat is from Sanskrit (ava-tāra) (Compact Oxford Englishdescent of a 2008).to
an avatar? The etymology of ‗avatar‘ explains the deity
“Somehow my invented self was
becoming a part of my real self,
earth: Dictionary,
‗Avatar‘ is a spiritual concept made in flesh. Authors have revisited the concept in
dream to breathe.” Meadows,
science fiction novels such as Snowcrash (Stephenson, 1992) and movies such as The
as if I’d somehow caused a
Matrix (Wachowski, Wachowski & Silver, 1999), in which heroes are humans who
can electronically transfer their mind into computer-generated bodies in cyber-
worlds. The movie Avatar (Cameron, 2009) more recently pushes the technology
advances to providing biological bodies (called avatars) operated via mental link by
genetically matching humans in an effort to join the natives, the Na‘Vi, inhabiting
the planet Pandora. The behaviors emitted by the avatars are thus controlled by
the humans. Outside the movie industry, technology has yet to reach mind control
over xeno-flesh capability yet. However, brain-controlled avatars are not too far
behind as demonstrated by brain-computer interface research and emerging
Berkeley, CA)
technologies such as the Advanced Virtuality Lab (AVL)‘s projects in Israel:
Virtual Embodiment and Robotic Re-Embodiment (VERE) is funded by the
European Union and aims to build interfaces for virtual worlds allowing users to
control avatars mentally. VERE is a viable approach to the challenge of
telepresence by providing natural avatar movements. Another AVL project, Being
in Augmented Multi-modal Naturally-networked Gatherings (BEAMING project)
produces lifelike interactions. A BEAMING proxy is a programmable bot that
looks and acts like the person it doubles. Read more about AVL‘s projects at
digitaljournal.com/article/314353. By S. Reljic-Lawless
6

7. |Augmented Reality
Patrick O’Shea, AR Editor: For this issue, I’ve invited Dr. Daniel Curry-Corcoran to present his was constructed to study the
thoughts about an initiative that’s taking place in the Newport News (Virginia) Public School values of delivering content
System involving teachers and students creating their own Augmented Reality experiences. Enjoy. to students through teacher
and student designed
A Newport News Public Schools initiative Over the past year, Newport augmented reality (AR)
brings AR to teachers and students News Public Schools (NNPS) in experiences. This process
By Dr. Curry-Corcoran Virginia implemented a pilot involved a scaffolded
project to examine the impact of approach to teaching
Professional development in our public schools has an innovative teacher training educators the skills to
one primary goal - to improve teaching and model. Using the latest in develop AR experiences,
learning. Given the vacuum in which many of these handheld computers and quick and then having them
trainings occur, many teachers struggle to transfer response (QR) technology, a teach those same skills to
their new learnings into the reality of the classroom. professional development plan their students.
An Exploration of an Approach to Developing
Teacher- and Student-Designed Augmented
Reality Experiences
Unlike traditional professional development sessions that utilize standard lecture and small
group work to drive learning, this AR training focused on exposing teachers to a process of
learning through the entire AR life cycle - from design, to development, through
production. Rather than focusing on content mastery, teachers focused on the process of
instructional delivery critical to ensuring their ability to lead AR experiences in their own
classroom. Despite inevitable issues of procurement, access, and change management,
preliminary findings highlight the potential of coupling handheld technologies and process-
based learning to improve teaching and learning.
First, initial teacher misgivings reflected during interview sessions multi-step
and doubts regarding the ability to and their work in the classroom. multiplication
deliver new instructional techniques problems, a key content strand covered
were overcome as teachers were A second important finding came during the school year. In one instance, a
given ample time to question, plan, in understanding how professional ―dognapper‖ demands a ransom of 100
troubleshoot, and develop the final development activities focused on $100 bills and 75 $50 bills. While this
product they would use in the process and delivery helped teachers may seem straightforward, many
classroom. Teacher interest grew in become more reflective on their more students were puzzled as to the actual
relation to their direct exposure in traditional approaches to content question being asked. While this led to
leading the development of the delivery in the classroom. Reflecting some concern among the Hidenwood
various stages of the AR experience on the impact AR strategies could team given the amount of time spent on
during training sessions. Teachers have on more traditional teaching this standard during lessons, teachers
who had more direct involvement in approaches was apparent in many were able to use the process-based
facilitating learning sessions had a debriefing sessions. In Dognapped, learning strategies of their AR to realize
deeper understanding for each step the second AR experience designed the need for more process learning in
in the development and production completely be the Fifth Grade team the classroom.
processes of an AR. Ultimately at Hidenwood Elementary, students
these teachers internalized a richer were required to follow clues to A third take away examines the
mastery for each of the AR discover the whereabouts of their lost philosophical debate on the role
development stages, which was also dog. This AR incorporated many technology plays in the classroom.
7

8. Historically, technology has been provide opportunities for all Regardless of any individual's personal
used primarily as a support to involved to use their creative feelings regarding technology, the rapid
instruction, but has not always been powers to create instructional pace of technological development and the
integral to instructional delivery. This resources. exposure that students have to it outside of
is even the case with modern the classroom will ultimately mandate that
handheld computers. When used as a we find productive ways of using these
mere tool, despite their promise for devices in the classroom. While we can
changing the instructional process, continue down the road of using handheld
these devices too can spend far too technologies as supports, our work at
much time on shelves in the Hidenwood has shown the promise that
classroom as students become bored exists when these technologies are coupled
with overused applications or with innovative strategies to incorporate
repetitive uses. A key finding in the them into the work of teaching and
augmented reality work at learning. Students can take up the role of a
Hidenwood highlighted the promise reporter, a light technician, or even a
that awaits us when technology geologist, and apply what they are learning
becomes an integral component in in the classroom to collaborate and solve
instructional delivery. real scenarios providing authentic settings
for students and teachers to learn from.
One key difference with the
Hidenwood project in comparison to
many projects using handheld
computers was the focus on
instruction rather than technology.
1. The ARG required
Instead of providing content, these
students engage with virtual
devices were used to create, deliver,
and real-world materials.
and produce instruction. They were
not merely used as a tool during a
2. The activity in the hallway
lesson but as tools necessary for the
demonstrated how engaged
learning process. The experience of
the students were.
creating the augmented reality
experiences, whether teacher or
3. Students worked in pairs
student developed, continued to
to follow the trail.
Dr. Curry-Corcoran is the Executive Director of Accountability and is responsible for the supervision of
staff in the departments of state and local testing, applied research, program evaluation, and the division‘s
student information system. Dr. Curry-Corcoran also serves as the principal researcher for the school
division. Dr. Curry-Corcoran has over 10 years experience in program management, evaluation, and
research in public school settings. These experiences have afforded Dr. Curry-Corcoran with innumerable
opportunities to develop collaborative relationships and partnerships among both school and
administrative staff necessary for the success of a project of this scope. His research focuses have included
developing strategic evaluation plans for elementary and secondary reading and mathematics assessment programs,
measuring the effectiveness of federally-funded Title I teacher training programs, and analyzing the impact of
technology training on pre-service and in-service teachers. Dr. Curry-Corcoran‘s experiences as a researcher have
enabled him to develop a strong understanding and provide in-depth support to educators in a variety of fields,
including the development of technology infrastructure, appropriate uses of student-level data, curriculum development,
and the professional development and training of school staff. Dr. Curry-Corcoran has a long history of working on
large-scale school reform efforts involving technology integration and is currently supervising the deployment of the
school division‘s new student information system and helping to coordinate the augmented reality training of fifth grade
teachers at Hidenwood Elementary school. These efforts include the recruiting of teachers and administrators,
coordinating the purchasing and testing of the iPod Touch devices used, and planning for the expansion and training
initiatives to ensure the replication of efforts to other elementary schools.
8

9. Software
& App
Layar Junaio Reviews
www.layar.com
www.junaio.com
Platform: iPhone, Android, Symbian
Platform: iPhone, Android, Nokia (N8)
GPS: yes GPS: yes
Marker Based: No Marker Based: Yes
Markerless: No Markerless: Yes
Built-In User Actions: Web View Built-In User Actions: Post text, post image, post photo,
post 3d, social
Publishing API: Open key
Publishing API: open key + crowd
Application API: custom
Application API: custom
AR View Content: 3d, 3d-amin, 2d
AR View Content: 3d, 3d-amin, 2d
POI actions: Info, Audio, Music, Video, Call, Email,
SMS, Map, Event POI actions: Info, Audio, Video, Map, Event
Offline mode: Online only Offline mode: Online only
Wikitude Sekai Camera
www.wikitude.org/en sekaicamera.com
Platform: iPhone, Android Platform: iPhone, Android, iPad,
iPodTouch
WIKITUDE API WIKITUDE WORLDS GPS: yes
GPS: yes GPS: yes
Marker Based: No
Marker Based: No Marker Based: No
Markerless: No
Markerless: No Markerless: No
Built-In User Actions: Post text, post photo, post sound,
Built-In User Actions: Built-In User Actions: social
Publishing API: Bundled Publishing API: open key Publishing API: restricted+ crowd
Application API: open Application API: custom Application API: commercial
AR View Content: 3d, 2d AR View Content: 2d AR View Content: 2d
POI actions: Info, Event POI actions: Info, Map, POI actions: Info, Audio, Map,
Email, Call
Offline mode: Offline Offline mode: Cacheable Offline mode: Online only
This review information was retrieved from ―AR Browsers for Smartphones.‖ Read the entire
report at http://www.scribd.com/doc/56146988/AR-Smartphones
9

10. |Emerging Technology
with their classmates and conducting
Let’s Talk about Bodies the business of education. Women 40
Connecting our bodies with virtual years and older, however, were much
more willing to explore this brave
environments for research
Let‘s talk a little about their bodies. new world.
By Jeremy Kemp
In my research of our graduate I honestly haven‘t a shred of
One fascinating results of my
students of library and information evidence to describe the foundations
survey research with over 400
sciences‘ willingness to accept all the for the psychological basis for this
respondents showed that problems
user for troll environments as a difference; my work was purely
with vision (albeit self-reported) did
learning system and a tool to augment quantitative and based upon the
indeed have a very strong impact on
our synchronous Web conferencing Unified Theory of the Acceptance
our students‘ willingness to
system and asynchronous learning and Use of Technology. Now it‘s
accept virtual environment tools in
management system, I was surprised time to start using some mixed
their learning milieu. But, contrary to
to find that ―facilitating methods and reach out to our
my expectation, folks who reported
conditions‖ such as the students students to better understand the
having vision problems were MORE
home computing environment and human reasons for this difference.
likely to accept virtual environment
general feeling of EEs with tools.
technology overall had very little But let me take a few semi-
impact on their acceptance for educated guesses about why our
Second Life. The general full wisdom students with vision problems and
among educational technologists has our students of different ages
been that tools like Second Life are accepted the use of multi-user virtual
too cumbersome and unwieldy for environments in their online
our poor overwhelmed students to education in interestingly non-
navigate and master. intuitive ways.
But, contrary to this general Let‘s talk a little bit more about their
Screenshot of the default view in Second Life
feeling that ―cognitive load killed the bodies.
avatar,‖ the data is just not showing
this, at least among my community of I can only imagine the difficulties
techno-savvy librarians. Our folks that sight-impaired have navigating
tend to be extremely hip to the latest around the world. How many bruised
computer trends and methodology shins, aching shoulders and needlessly
for incorporating technology into the embarrassing situations must arise
process of gathering, manipulating from having a foggy view of the
and sharing information in world? I‘m not talking about total
communities. San Jose State blackness, walking with a red cane,
Screenshot of zooming on the map
University School of Library and guide dog blindness. If you have any
Information Science is the largest One further interesting result trouble with vision the physical world
such school in the country with over was that our women (and 85% of our must become just that much more
2300 students working entirely from a students are women) were much physically threatening; all filled with
distance. In fact, we never require more likely to accept these tools once sharp edges and ankle-bending
their bodies to visit our location. they had passed their reproductive missed steps. I have to imagine that
prime. Women in their 20s the Second Life viewer presents some
vigorously pushed back on the use of wonderfully liberating controls in
avatars and fantastical virtual terms of zooming the view to an
environments as a way of interacting extreme close-up to any object or
10

11. other person in the simulator. And larger portion of whom are deeper understanding and empathy.
what sight-impaired person wouldn‘t unmarried and without child. Teri Terri was able to leverage the vast
enjoy flying through cityscapes like Lind here at our school of nursing amount of user-generated content in
Superman when those very same sees multiuser virtual environments as the Second Life store to outfit each of
complex urban environments must the perfect setting for exploring her students avatars with a working
present some daunting challenges emotional and affective issues in uterus. With tummy‘s bulging ever
from the ground level? Will we see healthcare simulation. Her brilliant larger over time and a dramatic
any work in Vancouver concerning idea is to impregnate all of her culminating event, Teri explores
disabilities and avatars? students! primal topics such as the risk for
mortality how it feels to…. Well, you
A nursing colleague of mine is These young ladies (and a few get the drift. The IRB strains to
doing some very interesting work men) become ―with child‖ on a comprehend appropriately bland
with her young female students, the fabulously awkward journey toward euphemisms.
Pictures with
permission Teri
Lind, SJSU,
School of Nurses.
Pregnancy Delivery Post Partum
Meanwhile, another colleague at fear-of-heights queasiness. It turns out love you SIRI). And, in fact, I am
Indiana University is gathering these are cheap tools for tickling our writing to you now through my
information off the bodies of real amygdales. headset using a tool originally
people in their response to the virtual invented and evangelized by Ray
environment. Eye tracking, galvanic So what‘s so ―emerging‖ about the Kurzweil. His same speech
skin response, electroencephalogram, thought of connecting our bodies with recognition engine used in Dragon
and functional magnetic resonance virtual environments for research? and offered by Nuance is powering
imaging are all tools in our research Well, perhaps I‘m more excited about the Apple voice-recognition tools.
chests (should they be well-funded). the pace of change here and how we Yes, that‘s the same Ray Kurzweil
seem to have broken out of the 20-year who invented a reader for the blind
Another interesting area that WIMPy doldrums. We have been and who plans to maintain his body
arises from the earliest simulations in satisficing with Windows and icons for in a frozen state to await the time
virtual environments developments a decade, and are very recently when our minds can be is uploaded
have to do with our body‘s inability engaging -- at an explosive pace -- with to our silicon.
to withstand disconnected sensory physical interfaces shining forth like
stimuli. Researchers found very early a supernova out of a little company in
on that sending the brain visual Cupertino.
simulate that does not match the
biological inertial guidance system in Indeed, our jobs as researchers
our ears can cause some problems. have become much more interesting
My wife demonstrates this concept with touchy-feely, talky-wavy tools.
on long trips in the car by her Our constant connection to the cloud
inability to read anything, or even to now comes standard with haptic
look back to chat with my girls. And feedback (bzzzzz) and our early
it doesn‘t take a multi-million dollar, missteps into affective interfaces (I
high fidelity, military-grade flight curse you, Bob) have now been
simulator to generate a physical absolved by the dulcet tones of
response, including sweaty palms and DARPA-birthed personal agents (I
11

12. The interesting thing about And, riffing on this theme of they were first explored as tools to
fantastical predictions of the virtual environments, the cloud and simulate destruction, they have
emerging technology is how the body integration, Patty Maes work at become so personal and ubiquitous
pinnacle development in most men‘s MIT on the topic of fluid interfaces that they are now useful in the most
plans for the future (including directly applies to my point. See her humble classroom and for the least
Kurzweil‘s Singularity) seem to work also on ―sixth-sense‖ projected martial effect. We may not live
always happen within the predictor‘s interfaces and my favorite new toy forever inside them, but at least
lifetime. Thus Maes-Garreau‘s Law from sifteo.com. Beware the Owl we will see further and grow and
stating, ―most favorable predictions Bear! heal with each other through them.
about future technology will fall -J
within the Maes-Garreau Point", Emerging developments in
defined as "the latest possible date a applied research for virtual
prediction can come true and still environments for learning seem to be
remain in the lifetime of the person headed toward a more physical,
making it." primal and sensual realm. Whereas
Jeremy W. Kemp is a full-time faculty member at SLIS and started teaching online in 1999. He
keeps the official wiki for educators using the Second Life immersive environment —
www.simteach.com . His instructional technology project connecting Moodle and Second Life
has attracted hundreds of participants from around the world — www.sloodle.com . Kemp has a
doctorate in education and master's degrees from Stanford and Northwestern University. He has
been awarded "Picture of the Day" three times on Wikipedia and "Featured Video" twice
on YouTube .
Kurzweil is involved in fields as diverse as optical character recognition (OCR), text-to-speech
synthesis, speech recognition technology, and electronic keyboard instruments. He is the author
of several books on health, artificial intelligence (AI), transhumanism, the technological
singularity, and futurism.
Read more about Raymond ―Ray‖ Kurzweil, an American inventor and futurist.
>> http://bigthink.com/raykurzweil
SixthSense augments the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use
natural hand gestures to interact with that information. By using a camera and a tiny projector
mounted in a pendant like wearable device (have you watch Time Travelers yet?), SixthSense sees
what you see and visually augments any surfaces or objects around us.
Read more about SixthSense, a wearable gestural interface.
>> http://ambient.media.mit.edu/people/pranav/current/sixthsense.html
Siftables are hybrid tangible-graphical user interface devices with motion and neighbor sensing,
graphical display, and wireless communication. Siftables provide a unique opportunity to give
children responsive feedback about the movement and arrangement of a distributed set of
objects.
Read more about TeleStory, an educational application developed on the Siftables platform.
>> http://ambient.media.mit.edu/people/seth/past/telestory.html
12

13. Software
& App
Rocket Math Slice It! Reviews
Students may
Last winter, while overseeing the
not realize it, but
library during recess, I noticed a large
this app is full of
number of boys crammed around an
opportunities to apply knowledge of
iPad. I was immediately suspicious.
geometry, area, fractions, and percentages. The goal is to
Why were they all swarming together and furthermore
slice a given shape equally into a specified number of
what could possibly be attracting a large number of boys
pieces. The shapes, number of cuts, and pieces change with
to the library during recess? They were playing Rocket
each new turn. The puzzles vary in complexity and become
Math! This app cleverly integrates learning math with
progressively challenging. Invite students to play and then
experimenting with rocket design. Students can practice
listen carefully to their conversations. Without prompting,
reciting math facts, counting money, telling time,
look for evidence of math concepts previously taught. Ask
recognizing fractions, decimals, geometric shapes,
students to take a screen shot of a solved puzzle and then
number patterns and even square roots. Every time a
have them discuss the reasoning behind the placement of
child completes a task, they earn money that can
their cuts. Have the class write step-by-step directions to
purchase rocket parts. This appears to be an exceptional
solve a given problem. What math terminology is necessary
motivator!*
in order to do this? This addictive app appears completely
different from the traditional geometry textbook or
worksheet, and yet it will provide a reason for students to
access knowledge from prior math lessons.*
Find the Common Sense Media ratings at
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/
Strip Designer Project Noah
Ask students to retell the sequence of Project Noah connects students to real
events in a Revolutionary War battle, world learning while promoting
folktale, science experiment, or the environmental stewardship. With this app,
states of matter in the context of a students can join the forces of other
graphic novel. Strip Designer can import maps, images nature lovers across the world and collect
from iPhoto, or photographs taken with a mobile device photographs of local plants and animals. Students can
directly into a comic strip template. There is a wonderful collect photographic evidence on their own or for
selection of fonts, colors, text balloons, stickers, paper organized projects, or "missions," set up by scientists. Each
backgrounds, frames, and filters from which to pick. time students take a photograph; they are documenting that
Students will need to choose a page template that best particular species. They will need to be able to classify,
matches the number of events they plan to retell. With describe, and create search tags for every image they
all these wonderful graphic features, it will be a submit. Project Noah can automatically access a mobile
challenge for students to explain events succinctly while device's location and include that data with each sighting or
sticking to the facts. When the graphic novels are students can choose to enter it manually. Geography
complete, simply save the comics to iPhoto, print them studies quickly transform from an exercise in
out, or email as a JPEG, PNG, or PDF file. The app memorization, to purposeful understanding of how
will also connect to Facebook, Flickr, or Twitpic. different locations support unique life forms. With this
Retelling events in comic strip format is definitely a project, students will need an understanding of Life Science
great way to build understanding skills and spice up a classification systems and be able to observe and describe
traditional paper and pencil report.* the similarities and differences of a species.*
* Reviews reproduced with author permission. Dianne Darrow reviewed these apps for Edutopia.org at
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/ipad-apps-elementary-blooms-taxomony-diane-darrow.
13

14. |Special Feature
Making Sense of Online Interviews with the E-
Interview Research Framework
Changes in scholarly inquiry with are meaningful. Is the individual one I believe that research and
e-research By Janet Salmons person in a physical world and scholarship will be the next areas
another in a virtual world? Where is to feel shifts comparable to those
the boundary, or is there a boundary, that have occurred with the
The responsibility of the researcher or does it matter? move from classroom teaching
is to explain the world to the world. to e-learning. We already see that
Working within the discipline of a These complexities have electronic production and
selected mode of inquiry, the implications for everything from delivery of academic journals is
researcher ventures into the unknown culture to commerce, politics to changing the way scholars
then brings new discoveries to the family life. And they have convey their findings; this shift is
attention of scholars as well as to implications for the scholar who must transforming libraries and entire
those who can apply findings and determine how to conduct ethical industries based in print
solve practical problems. Researchers research with credible, consenting, publishing. How will the nature
in our time have opportunities to legal-age participants. In particular, of scholarly inquiry — the
make ground-breaking discoveries, to the qualitative researcher who uses questions asked, the
generate new knowledge, and explain interviews may find it challenging to characteristics of the researcher,
emerging ideas to those who can determine whether a research setting and the instructional,
benefit from such understandings. is public or private, or who, in what institutional, and infrastructure
But the worlds they seek to explain identity, can legitimately sign an systems that support research —
are such that accepted methods and informed consent agreement to change as e-research becomes yet
methodologies are not entirely participate. E-researchers must more widely adopted? How will
adequate. ascertain how style or mode of data these changes affect the ways in
collection will align with the research which research is taught,
When Bob Dylan (1965) purpose as any researcher must, but conducted, and supervised?
observed that "the princess and the consider as well additional matters
prince/Discuss what's real and what about the communications type and In this shifting environment
is not" he could not have predicted technology, the digital identity and those who guide or approve
just how lively that conversation presence of the researcher, among thesis or dissertation proposals,
might be today, given the liminality of other questions. research fellowships or
modern life. Even the greenest digital publication
immigrants experience the ill-defined requests may find
threshold between real and virtual. themselves in a
As people become familiar with ways quandary because
to communicate via technology for clearly defined
business as well as social purposes, guidelines or
they are learning to operate through standards do not
online identities whether in the form exist in many
of avatars or realistic, carefully- emerging e-
constructed representations of words research areas.
and images. The experiences they They may
have in social media, game or virtual respond to
environments feel real and the unfamiliar online
resulting friendships and relationships research
14

15. approaches by over-reaching to scrutinize the minutia, while A letter from a doctoral student expresses a
missing important factors or risks. To address the needs of e- common dilemma I hear from e-researchers in
researchers as well as those who oversee their work I developed the academic institutions where research must go
E-Interview Research Framework. Components of the E-Interview through a rigorous review process: "Many of
my colleagues here have a kind of
Research Framework were introduced in Online Interviews in Real Time
conservative opinion regarding how research
(Salmons, 2010), and developed further in the edited collection, 'should' be done, so your book has helped me
Cases in Online Interview Research (Salmons, 2012), both from Sage in the work with finding substantial and
Publications. reliable arguments for doing my research in a
way that I think fits my research questions.”
Designing anything as seemingly formal as a framework might be
seen as a futile attempt to construct something solid of something fluid. Communications technologies, the gadgets they
run on, and the ways they are used are indeed in flux. The E-Interview Research Framework is organized as a flexible model
that can grow to accommodate new and emerging best practices or protocols for online interview research.
The circular display is intentional; categories explored alone will not provide the systems-level view essential to an
understanding of the interrelated mechanisms of online interview research. Considered together, using the questions,
typologies and models that comprise the Framework can provide a comprehensive picture of the study at hand
important to the analysis of a study—whether one is designing original research or analyzing a study proposed or
conducted by another researcher.
The E-Interview Research
Framework
The E-Interview Research Framework consists of eight
interrelated categories. Using the Framework is not
a linear process; the researcher is encouraged to
circle back and forth throughout the design stage,
as answers to one question stimulate new
directions.
Every study needs a clear purpose, so Aligning
Purpose and Design is a typical place to begin the
process. By exploring the theories, epistemologies
and methodologies, we can gain an understanding
of how the intended use of online data collection
methods aligns with the overall purpose,
methodological and theoretical framework of the
study. Answers to these fundamental questions lead
to the next category: Choosing E-Interviews for the
Study. What motivates the scholar to collect data this way? Some researchers are motivated to study behaviors or
phenomena that take place online by exploring them in the kind of setting where they occur, others want to study
phenomena that occur in the physical world, but are motivated to conduct interviews online for reasons of access to a
broader sample. Whatever the motivation, is the rationale for selecting it defensible?
Who will the researcher interview, and how will credible participants be found? The rationale for choosing e-
interviews is closely linked to decisions about sampling and recruitment, the next category of questions in the E-Interview
Research Framework. Among other issues, the e-interview researcher needs to be sure that potential participants are who
they say they are, and have access and skills as needed to participate in the study. The relationship of the researcher to the
participants, and degree of insider versus outsider status of the scholar in relationship to the study are explored in the
category termed, "Positioning the Researcher.‖
The next two categories are also intertwined. Selecting the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Milieu to
15

16. be used for interviews is directly Selection of an immersive Taken as a whole system,
related to choices made when environment for the interview cannot the E-Interview Research
Determining E-Interview Style. be separated from the selection of the Framework can be used as a tool
specific virtual world or game where for planning and designing as
All interview researchers need to data will be collected. A key question well as dissecting and analyzing
think through the level of structure, for many researchers is: will the research that utilizes online
from highly-structured limited- interview setting be in a public or interview data collection
response survey interviews to private online milieu? While all one- methods. The Framework serves
unstructured conversational, post- one or group interviews require as the organizing principle for
modern interviews and semi- informed consent of the participants, Cases in Online Interview Research, as
structured options in between. In data collected from observations of the basis for commentaries on
online interviews "structure" takes on the participant or his/her profile or each of the ten cases and a
a great deal of significance since it environment may or may not be metasynthesis of all ten cases in
refers to the degree of advance considered identifiable personal the concluding chapter. On the
preparation of interview questions information that merits informed Sage Study Site you will find
and the way questions will be asked consent. The Framework Consent in additional materials including
and answered given the selected ICT. Public or Private Online Milieux resources for Institutional
If some or all of the dialogue is to Continuum provides a basis for Review Board or
occur using a text-based ICT, such as making such decisions. dissertation/thesis committee
the chat feature in Second Life, a members or other reviewers as
researcher might find it difficult to Of course none of these well as sample syllabi and
think about, articulate and type decisions will result in a contribution other instructional materials.
questions quickly enough to retain the to the literature unless the researcher
participant's interest and conversation can actually carry out the interviews! The E-Interview Research
flow. Is the researcher adequately prepared Framework offers a springboard
to engage participants using the for dialogue with other
Choices related to use of visual selected ICT and interview style? methodologists and theorists, so
methods in the interview are part of Conducting the Interviews is thus the that collectively we can create
decision-making and selection of natural next category in the E- more acceptance of online
ICT. Mutual viewing of participant Interview Research Framework. research within the academy. I
and researcher in videoconference or welcome your input, as well as
virtual face-to-face discussion, or use Finally, the category termed your unanswered questions.
of researcher or participant-generated Addressing Ethical Issues may send the Visit www.vision2lead.com or
pictures, media, diagrams, digital researcher back around the full #einterview on Twitter to keep
artifacts and so on are possible Framework circle, to ensure that in touch, and to find updated
online. The Typology of Online Visual every decision and stage of the study information and news about
Interview Methods (Salmons, 2010) is is carried out with respect for webinars or related events.
one of the models offered in the protection of human subjects. Once
Framework to explain options and again, complex issues about what (or References
their implications. who!) is real or human emerge. The Dylan, B. (1965). The
Framework offers key questions to gates of Eden. New
The selection of ICT may also be ask, and guidelines for ethical e- York: Sony.
associated with selection of the interview research design. Salmons, J. (2010). Online
research setting for the interview. Interviews in Real Time.
Thousand Oaks: Sage
Janet Salmons has served on the graduate faculty of the Capella Pub.
University School of Business and Technology since 1999. She was a Salmons, J. (2012). Cases
recipient of a Harold Abel Distinguished Faculty Award for the in online interview research.
2011-2012 year. She develops and teaches courses in leadership and Thousand Oaks: Sage
team leadership, offers faculty development, serves as dissertation Publications.
mentor for doctoral learners and as doctoral Colloquium faculty. She
is a scholar-practitioner and consultant through her company,
Vision2Lead, Inc.
16

17. Ask Chris
DEAR CHRIS: Many of my students your publications - based on these, I
are addicted to video games and talk about recommend you start a company right
them before, during, and after class. How away! My suggested game title is
can I get them engaged with what I have to ―PhotoSINthesis‖, and I would play
teach? ~ Steve Brushwell, 10th grade up how plants have a secret identity at
teacher, Bloomington, Indiana night, sneakily consuming all that
oxygen they made from carbon dioxide
DEAR STEVE: First, sign messages during the day. Your female biologist
with a cool avatar name, like should dress in skimpier outfits, and
―Brushbuster the Magnificent,‖ not the male botanist should be more buff.
some lame real world moniker like Build in some cheat codes to show
―Steve‖. Second, you don‘t even tell deleted scenes between the two,
me what subject you are teaching – discussing just how kinky ―cross-
no wonder your students find you transforming‖ plants can be. My fee
confusing! Once you figure out what for this advice is 10% of gross sales, so
course you offer, then see my many let‘s get the show on the road!
Ask Chris is written by Dr.
Chris Dede, Timothy E. publications on teaching through --Dread Lord Dede
Wirth Professor in Learning videogames, such as:
Technologies at Harvard‘s Jane Austin and Lara Croft: Sisters
Graduate School of under the Skin
Education. It will become the Teaching Quantum Electrodynamics
most popular column, known through Weaponry Specifications in
for its uncommon common Halo
sense and humorous
No Justice, No Peace: Ethical
perspective.
Dilemmas of NightElves in WoW
Send your questions for Chris In a few weeks of following the
instructions in my articles, you can DEAR CHRIS: Unlike years before, The
to arvelsig173@gmail.com
―level up‖ from pathetic to potent in Institutional Review Board at my university is
your students‘ eyes. now starting to ask our research team to define
--Dread Lord Dede our virtual learning environment. The problem
is, we, ourselves, are having trouble coming up
with a mutually satisfactory definition. Can
you help? ~ Gale Yedra, FiloDo University
DEAR GALE: Your first mistake is
going to the IRB at all. I just tell mine
that we are teaching computational
agents to play videogames, not people,
DEAR CHRIS: We're using panel data so they don‘t bother me… Second,
drawn from server logs to assess in-game your team should just ―agree to
behaviors and mapping that to player disagree‖ – don‘t sweat the small stuff
feedback and what they learn as part of our like words meaning the same thing.
sponsored research. We have been This issue has never bothered any
witnessing some interesting patterns around other field in education, so why should
student preferences and content we be different?
understanding. We're wondering, at what --Dread Lord Dede
point should we abandon educational
science and found our own
gaming company? ~ Y.M., anonymous
university
DEAR Y.M.: Thanks for sending
17

18. Prophets
of
Science Research the Future!
Fiction
Cyberpunk
Science Fiction and other unrequired-but-
necessary reading for Immersive Educational
Researchers by Shari Metcalf
For this inaugural column about virtual worlds in
science fiction, I could think of no better place to start
than Neal Stephenson‘s novel, Snow Crash, published in
1992. It‘s hard to believe the novel is almost 20 years old
because the ideas are still so fresh and creative. The
Genre:
protagonist, actually named Hiro Protagonist, is a down-
on-his-luck hacker who lives in a converted storage unit
and works as a pizza deliveryman for the Mafia, but
when he jacks into the Metaverse he‘s one of the lords of ARVEL readers interested in the future of virtual worlds
the street, a warrior prince who‘s a celebrity in the wildly for education should also read Neal Stephenson‘s later
popular online world of which he was one of the original novel, The Diamond Age: or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer
programmers. Get this book for great depiction of (1995). This book, which depicts an even more future
virtual spaces, including the nightclub in which Hiro world of nanotechnology, has as its centerpiece the Primer,
reconnects with his girlfriend, and Hiro‘s virtual office, in a highly advanced interactive storybook. The Primer was
which an AI librarian teaches Hiro the background in designed as a gift for an aristocrat‘s daughter, but an illicit
ancient Sumerian culture that Hiro needs in order to save copy falls into the hands of a four-year-old girl, Nell, who
the world. lives in poverty.
Hiro‘s quest is in The Primer is designed to bond with its owner, and to
fact to save the world learn from her interactions with it. The book‘s advanced
- from a virus called programming is able to map archetypal story tropes and
Snow Crash that educational goals onto Nell‘s life experiences in order to
somehow affects both shape an ongoing story. Nell interacts with the story
computers and through a virtual representation of herself and her toy
humans. Hiro‘s ex- companions as the primer guides Nell through lessons in
girlfriend reading and self-defense, and over the years, proceeding
programmed the facial through advanced topics in math, logic, and philosophy.
expressions by which
avatars express
emotions, which is There‘s a larger story, of course, dealing with class and
why she can always cultural interactions across Neo-Victorian and Chinese
read his feelings in societies, and the potential impacts of a mass-produced
virtual space. Along version of the Primer. One particularly interesting feature
the way, you‘ll meet of the Primer is that, as a ractive, the narration and
Y.T., a teenage tough animation are acted not by a computer program, but by a
girl Kourier on a ractor, a human voice actor who performs the narrations
motorized skateboard, encounter cybernetic canines, in real-time, as directed by the software. Nell eventually
visit a floating city for refugees financed by a scheming learns of the human ractor with whom she‘s been
billionaire, and see Hiro and Y.T. save the world with interacting over the years, forming a personal relationship
the help of both government agents and a Mafia boss. beyond their virtual connection.
What non-scholarly though important readings would you like other Immersive Academics to read? Send your suggestions for Shari to
arvelsig173@gmail.com
18

19. |Video Games
Assessing Video Games for Engagement and
Educational Value.
Rating systems provide point of reference
By Moses Wolfenstein
In order to provide you with a common mechanism for evaluating the games reviewed here, we‘ve included a
couple of ratings for each title from independent sources. Ratings from the website Gamespot (1-10) are included to
provide a point of reference for evaluating the games in terms of Engagement. The rating from Common Sense Media
provide an independent perspective on the Educational capacity of each game. Common Sense Media provides a fairly
nuanced rating system and we recommend reading the full rating there for any game you‘re interested in. We‘re
presenting a simplified version of their age rating as well as their education rating (1-5) for each game. Please bear in
mind that both Gamespot and Common Sense media ratings are the work of individual reviewers. While these are
expert reviews, they are still subjective in nature.
Minecraft
Gamespot score: 8.5/10
Common Sense Media rating: 3/5, Ages 13+
When it comes to commercial games with reach for education, Minecraft is the
clear winner for 2012. If you‘re an ARVEL SIG member, chances are you‘ve
already heard of Minecraft by now. In fact I‘m sure some of you have probably
logged untold hours unleashing the full force of your imagination in Creative
mode, or exploring procedurally generated game worlds by yourself or with
friends in Adventure mode. Even though Minecraft has technically just come out
of beta, Mojang Studio‘s breakaway hit has already seen uptake in a number of
formal and informal educational settings. Two of the more visible examples are MinecraftEdu.com and the Minecraft in
Schools wiki (a spinoff project by our friends at WoW in Schools). Note that MinecraftEdu is working with Mojang
Studios to provide discount pricing on Minecraft for use in schools. Given its fundamentally creative orientation and
highly modable nature, Minecraft makes an excellent site for educational researchers and practitioners looking for a
virtual world to work with. Minecraft is available for both Mac OSX and Windows operating systems.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Gamespot score: 9/10
Common Sense Media rating: 0/5, Ages N/A
Upon looking at the Common Sense media ratings for this game, you might be
wondering why ARVEL SuperNews is including a review for a game that was
rated as having no educational value and not appropriate for children. Despite
these marks, there are several reasons why Skyrim is worth at least reading more
about (and likely playing) if you‘re in the ARVEL community and you have an
interest in games. Blending classic RPG game structure with an exploratory open
world architecture, Bethesda‘s fifth installment in the Elder Scrolls saga stands
one of the more intricately built virtual worlds developed for a single player game. As with the previous Elder Scrolls
games it has already developed a rich community of modders, and as additional features of the game are released in later
19

20. patches we can expect to see a lot of creative player activity in the community. All of this is to say that by benefit of
generally being an extremely well designed game, Skyrim hits on a large number of James Paul Gee‘s 36 learning
principles that are found in video games. Finally, if you‘re doing work in and around adolescent gamers you can expect
to hear a lot of talk about Skyrim over the next couple of months so you might want to familiarize yourself with it just
to stay ahead of the curve.
Sesame Street: Once Upon a
Monster
Gamespot score: 8/10
Common Sense Media rating: 5/5, Ages 4+
Not all of our virtual environments are big open-ended
worlds, and not all young gamers are tweens and older. If you
work with, research, or have younger children then it‘s likely
that Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster (developed by ever
innovative Double Fine Productions) has already come to your
attention. You‘ll likely note that the Gamespot and Common Sense Media ratings for this game are both quite generous,
and from experts I‘ve spoke with the game is definitely deserving of praise. That said it also comes with certain caveats.
As some online reviews indicate, the Kinect doesn‘t necessarily work well with the wiggly nature of most younger
children, and it might take additional calibration to get it working right (squirming aside). That said, the game has been
extremely well received, and even its design flaws can be taken as an opportunity within a design research paradigm to
ask what is necessary in terms of either game design or hardware design to create a system that works more effectively
for even the twitchiest of kids.
Recent Publications Open Calls: Conferences
ETC Press (2011). Well Played, a journal on GLS 8.0
video games, value and meaning. V1. n1 http://www.glsconference.org/2012/
Role-Playing in Games Seminar
Becker, K., & Parker, J. (2011). The Guide to http://roleplayingames.wordpress.com/
Computer Simulations and Games. Wiley DiGRA Nordic 2012
Bogost, I. (2011). How to Do Things with http://digra-nordic2012.org/
Videogames. U of Minnesota Press Southwest Texas PCA/ACA
Cutting, A. (2011). Missions for Thoughtful http://www.swtxpca.org/index.html
3rd Augmented Human International Conference
Gamers. ETC Press http://www.augmented-human.com/page/ah12-cfp
Squire, K. (2011). Video Games and Learning: University of Wyoming Playology
Teaching and Participatory Culture in the Digital http://www.uwplayology.com/
Age. Teacher College Press Contemporary Screen Narrative: Storytelling’s
Digital and Industrial Contexts
http://contemporaryscreennarratives.tumblr.com
Open Calls: Publications
Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds
http://tinyurl.com/6mnpjd4
Upcoming Conferences
AltDevConf Feb 2012: http://tinyurl.com/7maazb2
International Journal of Game-Based Learning
Indiecade 2012: http://www.indiecade.com/
http://tinyurl.com/82fs8jx
Miscellaneous
Dungeons & Dragons & Philosophy Games and Learning Reference Library on
http://andphilosophy.com/submissions Mendeley: http://tinyurl.com/coymg6v
20

21. |Virtual Worlds, 1
Assessment Through The Looking Glass
Determining learning potentialities of and within virtual worlds
through science, traditional frameworks, and collaboration
By Jonathon Richter
Editor’s Note: While we seek to fill the While this is a germane question Such capacity, however, also
Virtual Worlds Editor position, ARVEL for researchers engaged with learning presents a non-trivial challenge
SuperNews co-editor Sabine Reljic and I in video games, augmented reality, when it comes to defining not just
each agreed to contribute something for
or other new types of immersive how, but WHAT to assess.
this column. ~ JR
play to grapple with and answer,
those using ―virtual worlds‖ have So while it‘s true that these
S etting out to write a piece particular challenges I think worthy
of note.
construction toolkits in virtual
worlds have potentially powerful
specific to ―virtual worlds‖ resonant
with this issue‘s Immersive Learning implications for learning – they also
Methods & Assessment theme, my present a wider possible range of
first thought was to try to somehow research and assessment challenges,
address the persistent issues of User depending as much on the choices
Interface and Design that many of us of the designer of the learning space
who work to apply virtual worlds for in the respective virtual world as the
learning persistently encounter. user interface and learner cognitions
Virtual world platforms give us a and performances, themselves.
toolkit that allows us to conjure Danger: Slippery Slope!
digital ecosystems for our Student-
Players. Somewhat like biological Further, these challenges
ecosystems, the methods for Virtual Worlds – at least the way couple with regular and rapid
evaluating what we‘ve created in each that I conceive of them – are more changes in the virtual worlds
digital ecology for each population of open with the user experience not platforms market to present
learners can thus be rather mind being as much a priori constructed by learning researchers a frequently
boggling, interconnected, and the professional designers than other Sisyphean incline to make sense of
components hard to delineate. types of immersive learning – save and gather evidence of learning
for, perhaps, augmented reality within these media. Our knowledge
toolkits. On many virtual worlds base erodes, is rebuilt and the virtual
platforms, the ability to MAKE research wheel keeps getting
STUFF is a big part of the user invented, in isolation, over time.
experience. Part of the selling point
With a little more time to think, I of virtual worlds is that one can
came up with this guiding question: define your own avatar role, stuff to
―What is the range of do, or embed a narrative / back story
considerations that learning and conjure up your own raison
scientists need to answer when d‘être. In your own virtual place, you
undertaking questions about choose your rules, background,
learning assessment in virtual setting, lighting, and who can do
what, where. Educators can thus,
worlds?” In other words, how do we
create their own classrooms and
know if and what students are learning define the parameters of the virtual (continued on page 22)
in virtual worlds? experience for their students.
21

22. |Virtual Worlds, 1
Assessment through the looking glass (cont.)
(from page 21) By making a habit of
systematically asking some basic
Here, briefly then, are three questions – such as: ―Is content
things that I think we can do about represented in a valid way?‖ or ―Is
this seemingly pernicious problem: content consistently represented
here?‖ or ―What are the criteria used
First, we can remind ourselves to assess student understanding,
that learning in the virtual sense is skills, or performances in this virtual
most likely not too different in many environment? – and sharing the
important ways than learning in other findings, we can help one another,
media – including face-to-face. These collectively, in our inquiries and grow
―new worlds‖ may be fantastic, but as a field of study. Further Reading:
what makes for meaningful learning
still probably applies. Let us frame Third, Recognizing the sheer The Virtual Performance
those practices and better port them complexity and difficulty involved in Assessment Project at Harvard
to the immersive learning immersive learning research, groups University:
environment. Together. such as ARVEL and their partners http://vpa.gse.harvard.edu/
can advocate, communicate, and
celebrate advances in research Virtual Worlds Assessment Group
methods, tools, and results in our on Facebook:
area. The following article by Sabine https://www.facebook.com/pages/
Reljic in this issue will explore this Virtual-Worlds-Assessment-
exciting notion a bit more. We look Group/88347640846
forward to collaborating with you.
Assessment in Open Wonderland:
With that, we urge our ARVEL http://blogs.openwonderland.org/2
members and others seeking evidence 011/08/12/assessment-in-virtual-
of quality immersive learning worlds/
experiences to contribute their
knowledge to our shared database Assessment in Virtual Worlds, a
and community conversation. VWER Meeting (11/10/11):
Second, we can rely on and http://www.vwer.org/?p=1381
make connections with other experts
in the learning sciences and use these
new and traditional assessment
frameworks to anchor the May 2012 be the Year of the
development of our shared Virtual Scholar !
understanding. By better defining the
contexts and conditions for learning
within and across virtual worlds‘
toolsets, we may create a more solid
foundation for understanding and
framing future research.
22

23. |Virtual Worlds, 2
Sharing Knowledge and Mentoring Research on a Global
technology continue to feed on
Scale in Virtual Environments themselves in an insatiable loop.
Let ARVEL be your mentor Talk about going down the Notice the galaxy map below. The
By Sabine Lawless-Reljic rabbit hole. Do we have agreed upon Institute for the Future (IFTF)‘s
terminologies and definitions for interstellar map focuses on six big
concepts and media that keep on scientific forecasts: Decrypting the
The ARVEL SIG is far from being evolving? CMC theories correlated to Brain, Hacking Space, Massively
the first group interested in building a best practices across disciplines and Multiplayer Data, Sea the Future,
community of like-minded specific technologies and media in a Strange Matter, and Engineered
professionals, but it is the first one targeted culture? Pedagogies, lesson Evolution. These six possibilities
with such a challenging goal: To plans, activities, assessments? We are ―emerge from a new ecology of science
provide an open collaborative back to observing teaching and shifting toward openness,
Commons of research-based learning events from micro to macro collaboration, reuse, and increased
practices vetted specifically for in a universe currently expanding as citizen engagement in scientific
immersive learning environments. rapidly as our imagination and research‖ (Pescovitz, 2011). All of
A Multiverse of
Exploration: The
Future of Science
2021
By the Institute For
The Future
For the complete
map that includes
peripheral
interstellar clouds
of creations, go to
http://www.iftf.or
g/futureofscience
them can be prototyped, or linked to cyber simulators and real time data virtual worlds registered accounts,
real-time data into virtual worlds for monitors in Second Life, attracting North America and Western Europe
further experimentation and open thousands of visitors and working dominate with more than 50 % in all
citizen engagement. For example, the with other federal agencies and age categories, followed by South
National Oceanic and Atmospheric more than 60 countries. America and Eastern Europe on the
Administration (NOAA) has been Virtual explorations are indeed rise with an average of 20%. ARVEL
blazing a new frontier since 2006 a global phenomenon. According to Ning members are prominently from
when it opened its virtual headquarter KZero‘s Q2 2011 quick stats for North America (72%), but the
23