Engagement in the Second Life Virtual World with Students

2010 ◽  
pp. 651-669
Author(s):  
Caroline M L Ho
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Specific Interest ◽  
Participant Engagement ◽  
Linguistic Resources ◽  
Immersive Virtual Environment ◽  
The Subject

This chapter focuses on participant engagement in an immersive virtual environment among a group of Singaporean teenagers in the context of the subject, General Paper, aimed at developing students’ critical thinking and argumentation skills. Investigation based on the functional linguistic resources of ‘Engagement’ (Martin & White, 2005) examined 17-18 year old pre-tertiary students’ engagement with each other in the Second Life virtual world. Of specific interest in this study were the linguistic resources and strategies used by students as they thought, ‘spoke’ and acted on issues from the perspectives of simulated personas. The exchange of perspectives revolved around the theme of euthanasia. Findings highlighted how students engaged with a range of perspectives on issues raised, and the level of assertiveness and moderation in their claims proposed. The examination also showed the extent of participants’ dialogically expansive or contractive stance. The pedagogical implications of the findings are discussed.

scholarly journals Reflections about Learning Radiology inside the Multi-User Immersive Environment Second Life® during Confinement by Covid-19

Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Shaghayegh Ravaei ◽  
Juan M. Alonso-Martinez ◽  
Alberto Jimenez-Zayas ◽  
Francisco Sendra-Portero
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Digital Natives ◽  
Immersive Virtual Environment ◽  
Immersive Environment

The multi-user immersive virtual environment Second Life® has been used to teach radiology to third-year medical students during confinement due to the current Covid-19 pandemic. In general, the students, who are digital natives nowadays, have found it easy to adapt to the use of the 3D platform. Although there have been some technical limitations, both students and teachers involved have rated the use of Second Life® during the confinement very highly.

scholarly journals Virtual Nation Branding: the Swedish Embassy in Second Life

1970 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stina Bengtsson
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Nation Branding ◽  
Mainstream Media

In this article I will present and discuss the Swedish virtual embassy as a new example of nation branding. By exploring the development of the Swedish embassy in Second Life, activities arranged by and involving the virtual embassy as well as the surrounding discourse of international mainstream media and people engaged in the development of Second Life, I will analyse the significance of the virtual environment in this virtual nation-branding project. I argue that the most important achievement of the Swedish virtual embassy was reached through the connection with the virtual environment in the coverage of traditional international mass media and that the key dimension, although not the only one, of the virtual world in branding Sweden was to serve as a fresh and influential brand signifier within the marketing project.

scholarly journals Radiology Seminars with Guest Professors in the Virtual Environment Second Life®: Perception of Learners and Teachers

Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Juan M. Alonso-Martinez ◽  
Shaghayegh Ravaei ◽  
Teodoro Rudolphi-Solero ◽  
Francisco Sendra-Portero
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Travel Time ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Reducing Costs ◽  
The University

Nine professors of radiology from six different cities were invited to give a 1-hour seminar in the virtual world Second Life® to 154 third-year medical students from the University of Málaga. Students and teachers performed a questionnaire about the cognitive load that implies receiving/teaching seminars inside Second Life@ and several characteristics involving the experience. This experience was considered remarkably enriching by teachers and learners and opens new interesting pathways for educational contact between students and teachers from different universities, with the advantages of reducing costs and travel time.

The Modulation of Ownership and Agency in the Virtual Hand Illusion under Visuotactile and Visuomotor Sensory Feedback

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel A. Padilla-Castañeda ◽  
Antonio Frisoli ◽  
Silvia Pabon ◽  
Massimo Bergamasco
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Sensory Feedback ◽  
Immersive Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Hand ◽  
Immersive Virtual Environment ◽  
Simulated Environment ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Upper Limb Movements ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Natural Tasks

It is well known by the virtual hand illusion (VHI) that simultaneous and synchronous visuotactile sensory feedback within a virtual environment elicits the feeling of ownership of a virtual hand, by observing for some seconds in a scene a virtual hand being touched while at the same time receiving tactile stimulation on the real hand in the corresponding positions. In this paper, we investigate possible modulations in the feeling of ownership (sensation of owning a virtual hand) and of agency (sensation of owning virtual movements and actions) according to whether or not the participant's own motor acts (1) induce coherent self-activated visuotactile sensory stimulations; and (2) generate plausible consequences in the simulated environment. For this purpose, we elicited the VHI within a group of participants through a cross-modal integration of visuo-tactile sensory stimulations within a dynamic and physically plausible immersive virtual environment, where they were able to perform natural tasks in both passive and active agency conditions. Our results indicate that both feelings of ownership and agency can be achieved in immersive virtual environments, when the subject is realistically interacting and performing natural upper limb movements. We did not observe any significant difference in the VHI in terms of ownership and agency between the active and passive conditions, but we observed that a physically incongruent simulated interaction with the virtual world can lead to a significant disruption of ownership. Moreover, in the passive agency condition, a plausible physical behavior of the virtual hand was sufficient to elicit a partially complete sense of ownership, if measured in terms of proprioceptive drift, even in the presence of an asynchronous visuotactile sensory feedback. All these findings suggest that the multisensory feedback associated with a subject's own actions and the physical plausibility of the environment both act as determinant factors, influencing and modulating the vividness of the VHI.

Virtual Experiences, Physical Behaviors: The Effect of Presence on Imitation of an Eating Avatar

2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 294-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse Fox ◽  
Jeremy Bailenson ◽  
Joseph Binney
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Eating Behavior ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
The Self ◽  
Virtual Model ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Immersive Virtual Environment ◽  
Virtual Experiences ◽  
The Relationship

In this study, the role of presence in the imitation of a virtual model was examined. Immersive virtual environment technology (IVET) was used to create photorealistic virtual representations of the self that were depicted eating food in a virtual world. Changes in the virtual environment (via a changing or unchanging body) were incorporated to create variance in perceived subjective presence. Based on previous research, presence was hypothesized to affect the relationship between the environmental manipulations and the behavioral outcome of imitating the avatar's eating behavior. Here we show that presence did indeed affect imitation, but that the effects varied for men and women in accordance with previous research on sex differences in eating behavior. Men who experienced high presence were more likely than low presence men to imitate the virtual model and eat candy, whereas women who experienced high presence were more likely than low presence women to suppress the behavior and not eat candy.

scholarly journals Technical Challenges and Solutions: Creating Virtual Environments for a Health Science Interprofessional Course

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika deJong ◽  
Dave Chodos ◽  
Pawel Kuras ◽  
Patricia Boechler ◽  
Eleni Stroulia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Health Science ◽  
Educational Settings ◽  
Technical Challenges ◽  
Virtual Interactive ◽  
Educational Practitioner

Virtual interactive environments such as Second Life are emerging as innovative tools that can support and enhance learning in various educational domains. However, for the educational practitioner new to these environments, developing educational settings and activities in a virtual environment can appear to be technically complex and beyond their area of expertise. This case study describes some of the technical challenges encountered and the solutions derived during the development of a virtual world for the delivery of a health science interprofessional communications course.

scholarly journals Do As We Do, Not As You Think: The Effect of Group Influence on Individual Choices in a Virtual Environment

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Phil Kraemer
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Target Stimulus ◽  
Perceptual Judgment ◽  
Group Influence ◽  
Individual Choices ◽  
World Environment

Second Life (SL) is a virtual world application that enables users to create virtual representations of themselves and interact with other users. SL is increasingly being used to study important psychological questions. The current project sought to replicate within SL Asch’s (1951) classic finding of group influence, in which participants often respond in accordance with choices expressed by other members of a group, regardless of the accuracy of those choices. Participants were given a series of perceptual judgment trials, in which they chose one of three stimulus alternatives that matched the length of a target stimulus. Participants were tested either alone or with three other confederate avatars whose choices were predetermined by the experimenter. On two of the trials, confederate avatars unanimously chose incorrectly before the actual participant made their choice. Results showed that on these trials participants were significantly more likely to choose in accord with the confederate’s choices, relative to participants tested as single avatars. The results generally support earlier research on group influence and extend these findings to a virtual world environment.

scholarly journals Action et langage dans un monde virtuel utilisé à des fins de pratique de la langue | Action and Language in a Virtual World Used for Language Practice

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenjun Tang
Keyword(s):  
Nous Avons ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Language Practice ◽  
Simulated Environment ◽  
3D Virtual Environment ◽  
Target Languages ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Collaboration Project

Cette étude s’inscrit dans un contexte de télécollaboration entre des apprenants d’anglais et de français dans un environnement virtuel en 3D - Second Life. Elle s’intéresse plus particulièrement aux relations entre l’utilisation des langues cibles, les activités proposées et l’environnement simulé. À partir d’une analyse qualitative des interactions entre les participants, nous avons défini six catégories d’interaction langage/environnement dans le but de comprendre l’influence de cet environnement sur les pratiques langagières.This study is part of a tele-collaboration project which links learners of English and French in a 3D virtual environment - Second Life. We are particularly interested in the relationship among the use of target languages, the activities and the simulated environment. According to our observation and recording of the interactions, as well as the interviews with participants, we have defined six categories of interactions based on the special virtual environment in order to understand its influence for the language practice.

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