Teaching and Learning

with Technology
Routledge Research in Education

5. Markets for Schooling 13. The Politics of Structural

An Economic Analysis Education Reform
Nick Adnett and Peter Davies Keith A. Nitta

6. The Future of Physical Education 14. Political Approaches to

Building a New Pedagogy Educational Administration
Edited by Anthony Laker and Leadership
Edited by Eugenie A. Samier
7. Migration, Education and Change with Adam G. Stanley
Edited by Sigrid Luchtenberg
15. Structure and Agency in the
8. Manufacturing Citizenship Neoliberal University
Education and Nationalism in Europe, Edited by Joyce E. Canaan and
South Asia and China Wesley Shumar
Edited by Véronique Bénéï
16. Postmodern Picturebooks
9. Spatial Theories of Education Play, Parody, and Self-Referentiality
Policy and Geography Matters Edited by Lawrence R. Sipe and
Edited by Kalervo N. Gulson and Sylvia Pantaleo
Colin Symes
17. Play, Creativity and
10. Balancing Dilemmas in Digital Cultures
Assessment and Learning in Edited By Rebekah Willet,
Contemporary Education Muriel Robinson and Jackie Marsh
Edited by Anton Havnes and
Liz McDowell 18. Education and Neoliberal
Globalization
11. Policy Discourses, Gender, Carlos Alberto Torres
and Education
Constructing Women’s Status 19. Tracking Adult Literacy and
Elizabeth J. Allan Numeracy Skills
Findings in Longitudinal Research
12. Improving Teacher Education Edited by Stephen Reder and
through Action Research John Bynner
Edited by Ming-Fai Hui
and David L. Grossman 20. Emergent Computer Literacy
A Developmental Perspective
Helen Mele Robinson
21. Participatory Learning in the 30. Education and Climate Change
Early Years Living and Learning in Interesting
Research and Pedagogy Times
Edited by Donna Berthelsen, Jo Edited by Fumiyo Kagawa
Brownlee, and Eva Johansson and David Selby

22. International Perspectives on 31. Education and Poverty in

the Goals of Universal Basic and Affluent Countries
Secondary Education Edited by Carlo Raffo, Alan Dyson,
Edited by Joel E. Cohen and Helen Gunter, Dave Hall, Lisa Jones
Martin B. Malin and Afroditi Kalambouka

23 .The Journey for Inclusive 32. What’s So Important About

Education in the Indian Sub- Music Education?
Continent J. Scott Goble
Mithu Alur & Michael Bach
33. Educational Transitions
24. Traveller, Nomadic and Moving Stories from Around the World
Migrant Education Edited by Divya Jindal-Snape
Edited by Patrick Alan Danaher, Máirín
Kenny and Judith Remy Leder 34. Globalization, the Nation-State
and the Citizen
25. Perspectives on Supported Dilemmas and Directions for Civics
Collaborative Teacher Inquiry and Citizenship Education
Edited by David Slavit, Tamara Edited by Alan Reid, Judith Gill and
Holmlund Nelson and Anne Kennedy Alan Sears

26. Mathematical Relationships in 35. Collaboration in Education

Education Edited by Judith J. Slater and Ruth
Identities and Participation Ravid
Edited by Laura Black, Heather Mendick
and Yvette Solomon 36. Trust and Betrayal in Educational
Administration and Leadership
27. Science, Society and Sustainability Edited by Eugenie A. Samier and
Education and Empowerment for an Michèle Schmidt
Uncertain World
Edited by Donald Gray, Laura Colucci- 37. Teaching and Learning with
Gray and Elena Camino Technology
Beyond Constructivism
28. The Social Psychology of the Edited by Concetta M. Stewart,
Classroom Catherine C. Schifter and
Elisha Babad Melissa E. Markaridian Selverian

29. Cross-Cultural Perspectives on

Policy and Practice
Decolonizing Community Contexts
Edited by Jennifer Lavia and Michele
Moore
Teaching and Learning
with Technology
Beyond Constructivism

Edited by Concetta M. Stewart,

Catherine C. Schifter and
Melissa E. Markaridian Selverian

New York London

First published 2010
by Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016

Simultaneously published in the UK

by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2010.

To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.

© 2010 Taylor & Francis

The rights of Concetta M. Stewart, Catherine C. Schifter and Melissa E. Markaridian

Selverian to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accor-
dance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereaf-
ter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trade-

marks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Teaching and learning with technology : beyond constructivism / edited by Concetta
M. Stewart, Catherine C. Schifter and Melissa E. Markaridian Selverian.
p. cm.—(Routledge research in education ; 37)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Educational technology. I. Stewart, Concetta M. II. Schifter, Cathe-
rine. III. Selverian, Melissa E. Markaridian.
LB1028.3.T375 2010
371.33—dc22
2009045560

ISBN 0-203-85205-2 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN13: 978-0-415-87850-0 (hbk)

ISBN13: 978-0-203-85205-7 (ebk)
Contents

List of Figures xi
List of Tables xiii
Permissions xv
Foreword xvii
CHRIS DEDE

PART I
Introduction and State of the Field

1 Technologies and the Classroom Come

to Age: After Century of Growth 3
CATHERINE C. SCHIFTER AND CONCETTA M. STEWART

PART II
Achieving Social Closeness through
Authentic Learning Exchanges

2 Effects of Web-Enhanced Course Materials on

College Students’ Class Engagement and Learning Outcomes 29
XIGEN LI

3 From Homer to High Tech: The Impact of Social Presence and

Media Richness on Online Mentoring in Higher Education 49
JAMIE S. SWITZER

4 Educating Educators for Virtual Schooling:

Communicating Roles and Responsibilities 70
CHAD HARMS, DALE S. NIEDERHAUSER, NIKI E. DAVIS,
M. D. ROBLYER AND STEPHEN B. GILBERT
viii Contents
PART III
Media-Rich Environments Building Stronger Connections

5 A New Lens for Learning in the Communications Field:

The Effectiveness of Video Lectures with Asynchronous,
Synchronous Discussions in Online/Distance Education 89
AMY SCHMITZ WEISS

6 A New Educational Technology for Media and Communication

Studies: Mapping Media in Australia and Sweden 113
CHRISTINA SPURGEON, CHRISTY COLLIS, MARCUS FOTH AND PERNILLA
SEVERSON

7 Not Your Father’s Educational Technology:

A Case Study in Mobile Media and Journalism Education 131
SUSAN JACOBSON AND KAREN M. TURNER

PART IV
Complex Virtual Systems: Making Learning
Spatially and Socially Whole

8 Virtual Reality in Education 151

VERONICA S. PANTELIDIS AND DAVID C. VINCIGUERRA

9 A User-Centered Approach for Building Design Guidelines

for the Use of Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning 182
DAPHNE ECONOMOU

10 Matching Computer Game Genres to Educational Outcomes 214

JOHN L. SHERRY

11 The Virtual Harlem Experiments 227

JAMES J. SOSNOSKI

12 The Unique Features of Educational Virtual Environments 249

TASSOS A. MIKROPOULOS AND JOAN BELLOU

PART V
Discussion and Conclusion

13 ‘Real’ Learning in Virtual Worlds: An Integration of Media,

Curricula and Pedagogy through Telepresence 261
MELISSA E. MARKARIDIAN SELVERIAN AND CONCETTA M. STEWART
 Contents ix
Contributors 287
Index 291
Figures

2.1 What students wanted the most from course materials on the
Web. Created by Xigen Li. 39
2.2 What students got when they accessed course materials on
the Web. Created by Xigen Li. 39
2.3 Percentage of students who may skip classes if course
materials are available on the Web. Created by Xigen Li. 40
4.1 Roles in a typical VS course. By Stephen B. Gilbert. 73
5.1 Weekly format of online course experiment. Web site created
by Amy Schmitz Weiss. 97
5.2 Example 1—Asynchronous discussion board posting to
video/text lecture. Web site created by Amy Schmitz Weiss. 98
5.3 Example 2—Synchronous discussion board posting to video/
text lecture. Web site created by Amy Schmitz Weiss. 100
6.1 Brisbane Media Map homepage (http://bmm.qut.edu.au).
Queensland University of Technology 2008. 115
7.1 Campaign signs outside a polling place in East Greenville,
PA, underscore the intensity of the 2006 election. Photo by
Breanna Tannous. 139
7.2 Google map showing the location of some of the 2007
Election Day posts. 144
7.3 Detail of one of the posts. Photo by Rachel Falcinelli. 145
8.1 Virtual Reality Hardware Evaluation Guide. Created by
Veronica S. Pantelidis. 159
8.2 Virtual Reality Software Evaluation Guide. Created by
Veronica S. Pantelidis. 161
8.3a Virtual Reality Environment Evaluation Guide. Created by
David C. Vinciguerra. 162
xii Figures
8.3b Virtual Reality Environment Evaluation Guide. Created by
David C. Vinciguerra. 163
9.1 (a) Interactions external to the system (‘C’ child, ‘E’ expert),
(b) interactions internal to the system (‘C’ child, ‘E’ expert).
Created by Daphne Economou. 187
9.2 First phase prototype, single display groupware. Created by
Daphne Economou. 188
9.3 (a) 2D semi-populated, dialogue external to the game
environment (P2.1), (b) 2D fully populated, dialogue internal
to the game environment (P2.2), (c) 2D fully populated,
dialogue internal to the game environment, increased
population (P2.3). Created by Daphne Economou. 190
9.4 Senet prototype in Deva. Created by Daphne Economou. 196
9.5 (a) The users’ position, orientation and distance from other
objects and virtual actors in the CVE indicates the users’ focus of
attention. In this figure the expert (the adult figure) observes the
children (the child figure) moving a piece. The differently shaded
area indicates approximately the expert’s viewpoint. (b) The
physical setup of the third phase of the study using senet prototype
in Deva, where the expert is aware of the children’s viewpoint (i)
expert, (ii, iii) active children. Created by Daphne Economou. 197
9.6 (a) Shows that the girl child was in the process of going to
read the rules; (b) shows that the girl child reached the board
where she was intended to make a move playing the game.
Created by Daphne Economou. 199
9.7 The warning bars on the left and right sides of the middle
figure (user A’s viewpoint) indicate that others users are
talking. Created by Daphne Economou. 199
11.1 The Virtual Harlem Experiments. Created by James J. Sosnoski. 228
11.2 The Virtual Harlem Experiments. Created by James J. Sosnoski. 229
11.3 Students visiting Virtual Harlem in UIC’s CAVE wearing 3D
glasses. (Note: the buildings seem blurred because they are in
3D.) Created by James J. Sosnoski. 231
11.4 Visitors to the Aurora Small Science Museum GeoWall.
Created by James J. Sosnoski. 241
11.5 Diagram of a Virtual Harlem Collaborative Learning
Network Project Group. Created by James J. Sosnoski. 244
12.1 The virtual laser in use. Created by Tassos A. Mikropoulos
and Joan Bellou. 255
Tables

2.1 Predictors of Perceived Learning Process and Learning

Outcomes of Web-Enhanced Learning through Use of
Course Materials on the Web 46

3.1 Survey Response Percentages 58

4.1 The Six Dimensions of Social Presence 77

6.1 Multiple Layers of Media Maps 114

7.1 Qualities of Mobile Learning and Computer

Learning Compared. Adapted from J. Traxler’s 2007 article:
“Defi ning, discussing, and evaluating mobile learning: The
moving fi nger writes and having writ. . .”. International
Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning, 8(2), p. 1. 133

10.1 Video Game Genres and Descriptions 216

10.2 Bloom’s Hierarchy of Cognition 217

10.3 Game Genres Based on Bloom’s Educational

Objectives 219
Permissions

Chapters 2, 4, 6, 9, 10, and 11 originally appeared in a special issue of the Elec-

tronic Journal of Communication (http:www.cios.org/www/ejcrec2.htm) in
Vol. 16 (1–2), 2006, devoted to new media in education. Editors: Concetta M.
Stewart and Catherine C. Schifter. Assistant Editor: Melissa Selverian

Figure 7.1: Campaign signs outside a polling place in East Greenville, PA,
underscore the intensity of the 2006 election. Photo by Breanna Tannous.
Permission granted. See enclosed letter labeled “Permission for Figure
7.1.” Individuals in photo on screenshot are Republican mayoral candi-
date, Al Taubenberger, and his daughter, Sarah Taubenberger, at the poll-
ing place on Election Day. The photographer and author feel the capture of
public figures at a public polling station constitutes fair use.

Chapter 12 reprinted with permission of IADIS (International Association

for Development of the Information Society), host of the International Con-
ference on Applied Computing on e-society in 2006, at which this chapter
was presented.
Reprinted with permission of IADIS (International Association for
Development of the Information Society), host of the International Confer-
ence on Applied Computing on e-society in 2006, at which this chapter was
presented
 Foreword
Chris Dede

This book centers around two main themes: First, reconciling instruc-
tionist pedagogies based on assimilation with constructivist teaching that
emphasizes active learning is central to the evolution of educational tech-
nology. Second, inducing telepresence through various forms of physical
and psychosocial immersion is an effective means of integrating instructiv-
ist and constructivist approaches. Together, these ideas offer a powerful
strategy for improving educational outcomes through sophisticated interac-
tive media.
In support of the fi rst theme, learning is a human activity quite diverse
in its manifestations from person to person (Dede, 2008). Consider three
activities in which all humans engage: sleeping, eating, and bonding. One
can arrange these on a continuum from simple to complex, with sleep-
ing towards the simple end of the continuum, eating in the middle, and
bonding on the complex side of this scale. Educational research strongly
suggests that individual learning is as diverse and as complex as bonding,
or certainly as eating. Yet theories of learning and philosophies about how
to use ICT for instruction tend to treat learning like sleeping, as a simple
activity relatively invariant across people, subject areas, and educational
objectives. Current, widely used instructional technology applications have
less variety in approach than a low-end fast-food restaurant.
Moreover, many educational designers and scholars seek the single best
medium for learning, as if such a universal tool could exist. Some believe
that one way of learning is universally optimal and therefore develop
instructional ICT that embody that approach; others favor a slightly broader
Swiss-Army-Knife design strategy that incorporates a few types of instruc-
tion into a single medium touted as a “silver bullet” for education’s woes.
As Larry Cuban documents in his book Oversold and Underused (2001),
in successive generations pundits have espoused as “magical” media the
radio, the television, the computer, the Internet, and now laptops, gam-
ing, blogging, and podcasting (to name just a few). Of course, other gurus
violently oppose each new type of instructional ICT, seeing that pedagogi-
cal approach as undercutting both the true objectives of education and the
ways students can best learn. For example, at present parents and politicians
xviii Chris Dede
alike are decrying cell phones in schools and banning social networking
technologies such as MySpace, despite widespread usage of equivalent tools
in 21st-century workplaces. In contrast to these extremes, this book takes
a thoughtful, evidence-based stance on when and how interactive media
can aid learning.
In support of the second theme, three types of immersive interfaces are
enabling physical and psychosocial telepresence (Dede, 2009):

• Emerging multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) interfaces offer

students an engaging “Alice in Wonderland” experience in which
their digital emissaries in a graphical virtual context actively engage in
experiences with the avatars of other participants and with computer-
ized agents. MUVEs provide rich environments in which participants
interact with digital objects and tools, such as historical photographs
or virtual microscopes. Moreover, this interface facilitates novel
forms of communication among avatars, using media such as text
chat and virtual gestures. This type of “mediated immersion” (perva-
sive experiences within a digitally enhanced context), intermediate in
complexity between the real world and paint-by-numbers exercises in
K–12 classrooms, allows instructional designers to construct shared
simulated experiences otherwise impossible in school settings (Barab
et al., 2007; Clarke et al., 2006; Ketelhut et al., 2007).
• Virtual reality involves full sensory immersion, through either head-
mounted displays or surrounding participants with surfaces for active
projection of a monoscopic or stereoscopic viewpoint. Advances
in low-cost displays, processing power, and acceleration-trackers
(embedded in devices such as the iTouch and the Wii) are making
virtual reality more practical and affordable (Dede et al., 2000; Salz-
man et al., 1999).
• Augmented reality (AR) interfaces enable “ubiquitous computing”
models. Students carrying mobile wireless devices through real-world
contexts engage with virtual information superimposed on physical
landscapes (such as a tree describing its botanical characteristics or a
historic photograph offering a contrast with the present scene). This
type of mediated immersion infuses digital resources throughout the
real world, augmenting students’ experiences and interactions (Dun-
leavy, Dede, & Mitchell, 2009; Klopfer, 2008; O’Shea, Mitchell,
Johnston, & Dede, 2009).

As the contributors to this book discuss, these immersive media enable an

ecology of various pedagogical strategies, bringing to bear whichever form
of instruction is most appropriate as dictated by the immediate situation of
the student.
Overall, this collection of research does an excellent job of presenting a
snapshot of where we stand in the history of educational technology and
 Foreword xix
how we can overcome challenges to take advantage of the many opportuni-
ties emerging interactive media offer for educational improvement.

Chris Dede
Harvard University
July 2009

REFERENCES

Barab, S. A., Sadler, T. D., Heiselt, C., Hickey, D., & Zuiker, S. (2007). Relating
narrative, inquiry, and inscriptions: Supporting consequential play. Journal of
Science Education and Technology, 16(1), 59–82.
Cuban, L. (2001). Oversold and underused: Computers in the classroom. Cam-
bridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Clarke, J., Dede, C., Ketelhut, D. J., & Nelson, B. (2006). A design-based research
strategy to promote scalability for educational innovations. Educational Tech-
nology 46, 3 (May–June), 27–36.
Dede, C. (2008). Theoretical perspectives influencing the use of information tech-
nology in teaching and learning. In J. Voogt and G. Knezek (Eds.), International
handbook of information technology in primary and secondary education (pp.
43–62). New York: Springer.
Dede, C. (2009). Immersive interfaces for engagement and learning. Science,
323(5910), 66–69.
Dede, C., Salzman, M., Loftin, R. B., & Ash, K. (2000). Using virtual reality tech-
nology to convey abstract scientific concepts. In M. J. Jacobson & R. B. Kozma
(Eds.), Innovations in science and mathematics education: Advanced designs
for technologies of learning (pp. 361–414). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Dunleavy, M., Dede, C., & Mitchell, R. (2009). Affordances and limitations of
immersive participatory augmented reality simulations for teaching and learn-
ing. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 18, 1 (February), 7–22.
Ketelhut, D., Dede, C., Clarke, J., Nelson, B., & Bowman, C. (2007). Studying
situated learning in a multi-user virtual environment. In E. Baker, J. Dickieson,
W. Wulfeck, & H. O’Neil (Eds.), Assessment of problem solving using simula-
tions (pp. 37–58). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Klopfer, E. (2008). Augmented reality: Research and design of mobile educational
games. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
O’Shea, P., Mitchell, R., Johnston, C., & Dede, C. (2009). Lessons learned about
designing augmented realities. International Journal of Gaming and Computer-
Mediated Simulations, 1, 1 (Jan–March), 1–15.
Salzman, M. C., Dede, C., Loftin, R. B., and Chen. J. (1999). A model for under-
standing how virtual reality aids complex conceptual learning. Presence: Tele-
operators and Virtual Environments, 8(3), 293–316.
Part I

Introduction and
State of the Field

In this fi rst chapter entitled “Technologies and the Classroom Come to Age
after Century of Growth,” Catherine C. Schifter and Concetta M. Stew-
art provide background of new media and technology uses in elementary,
secondary and higher education, particularly over the last 30 years. They
further establish the pedagogical and theoretical frames threading through
the book that guide the uses of and forecast the potential for new technolo-
gies in teaching and learning through the concept of telepresence.
1 Technologies and the
Classroom Come to Age
After Century of Growth
Catherine C. Schifter and Concetta M. Stewart

INTRODUCTION

Technologies that mediate the student-teacher experience, often called

“media” in education, have been a physical presence in educational settings
for centuries, long before their electronic and digital transformation. Much
has been written to capture this technological presence in the classroom,
often in the form of how-to and promotional pieces and from the peda-
gogical perspective of one-way, passive instruction. Over the last decades in
particular, however, there has been a major transformation in the form and
capacity of educational technologies as well as in the pedagogical interpre-
tation of how to use them constructively. With the onset of digitalization,
teaching and learning technologies have grown more sophisticated in their
ability to present subject matter vividly, seamlessly and interactively. When
they are used effectively, these new media can enable both teachers and
students to immerse their senses in the material and to engage in two-way
communication with and about the subject matter. In essence, the focus
on new media in education has become less about its structural novelty
and more about its transparent ability to bring students, teachers and sub-
ject matter closer together for enhanced teaching and learning experiences.
Because of their ability to evoke psychological perceptions or illusions of
students, teachers and subject matter that are “virtually” real, new media
in education are increasingly referred to as virtual.
The recent widespread availability of wireless, broadband, and high
defi nition; the growing availability of such Internet resources as stream-
ing video, three-dimensional (3-D) software programs, and interactive
graphical Web sites such as Weblogs (blogs) and wikis; and greater access
to improved and affordable virtual reality (VR) are creating new oppor-
tunities for teaching and learning. With the growth of these opportuni-
ties, nonetheless, is a proliferation in the challenges. Chief among these
challenges is the gap between the “digital natives” (K–16 students) and the
“digital immigrants” (teachers). Likewise, there remains a profound (digi-
tal) divide around the world in terms of economic and social class. Further,
theoretical guidelines to direct the design, implementation and assessment
4 Catherine C. Schifter and Concetta M. Stewart
of technologically advanced learning systems are sparse. So, despite the
enormous potential for technology to support the educational enterprise in
this emerging “creative” economy, technologies are still not yet fully inte-
grated in the classroom and their association with educational outcomes is
yet unclear.
Educators and practitioners are beginning to refocus their research
to address these opportunities in the laboratory and in the field. This
book profi les scholarly works that closely examine the effectiveness of
the newest media in education at bridging the gaps among teachers, stu-
dents and subject matter at all levels, from K–12 through adult educa-
tion in the U.S. and abroad. These pieces are theory-based investigations
with implications for future research, theory and application. Through
an examination of these works, the editors identify the pedagogical
and practical evolution of the classroom, from predominantly instruc-
tivist (Margules, 1996; Morgan, 1978), or passive, one-way teaching
formats; to social constructivist (Vygotsky, 1962), or teacher- and stu-
dent-controlled socially interactive exchanges; to cognitive constructivist
(Piaget, 1970; Satterly, 1987), or psychologically engaging, multisensory
experiences leading to cognitive (thoughtful) and affective (satisfying)
responses. The authors present, interpret and forecast the potential of
this evolution from the context of the communication concept telepres-
ence (Lombard & Ditton, 1997).
Telepresence is a framework of psychological illusions evoked by tech-
nology that is influenced by such theories as Social Presence Theory (Short,
Williams, & Christie, 1976), Media Richness Theory (Daft & Lengel,
1984) and to a lesser extent Uses and Gratification Theory (Katz, 1959).
Uses and Gratification Theory began to shift the focus of media use away
from the instructivist perspective of what effect media have on people to
what people do with the media. Social Presence Theory later expanded
this media use emphasis to the social constructivist vantage of social inter-
activity, establishing face-to-face contact as the standard, e.g., an audio-
video conference to convey sights and sounds of the participants in real
time. Media Richness Theory drew on the cognitive constructivist frame-
work, incorporating some social constructivist and instructivist elements
in its media “richness” factors of learner engagement in, instant feedback
from and use of natural language through multisensory (spatial) cues and
their association with task accomplishment, e.g., a live audio-video con-
ference combined with instructive narrative. Telepresence, defi ned as a
“perceptual illusion of nonmediation” (Lombard & Dutton, 1997, #30)
more specifically defi nes how to evoke spatial and social illusions through
the most advanced technologies, showing great promise of integrating the
cognitive constructivist, social constructivist and instructivist elements of
Social Presence (Short, Williams, & Christie, 1976) and Media Richness
(Daft & Lengel, 1984) theories to enhance learning and satisfaction in
 Technologies and the Classroom Come to Age 5
virtual worlds, e.g., VR that “transports” students and teachers through
time and space to an all-at-once engaging, socially interactive and instruc-
tive learning world.
The balance of this chapter includes a brief history of the technologies
in teaching and the trials and triumphs of their practical and pedagogi-
cal evolution from the traditional instructivist classroom to the social con-
structivist distance learning environment to the cognitive constructivist
virtual learning environment through the latter part of the 20th and the
early 21st centuries. It continues with an overview of telepresence, catego-
rized in terms of social and spatial illusions evoked through increasingly
virtual technologies. The editors propose the conceptualizations of social
and spatial telepresence as effective integrators of teaching and learning
pedagogies, theories and practices in virtual learning environments; and
as essential considerations in the design, implementation and assessment of
enhanced virtual learning experiences.

NEW TECHNOLOGY IN CLASSROOMS (A BRIEF HISTORY)

The editors defi ne “new media in education” as new technologies brought

into classrooms intending to improve the teaching and learning process.
One of the earliest of these technologies fi rst appeared in classrooms in the
late 1830s with the introduction of the slate board (Mehlinger, 1995, p. 92).
However, the fi rst electronic media used in classrooms was not until the
1930s with film and radio, which were followed by television and video in
the 1970s. In the 1980s and into the early 21st century, the computer has
been a predominant new medium in education. Most recently, the Internet
and a range of digital technologies, from personal digital assistants and
MP3 players to 3-D software and VR, have emerged. So, in just this brief
overview, it becomes clear that technology has been an integral part of the
educational environment for nearly 200 years.
The intention of the authors of this book, however, is not to present a
historical accounting of these new media in education. Instead, it is to pres-
ent a discussion of the shifting technological and pedagogical tides of new
media in education in the 21st century and how the media have impacted
and continue to impact teaching and learning. The editors acknowledge
that, while a growing emphasis on “virtually real” social interactions
among and spatial immersion within technology-evoked illusions of stu-
dents, teachers and subject matter is opening doors to exciting possibilities
in education, there have been and will continue to be significant challenges
along the way. In this section, the editors discuss issues of implementation
faced in educational arenas over the last 30 years, identifying the barriers
and opportunities for learning “with” and “from” increasingly sophisti-
cated technologies.
6 Catherine C. Schifter and Concetta M. Stewart
IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES

One of the fi rst and greatest challenges involving new media in education
historically has been and continues to be introducing the media to the class-
room. In The Children’s Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Com-
puter (1993), Seymour Papert posits what it would be like for time travelers
from the 19th century to visit the late 20th century. The group might include
surgeons and schoolteachers. The surgeons would, no doubt, be totally con-
fused when visiting a modern hospital, with all the technology, new medi-
cines, specialization, and scope. On the other hand, the schoolteacher would
probably feel right at home with the classrooms of today, not much different
from those of earlier times. In many public school classrooms built in the
1930s or 1940s, especially in poorer urban and rural areas, electrical outlets
might remain insufficient still in the 21st century.
In his thoughtful book Teachers and Machines: The Classroom Use
of Technology Since 1920 (1986), Cuban noted the “constancy amidst
change” in education. Specifically, while there have been many changes in
education over the years, the role of new media in those changes was, and
continues to be, unclear. Early in the procession of new media into class-
rooms, the promoters were not teachers but administrators, executives and
purveyors of technology who “saw solutions to school problems in swift
technological advances” (Cuban, 1986, p. 5). Teachers were typically not
the ones suggesting the purchase of reel-to-reel projectors or putting tele-
visions into classrooms. The same was true for computers. The few K–12
teachers in the 1980s who embraced microcomputers in classrooms were
those willing to take a chance on a new, unproven medium, which was
hyped as having great promise to revolutionize education as it did busi-
ness. While these observations relate to K–12 schools, the same could be
said about new media moving into higher education. Things are beginning
to change. As the fi rst decade of the 21st century nears an end, and the
Internet has made access to visual and interactive media more facile and
affordable and awareness of it more prevalent, many K–12 and higher edu-
cation faculty are asking for computing capabilities in classrooms and are
extending classrooms beyond the walls into cyberspace in many unique and
inventive ways, e.g., using blogs and wikis in group collaboration online,
and exploring ancient and faraway cityscapes on 3-D Web sites.
Early research on change in schools has demonstrated the importance of
awareness on the adoption and implementation of and adaptation to tech-
nological innovations (Crandall & Loucks, 1983; Fullan, 1982, 1991, 2001;
Gross, Giaquinta, & Bernstein, 1971; Huberman & Miles, 1984; Sarason,
1971; Schofield, 1982; Smith & Keith, 1971; Sussman, 1977; Van den Berg,
Van Welzen, Miles, Ekholm, & Hameyer, 1986). Are there support systems
and people in place to ensure teacher-training opportunities for technology
innovations will be used appropriately? Or as noted by Sheingold, Kane
and Endreweit in 1983, “ . . . the effects of microcomputers on education
 Technologies and the Classroom Come to Age 7
will depend, to a large extent, on the social and educational contexts within
which they are embedded” (p. 431). While their research focused on the use
of microcomputers in the classroom in 1983, their fi ndings are generaliz-
able across new media introduction even today. Specifically, they identified
six trends emerging from research studies on microcomputer use in schools
that would impact use and effectiveness:

1. access to microcomputers,
2. emergence of new roles in response to microcomputers,
3. integration of microcomputers into classrooms,
4. quantity and quality of software,
5. preparation of teachers for using microcomputers, and
6. effects and outcomes of the instructional use of microcomputers.

“Access to microcomputers” has certainly improved over the 30-plus

years microcomputers have been in schools. However, a persistent “digital
divide” is apparent, with more powerful computers likely to be found in
affluent schools. Thus the poor schools’ computers are less likely to have
enough memory and power to run current software versions, and are often
incapable of accessing the Internet. Infrastructure in older buildings is a
limiting factor as well. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 that created
the E-Rate afforded poor urban and rural school districts the opportunity
to upgrade schools to ensure better infrastructure for computing (Federal
Communications Commission, 1996). However, broad-based accessibility
was still unrealized as recently as the turn of this last century. For instance,
higher education did not have access to the E-Rate funding, so the avail-
ability of computers in college classrooms was dependent on the motivation
of specific faculty and administrators.
“New staff and teacher roles emerged” with the advent of microcomput-
ers in schools. One example is the Audio-Video Committee of the National
Educational Association, which became the AECT (Association for Edu-
cational Communications and Technology) during the 1970s. No longer
were members concerned only with whether the video projector worked
or whether there were enough light bulbs for the overhead projectors. At
issue was how the new microcomputers and software could be used in the
classroom. The need for computer teachers in schools was also looming in
1983. These individuals could have been former AV staff, librarians or sim-
ply teachers who were the early adopters of computers and demonstrated
they could be successful in teaching with computers. While the early Apple
II series computers were fairly indestructible, other models required spe-
cial handling not to damage hard drives and other internal parts (i.e., the
IBM® PC® series). Since schools did not have computers or computer labs
prior to the early 1980s, there was no such category as “computer teacher”;
therefore, school districts began to establish guidelines for who could be
the “computer teacher” and what skills they needed to have. Similarly,
8 Catherine C. Schifter and Concetta M. Stewart
states began to establish standards for certification of computer teachers.
New roles for educators were emerging.
“Integration of microcomputers into elementary school classrooms”
was more of a challenge than it was for secondary schools. There were
already typing classes in the high school business curriculum, so keyboard-
ing was a natural next step. Programming in languages like BASIC and
PASCAL became prevalent, and seemed to be necessary through the 1980s
to demonstrate that the students were “computer literate.” For elementary
schools, programming did not seem to be appropriate, that is, until the
children’s graphical programming language LOGO came along. Having
software that was both engaging and educational for early ages was a great
challenge though. At the same time, early childhood specialists were not
sure that microcomputers were appropriate for young children. Indeed,
with computers performing much of what was to be done by the student,
fears were that they would preclude children from developing their memory
skills (Zajonc, 1984). One example of such a controversy was that the use
of spell checker utilities that would reduce students’ own ability to spell.
This has not been proven over time, though the concern persists on the part
of many early childhood educators.
In 1983 the “quantity and quality of software” for microcomputers was
limited. While there were many titles available on mainframe computers,
they were primarily drill-and-practice options, simulations, or tutorials.
MECC was the fi rst major company to translate software available on the
mainframe for the new smaller computers as well as to develop new types
of software. With this proliferation of educational software, a new chal-
lenge arose—identifying quality software that actually complemented the
curriculum. Thus the educational software industry was born. Professional
organizations, educational magazines and journals began to evaluate soft-
ware and provide reports to educators. With the Web also came a pro-
liferation of educational Web sites offering options of varying quality for
teachers. So teachers still struggle with the challenge of identifying peda-
gogically appropriate applications for their students.
Colleges of education, in the early 1980s, were also not prepared to help
teachers learn how to use computers in the classroom. The audiovisual cur-
ricula at the time taught teachers how to use film projectors, create overhead
transparencies, and create other visual supports for classrooms, but computers
were something different entirely. And there were no computer labs available.
There was no computer faculty in colleges of education, just as there were no
computer teachers in public schools. This situation proved to be problematic
in terms of ensuring new teachers knew how to use computers in pedagogi-
cally appropriate ways. At the same time, school districts needed to help their
current classroom teachers learn about microcomputers. This meant that a
new form of professional development needed to be developed. Over the last
25 years, teacher preparation programs have risen to the challenge, and peda-
gogically appropriate use of these tools has become the focus.
 Technologies and the Classroom Come to Age 9
Initially, there was no “evidence of successful outcomes of instructional
use of microcomputers” to show teachers what computers could do bet-
ter than they were already doing. Therefore, many teachers rejected early
efforts to adopt microcomputers into classrooms because they saw no
advantage. Rogers’ (1962/1983) theory of the diffusion of innovation states
there needs to be an indication that the innovation is better than current
practice. This was impossible to determine in the early 1980s, since change
was rapid and constant. No sooner did teachers learn how to use the Apple
IIE than the Macintosh was released. So many changes in so little time
meant that as soon as a teacher became familiar (not proficient) with one,
newer computers or software versions came out.
Scholars such as Sheingold, Kane and Endreweit (1983) began to note the
need for evidence that microcomputers would make a difference in teaching
and learning. To that end, Niemiec and Walberg (1992) conducted a meta-
analysis of the fi ndings from 13 research syntheses on Computer Assisted
Instruction (CAI) conducted between 1975 and 1987 and found the aver-
age effect size was .42. This indicated that the average student who received
CAI scored at the 66th percentile as compared with the control group dis-
tribution. Others have also conducted meta-analyses of the impact of CAI
on student outcomes (Lipsey & Wilson, 1993) or the effects of computer
programming on student outcomes (Liao & Bright, 1991). Overall, these
studies documented the positive effects of educational technology on stu-
dent achievement (Schacter, 2001; Sivin-Kachala, 1998; Wenglinsky, 1998).
Unfortunately, these studies were examining different types of technology,
thus limiting comparability. In addition, computers were still used in many
instances as merely tutors in basic skills, and often simply to help students
prepare for standardized achievement tests (Ringstaff & Kelley, 2002).
Overall, these analyses have not provided guidance for how to integrate
appropriately and use technology in schools and classrooms.
While little was known about how microcomputers could affect schools
and classrooms in 1983, by the mid-1990s, the impact of microcomputers
was better understood. Sivin-Kachala and Bialo (1994) reported in their
analysis of 133 research reviews and reports that computer technology
in the 1980s generally had been credited with “motivating students, aid-
ing instruction for special needs students, improving students’ attitudes
toward learning, and motivating teachers and freeing them from some rou-
tine instructional tasks, enabling them to better utilize their time” (p. 6).
During the 30-plus years since the introduction of microcomputers into
schools, new professional organizations were created and research journals
began publishing specifically about the impact of computers on teaching
and learning, thereby adding to the knowledge base that microcomput-
ers can make a difference if used in meaningful ways and in concert with
curricula.
One key fi nding of the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) stud-
ies was that the use of the computers was not sufficient for an enhanced
10 Catherine C. Schifter and Concetta M. Stewart
educational experience. For that, the integration of computers into the cur-
riculum was required (Brunner, 1990; Roschelle, Pea, Hoadley, Gordin, &
Means, 2000). As Mellon asserted, if technology was in place and students
did not learn, then the teacher was blamed; however, if technology was of
poor quality or in short numbers and students did not learn, then the lack
of resources was to blame (Mellon, 1999). While this argument may ring
true, it ignored the fact that the student was part of the equation. If the
student was not motivated to learn, even the integration of technology into
the curriculum could not make him learn. So the key issue became integrat-
ing computers into the curriculum in pedagogically appropriate activities in
ways that engaged the students so they learned in spite of themselves.

PEDAGOGICAL BARRIERS AND OPPORTUNITIES

A predominant challenge to the introduction of new media in education

has been the dominant force of the instructivist pedagogy that historically
has placed emphasis on the teacher’s one-way delivery of subject matter.
This stands in contrast to the cognitive constructivist pedagogy that places
emphasis on psychological engagement with students, teachers and subject
matter for cognitive and affective performance; and the social constructiv-
ist pedagogy that places emphasis on interactive exchanges with and about
subject matter. There are two distinct ways of understanding the instruc-
tivist and constructivist pedagogical vantage points as they relate to new
media in education. The instructivist pedagogy can be understood as a
“learning ‘from’ technology,” which means that the student is a relatively
passive participant in the process. The new technology presents opportu-
nities to practice skills, e.g., drill and practice, or be the recipient of new
knowledge, e.g., tutorials. In contrast, the constructivist pedagogies can be
understood in terms of “learning ‘with’ or ‘through’ technology,” which
means that the new technology is used to help students solve problems, con-
duct research, develop concepts and think critically. An example of this is
the programming language LOGO, in which students learn by actively con-
structing new knowledge (Means, 1994; Sandholtz, Ringstaff, & Dwyer,
1997). Students use new technology to gather, organize and analyze infor-
mation and then use the information to solve problems, all higher-order
thinking skills than merely learning basic skills. The following sections
consider the influence of new media in education over the last 30 years from
these two pedagogical perspectives.

LEARNING ‘FROM’ TECHNOLOGIES

With the introduction of new media in the mid-20th century came promises
of new ways to fulfi ll the instructivist pedagogical objective of delivering
 Technologies and the Classroom Come to Age 11
subject matter. Films, for instance, were promoted for their ability to
engage students and bring complex material to life. Unfortunately, while
there were many commercially produced educational films, they often did
not match the school curriculum. Teachers also had to arrange for special
equipment to be delivered to their classroom, hoping that it was available
and working when they needed it.
Television1 has a long history of offering educational programming, fi rst
to the home in the late 1950s. Perhaps the most widely known of these
programs was Sunrise Semester, the educational television broadcasts that
ran for nearly 30 years on CBS. Sunrise Semester was later eclipsed by
public television and cable programming, including The Learning Channel,
The Discovery Channel, The History Channel, and many other offerings.
Through these educational programs, people could learn French or Span-
ish, various topics in history or economics, or even how to paint. Television
in higher education from the 1960s through 1990s, though, will be best
remembered for supporting live teaching in the extremely large class. With
classrooms of 200 or more students, televisions were positioned throughout
the lecture hall so that those students seated back in the room could have a
better view of the instructor and materials being presented on the board in
the front of the room. It was not until 1990 that broadcast programming
was actually delivered on a regular basis to K–12 classrooms, with Channel
One, a commercial service for teens. While this channel was free to schools
and brought timely news into classrooms, it has been controversial because
with the news came the commercials. In all of these examples, students
continued to learn “from” the technology, in the one-way tradition of the
instructivist framework.
The VCR was the next development in television technology, and unlike
the reel-to-reel fi lm projector, this content was now available in a pre-
packaged cassette. Teachers no longer needed to know how to thread fi lm
through the projector, but only how to turn the VCR on and insert the vid-
eocassette; and, for Sunrise Semester, the student at home could videotape
the session to be replayed at a more convenient time and replayed as often
as needed to master the information. Again as with film, however, what
was available on VCR tapes did not necessarily align with the curriculum;
and it was a one-way delivery of content with minimal engagement and
opportunity for interaction, exploration and experimentation.
While considered a fairly new addition to the classroom, computers
actually have a long history in education, fi rst entering the classroom in the
1950s with programmed instruction. “The origin of educational technology
[dates] from the work of B. F. Skinner and others on programmed instruc-
tion” (Morgan, 1978, p. 143). Skinner’s theory of behavioral reinforcement
and his advocacy of its application to education were what initiated the
Programmed Instruction Movement. This movement can be characterized
by clearly stated behavioral objectives, with small frames of instruction,
self-pacing, active student response to questions, and immediate feedback.
12 Catherine C. Schifter and Concetta M. Stewart
Moving from programmed texts to programmed instructional media was a
natural evolution since computers are infi nitely patient and objective, and
ideally suited for these functions. The natural progression was to computer-
assisted instruction (CAI), which was run on mainframe computers. CAI
came in many formats, from games to drill-and-practice to tutorials. Most
of the CAI projects from the 1960s and 1970s followed the “Skinnerian
teaching machines and reflected a behaviorist orientation” (Saettler, 1990,
p. 307). CAI was primarily intended to help students hone skills, not to
advance knowledge through higher-order thinking activities. Coley (1997)
reported on a review of research on the effectiveness of educational tech-
nology conducted by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Their results
showed that CAI can be effective and efficient, but that more pedagogically
complex uses of technology and more complex instructional design were
difficult to evaluate.
CAI later migrated to microcomputers, and the field of computer-based
instructional technology grew. Again, what content that was developed
did not always fit with the curriculum. An alternative approach was for
teachers to create their own software using BASIC as the programming
language, but there were three main problems with this idea. First, if teach-
ers had access to a microcomputer, which very few teachers did, few knew
BASIC. Second, teachers were afraid they would be replaced by these com-
puters, and this often heightened their resistance to computers in educa-
tion (Cuban, 1986, 2001). As with every new technology introduced into
schools, there was the impression among laypersons that the technology
could do the job of teaching better than teachers, giving teachers the feeling
that they would soon be replaced; and third, teachers were concerned about
what they would do if the computer stopped working, since they were not
technicians and did not want to be. Part of their insecurity included a level
of “not wanting to look foolish in front of students,” or be trapped by the
technology with no options if the technology failed. This fear followed the
tradition of the teacher being the source of all truth and knowledge, or
instructivism.

LEARNING ‘WITH OR THROUGH’ TECHNOLOGIES

Microcomputers were among the fi rst electronic new media to encourage

movement past the instuctivist to the cognitive constructivist and social
constructivist teaching and learning pedagogical frameworks. Through
the programmable and interactive nature of the visual, aural and textual
computer cues, students and teachers had the potential as never before to
feel involved with, in control of and engaged in social and spatial illusions
of students, teachers and subject matter. However, while microcomputers
have been in classrooms since the late 1970s, they have only been used in
niche applications. So it is not surprising that it was primarily computer
 Technologies and the Classroom Come to Age 13
science departments and schools of business that had access to these new
media. Early programming for microcomputers included Visicalc®, the
fi rst digital spreadsheet software that revolutionized accounting and busi-
ness practices. In the mid- to late-1980s, additional productivity software
were introduced, including word-processing software, which changed the
relationship of authors to writing. No longer did writers using typewriters
have to fear the dreaded “typo” requiring either use of the “new medium”
of correction fluid or taking the sheet of paper out of the typewriter and
starting the page all over again. Now they could simply “backspace” to
erase letters or use “spell-checking” utilities to help fi nd errors. Teaching
writing became a new process because text could be easily manipulated,
moved around the document or deleted. While widespread application in
the business environment was achieved by the mid-1980s, microcomputers
did not make significant inroads into higher education until the 1990s.
Laser-disc technology, also introduced in the early 1980s, was the fi rst
high-quality digital video technology to provide a serious alternative to
16mm film and open the door to a cognitive constructivist approach in
teaching and learning through its potential to enhance student engage-
ment. Further, the technology enabled more control of and interactivity
with multisensory cues, consistent with the cognitive constructivist peda-
gogical framework. Like film, laser discs brought movies and still images
into classrooms that could be linked to curricula through barcode-readied
books. Early educational applications introduced at MIT included how to
assemble and repair a bicycle and an entire slide collection of cell structures
(Rice, 1984, p. 45). The biggest difference between film and laser discs was
that, with the digital technology, one could jump immediately to specific
places in the movie or to a slide rather than having to start at the begin-
ning and fast-forward to the particular scene or image needed. However,
by the mid-1980s, videodisc was still “struggling for consumer acceptance,
even with its vast potential for interactive education as well as for straight-
forward random-access storage” (Rice, 1984, p. 45). This technology has
since been replaced by DVD technology, which can be played on most any
personal computer as well as a DVD player.
The biggest transformation in availability, social interactivity and con-
trol of media in the classroom and to a social constructivist pedagogical
perspective came in 1993 with the advent of the World Wide Web (Web).
A descendant of the distance-learning environment, the Web-linked class-
room enables teachers and students at all levels to gain access to materials
from museums, libraries, news media, government agencies, and more. As
the Web has expanded, so have Web sites dedicated to education. In addi-
tion, more and more print media are accessible online. These resources have
provided classroom teachers and higher education professors with a wealth
of materials to facilitate instruction at every level from basic mathematics
to advanced calculus, and across the disciplines, ranging from history and
music to engineering and marketing.
14 Catherine C. Schifter and Concetta M. Stewart
Along with an increase of educational materials, the Web introduced an
array of new communication tools to support instruction. As the technolo-
gies grew more multisensory, engaging, controllable and socially interac-
tive, elements of both the cognitive and social constructivist framework
became apparent. E-mail in pre-Web years was limited to text, as was the
Internet in general. The Web introduced graphics allowing individuals to
include images in e-mails, and then digital movies. In the early Web days,
some technologically savvy and interested computer players explored VR or
virtual reality environments (VEs) on the Web. These early VEs were again
text-based with some graphics to designate boundaries of rooms. Examples
of 2-D systems were MultiUser Domains (MUDs), and MultiUser Object
Oriented (MOOs). As digital graphics matured, more visually enhance 2-D
and eventually 3-D MultiUser Virtual Environments (MUVE) have been
developed for teaching everything from history, as with Virtual Harlem at
the University of Illinois–Chicago (featured in this book); or high school
science, as with the River City project out of Harvard. (A detailed account-
ing of the history of VR in teaching and learning is offered by leading schol-
ars in the field, Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra, in Chapter
8 of this volume entitled “Virtual Reality in Education.”)
In 2005, a MUVE, called Second Life, emerged as an environment for
many different kinds of activities. While based on digital gaming, Second
Life, which remains in use at the time of this writing, enables users to build
virtual entities such as classrooms, stores, conference facilities, as well as
open spaces for communing with others from around the world. To partici-
pate in Second Life, a new member selects an avatar body that she may cus-
tomize to establish a “persona” in Second Life. While these virtual actions
and reactions are relatively lifelike, communication is still via text messag-
ing. Sounds are possible, but voice interaction is being developed. The pos-
sibilities for education in this relatively new medium are drawing interest
but as yet are not fully tested. 2 According to Olsen, “more than 70 univer-
sities have built island campuses in Second Life, according to Stuart Sim,
CTO and chief architect of Moodlerooms . . .” (News.Com Olsen, 2007,
#7). The intention is not just to have virtual student centers but to offer
courses and broader learning experiences through Second Life. What those
learning experiences might be is still not fully understood. These types of
experiences are in response to the generation of students now coming to
campuses who are known as digital natives, net-kids, or millennials. These
students do not engage information and learning through the traditional
lecture/note-taking experience but through personal engagement with the
subjects through multimedia in a constructivist style. Engaging these stu-
dents would take more than text on the Web or PowerPoint presentations,
as their demonstration of learning has migrated from the traditional text-
based paper to more multisensory and interactive resources.
Newly integrated uses of Web-based communication in education that
further draw on both the cognitive and social constructivist frameworks
 Technologies and the Classroom Come to Age 15
include instant messaging for office hours, traditional e-mail, online phone
services that include video options (Skype), online videoconferencing
(Connect/Breeze/Wimba Classroom Live) and course management sys-
tems (Blackboard). Other relatively new uses of Web communication are
Weblogs, or blogs. While some consider this a form of publishing, blogs
are also used as a way to extend traditional class time for discussion, for
students to post position papers, and for students to discuss important top-
ics in virtual space. Extending classroom discussions through computer-
mediated communication can give classes anywhere/anytime, 24/7 access.
The technology is also getting smaller, easier to use and mobile. Com-
puting technology had initially evolved from the large mainframe computer
to the desktop or laptop microcomputer; but at the time of this writing, a
variety of computer-enabled handheld devices were also available to stu-
dents. Students used iPods and Nanos and other MP3 players along with
their cell phones for an array of information and communication activities.
Podcasting classroom lectures was a new way of reaching out to the con-
nected generation. Whether podcasting, cell phones or iPods will have an
impact on learning will be borne out in the next generation of research on
technology and learning.
The increased maneuverability, interactivity, visual and aural superior-
ity and availability of the host of rapidly evolving digital, Internet-linked,
mobile, and increasingly virtual technologies are already impacting research
and design of virtual learning environments, with social and cognitive con-
structivist frameworks at the forefront of investigations.

THEORETICAL FRAME—MEDIA RICHNESS/SOCIAL

PRESENCE/TELEPRESENCE AND NEW MEDIA

Each new medium that has come into classrooms has brought a change in
the way teachers and students interact with information. With films, stu-
dents could see events either happening in real time or depicted by actors
on the screen. The distance between the students and the events depicted on
the screen was narrowed through the images. No longer were students lim-
ited to reading about the industrial revolution and looking at still images
in books, but the images came “alive” through the fi lm. With the inclusion
of sound with film, the actors’ voices were heard, rather than read through
captioning. The sound brought a new level of realism to the fi lm, again nar-
rowing the distance between the students and the events on the films.
How people interact with various media has been the focus of research
for decades. Do people use technologies because they meet task needs, such
as using a calculator to solve a mathematical problem; or do people use
technologies for social and psychological reasons, such as e-mail or text
messaging to communicate with others? Utility theories suggest that people
adopt technology because the benefits of use exceed the cost and because
16 Catherine C. Schifter and Concetta M. Stewart
the new technology provides a better way of accomplishing the task than
available before (Rogers, 1962/1983). This appears to be a very objective
and rational way of adopting new technologies. However, social and psy-
chological factors have proven to be equally important considerations.
According to Bandura (1977), social learning models would predict adop-
tion of a technology by an individual from observing or hearing that others
use the technology with positive outcomes. The social nature of adoption
is more subjective. In addition, the more people one knows who are using
a technology with positive outcomes, the more likely one is to adopt it for
oneself. One example is the introduction of “smart” classrooms on cam-
puses. When Temple University in Philadelphia built its teaching center
adjacent to its library, where half of the rooms were smart classrooms and
the other half required a technology cart, the number of faculty requesting
smart rooms in the teaching center soared. The demand was so high that
traditional classrooms were all converted to smart classrooms. As people
saw and heard colleagues having positive experiences using the technology
in their classes, they adopted use of the smart classrooms as well.
Katz’ Uses and Gratification Theory (1959) reoriented theories of media
use to focus on what people do with media rather than what effect media
had on people. Research moved from a focus on the purpose of commu-
nication to a focus on the reader or consumer (Severin & Tackard, 1997).
Prior to this approach, the user was thought to be a passive consumer of
information from technology (i.e., fi lms in classrooms), consistent with the
instructivist pedagogical perspective. Moving to the consumer-as-active-
participant gave rise to studying how people choose media for socially and
psychologically satisfying reasons, drawing on the social and cognitive con-
structivist perspectives. Katz’ theory emphasized internal motivations for
technology use with five categories of use: (a) cognitive—acquiring knowl-
edge, information, and understanding; (b) affective—emotional, attitudi-
nal, and persuasive; (c) personally integrative—credibility, confidence, and
status; (d) socially interactive—contacting family or friends; and (e) ten-
sion relieving—escape or diversion (Katz, 1973). Young people today never
leave home without their cell phones so they can be socially connected with
their friends and family anytime and anywhere—fitting the cognitive, per-
sonally integrative, socially interactive, and tension- relieving categories.

MEDIA RICHNESS THEORY

Media Richness Theory (Daft & Lengel, 1984) continued to shift the litera-
ture beyond a strictly one-way, instructivist vantage by introducing cogni-
tive and social constructivist approaches that emphasized the importance
of engagement in, control over, exposure to and immediate feedback from
multisensory cues and that associated the cues with cognitive and affec-
tive responses. Specifically, the researchers investigated technologies in
 Technologies and the Classroom Come to Age 17
the workplace, associating levels of technology interaction with levels of
media “richness.” Maintaining an instructivist element in their theory, they
emphasized the importance of directing task accomplishment by associating
media richness with a desired objective. They found that “effective manag-
ers make rational choices matching a particular communication medium
to a specific task or objective and to the degree of richness required by that
task” (Scott, n.d., para. 3). They defi ned media richness as the medium’s
ability to give immediate feedback through the senses, including how many
senses are involved and the level of personalization and language variety
(Rice, 1984). The researchers proposed four criteria of media richness: (a)
instant feedback, (b) transmission of multiple cues such as body language
and voice tone, (c) use of natural language, and (d) personal focus. The
researchers rated face-to-face communication as the highest in richness, fol-
lowed by the telephone, electronic mail, a letter, a note, a memo, a special
report, and fi nally, a flier or a bulletin (Scott, n.d.). It is important to note
that this original work was done before the Web was part of the vernacular.
The potential for media richness with the Web now ranges from streaming
video, real-time videoconferencing and videophones to three-dimensional
and interactive multisensory programs. Even within the Blackboard course
management system, users may use voice announcements that provide a
richer connection between students and instructor than text transmissions.
Nonetheless, Web and Blackboard users can use text or still photographs
and simple graphics to communicate, teach and learn. In essence, even the
most sophisticated technologies continue to offer the ability to evoke media
richness at different levels.

SOCIAL PRESENCE

As the media grew and continues to grow in technological sophistication

and potential to meet the psychological, social and cognitive needs and
desires of users, theorists have identified a characteristic of this relation-
ship—in essence, a “presence.” The term “presence” has referred largely
to the perceptual states of the technology user. The term was fi rst used in
1976 when researchers Short, Williams and Christie focused on the social
perceptions attainable through the media, calling their theory “social pres-
ence.” Short, Williams and Christie took largely a social constructivist per-
spective in their research, identifying technology features that could evoke
heightened perceptions of social interaction, They defi ned social presence
as the ability of the medium to convey the actual being of the participants
through the use of verbal and nonverbal communication (Short et al.,
1976). The researchers created a scale that placed particular emphasis on
the potential of the medium to facilitate and enhance communication. In
the social presence scale, the greater the presence of social cues in a tech-
nology, e.g., a glance, a smile, a voice inflection, or a laugh, the greater
18 Catherine C. Schifter and Concetta M. Stewart
the potential for a perceived socially real and meaningful communication
(Short et al., 1976).
The theory posited that greater levels of social presence may be neces-
sary for more complex tasks, whereas lower levels of social presence may
be sufficient for simpler tasks. An audio-video conference capable of dis-
playing facial expressions and transmitting voice sounds, therefore, has the
potential of being more effective than a book for debating the rise and fall
of ancient cultures, whereas an e-mail message may be more effective for
transmitting a homework assignment.

FROM MEDIA RICHNESS AND SOCIAL

PRESENCE TO TELEPRESENCE

As the capacity of technologies to surround or immerse users in sen-

sory stimuli grew exponentially, the research focused increasingly on the
media’s potential to give users a sense of actually “being there” in a per-
ceived place, endorsed in the cognitive constructivist framework; as well as
“being with” a perceived actor, consistent with social constructivism. Inter-
acting with technologies for a specific psychological and cognitive effect,
as emphasized in Media Richness Theory (Daft & Lengel, 1984), became
as important as interacting with technologies that evoke a sense of social
interaction, prioritized in Social Presence Theory (Short et al., 1976). Ulti-
mately the theories met in the concept of telepresence, also referred to as
presence, the “perceptual illusion of nonmediation” (Lombard & Ditton,
1997, #30). “Perceptual” refers to the real-time reaction of the individual
through sensory, cognitive and affective systems to stimuli. The “illusion
of nonmediation” occurs when the individual no longer recognizes that the
sensory stimuli are introduced or produced through a medium. The media-
tion becomes background like glass in a window. The individual sees the
image as though through a window without acknowledging the clear glass.
“The focus is on the ‘invisibility’ of the medium and the ‘presence’ of the
subject matter through it, both spatially (in sensorial space) and socially”
(Selverian, personal communication, February 13, 2007).
Two primary characteristics of telepresence that help defi ne spatial illu-
sions of “being there” in virtual environments and social illusions of “being
with” virtual actors are vividness and interactivity (Steuer, 1995, fi rst
published in 1992). Vividness represents the level of information richness
through the mediated environment. The more detail, breadth and depth
of the imagery, the more vivid the environment will appear. Likewise,
interactivity is the “extent to which users can participate in modifying the
form and content of the mediated environment in real time” (Steuer, 1995,
p. 46). In essence, the participant may be observing or experiencing the
environment, and/or interacting with/within it. It is this sense of vividness
and interactivity upon which spatial and social telepresence dimensions are
 Technologies and the Classroom Come to Age 19
based and that resonates well with the new media emerging in educational
environments. In the following section, the editors detail the dimensions of
spatial and social telepresence and their particular relevance to the studies
of new media in education presented in this volume.

TELEPRESENCE ENUMERATED

In their six conceptualizations of telepresence, Lombard and Ditton (1997)

categorize the potential of telepresence to evoke psychological perceptions
or illusions that can be categorized generally in two ways—spatial (having
to do with sensory space) and social (having to do with social interaction).
Although there may be overlap among the categorizations, social presence
would generally include the conceptualizations of social richness and pres-
ence through social actor within the medium; and spatial presence would
comprise the conceptualizations of presence as realism, presence as transpor-
tation, presence as immersion, and presence of the medium as social actors.
Increasingly, the conceptualizations, which serve as factors of the content
of the illusions, are associated with factors of the form of the technologies
capable of evoking each telepresence type. The form factors include sensory
outputs, image size and quality, viewing distance, use of motion and color,
audio volume and fidelity, visual and aural dimensionality, subjective camera
techniques, obtrusiveness of the technology, and technology size and shape
(see International Society for Presence Research, 2008). Telepresence is gen-
erally measured through subjective paper-and-pencil and interview instru-
ments using Likert scales, e.g., 1 (low) to 5 (high) (Lombard, Ditton, Crane,
Davis, Gil-Egui, Horvath, & Rossman, 2000). Objective measures have also
been used to measure a technology user’s immediate physiological responses
to a technology experience, including changes in skin conductance, blood
pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, respiration, eye motion, posture, etc.
(e.g., Freeman, Avons, Meddis, Pearson, & IJsselsteijn, 1999).

Social Presence
1. Presence as social richness extends the work of Short, Williams and
Christie (1976), describing presence in terms of how people engaging the
medium perceive it to be social, warm, sensitive, personal or intimate as
it relates to the content or subject matter being exchanged. Social pres-
ence is presented as a bipolar concept from social to nonsocial, warm to
cold, sensitive to insensitive, personal to impersonal, based on subjected
ratings by participants. The more social, warm, sensitive, and personal the
medium is perceived while achieving a task, the more social presence it
is deemed to have. An example of low social richness would be text mes-
saging. The communication is social, but can be cold and insensitive due
to the nature of text as a communication medium and the limitation of
20 Catherine C. Schifter and Concetta M. Stewart
visual cues. An example of the high social richness through media would
be videophone over the Internet (e.g., Skype), where each participant has a
well-functioning camera and microphone so the interchange is as if a face-
to-face conversation.
2. Presence through social actor within the medium engages viewers
with mediated personalities, whether candidates for office who talk to the
viewing audience through the camera or avatars in a MUVE. The view-
ers believe the candidate is talking directly to them through visual cues.
Similarly, the virtual avatars in Second Life can be friendly or menacing,
evoking affective responses.

Spatial Presence
3. Presence as realism is concerned with the degree to which the medium
presents accurate depictions of reality. Are the images stick figures or are
they avatars that appear to have humanoid shape? Are the voices melodic
or the sound digitally produced? Animated films or cartoons are not as real
as television situation comedies or visual and audio all-surround IMAX
movies. The difference in how characters can be presented ranges from
crudely drawn characters in cartoons, to actors interacting in pretaped pro-
gramming that appears to be in real time, to surround sound and images
in the IMAX theater. Anyone who sat through an IMAX movie of being
in a race car will remember their own affective responses as the car hurtled
around the race track at breakneck speeds.
4. Presence as transportation concerns the individual feeling trans-
ported to another place, that the other place and objects are transported to
the individual, or two or more individual communicators are transported
to the same place. An example of the feeling of “You are there” might be
a virtual tour of St. Andrews through the Web, or the Museum of Modern
Art so you see the newest exhibits. Individuals who come together through
videoconferencing may also perceive that they are truly in the same place
since they are interacting together in real time.
5. Presence as immersion is about virtual reality systems where all the
senses are immersed in the environment. Many entertainment theme parks
include simulation rides where the senses are tricked into perceiving they
are flying or going underground through physical and visual inputs. Again,
remember the IMAX experiences noted earlier.
6. Lastly, presence of the medium as social actors involves the medium
appearing to mimic human behaviors. Examples are androids and robots
that take human form, as the character Data from Star Trek. Some people
interact with the television by talking to the players on the sports field or to
political candidates as if they can really communicate with them through
the television medium. While they “know” this is not so, they may engage
in these behaviors because the medium has become part of the environment
they expect to be there.
 Technologies and the Classroom Come to Age 21
Ultimate telepresence is achieved through virtual reality (VR) mediated
through multisensory inputs that immerse the individual in the new envi-
ronment while completely blocking out their “real” environment. Virtual
environments (VEs) for learning, also known as virtual learning environ-
ments (VLEs), were used as early as the 1950s by the government for space
flight training. By the early 1990s, the technology was being used by medi-
cal researchers for training and rehabilitation purposes. The 3-D technol-
ogy was the most highly immersive in this history of technology, featuring
head-mount projections and multisensory wall displays to immerse students
in images of and interaction with subject matter. Soon after, as noted earlier
and in Chapter 8 entitled “Virtual Reality in Education” by Veronica S. Pan-
telidis and David C. Vinciguerra, VLEs began to emerge as potential educa-
tional tools for K–12 and higher education, mostly in the form of Web-based
MUDs and MOOs using text and some graphics to convey meaning and
communicate knowledge. By the mid-1990s, some researchers and educators
began to explore the more sensorially immersive 3-D VR technologies in the
K–12 and higher education scenes, at first in the maths and sciences, and
later, and to a lesser extent, in the humanities. The most advanced of these
environments at the time of this writing included combinations of the 3-D
technologies and the Web interactive programs for multiple users (MUVEs),
e.g., River City, Second Life and Virtual Harlem (included in this volume).
With the availability of and increased access to new media in education
(primarily through digital and Web resources), telepresence has become of
growing interest to education scholars and practitioners as a comprehen-
sive and effective tool for defi ning and measuring the potential psycho-
logical, social and cognitive effects of multisensory cues in teaching and
learning environments. Researchers are beginning to explore telepresence
as a tool for both enhancing learning “through technology” in constructiv-
ist environments and “from technology” with instructivist elements, since
the telepresence illusions can be all-at-once or individually vivid, interac-
tive and instructive (Mania & Chalmers, 2000; Schacter, 2001; Selverian,
2005; Youngblut, 1998). The editors propose telepresence as an important
consideration in the design of seamless, fluid, and controllable new media
that can evoke combinations of spatially immersive, socially interactive and
instructive illusions that draw students, teachers and subject matter closer
together than ever before. In essence, telepresence can help the medium
disappear so that the student, teacher and subject matter may appear and
thrive in the ultimate teaching and learning experience (Selverian, personal
communication, February 20, 2007).

CONCLUSION

As new media technologies continue to be developed and explored as

educational tools and teaching and learning systems, certain promising
22 Catherine C. Schifter and Concetta M. Stewart
patterns are emerging in theory and practice to assist in their effective
design. This introductory chapter fi rst established the role of new media
in the classroom dating as far back as the 1830s to the slate board and
advancing as forward as the 2000s to MUVEs, VR, blogs, wikis, Internet
2, and online course management systems. The chapter then established a
framework for this book from instructivist and social and cognitive con-
structivist pedagogical vantages, relating these to the evolving technology-
mediated classroom. Importantly, the chapter identified the growth of the
communication concepts of spatial and social telepresence (presence) from
Media Richness (Daft & Lengel, 1984) and Social Presence (Short et al.,
1976) theories and the concept’s potential to integrate traditionally dispa-
rate pedagogical frameworks to enhance learning and satisfaction in the
most technologically advanced classrooms of the 21st century. Finally, in
the last section of this chapter, the editors present the organization of this
book that unveils the evolving research in the field of new media in educa-
tion and relates the potential of the learning environments in the research
to the consideration of the instructivist, social constructivist and cognitive
constructivist pedagogical frameworks reflected in spatial and social tele-
presence. Together these chapters represent a view of how media in educa-
tion have developed, particularly over the last 30 years, and a window into
what the future will bring.

ORGANIZATION OF THE BOOK

The chapters of this book are organized into four sections with the con-
cept of telepresence, as related to predominant educational and com-
munication frameworks, an organizing principle throughout. The fi rst
section is the introduction and overview of new media in education,
which offers relevant evidence for and outlines of the subsequent three
sections as they relate to the shifting and sometimes overlapping instruc-
tivist and social and cognitive constructivist pedagogical frameworks,
Media Richness (Daft & Lengel, 1984) and Social Presence (Short et al.,
1976) theories, and ultimately the spatial and social conceptualizations
of telepresence.
Parts II, III and IV of this book, which feature chapters on evolving
virtual learning environments, are preceded by introductions that iden-
tify the pedagogical, theoretical and practical shifts within new media
in education and a growing potential for the design of new media that
can evoke both teacher-directed and student-controlled social and spa-
tial illusions of students, teachers and subject matter through social and
spatial telepresence. The editors relate the achievement of the right com-
bination of psychologically engaging, socially interactive, and intellectu-
ally relevant social and spatial telepresence illusions to enhanced learning
experiences.
 Technologies and the Classroom Come to Age 23
The perceptions of new media discussed in the chapters of Part II draw
largely on the social constructivist framework and extend the emphasis on
effective communication posited in Social Presence Theory (Short et al.,
1976) and the premise of relevant task assignment proposed in Media Rich-
ness Theory (Daft & Lengel, 1984). Through their focus on the appropriate
use of Web-enhanced resources and online course management systems
to enhance discussions that facilitate learning and personal relationships
between and among K–12 and college students, their teachers and their
mentors, the chapters draw specific references to the conceptualizations of
social telepresence—”social richness,” the perceptions of a social, warm,
sensitive, personal or intimate exchange conveyed through a medium.
In Part III, the chapters draw largely on the cognitive constructivist
framework, which emphasizes the significance of the learner’s psychologi-
cal engagement in the subject matter for cognitive and affective perfor-
mance. Through synchronous and asynchronous video lectures, interactive
media mapping systems and mobile phone-based blogs, students, teachers
and industry representatives are transported in time and space to virtual
communication that sometimes seems as “real” as face-to-face. The chap-
ters emphasize the significance of sensorially or spatially realistic media
portrayals that facilitate perceptions of “traveling” to a place where com-
munication can occur. These objectives are consistent with the spatial tele-
presence conceptualizations of “presence as transportation” and “presence
as realism” and the “richness” of multisensory cues in Media Richness
Theory (Daft & Lengel, 1984).
In Part IV, the instructivist and social and cognitive constructivist frame-
works meet through the vivid and interactive and yet directive perceptual
illusions of subject matter in the most sophisticated yet “invisible” virtual
learning environments. In Chapter 8, leaders in the field of virtual reality in
education, Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra, introduce the
history, terms and types of the most sophisticated technologies in learning
environments. Four chapters are subsequently presented to examine more
closely the challenges and opportunities of a cross section of the virtual
technologies—the 3-D software program Deva, computer games, the Vir-
tual Harlem, and the EVE head-mount/avatar wall display. The editors iden-
tify the potential of these environments to evoke simultaneous perceptions
of immersion in, interaction with, and guidance by illusions of students,
teachers and subject matter for the most enhanced learning. The chapters
in this section call on new media to evoke spatial and social telepresence
drawing on their multiple conceptualizations, including perceptions of
social closeness through “presence as social richness,” depictions of reality
and of humanlike behaviors through “presence as realism” and “presence
of the medium as social actors,” travel through “presence as transporta-
tion,” immersion in subject matter through “presence as immersion,” and
interaction with mediated personalities through “presence through social
actor within the medium.”
24 Catherine C. Schifter and Concetta M. Stewart
NOTES

1 For more information see http://dramaplayshop.org/techblog/?p=85

2. While radio, the other broadcast medium, was recommended to support
education, it never really played a major role in schools in the United
States.

REFERENCES

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Brunner, C. (1990). What it really means to “integrate” technology. Technology &
Learning, 11(3), 12, 14.
Coley, R. J. (1997). Technology’s impact: A new study shows the effectiveness—
and the limitations—of school technology. Retrieved August, 27, 2001, from
http://www.electronic-school.com/0997f3.html
Crandall, D. P., & Loucks, S. F. (1983). People, policies, and practices: Examining
the chain of school improvement (Vol. 10). Andover, MA: The Network.
Cuban, L. (1986). Teachers and machines: The classroom user of technology since
1920. New York: Teachers College Press.
Cuban, L. (2001). Oversold and underused: Computers in the classroom. Cam-
bridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H. (1984). Information richness: A new approach to
managerial behavior and organizational design. Research in Organizational
Behavior, 6, 191–233.
Federal Communications Commission. (1996). Telecommunications Act. Wash-
ington, DC: Author.
Freeman, J., Avons, S. E., Pearson, D. E., & IJsselsteijn, W. A. (1999). Effects of
sensory information and prior experience on direct subjective ratings of pres-
ence. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 8(1), 1–13.
Fullan, M. (1982). The meaning of educational change. New York: Teachers Col-
lege Press.
Fullan, M. (1991). The new meaning of educational change. New York: Teachers
College Press.
Fullan, M. (2001). The new meaning of educational change (3rd ed). New York:
Teachers College Press.
Gross, N., Giaquinta, J., & Bernstein, M. (1971). Implementing organizational
innovations: A sociological analysis of planned educational change. New York:
Basic Books.
Huberman, M., & Miles, M. (1984). Innovation up close: How school improve-
ment works. New York: Plenum.
International Society for Presence Research. (2008). Concept of presence: Explica-
tion statement. Available from: http://ispr.info
Katz, E. (1959). Mass communication research and the study of culture. Studies in
Public Communication, 2, 1–6.
Liao, Y. K., & Bright, G. W. (1991). Effects of computer programming on cognitive
outcomes. A meta-analysis. Journal of Research on Computing in Education,
24, 367–380.
Lipsey, N. W., & Wilson, D. B. (1993). Practical meta-analysis. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage.
Lombard, M., & Ditton, T. (1997). At the heart of it all: The concept of presence.
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 3(2). Retrieved February 15,
2007, from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue2/lombard.html
 Technologies and the Classroom Come to Age 25
Lombard, M., Ditton, T., Crane, D., Davis, B., Gil-Egui, G., Horvath, K., et al.
(2000). Measuring presence: A literature-based approach to the development
of a standard paper-and-pencil instrument. Retrieved January 23, 2008, from
www.matthewlombard.com.
Mania, K., & Chalmers, A. (2000). A user-centered methodology for investigating
presence and task performance. Paper presented at the Presence 2000 work-
shop, Delft, The Netherlands.
Margules, D. (1996). Instructivism or constructivism: Which end of the contin-
uum? Paper given at the AUC Academic Conference, “From Virtual to Reality,”
University of Queensland.
Means, B. (1994). Technology and education reform: The reality behind the prom-
ise. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Mehlinger, H. D. (1995). School reform in the information age. Bloomington, IN:
Center for Excellence in Education.
Mellon, C. A. (1999). Technology and the great pendulum of education. Journal of
Research on Computing in Education, 32(1), 28–36.
Morgan, R. M. (1978). Educational technology—adolescence to adulthood. Edu-
cation Communication and Technology Journal, 26, 142–152.
Niemiec, R. P., & Walberg, H. J. (1992). The effects of computers on learning.
International Journal of Educational Research, 17, 99–108.
Olsen, S. (2007). Universities register for virtual future. C/Net News.Com. Retrieved
February 14, 2007, from http://news.com.com/2102–1032_3–6157088.html
Papert, S. (1993). The children’s machine: Rethinking school in the age of the com-
puter. New York: The Free Press.
Piaget, J. (1970). Structuralism. New York: Basic Books.
Rice, R. E. (1984). The new media: Communication, research, and technology.
Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Ringstaff, C., & Kelley, L. (2002). The learning return on our educational tech-
nology investment: A review of fi ndings from research. Retrieved October 20,
2004, from http://www.wested.org/online_pubs/learning_return.pdf
Rogers, E. M. (1962/1983). Diffusion of innovations. New York: Free Press.
Roschelle, J. M., Pea, R. D., Hoadley, C. M., Gordin, D. N., & Means, B. M.
(2000). Changing how and what children learn in school with computer-based
technologies. The Future of Children, 10(2), 76–101.
Saettler, P. (1990). The evolution of American educational technology. Englewood,
CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc.
Sandholtz, J. H., Ringstaff, C., & Dwyer, D. C. (1997). Teaching with technology:
Creating student-centered classrooms. New York: Teachers College Press.
Sarason, S. (1971). The culture of the school and the problem of change. Boston:
Allyn & Bacon.
Satterly, D. (1987). Piaget and education. In R. L. Gregory (ed.), The Oxford Com-
panion to the Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Schacter, J. (2001). The impact of education technology on student achievement:
What the most current research has to say. Santa Monica, CA: Milken Exchange
on Education Technology.
Schofield, J. (1982). Black and white in school: Trust, tension, or tolerance? New
York: Praeger.
Scott, C. (n.d.) Media choice in library reference communication interactions.
Retrieved March 28, 2002, from http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/~ssoy/newtech-
nologies/soypaper1.htm
Selverian, M. E. M. (2005). Being there in the VLE: A pan-pedagogical model
for enhanced learning through perceptual states of ‘presence.’ (Doctoral disser-
tation, Temple University, 2005). Dissertation Abstracts International-A, 66,
1617.
26 Catherine C. Schifter and Concetta M. Stewart
Severin, W. J., & Tackard, J. W. (1997). Communication theories: Origins, meth-
ods and uses in mass media. New York: Longman.
Sheingold, K., Kane, J., & Endreweit, M. (1983). Microcomputer use in schools:
Developing a research agenda. Harvard Educational Review, 53, 412˜432.
Short, J., Williams, E., & Christie, B. (1976). The social psychology of telecom-
munications. London: John Wiley & Sons.
Sivin-Kachala, J. (1998). Report on the effectiveness of technology in schools,
1990–1997. Washington, DC: Software Publishers Association.
Sivin-Kachala, J., & Bialo, E. R. (1994). Report on the effectiveness of technology
in schools, 1990–1994. Washington, DC: Software Publishers Association.
Smith, L. M., & Keith, P. (1971). The anatomy of educational innovation. New
York: Wiley.
Steuer, J. (1995). Defi ning virtual reality: Dimensions determining telepresence. In
F. Biocca & M. R. Levy (Eds.), Communications in the age of virtual reality
(pp. 33–56). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Sussman, L. (1977). Tales out of school: Implementing organizational change in
elementary grades. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Van den Berg, W., Van Walzen, W. G., Miles, M. B., Ekholm, M., & Hameyer, U.
(1986). Making school improvement work. Heverlee, Belgium: Acco.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Wenglinsky, H. (1998). Does it compute? The relationship between educational
technology and student achievement in mathematics. Princeton, NJ: Educa-
tional Testing Service Policy Information Center.
Youngblut, C. (1998). Educational uses of virtual reality technology. Alexandria,
VA: Institute for Defense Analyses.
Zajonc, A. G. (1984). Computer pedagogy? Questions concerning the new educa-
tional technology. Teachers College Record, 85(4), 569–577.
Part II

Achieving Social Closeness

through Authentic Learning
Exchanges

The perceptions of new media discussed in the chapters of this section relate
strongly to social telepresence and particularly to the conceptualization of
“social richness,” the perceptions of a social, warm, sensitive, personal or
intimate exchange conveyed through a medium. The chapters draw largely
on the social constructivist framework and extend the emphasis on effec-
tive communication posited in Social Presence Theory (Short et al., 1976)
and the premise of relevant task assignment proposed in Media Richness
Theory (Daft & Lengel, 1984) by focusing on the appropriate use of Web-
enhanced resources and online course management systems to enhance
discussions that facilitate learning and personal relationships between and
among K–12 and college students, their teachers and their mentors.
Chapter 2, “Effects of Web-Enhanced Course Materials on College Stu-
dents’ Engagement and Learning Outcomes,” by Xigen Li, discusses how use
of Web-enhanced course materials can relate positively to the student’s per-
ceived learning process and learning outcomes. With ubiquitous use of online
course management systems (OCMS), understanding the impact of materi-
als available there will help educators and researchers better to understand
the overall impact of OCMS on teaching and learning. The findings of this
chapter suggest several stages in technology application for students to engage
in more high-involvement learning through Web-enhanced course materials.
This relatively new learning environment combines methods of communica-
tion which result in providing students options for participating in classes.
Chapter 3, “From Homer to High Tech: The Impact of Social Presence
and Media Richness on Online Mentoring in Higher Education,” by Jamie
Switzer, explores online mentoring in the theoretical terms of social pres-
ence and media richness. As online course management systems (OCMS)
become prevalent at more universities and colleges, and move into second-
ary education, understanding how these systems can impact student per-
ceptions of connectedness with advisors and mentors will be essential to
guide both students and developers of online communication opportunities
for advising and mentoring.
28 Part II
Chapter 4, “Educating Educators for Virtual Schooling: Communi-
cating Roles and Responsibilities,” by Chad M. Harms, Dale S. Nieder-
hauser, Niki E. Davis, M. D. Roblyer, and Stephen B. Gilbert, discusses
how communication theories support the understanding of the impact of
virtual schooling (VS) in K–12 schools across the U.S. The authors stress
the importance of communication theories’ direct application in the design
and implementation of VS for teachers, designers, and facilitators. They
provide a conceptual framework to ground further research and develop-
ment in this critical aspect of VS.
2 Effects of Web-Enhanced Course
Materials on College Students’ Class
Engagement and Learning Outcomes
Xigen Li

Use of the Internet as a supplementary teaching tool has become increas-

ingly popular among university professors. As a new medium of communi-
cation, the Internet is playing an important role in college student learning.
Courses offered through the Internet are increasing, and more professors
are putting materials on the Internet to facilitate student learning. Web-
based teaching and learning are becoming an integrated part of higher edu-
cation. As a new vehicle to disseminate knowledge and facilitate college
students’ learning, the Web-based teaching and learning tools need a better
understanding to be more effective. The purpose of this study is to look at
how students use course materials made available on the Web by professors
and what effects these Web course materials have on students’ class engage-
ment and learning outcomes.
There has been widespread interest in using technologies to solve criti-
cal problems in higher education. Exploration of the Internet as a teaching
and learning tool is expanding (Chang, 2006; Samarawickrema & Stacey,
2007). As the Internet becomes more integrated in college students’ lives,
more professors begin to combine face-to-face and online instruction in
hope of exploring a new way of teaching that is the most effective and posi-
tively related to student performance. If the materials can be presented in
a variety of formats, students have a greater chance of success (Hsu, Lin,
Ching, & Dwyer, 2009; Lam, 2009).

WEB-ENHANCED COURSES AND LEARNING

An easy-to-implement approach of using technology and the Internet in

college education is to make course-related materials available on the Web.
According to Boettcher (1999), a “Web-enhanced course” uses the Web to
distribute course materials and provides students with online resources.
Such a course is considered “Web-enhanced” as class and lab attendance
are still expected. Professors who have integrated the Internet into their
teaching have been able to hold the attention of their students and direct
them to interactive learning tools necessary for their total understanding
30 Xigen Li
of a concept discussed in class. Because of a wider range of online presen-
tations, the approach has resulted in students’ increased attentiveness and
motivation (Basile & D’Aquila, 2002).
Both cognitivist (Wertheimer, 1971) and constructivist perspectives
(Piaget, 1977) of learning theories apply to Web-enhanced learning (Hase-
man, Polatoglu, & Ramamurthy, 2002). A primary goal of instruction from
a cognitivist perspective is to transfer knowledge to learners in the most
efficient and effective manner. Attention to motivation, attitude change,
anxiety reduction, and easy/flexible access are some of the key mechanisms.
Jonassen (1990) suggests that constructivist approaches to instructional
technology need application tools such as database, hypertext, and expert
systems that can be employed by learners as knowledge-building tools to
help learners think more productively. For instance, hypertext facilitates
cognitive flexibility by allowing specific topics to be explored in multiple
ways using a number of different concepts or themes (Spiro & Jehng, 1990).
System flexibility and encouraging “active” user inputs and participation
are some of the key mechanisms.
Research on the Internet as a vehicle in higher education has compared
learning outcomes of Web-based and Web-enhanced learning with tradi-
tional face-to-face learning under different context. However, results of
these studies are often confl icting. Researchers found significant differences,
positive or negative, in using different Internet-based approaches to facilitate
teaching and learning (Beard & Harper, 2002; Carey & Gregory, 2002;
Frederickson, Reed, & Clifford, 2005; Manochehri & Young, 2006).
Some studies have found Web-based learning had a positive effect on
students’ performance. For example, Schutte (1996) conducted a study in
a social statistics course at California State University, Northridge. Thirty-
three students were randomly divided into two groups, one taught in a
traditional classroom and the other taught virtually on the World Wide
Web. Text, lectures and exams were standardized between the two groups.
The results demonstrated the virtual class scored an average 20% higher
than the traditional class on both examinations. Koory (2003) found the
online version of an “Introduction to Shakespeare” course had consistently
better learning outcomes than the on-campus version as a result of differ-
ent modes of instruction online. Through a series of experiments in tra-
ditional lectures and online teaching, Scheines, Leinhardt, Smith, & Cho
(2005) found students who entirely replaced going to lecture with doing
online modules did as well and usually better than those who went to lec-
ture. In another experiment of E-learning, it was found lecture and online
students achieved comparable factual learning outcomes, and the online
students outperformed the lecture students in applied-conceptual learning
(Kekkonen-Moneta & Moneta, 2002).
Studies also showed that Web-enhanced learning, with course materials
available on the Web in addition to face-to-face instruction, was positively
related to students’ learning outcomes in various courses across disciplines.
 College Students’ Class Engagement and Learning Outcomes 31
Sanders and Morrison-Shetlar (2001) found from an introductory biol-
ogy course that Web component had a highly positive effect on student
learning, problem-solving skills, and critical-thinking skills. In his study of
courses with a large mathematical component over three semesters, Clark
(2002) found that grades increased in Web-enhanced courses compared
to a previous semester when lecture notes were not available on the Web.
Many students said that they liked being able to print the lecture notes
and bring them to class so they could add their comments to the printed
outline. In a study of a solid waste management course, McCreanor (2000)
found some of the benefits of using Web enhancements observed were that
students arrived at class better prepared for the material to be presented
and that students’ focus could be directed to the important topics. Student
comments indicated they had little preparation to do immediately prior
to an exam and they knew which topics to review for the exam. Alghazo
(2006) found that students had positive attitudes toward most aspects
of Web-enhanced instruction. They identified many advantages of Web-
enhanced instruction such as discussions about course content through the
discussion-board, communication with the course instructor, and increas-
ing course understanding.
Web-based or enhanced learning was also found to be positively associ-
ated with involvement of learning activities. A study showed evidence that
Web-supported inquiry-based learning environment was able to provide
strong supports and engaging learning activities for the fi rst-year students
in an efficient and organized fashion (Oliver, 2008). In a semester-long
exploratory study that focused on the effects of Web-centric learning on
student learning outcomes in an MBA program, Driver (2002) concluded
that Web-centric learning environments had a positive effect on student’s
social interaction, involvement with course content, technical skills, and
overall learning experience. By examining the integration of computer-
delivered listening comprehension exercises into the university-level foreign
language curriculum, Despain (1996) found that students tended to learn
more effectively or efficiently using the computer delivery system. Students
in the computer group had a more positive attitude toward language learn-
ing in general. In a study on how Web-based materials enhanced teaching
and learning in an introductory operations management course, Karuppan
and Karuppan (1999) found that the Web site facilitated students’ note-
taking and studying, enhanced class discussion, and aided retention; it did
not encourage students to miss class, as some faculty feared. Felix (2001)
concluded in his study of Web-based learning that students were, on the
whole, positively inclined to work with the Web and found it useful. Not
only did the students involved in Web-based learning have high levels of
enjoyment; their levels of enjoyment also increased over time.
Contrasting with these positive results, Robertson (1999) claimed that
the Internet “masks the pitfalls, frustrations, and dangers of this technol-
ogy for teachers and students.” He pointed out three main problems: the
32 Xigen Li
difficulty locating material relevant to the specific requirements, the lack
of real quality control, and the undermining of academic integrity by the
Web. He argued that students and educators no longer have control of the
Internet. The problems Roberson noted here apply more to the general use
of the Internet for learning. In some cases, they may also apply to the spe-
cific course materials made available on the Web by professors.

FUNCTION OF MEDIA IN EDUCATION

Studies also abound demonstrating “no significant difference” in stu-

dent performance due to medium of instruction delivery. In a study that
compiled 50 years of research comparing different delivery methods of
instruction, Russell (1999) found no significant differences in learning
outcomes when looking only at the medium of delivering instruction.
Based on a study comparing outcomes of an online and face-to-face
advanced English course, Green and Gentemann (2000) concluded there
were no signifi cant differences between students in the online courses
compared to students in the face-to-face courses in terms of course reten-
tion or course grade. In her study of effectiveness of Web-based courses
on technical learning, Lam (2009) found that the delivery format (Web-
based or traditional classroom courses) has no significant effect on stu-
dent performance.
AScribe Newswire (Stepanovich, 2002) reported that a study by Robert
Carlisle at California State University, Bakersfield, found that 917 students
made significant gains regardless of what resource they used. Carlisle con-
cluded that it did not matter whether the class was online, face to face, or on
television; all students made significant gains. This four-year study found
that students using materials and having classes online produced slightly
higher but not significantly different scores versus face-to-face learning.
When discussing the function of media in education, Clark (1983)
pointed out that media were mere vehicles that delivered instruction but did
not influence student achievement any more than the truck that delivered
groceries caused changes in nutrition. He argued that the choice of vehicle
might influence the cost or extent of distributing instruction, but only the
content of the vehicle could influence achievement. Another explanation for
the “no significant difference” phenomena was that students who selected
online courses did so because they were mature, responsible learners who
expected to succeed in that environment, and hence, were not representa-
tive of the larger student population. These capable students would succeed
regardless of the course format (Kennedy, 2000).
Clark’s argument found support from a study of news media use that
demonstrated that regular viewers of TV news shared approximately the
same average knowledge as regular users of other media (Robinson &
Levy, 1996). However, a study comparing knowledge acquisition from
 College Students’ Class Engagement and Learning Outcomes 33
print and online newspapers showed that which media carry the informa-
tion does make a difference in knowledge acquisition about the media con-
tent (Tewksbury & Althaus, 2000).

PROBLEMS IN RESEARCH OF WEB-ENHANCED LEARNING

Inconsistent as those fi ndings may seem, the results are also far from being
conclusive as several key drawbacks were found in the current research
of effects of Web-enhanced learning on students’ performance. First, the
studies tended to focus on student learning outcomes of a single course
rather than on their overall college learning experience. The result in learn-
ing from one course may not be applicable to other courses. Second, few
studies looked at learning outcomes based on students’ perceived learning
process. Use of Web-enhanced course materials is a learning process. Effec-
tive use of instructional technology is related to the process of learning
and the acquisition of knowledge (Seels & Richey, 1994). Previous studies
tended to separate learning outcomes from students’ experience in a learn-
ing process. How a student perceives the learning process may affect his
perceived learning outcomes. Third, the comparisons of online and offl ine
learning were limited in scope. The studies were mostly based on two situ-
ations, online and offline. The learning environment and experience of col-
lege students are far beyond this black or white situation as Web-enhanced
learning becomes a mainstream practice in college learning. On-campus
classroom teaching plus use of Web-enhanced learning makes the college
learning a remarkably different situation from either online or offl ine learn-
ing. Besides, many of the previous studies did not use randomly selected
subjects, resulting in limited external validity.
Whether Web-based or enhanced learning has a positive effect on class
engagement is a key concern of university instructors because student par-
ticipation in classroom activities is the starting point of active learning.
Class engagement is a concept that has been studied from a variety of per-
spectives in education research (Ahlfeldt, Mehta, & Sellnow, 2005; Green-
wood, Horton, & Utley, 2002; Hughes & Kwok, 2006) and was found to
be positively related to academic achievements (DiPerna & Elliott, 2002;
Elliott & DiPerna, 2002). According to Hughes and Kwok (2006, p. 468),
class engagement is defi ned in terms of behavioral engagement (working
hard, participating in classroom activities, and attending to instruction).
Greenwood et al. (2002) defi ned academic engagement as a composite of
specific classroom behaviors: writing, participating in tasks, reading aloud,
and asking and answering questions. Class-engagement behaviors were
also categorized into global and specific behaviors (Hoge, 1985). Partici-
pating in classroom activities and attending instruction were categorized as
global behaviors of class engagement. Whereas several studies looked at the
effect of Web-based or enhanced learning on involvement in class activities,
34 Xigen Li
none of them examined the effect of Web-based or enhanced learning on a
composite of classroom behaviors under the concept of class engagement.
This study examines to what degree use of course materials on the Web
affected students’ likelihood of class engagement. Class engagement in
this study refers to students’ global behaviors in participating in learning
activities in college education such as attending a class and taking notes
in class.
This study also examines how students used course materials made
available on the Web by professors, to what degree use of course materi-
als on the Web affected students’ perceived learning process and learning
outcomes, and to what degree perceived learning process when using Web-
enhanced course materials was related to learning outcomes.
Giving the inconsistent fi ndings of effect of Web-based teaching on
learning outcomes from previous research, this study adopts the position
of positive relationship between use of Web-enhanced teaching materials
and involvement in learning activities and learning outcomes for the fol-
lowing reasons: 1) Evidence of effects outweighed that of no effect. Studies
showed positive effects of Web-enhanced teaching on involvement of learn-
ing activities and learning outcomes with specifics such as facilitating class
preparation and engagement. This study tests the effect of Web-enhanced
learning on similar class taking behaviors. 2) In general, the “no effect”
studies mostly only compared online and on-campus learning. With added
benefits of Web-enhanced course materials besides face-to-face instruction,
the richer resources in facilitating learning are expected to produce positive
results. Based on the literature review, and discussions of previous fi ndings,
this study tests the following hypotheses:

H1. Use of Web-enhanced course materials is positively related to

likelihood of class engagement.
H2. Use of Web-enhanced course materials is positively related to
learning process.
H3. Use of Web-enhanced course materials is positively related to
learning outcomes.
H4. Perceived learning process in using Web-enhanced course mate-
rials is positively related to perceived learning outcomes.

This study will also answer the following research questions:

RQ1. What Web-enhanced course materials play the most impor-

tant role in facilitating student learning?
RQ2. To what degree did course materials available on the Web
change students’ likelihood of class engagement?
RQ3. To what degree were perceived learning process and learn-
ing outcomes predicted by the key factors in the use of Web-enhanced
course materials?
 College Students’ Class Engagement and Learning Outcomes 35
METHOD

A survey was employed to test the hypotheses and answer the research
questions. The population of interest of this study is college students. A
college student is defined as a person who engages in studies in a higher
education institution. This study chose the student body of a large univer-
sity in the Southern U.S. as its population. While it is ideal to use college
students nationwide as the population of study to increase external valid-
ity, the large number of students this study was based on and the random
sample allow the study to be more manageable and produce meaningful
results that have a certain level of explaining power.
The student directory of the university was used as the sampling frame. A
total of 31,582 students were identified in the student directory at the time
of the study. Four hundred students were selected from the sampling frame
using systematic sampling, which was a little over 1% of the student body.
The survey was conducted using telephone interviews. Interviewers
called the selected students using the telephone numbers listed in the stu-
dent directory. If a student selected had graduated, the telephone number
no longer worked, or no phone number was listed, the next student on the
directory was selected. A total of 346 telephone interviews out of 400 stu-
dents were completed, which resulted in a response rate of 87%.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS

This study focuses on how Web-enhanced course materials affect students’

class engagement and learning outcomes. Web-enhanced course materials
refer to study guides, course notes, FAQ’s, interactive learning tools, and
resources relevant to the courses available on the Internet which enable
active learners to use them at their ease (Simpson & Dallas, 2001). For this
study, the following categories were used to identify course materials on the
Web based on a pilot survey of 35 students at the university: lecture notes,
assignments, readings, discussion forum, and professor’s comments.
The one-page questionnaire contained 20 questions on how the stu-
dents used course materials available on the Web and to what degree their
likelihood of class engagement, perceived learning process, and perceived
learning outcomes were affected. If students did not take any class that
had course materials on the Web, they were asked a similar set of ques-
tions in future tense. For example, “Which of the following is the most
helpful to your study?” was used for students with course materials avail-
able on the Web. “Which of the following will be the most helpful to your
study?” was used for students without course materials available on the
Web. Data collected on the students without course materials available
on the Web reflected their views if they had access to course materials on
the Web.
36 Xigen Li
The key variables this study examined were defined and measured as
follows:

Independent Variables
1. Availability of course materials on the Web. Whether any class that
a student took had course materials on the Web that a student could
access. It was measured as a dichotomy variable with Yes or No.
2. Frequency of use of course materials on the Web. How often a student
accessed course materials on the Web. A 5-point verbal frequency
scale was used to measure frequency of use, from all the time to
never.
3. Student workload. How many classes a student took during the
semester.
4. Degree to which a student cares about grade. Whether grades were
important to a student was measured with a 5-point Likert scale,
from strongly agree to strongly disagree.
5. Comfort in using a computer for learning. It was measured with a
5-point Likert scale, from strongly agree to strongly disagree.

Dependent Variables
1. Likelihood of class engagement. Class engagement was defi ned as par-
ticipation in basic learning activities in college education such as attending
a class and taking notes in class. Likelihood of class engagement was mea-
sured by respondent’s self-report on to what degree he/she participated in
class activities after course materials were available on the Web, including
three items: (a) likelihood of skipping classes due to course materials on
the Web; (b) likelihood of skipping note-taking in class due to lecture notes
available on the Web; and (c) likelihood of skipping classes due to lecture
notes available on the Web.
2. Perceived learning process. Perceived learning process was defi ned
as the experience associated with use of Web-enhanced materials. Perceived
learning process was measured with an index of five items: (a) enhanced
active learning; (b) made life at school easier; (c) reduced negative effect of
missed classes; (d) avoided falling behind due to missed classes; (e) helped
with the courses taken.
3. Perceived learning outcomes. Perceived learning outcome was
defi ned as the observed results of study in connection with use of Web-
enhanced materials. Perceived learning outcome was measured with three
items: (a) performance improvement; (b) grades benefit; (c) learned class
materials better.
The items of each dependent variable were measured with a 5-point
Likert scale, from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The original three
statements measuring likelihood of class engagement all denoted negative
 College Students’ Class Engagement and Learning Outcomes 37
positions. So a negative response to a statement represented a positive like-
lihood of class engagement. Strongly disagree was coded as 5 and strongly
agree was coded as 1. For the other two dependent variables, perceived
learning process and perceived learning outcomes, all statements denoted
positive positions. Strongly agree indicated a positive response, and was
coded as 5; Strongly disagree was coded as 1.
Principal component factor analysis was employed to identify the items
to be used for indices. Items loading on the strongest factor were used to
create additive indices for the dependent variables. For the three items mea-
suring likelihood of class engagement, factor analysis extracted one factor
with 64% variance explained. Reliability analysis yielded a coefficient of
.71. Perceived learning process was measured with five items. Factor analy-
sis extracted one factor with 55% variance explained. Reliability analy-
sis yielded a coefficient of .79. Perceived learning outcomes was measured
with three items. Factor analysis extracted one factor with 74% variance
explained. Reliability analysis yielded a coefficient of .82. A composite
index was created as a measure of each dependent variable.

RESULTS

Out of 346 respondents, 273 (79%) students reported that they had access to
course materials available on the Web for at least one class they took. Of the
students who had the course materials on the Web, 77% had access to assign-
ments, 70% had lecture notes, 48% could obtain readings, 28% could read
professors’ comments, and 19% had class forums. Two-thirds of the students
used the course materials on the Web quite often, 25% sometimes, and 10%
rarely. The number of classes taken was not found to be related to frequency
of use of course materials on the Web (r = .04, p > .05). Whether a student
cared about grades was found to be weakly related to frequency of use of
course materials on the Web (r = .13, p < .01) and likelihood of class engage-
ment (r = .17, p < .01). Comfort in using a computer was positively related to
frequency of use of course materials on the Web (r = .18, p < .01), likelihood
of class engagement (r = .24, p < .01), perceived learning process (r = .39, p <
.01) and perceived learning outcomes (r = .30, p < .01).
H1, that use of Web-enhanced course materials is positively related to
likelihood of class engagement, was not supported. The hypothesis was
tested by looking at the relationship between the two independent variables,
whether course materials were available on the Web and frequency of use,
and the dependent variable, likelihood of class engagement. Pearson’s cor-
relation between frequency of use and likelihood of class engagement was
not statistically significant (r = .05, p > .05). An independent sample t test
showed that the mean difference of likelihood of class engagement between
the students with and without access to course materials on the Web was
not statistically significant (mean difference = .38, t = 1.07, p > .05). The
38 Xigen Li
results indicated neither availability of course materials on the Web nor
frequency of use was associated with likelihood of class engagement.
H2, that use of Web-enhanced course materials is positively related to
learning process, was moderately supported. Pearson’s correlation between
frequency of use and perceived learning process was statistically significant
(r = .34, p < .01). An independent sample t test showed that the mean differ-
ence of perceived learning process between the students with and without
access to course materials on the Web was not statistically significant (mean
difference = .68, t = 1.45, p > .05). The results indicated that frequency of
use was positively related to perceived learning process, but whether course
materials were available on the Web was not associated with perceived learn-
ing process. Students with course materials on the Web saw Web-enhanced
learning highly beneficial in their learning process, while the students with-
out course materials on the Web had a similar view on their learning process
provided course materials on the Web were available to them.
H3, that use of Web-enhanced course materials is positively related
to learning outcomes, was moderately supported. Pearson’s correlation
between frequency of use and perceived learning outcomes was statistically
significant (r = .36, p < .01). An independent sample t test showed that the
mean difference of perceived learning outcomes between the students with
and without access to course materials on the Web was not statistically
significant (mean difference = .11, t = .35, p > .05). The results indicated
that frequency of use was positively related to perceived learning outcomes,
but whether course materials were available on the Web was not associated
with perceived learning outcomes. Students with course materials avail-
able on the Web perceived Web-enhanced learning highly helpful with their
learning outcomes, while students without course materials on the Web
perceived similar learning outcomes provided course materials on the Web
were available to them.
H4, perceived learning process in using Web-enhanced course materials
is positively related to learning outcomes, was strongly supported. Pear-
son’s correlation between perceived learning process and perceived learning
outcomes was statistically significant (r = .64, p < .01).
The data analysis also produced answers to the research questions:

RQ1. What Web-enhanced course materials played the most important

role in facilitating student learning?

With all students included, out of the five major categories of course mate-
rials, lecture notes were wanted the most by students (73%), followed by
assignments (15%), readings (6%), professors’ comments (3.8%), and class
forums (2.6%) (Figure 2.1). With students who had the course materials
available on the Web, 70% got lecture notes, 44% got help for assignments,
44% picked up readings, 35% tried to make up for missed classes, 25%
read professors’ comments, 10% participated in class forums, and 14.5%
did other things (Figure 2.2).
 College Students’ Class Engagement and Learning Outcomes 39

Figure 2.1 What students wanted the most from course materials on the Web.
Created by Xigen Li.

Figure 2.2 What students got when they accessed course materials on the Web.
Created by Xigen Li.
40 Xigen Li
RQ2. To what degree did course materials available on the Web change
students’ likelihood of class engagement?

With all students included, 35% of the students disagreed that they would
skip classes if course materials were available on the Web, while 41% of the
students said they would skip classes if course materials were available on
the Web. Two-thirds of the students disagreed that they would skip taking
notes in class if lecture notes were available on the Web, while 23% of the
students said they would skip taking notes in class if lecture notes were
available on the Web. The number of students who would not skip classes
if lecture notes were available on the Web (43%) was close to the number of
students who would skip the classes if lecture notes were available on the
Web (39%).

RQ3. To what degree were perceived learning process and learning out-
comes predicted by the key factors in the use of Web-enhanced course
materials?

Based on the results of correlation analysis, the factors that were not cor-
related with perceived learning process and perceived learning outcomes
were eliminated in the analysis of predictors of the two dependent vari-
ables. Two variables were considered important in influencing perceived

Figure 2.3 Percentage of students who may skip classes if course materials are
available on the Web. Created by Xigen Li.
 College Students’ Class Engagement and Learning Outcomes 41
learning process, comfort using a computer for Web-enhanced learning
and frequency of use of Web-enhanced course materials. A regression anal-
ysis was conducted to test the predictors of perceived learning process. The
2
model was statistically significant (R = .22, p < .01). Comfort using a com-
puter for Web-enhanced learning (β =.32, p < .01) and frequency of use of
Web-enhanced course materials (β =.28, p < .01) were significant predictors
of perceived learning process. The results indicated that the more comfort
using a computer to access course materials on the Web, and the more use
of course materials on the Web, the more positive the learning process was
perceived. (Table 2.1)
Perceived learning outcomes could be predicted by several factors in
the learning process. Besides comfort using a computer for Web-enhanced
learning and frequency of use of Web-enhanced course materials, two
other variables were considered as predictors, class engagement and per-
ceived learning process. A hierarchical regression analysis was conducted
to test the predictors of perceived learning outcomes. Two blocks of vari-
ables were entered into the equation. Block 1 contained comfort using
a computer for Web-enhanced learning and frequency of use of Web-
2
enhanced course materials. The model (R = .18, p < .01) was statisti-
cally significant. Comfort using a computer for Web-enhanced learning
(β =.22, p < .01) and frequency of use of Web-enhanced course materials
(β =.32, p < .01) were significant predictors of perceived learning out-
comes. Class engagement and perceived learning process were entered in
regression 2, and R square changed noticeably (.25). Frequency of use (β
=.16, p < .01) and perceived learning process were significant predictors
(β =.56, p < .01). Neither comfort using a computer (β =.05, p > .05) nor
class engagement (β =.01, p > .05) was a significant predictor of perceived
learning outcomes.

DISCUSSION

According to the fi ndings, the majority (79%) of the students had access to
the course materials on the Web for the classes they took. A variety of mate-
rials were made available on the Web. Among them, assignments, lecture
notes, and readings were the most popular items. Availability of the course
materials on the Web provided flexible ways to access class materials and
enhanced students’ learning. The fi nding that two-thirds of the students
accessed the materials quite often indicated that use of Web-enhanced
course materials had become a visible part of college learning.
Likelihood of class engagement is a major indicator of the effect of the
Web course materials on student learning. It is one of the key concerns of
professors in determining whether and in what way they will put course
materials on the Web (Karuppan & Karuppan, 1999). Use of Web-enhanced
course materials was not found to be positively related to likelihood of class
42 Xigen Li
engagement. The fi nding raised the questions: what factors play a more
important role in affecting likelihood of class engagement of the students
who access Web-enhanced course materials? From the fi ndings about what
Web-enhanced course materials were available and what students wanted
and accessed the most, it seemed at the time of the study, students still saw
Web-enhanced course materials as a convenience to pick up course-related
materials, not the resources that may arouse more interest while learning a
subject and lead them to further exploration.
The fi ndings of H1 suggest that whether Web-enhanced course materials
will generate more class engagement depends on factors beyond frequency
of use. Such factors may include the degree to which course materials on
the Web meet students’ needs and the tasks the students fulfill when they
access the course materials on the Web.
Support for H2, that use of Web-enhanced course materials is positively
related to learning process, is consistent with Felix’s (2001) fi nding that
students involved in Web-based learning had high levels of enjoyment. All
five aspects of the perceived learning process using course materials on the
Web scored highly positive (agreement rate from 66% to 88%). However,
test of relationship between use of Web-enhanced course materials and per-
2
ceived learning process revealed that only 12% (r = .12) of the variance in
perceived learning process was explained by frequency of use. Other fac-
tors have to be taken into account when examining the effect on perceived
learning process.
The effect of Web-enhanced course materials on learning outcomes is
the central issue in using the Internet to enhance teaching and facilitate
learning. The fi ndings of H3 reconfi rm the positive effect of Web-enhanced
learning on learning outcomes found in previous studies. Agreement rate
for the three items of perceived learning outcomes ranged from 62% to
64% with “learned class materials better” being the highest. Despite a
moderate relationship between use of Web-enhanced course materials and
perceived learning outcomes, frequent use of the course materials on the
Web did affect perception of learning outcomes. However, the moderate
effect may also imply that better learning outcomes could not be achieved
by using Web-enhanced course materials alone.
The fi ndings showed frequency of use was not a strong predictor of
perceived learning process and outcomes. The result could be due to what
type of materials were available on the Web and what the students wanted
the most in the Web-enhanced learning. The answer to RQ1 showed the
most common course materials available on the Web were lecture notes,
assignments, and readings. The students wanted the lecture notes the
most. The results suggest the importance that the students placed on lec-
ture notes in their learning. It also indicated even though the Internet
had the potential to engage students in high-involvement learning, Web-
enhanced course materials were merely considered a convenience. While
the new technology allows more high-involvement learning activities
 College Students’ Class Engagement and Learning Outcomes 43
through the Internet, such as participating in class forums or other inter-
active projects, few students showed interest in getting involved in more
active learning through the Internet. There is still a long way to go to
introduce students to more interactive learning tools and activities, which
require higher involvement and could enhance their learning experience
to a much more rewarding extent.
Support of H4 that perceived learning process in using Web-enhanced
course materials is positively related to learning outcomes and the iden-
tified predictors of perceived learning outcomes have important implica-
tions for implementing Web-enhanced learning. The learning process using
Web-enhanced course materials was perceived as a positive experience, and
perceived learning process was a significant predictor of perceive learning
outcomes. These fi ndings suggest the importance of positive learning expe-
rience on perceived learning outcomes. How students experience and think
in the process of using the materials on the Web may affect how they per-
form in their learning activities. When designing and putting course mate-
rials on the Web, it is important to select appropriate content and format
to create a positive learning experience and facilitate student learning. It is
also important to assess carefully to what degree use of course materials on
the Web may enhance a positive learning process.
The answer to RQ2 suggests that course materials, especially lec-
ture notes available on the Web, may change students’ class engagement
behavior. The fi ndings contradict the conclusion of Karuppan & Kar-
uppan (1999) that making lecture notes available on the Web did not
encourage students to miss classes. While there was evidence that 35%
of the students would not skip the classes even if course materials were
available on the Web, 41% said they would skip classes if course materi-
als were available on the Web. The fi ndings showed the same tendency
to skip class if lecture notes were available on the Web. The answer to
RQ2 suggests that faculty’s concern about students skipping class due to
course materials available on the Web is legitimate. The fi ndings regard-
ing relationship between availability of lecture notes and students’ inten-
tion to skip class lend support to those concerned about the negative
effect of lecture notes available on the Web on students’ involvement in
learning activities.
The regression analysis to identify predictors of perceived learning out-
comes also revealed important fi ndings. Comfort using a computer was a
significant predictor when entered in the equation with frequency of use.
However, it was no longer a significant predictor when entered in the equa-
tion together with class engagement and learning process. The fi nding sug-
gests as the students became more skillful in using computers, the technical
factor no longer plays an important role in learning outcomes. The human
factors play a more important role in the success of Web-enhanced learn-
ing. Perceived learning process as a strong predictor of learning outcomes
reconfi rms the importance of human factors. Although frequency of use
44 Xigen Li
was also a significant predictor of learning outcomes, mere use of course
materials on the Web did not have a strong effect on learning outcomes
compared to perceived learning process, which pertains to the specific
experience from learning activities.
Class engagement as an insignificant predictor of learning outcomes
is an extension of the rejection of H1 that use of Web-enhanced course
materials is positively related to likelihood of class engagement. The fi nd-
ing posed a question about the role of class engagement in Web-enhanced
learning. Class engagement in this study referred to participation in basic
learning activities while course materials were made available on the Web.
Its effect on learning outcomes seems to be connected to its antecedents in
the learning process, that is, what led the students actively engaged in learn-
ing activities in classes, and what type of class activities they participated
in. Class engagement in this study did not measure the learning activities
initiated by the use of Web-enhance course materials. That could be the
main reason of the no-effect result. To include class activities initiated by
and connected to the use of course materials on the Web in the measure of
class engagement could generate different results about the effect of class
engagement on learning outcomes.
Having looked at limited aspects of students’ class-engagement behavior,
this study did not provide a clear picture for a better solution to the issue
regarding lecture notes. Caution needs to be taken when putting lecture
notes on the Web. Examination of more factors is needed to find out under
what situations lecture notes available on the Web may produce more class
engagement and positive learning outcomes. It is also necessary to take into
account other factors involved when one makes the decision on whether
and how to put lecture notes on the Web, such as the kinds of notes offered,
the timing to make the lecture notes available, and the presentation format
of lecture notes.
The fi ndings also shed some light on implications of learning theo-
ries. The results supported the cognitive perspective that easy and flexible
access to knowledge helps transfer knowledge to learners more efficiently
and effectively (Wertheimer, 1971). However, the approach of constructive
perspective of learning theory has yet to be observed from use of Web-
enhanced course materials.
This study did not test whether Web-enhanced learning will make
learners think more productively. But more interest in lecture notes and
less interest in high-involvement learning tools such as discussion forum
indicated there is a gap to be fi lled before the expectation of the con-
structive perspective could be realized. The stage of using instructional
technology and application tools might be an important factor in getting
students in high-involvement learning. Web-enhanced course materials
facilitated cognitive flexibility by allowing specifi c topics to be explored
in multiple ways (Spiro & Jehng, 1990), but it may take several stages in
technology application to get students engage in more high-involvement
learning through Web-enhanced course materials, and help learners
 College Students’ Class Engagement and Learning Outcomes 45
think more productively and participate actively in the new learning
environment.

CONCLUSION

This study looked at the effect of course materials available on the Web on
students’ class engagement and learning outcomes. The fi ndings, based on
overall college learning experience instead of a single course, expand our
understanding of how and to what degree course materials available on
the Web effect class engagement, perceived learning process, and learning
outcomes. Course materials on the Web were perceived positively as learn-
ing tools. Both students’ perceived learning process and learning outcomes
scored high on the positive side. Frequency of use had positive effect on
perceived learning process and learning outcomes, but it did not affect like-
lihood of class engagement.
This study used a sample of students in a large university. Although the
student body bears the common characteristics of the general college student
population, there may be several factors which limit the generalizability of the
results. The first is the level of technology applications. Students in different
colleges may learn in various technology environments. Students in colleges
with more advanced technology applications may react to Web-enhanced
learning in a different way from students in other schools. The second is
the subjects the students learn when using Web-enhanced materials. The
practices of Web-enhanced learning are mostly implemented by professors of
various disciplines and the applications to courses vary by departments and
schools. Different content of the subjects may produce different perceived
learning process and learning outcomes. The third is the presentation format
and the type of content. How the course materials are presented on the Web
and what type of course materials is actually made available to the students
will also make a difference in student learning experience and performance.
The focus of this study also limits the number of issues that one study
can address. Only two major independent variables, availability of course
materials on the Web and frequency of use, were examined. Other factors,
such as student motivation, area of study, and duration of interest, could
play important roles in learning through course materials on the Web. Stu-
dents’ involvement in learning activities is a construct with broad strata.
This study only examined a narrow range of the construct, likelihood of
class engagement. The perception of the learning process also has impor-
tant implications for evaluation of Web-enhanced learning. This study only
looked at a few aspects of the learning process associated with the use of
course materials available on the Web.
Further research including more independent variables on an extended
population will considerably expand our understanding of the effect of
Web-enhanced learning and offer more insight on how to implement Web-
enhanced teaching and learning more effectively.
46 Xigen Li
Table 2.1 Predictors of Perceived Learning Process and Learning Outcomes of
Web-Enhanced Learning through Use of Course Materials on the Web

Predictors Learning process Learning outcomes Learning outcomes

Regression 1 Regression 2

Comfort using .32** .22** .05

computer
Frequency of use .28** .32** .16**
Class engagement N.A. .01
Learning process N.A. .56**
R square .22 .18 .43
Adjust R square .21 .17 .42
R square change .22 .18 .25
Significance of .01 .01 .01
change

**p < .01.

REFERENCES
Ahlfeldt, S., Mehta, S., & Sellnow, T. (2005). Measurement and analysis of student
engagement in university classes where varying levels of PBL methods of instruc-
tion are in use. Higher Education Research and Development, 24(1), 5–20.
Alghazo, I. M. (2006). Student attitudes toward Web-enhanced instruction in an
educational technology course. College Student Journal, 40(3), 620–630.
Basile, A., & D’Aquila, J. M. (2002). An experimental analysis of computer-medi-
ated instruction and student attitudes in a principles of fi nancial accounting
course. Journal of Education for Business, 77(3), 137–143.
Beard, L. A., & Harper, C. (2002). Student perceptions of online versus on campus
instruction. Education, 122(4), 658–661.
Boettcher, J. (1999). Another look at the Tower of WWWebble. Retrieved June 30,
2009, from http://www.cren.net/community/webble.pdf
Carey, J. O., & Gregory, V. L. (2002). Students’ perceptions of academic motiva-
tion, interactive participation, and selected pedagogical and structural factors
in Web-based distance learning. Journal of Education for Library and Informa-
tion Science, 43(1), 6–15.
Chang, C.-C. (2006). Development of competency-based web learning material
and effect evaluation of self-directed learning aptitudes on learning achieve-
ments. Interactive Learning Environments, 14(3), 265–286.
Clark, M. M. (2002). Web-based and Web-enhanced courses. Retrieved June 30,
2009, from http://surveying.wb.psu.edu/suredu/wb/Papers/Clark.pdf
Clark, R. E. (1983). Reconsidering research on learning from media. Review of
Educational Research, 53(4), 445–459.
Despain, S. (1996). The effects of two delivery systems for the listening comprehen-
sion exercises on the language performance and attitudes of beginning Spanish
students. Dissertation Abstracts International, 58(08-A), 113.
DiPerna, J. C., & Elliott, S. N. (2002). Promoting academic enablers to improve
student achievement: An introduction to the mini-series. School Psychology
Review, 31(3), 293–297.
 College Students’ Class Engagement and Learning Outcomes 47
Driver, M. (2002). Investigating the benefits of web-centric instruction for student
learning: An exploratory study of an MBA course. Journal of Education for
Business, 77(4), 236–245.
Elliott, S. N., & DiPerna, J. C. (2002). Assessing the academic competence of col-
lege students: Validation of a self-report measure of skills and enablers. Journal
of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 15(2), 87–100.
Felix, U. (2001). A multivariate analysis of students’ experience of Web-based
learning. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 17(1), 21–36.
Frederickson, N., Reed, P., & Clifford, V. (2005). Evaluating Web-supported
learning versus lecture-based teaching: Quantitative and qualitative perspec-
tives. Higher Education, 50(4), 645–664.
Green, R., & Gentemann, K. (2000). Comparison of outcomes for an online
and face-to-face advanced English course: changes in attitudes, perceptions,
expectations, and behaviors. Paper presented at the Virginia Assessment Group
Conference. Retrieved June 30, 2009, from https://assessment.gmu.edu/Results/
Other/2000/Eng302/Eng302Report.pdf
Greenwood, C. R., Horton, B. T., & Utley, C. A. (2002). Academic engagement:
Current perspectives in research and practice. School Psychology Review, 31(3),
328–349.
Haseman, W. D., Polatoglu, V. N., & Ramamurthy, K. (2002). An empirical inves-
tigation of the influences of the degree of interactivity on user-outcomes in a
multimedia environment. Information Resources Management Journal, 15(2),
31–48.
Hoge, R. D. (1985). The validity of direct observation measures of pupil classroom
behavior. Review of Educational Research, 55(4), 469–483.
Hsu, Y.-C., Lin, H., Ching, Y.-H., & Dwyer, F. M. (2009). The effects of Web-
based instruction navigation modes on undergraduates’ learning outcomes.
Journal of Educational Technology and Society, 12(1), 271–284.
Hughes, J. N., & Kwok, O.-M. (2006). Classroom engagement mediates the effect
of teacher-student support on elementary students’ peer acceptance: A prospec-
tive analysis. Journal of School Psychology, 43(6), 465–480.
Jonassen, D. H. (1990). Designing hypermedia for learning. New York: Springer-
Verlag.
Karuppan, C. M., & Karuppan, M. (1999). Empirically based guidelines for devel-
oping teaching materials on the Web. Business Communication Quarterly,
62(3), 37–45.
Kekkonen-Moneta, S., & Moneta, G. B. (2002). E-learning in Hong Kong: Com-
paring learning outcomes in online multimedia and lecture versions of an intro-
ductory computing course. British Journal of Educational Technology, 33(4),
423–433.
Kennedy, C. A. (2000). What influences student learning in an online course?
Retrieved June 30, 2009, from http://bearcenter.berkeley.edu/publications/
learning.pdf
Koory, M. (2003). Differences in learning outcomes for the online and F2F ver-
sions of “An Introduction to Shakespeare.” Journal of Asynchronous Learning
Networks, 7(2), 18–35.
Lam, M. (2009). Effectiveness of Web-based courses on technical learning. Journal
of Education for Business, 84(6), 323–331.
Manochehri, N., & Young, J. I. (2006). The impact of student learning styles with
Web-based learning or instructor-based learning on student knowledge and sat-
isfaction. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 7(3), 313–316.
McCreanor, P. T. (2000). Developing a Web-enhanced course: A case study. Paper
presented at the ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference. Retrieved
December 30, 2009 from http://fie-conference.org/fie2000/papers/1514.pdf
48 Xigen Li
Oliver, R. (2008). Engaging fi rst year students using a Web-supported inquiry-
based learning setting. Higher Education, 55(3), 285–301.
Piaget, J. (1977). The development of thought: Equilibration of cognitive struc-
tures. New York: Viking Press.
Robertson, J. S. (1999). The curse of plenty: Mathematics and the Internet. The
Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science teaching, 8(1), 3–5.
Robinson, J. P., & Levy, M. R. (1996). News media use and the informed public: A
1990s update. Journal of Communication, 46(2), 129–135.
Russell, T. L. (1999). No signifi cant difference phenomenon: As reported in 355
research reports, summaries and papers. Raleigh: North Carolina State Uni-
versity.
Samarawickrema, G., & Stacey, E. (2007). Adopting Web-based learning and
teaching: A case study in higher education. Distance Education, 28(3), 313–
333.
Sanders, D. W., & Morrison-Shetlar, A. I. (2001). Student attitudes toward Web-
enhanced instruction in an introductory biology course. Journal of Research on
Computing in Education, 33(3), 251–262.
Scheines, R., Leinhardt, G., Smith, J., & Cho, K. (2005). Replacing lecture with
Web-based course materials. Journal of Educational Computing Research,
32(1), 1–25.
Schutte, J. G. (1996). Virtual teaching in higher education: The new intellectual
superhighway or just another traffic jam? [Electronic Version]. Retrieved June
30, 2009, from http://www.csun.edu/sociology/virexp.htm
Seels, B. B., & Richey, R. C. (1994). Instructional technology: The defi nition
and domains of the fi eld. Association for Educational Communications and
Technology. Washington, D.C.
Simpson, L., & Dallas, L. (2001, April 8–10). Web-enhanced teaching: Advan-
tages of integrating technology into the large lecture course. Paper presented at
the Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference. Murfreesboro, TN.
Spiro, R. J., & Jehng, J.-C. (1990). Cognitive flexibility and hypertext: Theory and
technology for the nonlinear and multidimensional traversal of complex subject
matter. In D. Nix & R. Spiro (Eds.), Cognition, education, and multimedia:
Exploring ideas in high technology, (pp.163–205). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Stepanovich, M. (2002). Study fi nds that students make significant gains whether
in live class, on instructional TV, or in online learning: AScribe Newswire.
Tewksbury, D., & Althaus, S. L. (2000). Differences in knowledge acquisition
among readers of the paper and online versions of a national newspaper. Jour-
nalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 77(3), 457–479.
Wertheimer, M. (1971). Productive thinking. New York: Harper.
3 From Homer to High-Tech
The Impact of Social Presence and
Media Richness on Online Mentoring
in Higher Education
Jamie S. Switzer

INTRODUCTION

Mentoring is not a new concept. Formal mentoring dates back to Greek

mythology when Athena, “the goddess of wisdom and skill, came back to
earth and took the form of man, Mentor, to assist a young man facing per-
ceived differences” (Bruce, 1995, p. 139). Since then, the concept of men-
toring has been adopted by many different disciplines including business,
industry, and education. There is widespread agreement among scholars
that mentoring is valuable in a variety of circumstances and for different
purposes (Buell, 2004). But because of the multiple settings in which men-
toring occurs, there is no single, unifying, operational defi nition of the pro-
cess (Jacobi, 1991; Mueller, 2004; Wilde & Shau, 1991).

FUNCTION AND ROLE OF A MENTOR

In spite of the varying definitions, there is a common theme that links them
all: the notion of mentoring as a process in which a more experienced person
facilitates the development of a less experienced person. This theme is readily
apparent in Haney’s definition of mentoring as a “relationship between an expe-
rienced and less experienced person in which the mentor provides guidance,
advice, support, and feedback to the mentee” (1997, p. 211). This premise is
also echoed by Bierema, who defined mentoring as “the process by which expe-
rienced individuals facilitate the assimilation of newcomers” (1996, p. 145).
Some scholars have attempted to characterize mentoring specifically from
an educational standpoint. Blackwell defines mentoring as “a process by
which persons of superior rank, special achievements, and prestige instruct,
counsel, guide, and facilitate the intellectual and/or career development of
persons identified as mentees” (1989, p. 9). A similar defi nition of mentoring
provided by Schmidt and Wolfe states “mentoring is actively providing guid-
ance, support, and opportunities for the mentee” (1980, p. 45).
Moore and Amey define mentoring as “a form of professional socializa-
tion whereby a more experienced (usually older) individual acts as a guide,
50 Jamie S. Switzer
role model, teacher and patron of a less experienced (often younger) mentee
. . . for the further development and refi nement of the mentee’s skills, abili-
ties, and understanding” (1988, p. 45). Moses (1989) believes that mentoring
occurs when a professor takes an undergraduate or graduate student under
his or her wing, helps the student set goals and develop skills, and facilitates
the student’s successful entry into academic and professional circles.
Most researchers have defi ned mentoring in terms of functions provided
by the mentor or the roles played by a mentor in relation to a mentee (Jacobi,
1991). There are five main functions or roles that the literature has ascribed
to mentors: accepting, advising/guidance, role modeling, sponsoring, and
training/instruction (Blackwell, 1989; Burke, 1984; Harris, 2002; Kanter,
1977; Kram, 1985; Levenison, Carrow, Klein, Levenison, & McKee, 1978;
Nieva & Gutek, 1981; Philips-Jones, 1982; Zey, 1984). Stone (2004) has
identified four roles that a mentor plays: coaching, role modeling, cheer-
leading, and brokering. Research conducted by Buell (2004) determined
there are four “models” of mentoring that can be used to describe the broad
roles mentors can perform: cloning, nurturing, friendship, and apprentice
models.
Lester and Johnson (1981) describe mentoring in an educational context
as a one-to-one learning relationship. They suggest the mentor is typically
older than the mentee and may be either a faculty member, staff member, or
student. The mentoring relationship has both formal and informal aspects
and is based on modeling behavior and extended dialogue. Recent research
has studied the general benefits of mentoring as it occurs in an educational
setting. Furthermore, a growing body of literature attests to the impor-
tance of mentors in undergraduate education (for a thorough discussion,
see Buell, 2004, p. 57–58).

ONLINE MENTORING

Traditional mentoring relationships occur when a mentor and a mentee

physically meet and interact. Today, that is no longer a necessity. Advances
in information and communication technologies (ICTs) have provided new
opportunities for mentoring and eliminate the need to coordinate sched-
ules for a synchronous meeting (Duff, 2000). An alternative to face-to-
face mentoring is to use the resources and accessibility of new media as a
means of mentoring. This concept is known by a variety of terms, including
“online mentoring,” “e-mentoring,” “virtual mentoring,” “telementoring,”
and “cybermentoring.”
Online mentoring is similar to traditional mentoring with one signifi-
cant difference—the use of ICTs as the primary mode of communication
between the mentor and mentee. Technology-mediated mentoring incorpo-
rates the same basic foundations of traditional synchronous mentoring, but
in online mentoring the face-to-face contact between the parties is replaced
 From Homer to High-Tech 51
with asynchronous virtual contact where the time and location of the inter-
actions are irrelevant (Kirk & Olinger, 2003).
A formal defi nition proposed by Bierema and Merriam describes online
mentoring as a “computer mediated, mutually beneficial relationship
between a mentor and a mentee which provides learning, advising, encour-
aging, promoting, and modeling that is often boundary-less, egalitarian,
and qualitatively different than traditional face-to-face mentoring” (2002,
p. 214). According to Guy (2002), online mentoring functions the same as
traditional mentoring but uses technology to facilitate the relationships.
Using cost-effective ICTs such as cell phones, VoIP, e-mail, instant messag-
ing, Web sites, webcams, chat rooms, blogs, vblogs, and social networking
sites, students and mentors can connect at any time day or night. The flex-
ibility in scheduling and the elimination of geographical barriers provides
students access to a greater number of diverse potential mentors. As Bier-
ema and Merriam state, “online mentoring has the potential to cross barri-
ers of race, gender, geography, age, and hierarchy that are rarely crossed in
traditional mentoring relationships” (2002, p. 219).

Characteristics of Online Mentoring

Ensher, Heun, and Blanchard (2003) have identified three types of online
mentoring that utilize CMC (computer-mediated communication). The fi rst
type is CMC-only, with the mentoring accomplished solely online using
Internet and new media technologies. The second type is CMC-primary, in
which the majority of the interactions are conducted online but may also
be supplemented by telephone calls or face-to-face meetings. The third type
is CMC-supplemented, in which the majority of the mentoring is done in
person yet the relationship is supplemented by interaction via ICTs.
O’Neill and Harris (2004–5) have identified three approaches to online
mentoring. The fi rst is “Ask-An-Expert,” where a student can have ques-
tions answered by a knowledgeable adult. The limitation of this approach
is that students do not have the opportunity to develop a true mentoring
relationship with one specific person over a period of time; satisfaction
with the process by the mentor is also hindered. The second approach is
“tutoring,” where a student works with a mentor to learn how to master
a certain topic or specific problem. The last approach is curriculum-based
mentoring, where an online mentor can assist students with a wide variety
of curriculum-based topics.

Roles and Expectations in Online Mentoring

It is important to establish the expectations of a mentor-mentee relation-
ship at the very beginning (Freedman, 1992). Each party must be very
specific about both what the relationship will entail and details of the inter-
actions (Stone, 2004). Online mentoring programs with clear objectives
52 Jamie S. Switzer
and measures can be “powerful strategies to attract, retain and support
students in the multiple challenges they encounter during their years at col-
lege and university and during their transition into the workforce” (Muel-
ler, 2004, p. 61).
Online mentoring roles can fall into two main categories (O’Neill &
Harris, 2004–5). In one study, both students and mentors desired “inquiry
jumpstart” roles, such as providing background information or helping to
formulate a project. However, mentors’ willingness to perform “inquiry
partner” functions (such as offering challenges or reviewing work) were
significantly higher than the mentees’ desires to be on the receiving end of
those actions.
In an online mentoring relationship, both mentors and mentees need
to ensure the relationship goes beyond mere information exchange and a
connection is formed that guarantees a mutual benefit for participating in
the relationship (Bierema & Merriam, 2002). Mentors may have a more
open perspective of mentoring and students a more rigid expectation. Men-
tors are also more likely to follow through on their commitments, whereas
students are more likely to deny themselves the opportunity to participate
in a mentoring relationship (Single & Muller, 1999). Students who were
required to participate in an online mentoring program were more involved
than those who volunteered to partake in the program (Kasprisin, Single,
Single, & Muller, 2003).
It is important to develop a relationship of trust and open communica-
tion between mentors and mentees to ensure open and honest communi-
cation online (Sinclair, 2003). However, to avoid any misunderstandings,
mentors need to be cautious in their communication with mentees, since “it
is easier to convey encouragement and support as well as a gentle challenge
in person than it is through the written word” (Sinclair, p. 90).
The needs and goals of the mentor and mentee should drive the men-
toring process, not the potential of new media technologies (Guy, 2002).
Stone (2004) outlines what she calls an “Action Plan for Online mentor-
ing” to help clarify the expectations for the mentoring relationship. First,
both parties should take the time to determine what their needs and goals
actually are. Next, avenues for communication (e.g., using ICTs) must be
established and a regular contact schedule agreed upon, keeping in mind
the everyday time constraints faced by the mentor and the mentee. Lastly,
the effectiveness of the communication should be assessed to ensure both
parties are “on the same page” (p. 85).
Sinclair (2003) found that students valued mentoring support when it
was provided online instead of in a face-to-face environment. Kasprisin et
al. (2003) determined that students were highly satisfied with their overall
online mentoring experience and felt participating in a program was valu-
able. They concluded that involvement, satisfaction with an online mentor-
ing program, and the perceived value from participating in the program
were related.
 From Homer to High-Tech 53

Challenges in Online Mentoring

New media provide several unique advantages over traditional face-to-
face mentoring (Kirk & Olinger, 2003), with online mentoring providing
greater flexibility with respect to time and place. But there are also chal-
lenges inherent in online mentoring. The use of ICTs in online mentoring
requires different strategies than traditional mentoring to create the maxi-
mum educational benefit for the student (O’Neill & Harris, 2004–5). A
study by Kimball and Eunice (as cited in Harris & Figg, 2000) found that
more frequent and exact communication behaviors like purpose-setting,
progress-reporting, and problem-solving were necessary in an online envi-
ronment versus a face-to-face interaction.
Because of the nature of CMC, the likelihood of miscommunication
occurring is high (Bierema & Merriam, 2002; Ensher et al., 2003; Mueller,
2004). CMC does not allow communicators to see faces and body language,
to hear tone of voice, or to infer meaning from a variety of nonverbal cues.
Misinterpretation can lead to miscommunication. Mentors and mentees who
do not know each other well or communicate primarily via CMC may mis-
understand attempts at humor or sarcasm, misread tones, or fail to clarify
when they do not fully understand one another because of the lack of non-
verbal cues. Research has shown that gender differences in communication
styles can also pose a barrier to effective online mentoring (Guy, 2002).
Relationships tend to develop slower online (Bierema & Merriam,
2002; Ensher et al., 2003), which may impact a mentoring relationship.
Individuals go through the process of gathering information and forming
impressions of each other, but the development of the relationship is slowed
considerably because of the reduction of information exchanged via CMC
compared to face-to-face communication.
Online mentoring requires competency in written communication
(Ensher et al., 2003) and technical skills (Bierema & Merriam, 2002).
Online mentoring requires both the mentor and mentee to be able to express
their feelings in writing; if they do not have good written communication
skills using ICTs may be troublesome for them.
The very real possibility of the technology malfunctioning is another
challenge (Ensher et al., 2003; Mueller, 2004). Technological problems can
interfere with the progress of the relationship and create damaging lapses
in communication. Even if mentors and mentees have experience in using
technology, building and maintaining online mentoring relationships can
be a challenging task (O’Neill and Harris, 2004–5).
Another challenge to online mentoring is one of privacy and confi-
dentiality because of the establishment of a written record of interaction
(Ensher et al., 2003). Mentors may be reluctant to share company secrets
or divulge proprietary information to the mentee because that information
can be archived in the form of an e-mail and easily accessed by anyone
(Guy, 2002).
54 Jamie S. Switzer
SOCIAL PRESENCE AND MEDIA RICHNESS

By applying the communication theories of social presence and media

richness, some of the inherent challenges in online mentoring relating to
the lack of face-to-face interaction can be mitigated. These two theories
help explain the relationship between characteristics of a communica-
tion medium and communication activities—interactions in mediated
environments. Both social presence theory and media richness theory
explore how communication media differ in the extent to which they
can overcome various communication constraints (such as time, loca-
tion, permanence, distribution, and distance), and how a medium trans-
mits the social, symbolic, and nonverbal cues present in communication
(Rice, 1993).

Social Presence Theory

Developed by Short, Williams, and Christie, social presence is “the feel-
ing that other actors are jointly involved in communicative interaction”
and “the degree of salience of the other people in the interaction,” par-
ticularly when communication is mediated (1976, p. 65). In other words,
social presence is “a sense that others are psychologically present and
that communication exchanges are warm, personal, sensitive, and active”
(Papacharissi & Rubin, 2000) in a mediated interaction. Social presence
involves the extent to which a media channel conveys the “presence”
of those involved in the communication (Lindlof & Shatzer, 1998) and
re-creates the characteristics of face-to-face interaction (Durlak, 1987).
Those characteristics include verbal and nonverbal cues such as facial
expression, voice inflection, body language, eye movement, gesturing,
and physical proximity.
The concept of “presence” is very broad, and consists of several dimen-
sions, including telepresence, a sense of being “in” or immersed in a mediated
environment while not actively perceiving that the experience is mediated,
and copresence, in which those involved in the interaction actively perceive
themselves and others (Nowak & Biocca, 2003). Social presence, however,
is used to evaluate people’s perception of the awareness of the other in a
mediated environment. The concept might be more accurately described
as “mediated social presence” or “social telepresence,” but traditionally
social presence theory refers to interactions that occur in a mediated envi-
ronment (Biocca, Harms, & Burgoon, 2003). Biocca et al. also conducted
an extensive literature review of prior research on social presence theory
and determined some key dimensions of the concept. Social presence also
involves copresence (collocation, mutual awareness), as well as psychologi-
cal involvement (salience, intimacy, immediacy, mutual understanding),
and behavioral engagement (interdependent, multichannel exchange of
behavior).
 From Homer to High-Tech 55

Media Richness Theory

Media richness theory is closely related to social presence. Developed by
Daft and Lengel (1984), media richness theory posits that the “richness” of
a medium is based on its ability to process information. Media technologies
are categorized by their information-carrying capacity and their ability for
resolving ambiguity, negotiating varying interpretations, and facilitating
understanding. Four criteria determine media richness: the availability of
instant feedback, the ability of the medium to convey multiple verbal and
nonverbal cues, the use of natural language, and the personal focus of the
medium (Daft, Lengel, & Trevino, 1987).
Unaddressed documents such as a fl ier or bulletin rank the lowest on
the media richness continuum. Next are written and addressed documents
such as a memo or letter. The telephone ranks high in media richness, with
face-to-face interaction categorized as the richest on the continuum (Daft
et al., 1987). According to media richness theory, the richer the media tech-
nology, the more effective it will be in transferring information, enabling
faster communication and better understanding of ambiguous messages
(Dennis & Kinney, 1998; Timmerman, 2002). A rich medium such as vid-
eoconferencing can convey multiple feedback cues (e.g., facial expressions),
where a non-rich medium such as e-mail does not (see Newberry, 2001, for
a matrix of media richness comparisons).
A medium that is perceived as high in social presence is usually per-
ceived as a rich medium that is warm, personable, sensitive, and sociable; a
medium judged to be low in social presence is less rich and is perceived as
cold, impersonal, insensitive, and unsociable (Short et al., 1976)

APPLYING THEORY TO ONLINE MENTORING

Consistent with the postulates of social presence and media richness theory,
the richer the media (technologies that convey verbal and nonverbal cues),
the higher the perceived social presence (Acker & Levitt, 1987; Short et al.,
1976). A loss of social presence occurs when non-rich media that remove
those cues are utilized (Rice, 1993; Short et al., 1976), as is the case in an
online mentoring program.
As Beirema and Merriam observe, “The virtual medium provides a con-
text and exchange that may not be possible to replicate in face-to-face men-
toring relationships. The nature of the e-mentoring relationship may be
qualitatively different when mediated through a computer” (2002, p. 219).
Hamilton and Scandura agree, stating “the foundation of the mentor-pro-
tégé relationship rests on a different type of interaction than that found in
traditional mentoring” (2003, p. 388). Traditional mentoring tends toward
high social presence and the use of rich media, while online mentoring
tends toward low social presence and the use of non-rich media.
56 Jamie S. Switzer
Short et al. (1976) initially postulated that social presence was mainly
a function of the communication medium. Over twenty years later,
Gunawardena and Zittle (1997) found that social presence in computer-
mediated environments is a factor of both the medium and of the commu-
nicators and their presence. They argue that it is the personal perception
of another’s presence that creates social presence and not necessarily the
capacity of the media.
Walther (1994) believes that computer-mediated communication is actu-
ally “hyper-personal.” Participants in the exchange create social presence by
projecting their identities into the communications. It is not media capabili-
ties but personal perceptions, the degree that the participants in the interac-
tion appear to be “real” physical people, that matter (Kreinjns, Kirschner,
Jochems, & Van Buuren, 2004). Additionally, other research suggests that
immediacy, the perceived psychological distance between communicators
(Weiner & Mehrabian, 1968), also impacts social presence (Aragon, 2003;
Swan, 2002a; Tu & McIsaac, 2002).
Even though there are inherent differences between online and tradi-
tional mentoring, with work and dedication mentors and mentees can cre-
ate an online environment that closely approximates a more traditional
arrangement. Since social presence is critical in an online environment,
the objective would be to create “the perceptual illusion of nonmediation”
(Lombard & Ditton, 1997) in an online mentoring relationship.
Mentors and mentees that communicate asynchronously may develop
their own types of behaviors or “paralanguage” that foster social pres-
ence (Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997; Richardson & Swan, 2003). Swan
(2002b) contends that students in an online environment use text-based
verbal immediacy behaviors to create a greater sense of social pres-
ence. Richardson and Swan also found that students who perceived
their instructors as having a suitable online presence with respect to the
amount of interaction and quality of that interaction also perceived a
strong social presence in those interactions. An instructor (or, in this
case, a mentor) that models social presence factors can foster a safe and
interactive environment that facilitates and builds social presence (Gar-
rison & Archer, 2000; Stacey, 2002).
Additionally, the degree to which social presence impacts the relation-
ship between the mentor and mentee also depends a great deal upon the
type of mentoring relationship. Wickman and Sjodin (1997) have identified
seven basic types of mentoring: formal or informal, long-term or short-
term, active or passive, and even momentary.
Westmyer, DiCioccio, and Rubin contend that communication goals
help determine which technology will be used in a given situation and can
also establish the degree of social presence required. They also state that
social presence and media richness theories can help “predict that peo-
ple will choose the medium that functions most effectively” (1998, p. 31)
depending on their specific communication objective. For example, social
 From Homer to High-Tech 57
presence is less important when communicating to merely gain informa-
tion, but much more critical to the interaction when the goal is to develop
a long-term relationship (Perse & Courtright, 1993).
Therefore, if a student contacts a mentor only one time for an explicit
purpose to accomplish a specifi c task using a non-rich medium, the dimin-
ished social presence would not impact the online mentoring experience
for the student because the encounter was momentary and the student
would get the information needed regardless of the medium used. But if
a mentor and mentee want to establish a successful long-term affi liation,
theory suggests the use of richer media to communicate will create a
greater degree of social presence and lead to a more satisfying mentoring
relationship.
The use of new media, particularly those that are “richer” (tele/web/
videoconferencing, virtual reality) in a longer-term mentoring relationship
can more closely approximate a traditional mentoring experience. How-
ever, there is some evidence that richer media may in fact cause “infor-
mation overload” because the recipient of the communication may be
overwhelmed with not only the content of the message but the number of
accompanying cues offered by the medium, thus preventing the recipient
from thoroughly assessing the information (Robert & Dennis, 2005). The
richness of the communication medium and the level of perceived social
presence must correspond to specific tasks to be accomplished success-
fully (Sallnas, 2005). The choice of medium depends on the richness of the
medium and the equivocality of the task (Daft & Lengel, 1986; Sheer &
Chen, 2004).

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF ONLINE MENTORING

There is an existing online mentoring program that is utilizing new media

technologies to create an innovative computer-mediated learning environ-
ment for students. This author is the founder and director of an online men-
toring program in the journalism and technical communication department
at a university in the U.S.
Funded by a grant to initiate the project, the fi rst step was to develop a
Web site and database. An invitation to participate in the online mentoring
program was then sent to approximately 2,000 alumni of the department.
To date, close to 4% of departmental alumni have joined. The strategy
for increasing the number of potential mentors is to utilize the “snowball”
technique. Someone who is already an online mentor is encouraged to
tell colleagues about the program in the hopes that those colleagues join
the online mentoring program, and subsequently recruit other people to
become online mentors.
To volunteer to be a mentor in the program, a person logs on to the Web
site and provides contact information, a primary area of expertise (there
58 Jamie S. Switzer
are five to choose from), a secondary area of expertise, and background
information (education, professional experience, etc.). The director of the
program then verifies the contact and background information. Only after
an applicant is vetted and deemed appropriate are they invited to become
an online mentor.
To connect with an online mentor, students log on to the Web site and
select the primary and/or secondary areas of expertise that corresponds to
their academic, personal, and professional needs and interests. A list of all
online mentors matching the criteria appears. Students can scroll through
the names to read about the potential mentor’s personal and professional
experiences, and select an online mentor whose knowledge and skills are
most compatible with the student’s needs.
A summative evaluation was conducted on the program to determine
how students and mentors perceived online mentoring in general. The
study also revealed what students and mentors believed interaction with
one another would be like in a mediated program, including qualities they
thought would help them achieve a sense of immediacy or psychological
closeness with one another. While the results of this study are descriptive
in nature, they add to the limited body of literature regarding online men-
toring in higher education and are of value in the formation and testing of
hypotheses.
The students were sophomores and juniors (n = 76); the online mentors
(n = 32) were alumni who had already volunteered to participate in the
program. They each completed a survey consisting of open-ended ques-
tions and additional Likert-type questions regarding the mechanics of the
program. The questions were identical except for minor wording changes
that reflected either the perspective of the mentor or mentee. (For example:
“What are your concerns about communicating with a mentee online?”
versus “What are your concerns about communicating with a mentor
online?”) Table 3.1 summarizes some of the survey responses.

Table 3.1 Survey Response Percentages

% Mentors % Mentees

Participate in program? 97 63
During school duration only? 57 49
Beyond school and job searching? 30 32
Casual/very casual relationship? 68 77
Sessions online 15–45 minutes? 58 74
Interact weekly? 25 54
Interact as necessary? 69 31
Extend relationship to richer media? 62 64
 From Homer to High-Tech 59
Sixty-three percent of students surveyed either strongly agreed or agreed
that they would participate in an online mentoring program. While almost
half the students responded that they would expect the mentoring relation-
ship to last only during the course of their stay at the university (49%),
32% expected their affi liation with their mentor to continue beyond school
and job searching. Seventy-seven percent believed a mentor/mentee rela-
tionship should be very casual or casual. The majority of students (74%)
indicated they would expect to spend 15–45 minutes per session online
with their mentor, with those interactions occurring either weekly (54%) or
as necessary (31%). Sixty-four percent of those responding said they would
feel comfortable extending communication with an online mentor to richer
media or even face-to-face.
From the mentor perspective, 97% of those surveyed strongly agreed or
agreed that they would participate in an online mentoring program. Fifty-
seven percent of the mentors expected their affi liation with a mentee to
continue beyond school and job searching, while 30% responded that they
would expect the mentoring relationship to last only during the students’
stay at the university. The majority of the mentors (68%) believed a men-
tor/mentee relationship should be very casual or casual; 28% believed it
should be neutral, while 3% felt the relationship should be a formal one.
Fifty-eight percent of the mentors indicated they would expect to spend
15–45 minutes per session online with their mentor, with those interactions
occurring either weekly (25%) or as necessary (69%). Sixty-two percent of
those responding said they would feel comfortable extending communica-
tion with an online mentee to richer media or face-to-face.
While almost 100% of the mentors surveyed indicated a desire to par-
ticipate in an online mentoring program, only about two-thirds of the stu-
dents strongly agreed or agreed that they would participate. One possible
explanation is that mentors are at a point in their life where it is impor-
tant to them to positively interact with a younger generation. That desire
is consistent with Erikson’s generative stages of development, where adults
“maintain the world” (1976, p. 16) positively, holding it in trust for future
generations, caring deeply and responsibly for all children, for their own in
a nurturing way, and for all others by civic contributions (Hoare, 2005, p.
26; Wallerstein & Goldberger, 1998).
The frequency of online interactions was another area of disconnect
between the mentors and mentees. Over half of the students felt they should
be interacting weekly with their mentors versus only one-quarter of the
mentees. Just under 70% of the mentors indicated the optimum amount of
mentor/mentee interaction would be on an as-needed basis, compared to a
little over 30% of the students. Obviously there are different expectations
between the two, perhaps because a mentor’s time is valuable and adhering
to a set weekly meeting schedule is not realistic; additionally, the “any-
time, anywhere” advantage an online mentoring program provides would
be eliminated.
60 Jamie S. Switzer
An almost equal percentage of mentors and mentees (30% and 32%,
respectively) strongly agreed or agreed that an online mentoring relation-
ship should extend beyond school and job searching. This indicates approx-
imately one-third of the participants in the program believe that mentor/
mentee interaction is a positive and productive endeavor, one they would
like to continue. Additionally, about two-thirds of both mentors and ment-
ees (62% and 64%, respectively) responded they would be very comfortable
extending their relationship to interacting using a richer media, indicating a
certain level of ease and confidence when using richer ICTs.
When asked how they would defi ne the word “mentor,” both student
and mentor responses were consistent with the literature: someone who
helps, guides, assists, and teaches. Students indicated that a good mentor
should possess such qualities as having compassion; being intelligent, per-
sonable and knowledgeable; being honest and open minded; and being a
good communicator. Mentors also listed the same qualities, with the addi-
tion of “patience” as a characteristic of a good mentor.
Both student and mentor answers to a question about what roles they
expected a mentor to perform were also consistent with the literature: to
provide information, contacts, challenges, support, direction, advice, and
role modeling (Jacobi, 1991; Wright, 1992). Students indicated that hav-
ing those expectations fulfi lled would be the prime motivator for them to
become involved in an online mentoring program. Mentors, however, were
motivated to become involved in an online mentoring program not only to
“give back” to society, but also because they remembered what it was like
to be a student. Many of them indicated that they had mentoring relation-
ships when they were students that they regarded as very valuable, and they
wanted to have the opportunity to mentor a student just as they themselves
were mentored.
When asked about their concerns regarding communicating with a
mentor online and their perceptions of the “realness” of the relationship
and the psychological closeness that they expected to experience, the
majority of students responded with comments related to social pres-
ence and media richness (61%). Students expressed apprehension about
the effectiveness of the media in enabling that perception of “realness”
and closeness within the mentoring interaction. They felt that an online
relationship with a mentor would be impersonal, lack intimacy, and
not be fulfi lling, and that the chances of miscommunication would be
great. Students also indicated that they would be uncomfortable talking
to strangers, because “they might be weirdos.” Mentors also responded
with remarks related to achieving social presence (52%) and the “loss of
face-to-face interactions which can be more meaningful and productive.”
In addition, mentors also expressed concerns about the amount of time
that could potentially be invested in participating in an online mentoring
program, and that what time they did invest would not be appreciated
by the mentee.
 From Homer to High-Tech 61
DISCUSSION

Overall, results from this empirical study indicate that students and men-
tors are favorably inclined toward online mentoring in a higher education
setting, with mentors indicating a greater desire to participate in an online
mentoring program than students (97% versus 63%, respectively). Many
respondents, however, expressed concerns about a perceived lack of social
presence in an online mentoring relationship. Social presence is a strong
predictor of satisfaction in online environments (Gunawardena & Zittle,
1997; Tu & McIsaac, 2002), and perceptions of social presence influence
computer-mediated communication motives and outcomes (Papacharissi &
Rubin, 2000).
As previously discussed, social presence is greatly influenced by both
personal perception and perceived psychological distance, regardless of the
technology utilized in a mentoring relationship (Aragon, 2003; Kreinjns,
Kirschner, Jochems, & Van Buuren, 2004; Swan, 2002a; Tu & McIsaac,
2002; Weiner & Mehrabian, 1968). Personal perception influences the
amount of social presence felt by participants in an interaction. Mentors
and mentees who perceive each other as being present “in the same room”
(Mason, 1994) even though they are at separate and remote locations expe-
rience a strong sense of social presence. The key is the term “perception,”
or the belief that there is a strong degree of “tangibility and proximity
of other people” (McLeod, Baron, Marti, & Yoon, 1997) in a mediated
environment.
As long as mentors and mentees are salient of each other, in that they
each appear to exist and react to each other (Heeter, 1992), there is social
presence. In this study, the majority of students and mentors expressed
concerns regarding the lack of social presence in online mentoring (61%
and 52%, respectively) in that “online relationships have the tendency to
be impersonal” and seem “distant.” These concerns can be mitigated by
ensuring there is a mutual awareness of each other, and that mentors and
mentees are accessible and available to each other in a mediated environ-
ment. This mutual awareness is the essence of social presence (Biocca et
al., 2003).
The perceived psychological distance between communicators, also
referred to as immediacy, has an effect on social presence as well. The
“directness and intensity of interaction between two entities” (Mehrabian,
1967, p. 325) is a psychological dimension of the mentor/mentee rela-
tionship that determines the amount of social presence represented in a
mediated interaction. The psychological involvement with each other is a
“cognitive state in which individuals feel more or less directly ‘present’ in
the interaction and in the process by which relationships are being created”
(Palmer, 1995, p. 284).
A higher perceived level of involvement and investment in a mentor/
mentee relationship results in a perceived reduction of the psychological
62 Jamie S. Switzer
distance present in the mediated communication, thus increasing social
presence. Communication is the key to a high level of perceived involve-
ment and investment in a mentoring relationship. Responses to open-ended
questions in this study indicate that a “consistent dialog” with “open lines
of communication” where mentors and mentees are “continually checking
in” and providing “timely responses” reduces the perceived psychological
distance between mentors and mentees.
The salience of another person in a mediated interaction (personal per-
ception) and the salience of the interpersonal relationship (perceived psy-
chological distance) are subjective qualities of the communications medium
(Short et al., 1976). Previous research has shown that CMC, even though it
is not as rich a medium as others (Perse & Courtright, 1993; Rice, 1993),
can still facilitate the exchange of information, meet personal needs, and
encourage the development of relationships. Communicating by merely
writing in a computer-mediated environment can be very effective (Gar-
rison & Kanuka, 2004). Walther (1994) refers to several studies in which
“experienced CMC users rated text-based media, including e-mail and
computer conferencing, as ‘as rich or richer’ than telephone conversations
and face-to-face conversations” (p. 54). Studies have also shown that cur-
rent CMC technologies provide more social presence than earlier commu-
nication media (Lowry, Roberts, Romano, Cheney, & Hightower, 2006).
CMC also creates a network for fulfi lling informational and interactive
needs (Papacharissi & Rubin, 2000). Even though computer-mediated rela-
tionships may take longer to emerge, strong relationships can be developed
over a period of time (Chidambaram, 1997). As Hamilton and Scandura
observe with respect to online mentoring:

Conveying feeling and emotion via a medium that is lean will neces-
sitate development of unique techniques to create relational attachment
. . . the ability to personalize and emotionalize the media that will es-
tablish electronic chemistry. (2003, p. 397)

“Electronic chemistry” can be developed between a mentor and a men-

tee, provided both parties are willing to invest the time and effort to make
it happen. Mentors and mentees can build intimacy in an online environ-
ment and perceive the experience as more personal by employing simple
techniques such as sharing photographs of each other, exchanging jokes, or
sharing each other’s favorite Web sites to provide an indication of interests
and personality.
Additionally, mentors and mentees need to ensure that the communica-
tion between them is clear and precise to eliminate any misunderstand-
ing. Boundaries and expectations need to be clearly defi ned, such as the
formality of the relationship and the frequency of contact. For example, in
this study, there were different expectations between mentors and mentees
regarding the frequency of online interaction. Close to 70% of mentors felt
 From Homer to High-Tech 63
contact with mentees would be on an as-needed basis, compared to only
a little over 30% of students. Communicating openly and mutually deter-
mining the amount of time that will be spent interacting online at the very
beginning of the mentoring relationship would reconcile those differing
expectations and eliminate the chance of a misinterpretation of intent on
either person’s part.
The rapid development of new ICTs is changing formerly lean media
into richer media. Instant messaging and online chatting can facilitate com-
munication and make the mentor/mentee relationship more immediate and
fulfi lling. Add a webcam to a computer and the contact between mentor
and mentee, while still a mediated interaction, is similar to face-to-face. The
addition of photographic and video capabilities to cell phones has created a
whole new genre of communication devices. With the use of virtual reality
technology, mentors and mentees can appear to be in the same room, thus
creating a very high degree of social presence using an exceptionally rich
medium.
Ultimately, however, social presence is “the degree to which a person is
perceived as a ‘real person’ in mediated communication” (Gunawardena
& Zittle, 1997, p. 9). When both mentor and mentee are aware of their
level of interactivity and engagement, social presence exists (Tu & McIsaac,
2002). While the choice of new media and communication technologies
does play a role, it is the personal perception of the presence of the mentor
and mentee and the perceived psychological distance between the two that
influences the strength of social presence in the online environment. It is the
overall goal for any learning environment to create a level of social presence
to make the participants feel comfortable (Aragon, 2003).

CONCLUSION

“In this age of the Internet, innovative educators are combining the concept
of mentoring with the reach and convenience of new telecommunications
technology” (Goldman, as cited in Bierema & Merriam, 2002, p. 218).
The challenges of online mentoring are greatly outweighed by the benefits
derived from technology-mediated mentoring, primarily because “Internet
technology enables the larger community to help educate the next genera-
tion” (Riel & Fulton, 2001, p. 520). The goal of any online mentoring
program is to create a successful technology-mediated learning commu-
nity that will provide students with the opportunity to acquire real-world
knowledge of their chosen field by interacting and communicating with
working professionals. As Jin observes, “Learning communities support
different ways for novices and experts to work in the same environment to
accomplish similar goals” (2002, p. 177).
Students and mentors “pursue a common learning goal by communi-
cating and cooperating through electronic media in the learning process”
64 Jamie S. Switzer
(Seufert, Lechner, & Stanoevska, 2002, p. 47). They share the same goals
in wanting the students to learn and succeed. Interaction is technology-
mediated and can be synchronous or asynchronous. The interaction can
also be intermittent and sporadic, or students and mentors can develop a
strong social and professional network.
The communication goals between the mentor and mentee will also
determine the degree of social presence in the relationship as well as the
choice of new media (leaner versus richer) used for that interaction. If the
reason for the interaction is to simply answer a specific question on a one-
time basis, there is a minimal level of involvement by both parties and
therefore very little social presence. However, if the goal of the interaction
is to “build a relationship” because of a “desire to know (me) on a personal
level,” there will be more communication and involvement between the
mentor and mentee, which will lead to a greater degree of social presence.
Online mentoring in higher education is a relatively new practice.
According to Knouse, online mentoring “has not yet evolved to the point
where it is possible to critically evaluate its effectiveness” (2001, p. 166).
But programs that utilize online mentoring are becoming more common-
place. Formalized, structured, technology-mediated mentoring programs
are proliferating, particularly in the fields of distance education, teacher
education, K–12 and higher education, science, and engineering. Programs
designed to assist marginalized populations such as minorities or students
at an economic disadvantage are emerging. Online mentoring can also be a
valuable addition to business and industry training programs.
The purpose of this summative evaluation was to present a preliminary
view of both student and mentor perceptions of an existing online mentor-
ing program within the theoretical framework of social presence and media
richness. The results from the empirical study suggest that students and
mentors would be comfortable using new media technologies to connect
and interact. While they expressed trepidation regarding the lack of social
presence in an online environment, those concerns can be mitigated by the
creative use of new information and communication technologies and the
use of richer media, as well as careful attention to the three dimensions
of social presence (copresence, psychological involvement, and behavioral
engagement).
With this information, mentors and mentees can develop a type of “best
practices handbook” for other participants in this specific online mentoring
program or any other type of mentoring program to develop social pres-
ence. Even in conditions of low media richness, mentors and mentees can
enhance the degree to which there is a sense of “being together” (personal
perception) and promote interactive communication (perceived psychologi-
cal distance) (Savacki & Kelley, 2000). Even seemingly obvious actions
such as promptly answering e-mail, providing frequent feedback, shar-
ing personal stories and experiences, and using humor and emoticons can
significantly facilitate social presence in an online environment (Aragon,
 From Homer to High-Tech 65
2003). In this study, both mentors and mentees referenced the importance
of regular contact and timely communication as a major expectation of the
relationship, which in turn can facilitate social presence and increase the
perception of the “realness” and psychological closeness within the men-
toring experience.
Recent research has suggested that the existing social presence literature
cannot be “generalizable to all communications media and to all appli-
cations of these media” (Rourke, Anderson, Garrison, & Archer, 1999).
However, future research can add to the body of literature about online
mentoring by examining if, indeed, the use of richer media does create
more of a sense of social presence between mentor and mentee, and if that
in turn increases the amount of satisfaction with the online mentoring envi-
ronment and with the rapport between the mentor and mentee. Does the
use of richer media in an online mentoring program change the way men-
tors and mentees interact, and are there any discussion topics that are bet-
ter suited to a specific technology?
Other areas that can explored in more detail include the impact on men-
toring relationships by the frequency and length of the interactions, if the
relationship continues once a student has graduated, and the level of com-
fort with technology. Additionally, future research should involve larger
sample sizes for more advanced statistical and qualitative analysis.
A mentor can play a critical role in a student’s education. Utilizing new
media technologies and computer-mediated communication appropriately,
mentors and mentees can develop a sense of social presence and a personal
perception of the “realness” and psychological closeness within the online
mentoring experience and establish strong relationships that transcend
time and place.

REFERENCES

Acker, S. R., & Levitt, S. R. (1987). Designing videoconference facilities for improved
eye contact. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 31, 181–191.
Aragon, S.R. (2003). Creating social presence in online environments. New Direc-
tions for Adult and Continuing Education, 100, 57–68.
Bierema, L. L. (1996). How executive women learn corporate culture. Human
Resource and Development Quarterly, 7, 145–164.
Bierema, L. L., & Merriam, S. B. (2002). E-mentoring: Using computer mediated
communication to enhance the mentoring process. Innovative Higher Educa-
tion, 26(3), 211–227.
Biocca, F., Harms, C., & Burgoon, J. K. (2003). Toward a more robust theory
and measure of social presence: Review and suggested criteria. Presence, 12(5),
456–480.
Blackwell, J. E. (1989). Mentoring: An action strategy for increasing minority fac-
ulty. Academe, 75, 8–14.
Bruce, M. A. (1995). Mentoring women in doctoral students: What counselor edu-
cators and supervisors can do. Counselor Education and Supervision, 35(2),
139–149.
66 Jamie S. Switzer
Buell, C. (2004). Models of mentoring in communication. Communication Educa-
tion, 53(1), 56–73.
Burke, R. J. (1984). Mentors in organizations. Group and Organizational Studies,
9, 353–372.
Chidambaram, L. (1997). Relational developments in computer-supported groups.
MIS Quarterly, 20, 143–160.
Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H. (1984). Information richness: A new approach to
managerial behavior and organization design. Research in Organizational
Behavior, 6, 191–233.
Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H. (1986). Organizational information requirements,
media richness and structural design. Management Science, 32(5), 554–571.
Daft, R. L., Lengel, R. H., & Trevino, L. K. (1987). Message equivocality, media
selection, and manager performance: Implications for information systems.
MIS Quarterly, 11(3), 335–366.
Dennis, A. R., & Kinney, S. T. (1998). Testing media richness theory in the new
media: The effects of cues, feedback, and task equivocality. Information Sys-
tems Research, 9(3), 256–274.
Duff, C. (2000). Online mentoring. Educational Leadership, 58(2), 49–52.
Durlak, J. T. (1987). A typology of interactive media. In M. L. McLaughlin (Ed.),
Communication yearbook 10 (pp. 743–757). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Ensher, E. A., Heun, C., & Blanchard, A. (2003). Online mentoring and computer-
mediated communication: New directions in research. Journal of Vocational
Behavior, 63, 264–288.
Erikson, E. H. (1976). Reflections on Dr. Borg’s life cycle. Daedalus, 105(2),
1–28.
Freedman, M. (1992). The kindness of strangers: Refl ections on the mentoring
movement. Philadelphia: Public/Private Ventures.
Garrison, D. R., & Archer, W. (2000). A transactional perspective on teaching and
learning: A framework for adult and higher education. Amsterdam: Pergamon.
Garrison, D. R., & Kanuka, H. (2004). Blended learning: Uncovering its trans-
formative potential in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education,
7, 95–105.
Gunawardena, C. N., & Zittle, F. J. (1997). Social presence as a predictor of satis-
faction within a computer-mediated conferencing environment. The American
Journal of Distance Education, 11(3), 8–26.
Guy, T. (2002). Telementoring: Shaping mentoring relationships for the 21st
century. In C. A. Hansman (Ed.), Critical perspective on mentoring: Trends
and issues (pp. 27–37). Washington, DC: Office of Educational Research and
Improvement.
Hamilton, B. A., & Scandura, T. A. (2003). E-mentoring: Implications for organi-
zational learning and development in a wired world. Organizational Dynamics,
31(4), 388–402.
Haney, A. (1997). The role of mentorship in the workplace. In M. C. Taylor (Ed.),
Workplace education (pp. 211–228). Toronto, Ontario: Culture Concepts.
Harris, J. B., & Figg, C. (2000). Participating from the sidelines, online: Facilitat-
ing telementoring projects. ACM Journal of Computer Documentation, 24(4),
227–236.
Harris, S. (2002). Student perceptions of the mentoring relationship in higher edu-
cation. In F. K. Kochan (Ed.), The organizational and human dimensions of
successful mentoring programs and relationships. A volume in: Perspectives in
mentoring (pp. 53–68). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
Heeter, C. (1992). Being there: The subjective experience of presence. Presence:
Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 1(2), 109–112.
 From Homer to High-Tech 67
Hoare, C. (2005). Erikson’s general and adult developmental revisions of Freudian
thought: Outward, forward, upward? Journal of Adult Development, 12(1),
19–31.
Jacobi, M. (1991). Mentoring and undergraduate academic success: A literature
review. Review of Educational Research, 61(4), 505–532.
Jin, Q. (2002). Design of a virtual community based on interactive learning envi-
ronment. Information Sciences, 140, 171–191.
Kanter, R. M. (1977). Men and women of the corporation. New York: Basic.
Kasprisin, C. A., Single, P. B., Single, R. M., & Muller, C. B. (2003). Building a
better bridge: Testing e-training to improve e-mentoring programmes in higher
education. Mentoring & Tutoring, 11(1), 67–78.
Kirk, J. J., & Olinger, J. (2003). From traditional to virtual mentoring. (ERIC
Document Reproduction Service No. ED475467)
Knouse, S. B. (2001). Virtual mentors: Mentoring on the Internet. Journal of
Employment Counseling, 38, 162–169.
Kram, K. E. (1985). Mentoring at work. Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman.
Kreinjns, K., Kirschner, P. A., Jochems, W., & Van Buuren, H. (2004). Determin-
ing sociability, social space, and social presence in (a)synchronous collaborative
groups. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 7(2), 155–172.
Lester, V., & Johnson, C. (1981). The learning dialogue: Mentoring. In J. Fried
(Ed.), Education for student development. New directions for student services:
No. 15 (pp. 49–56). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Levenison, D. J., Carrow, C. N., Klein, E. B., Levenison, M. H., & McKee, B.
(1978). The seasons of a man’s life. New York: Ballentine.
Lindlof, T. R., & Shatzer, M. J. (1998). Media ethnography in virtual space: Strat-
egies, limits, and possibilities. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media,
42(2), 170–190.
Lombard, M., & Ditton, T. (1997). At the heart of it all: The concept of pres-
ence. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 3(2). Retrieved June 18,
2006, from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue2/lombard.html
Lowry, P. B., Roberts, T. L., Romano, N. C., Cheney, P. D., & Hightower, R.
T. (2006). The impact of group size and social presence on small-group com-
munication: Does computer-mediated communication make a difference? Small
Group Research, 37(6), 631–661.
Mason, R. (1994). Using communications media in open and fl exible learning.
London: Kogan Page.
McLeod, P. L., Baron, R. S., Marti, M. W., & Yoon, K. (1997). The eyes have
it: Minority influence in face-to-face and computer mediated group discussion.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 82(5), 706–718.
Mehrabian, A. (1967). Orientation behaviors and nonverbal attitude communica-
tion. Journal of Communication, 17(4), 324–332.
Moore, K. M., & Amey, M. J. (1988). Some faculty leaders are born women. In
M. A. D. Sagaria (Ed.), Empowering women: Leadership development strate-
gies on campus. New directions for student services: No. 44 (pp. 39–50). San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Moses, Y. T. (1989). Black women in academe: Issues and strategies. Washington,
DC: Association of American Colleges. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service
No. ED311817)
Mueller, S. (2004). Electronic mentoring as an example for the use of information
and communications technology in engineering education. European Journal of
Engineering Education, 29(1), 53–63.
Newberry, B. (2001). Raising student social presence in online classes. (ERIC Doc-
ument Reproduction Service No. ED466611)
68 Jamie S. Switzer
Nieva, V. F. & Gutek, B. A. (1981). Women in work: A psychological perspective.
New York: Praeger.
Nowak, K. L., & Biocca, F. (2003). The effect of the agency and anthropomor-
phism on users’ sense of telepresence, copresence, and social presence in virtual
environments. Presence, 12(5), 481–494.
O’Neill, D. K., & Harris, J. B. (2004–5). Bridging the perspectives and develop-
mental needs of all participants in curriculum-based telementoring programs.
Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 37(2), 111–128.
Palmer, M. (1995). Interpersonal communication and virtual reality: Mediating
interpersonal relationships. In F. Biocca & M. Levy (Eds.), Communication
in the age of virtual reality (pp. 277–299). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Papacharissi, Z., & Rubin, A. M. (2000). Predictors of Internet use. Journal of
Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 44(2), 175–196.
Perse, E. M., & Courtright, J. A. (1993). Normative images of communication
media: Mass and interpersonal channels in the new media environment. Human
Communication Research, 19, 485–509.
Philips-Jones, L. (1982). Mentors and protégés. New York: Arbor House.
Rice, R. E. (1993). Media appropriateness: Using social presence theory to compare
traditional and new organizational media. Human Communication Research,
19, 451–484.
Richardson, J. C., & Swan, K. (2003). Examining social presence in online courses
in relation to students’ perceived learning and satisfaction. Journal of Asyn-
chronous Learning Networks, 7(1), 68–88.
Riel, M., & Fulton, K. (2001). The role of technology in supporting learning com-
munities. Phi Delta Kappan, 82(7), 518–523.
Robert, L. P., & Dennis, A. R. (2005). Paradox of richness: A cognitive model
of media choice. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 48(1),
10–21.
Sallnas, E. L. (2005). Effects of communication mode on social presence, virtual
presence, and performance in collaborative virtual environments. Presence,
14(4), 434–449.
Savicki, V., & Kelley, M. (2000). Computer mediated communication: Gender and
group composition. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 3(5), 817–826.
Schmidt, J. A. & Wolfe, J. S. (1980). The mentor partnership: Discovery of profes-
sionalism. NASPA Journal, 17, 45–51.
Seufert, S., Lechner, U., & Stanoevska, K. (2002). A reference model for online
learning communities. International Journal on E-Learning, 1(1), 43–54.
Sheer, V. C., & Chen, L. (2004). Improving media richness theory: A study of inter-
action goals, message valence, and task complexity in manager-subordinate
communication. Management Communication Quarterly, 18(1), 76–93.
Short, J., Williams, E., & Christie, B. (1976). The social psychology of telecom-
munications. London: Wiley.
Sinclair, C. (2003). Mentoring online about mentoring: Possibilities and practice.
Mentoring and Tutoring, 11(1), 79–94.
Single, P. B., & Muller, C. B. (1999). Electronic mentoring: Issues to advance
research and practice. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED439683)
Stacey, E. (2002). Social presence online: Networking learners at a distance. Edu-
cation and Information Technologies, 7(4), 287–294.
Stone, F. (2004). The mentoring advantage: Creating the next generation of lead-
ers. Chicago: Dearborn Trade Publishing.
Swan, K. (2002a). Building learning communities in online courses: The impor-
tance of interaction. Education, Communication & Information, 2(1), 23–49.
 From Homer to High-Tech 69
Swan, K. (2002b). Immediacy, social presence, and asynchronous discussion. In J.
Bourne and J. C. Moore (Eds.), Elements of quality online education. Need-
ham, MA: The Sloan Consortium.
Timmerman, C. E. (2002). The moderating effect of mindlessness/mindfulness
upon media richness and social influence: Explanations of organizational media
use. Communication Monographs, 69(2), 111–131.
Tu, C. H., & McIsaac, M. (2002). The relationship of social presence and inter-
action in online classes. The American Journal of Distance Education, 16(3),
131–150.
Wallerstein, R. S., & Goldberger, L. (1998). Ideas and identities: The life and work
of Erik Erikson. Madison, CT: International Universities Press, Inc.
Walther, J. (1994). Interpersonal effects in computer mediated interaction. Com-
munication Research, 21, 460–487.
Weiner, M., & Mehrabian, A. (1968). Language within language: Immediacy, a
channel in verbal communication. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Westmyer, S. A., DiCioccio, R. L., & Rubin, R. B. (1998). Appropriateness and
effectiveness of communication channels in competent interpersonal communi-
cation. Journal of Communication, 48(3), 27–48.
Wickman, F., & Sjodin, T. (1997). Mentoring: The most obvious yet overlooked
key to achieving more in life than you dreamed possible. New York: McGraw-
Hill.
Wilde, J. B. & Schau, C. G. (1991). Mentoring in graduate schools of education:
Mentee’s perceptions. Journal of Experimental Education, 56, 165–179.
Wright, K. S. (1992). From the odyssey to the university: What is this thing called
mentoring? ACA Bulletin, 79, 45–53.
Zey, M. G. (1984). The mentor connection. Homewood, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin.
4 Educating Educators
for Virtual Schooling
Communicating Roles and Responsibilities
Chad Harms, Dale S. Niederhauser, Niki E.
Davis, M. D. Roblyer and Stephen B. Gilbert

INTRODUCTION

New forms of electronic media have been used to create virtual learning
experiences in K–12 schools across the U.S. The virtual schooling (VS)
movement, in which K–12 courses and activities are offered mostly or com-
pletely through distance technologies, is expanding rapidly (Clark, 2001;
Roblyer, 2003; Setzer, Lewis, & Green, 2005; Zucker & Kozma, 2003).
A recently released report on virtual schooling from the National Center
for Education Statistics (Setzer, Lewis, & Greene, 2005) indicated that
about one-third of public school districts in the U.S. had students enrolled
in distance education courses during the 2002–2003 school year. Wood
(2005) reported that about 300,000 students participated in online educa-
tion during this time period. It seems likely that participation in VS will
grow exponentially during the next decade. (Editorial note: Annual reports
by Watson et al. have continued to update statistics on this rapid growth
including Watson, Gemin. and Ryan 2008).
The purpose of this article is to delineate some of the communication
theories that can inform the instructional roles that appear essential in cre-
ating a successful VS system. We provide a unique lens for examining VS
practice and open a dialogue about how relevant communication theories
can inform development and pedagogy in VS contexts. Hopefully, this ini-
tial vision will help guide the design and implementation of instructional
activities and prepare educators to effectively participate in such a system.
Dialogue and research around these theoretical models will be necessary—
particularly given the lack of a central framework to guide research in dis-
tance education (Gunawardena & McIsaac, 2004).
Further, there are a host of critical issues surrounding educational uses
of social software in VS environments. Addressing these at an appropri-
ate level of detail and sophistication goes well beyond the scope of this
article. Readers are encouraged to seek this literature out (e.g., Ermann &
Shauf, 2003; Gibson, 2003; Goodfellow, 2004) and are cautioned that the
models, methods, and tools presented here should never be used without
a thorough examination of essential sociocultural writings. Discussion of
 Educating Educators for Virtual Schooling 71
these issues before engaging in VS is essential to understanding the barriers,
constraints, and pressures each individual involved in VS experiences and
deserves consideration.
Changes to the roles of college teachers due to VS have already been
noted in this journal (Berge, 1999) and elsewhere (e.g., Lynch, 2002; Palloff
& Platt, 1999)—and we foresee a similar shift in the roles and responsibili-
ties of educators at the K–12 level. With an increasing demand for virtual
courses at the high school level, and K–12 activities that promote connect-
ing students who are geographically separated to share ideas and work
on projects, there will be an increasing need for teachers, designers, and
facilitators who understand the communication demands of VS and can
incorporate these new instructional media into their teaching. Research on
K–12 virtual schooling suggests that a VS teacher should be complemented
with a local facilitator and, better still, guidance from each student’s home-
room teachers (Aronson & Timms, 2003; Davis, Niederhauser, Compton,
& Lindstrom, 2005; National Education Association, n.d.). Yet many who
fi ll these roles are people whom Alan November (2001) refers to as digital
immigrants—those who were not born into a digital world (as were many of
our students), but have had to adapt to the dramatic technological changes
that have occurred during the past 30 years. A significant challenge for this
group has been adjusting to new forms of popular communication such
as e-mail, newsgroups, discussion boards, instant messaging, text messag-
ing, and an array of other emerging communication technologies. The vast
majority of VS students are native to the digital world and communicating
through these media is an everyday occurrence
Just as today’s VS student differs in fundamental ways from students
who participated in correspondence courses 20 years ago, virtual teachers
are also unique in many ways. Wood (2005) quotes Blomeyer’s observation
that “[There is a] persistent opinion that people who have never taught in
this medium can jump in and teach a class . . . A good classroom teacher
is not necessarily a good online teacher” (p. 36). (Editor’s note: Davis and
Rose [2007] document such misconceptions and further research is emerg-
ing on this point, including a special issue n the 2009 Journal of Technol-
ogy and Teacher Education edited by Davis and Ferdig). Although required
competencies for effective virtual teachers are often supported only by anec-
dotal evidence, there is widespread agreement on many apparently requisite
skills. Roblyer and McKenzie (2000) found that many of the factors that
contribute to the success of an online instructor are similar to those iden-
tified for any successful instructor: good communication and classroom
organization skills. Effectively communicating through currently available
ubiquitous communication tools is critical to the success of the VS teacher.
In addition to these pedagogical issues, it appears the online instruc-
tor’s role requires a paradigm shift in perceptions of instructional time
and place, virtual management techniques, and ways of engaging students
through virtual communications (Easton, 2003). VS teachers must explore
72 Chad Harms, et al.
ways that time and place issues in the VS environment enable and con-
strain their own pedagogical practices (e.g., the ability to work from any
Internet-connected computer, the ability—and perceived responsibility—to
communicate with students at all hours of the day and night, opportunities
to connect students in local classrooms with students around the world).
Further, VS teachers need awareness of opportunities and limitations that
VS communication tools present to their students. Classroom management
issues and effective communication strategies present unique challenges
when teachers never meet their students in person and may be separated
from them by thousands of miles. Designing and implementing VS systems
fi rmly grounded in communication theory are essential for future success
of the VS movement.

A VS SYSTEM

VS schooling systems are very different from former “teacher in front of the
classroom” educational models. Typical communication patterns in traditional
classrooms involved teachers presenting information to the class, teachers ask-
ing questions of students to test their knowledge, students asking questions
of the teacher for clarification, and, occasionally, students engaging in small
group discussions. Widespread use of VS signals a change in the structure
of K–12 schooling whereby students interact with others (teachers, peers,
experts, etc.) through a wide range of communication technologies. The stu-
dent population is physically distributed and likely to be more heterogeneous.
Resources to support learning have already developed into multimodal texts
(Kress, 2004), a wide range of equipment, and most recently digital technolo-
gies. However, much of the local infrastructure remains intact and the VS
teacher continues to be responsible for designing the context, initiating activi-
ties, establishing and facilitating communication, and assessment. The heart
of the education system continues to be the teacher-student relationship. VS
participants constitute a bona fide group with its boundaries and context as
key elements of its function and existence (Putnam & Stohl, 1990).
Multiple complementary roles are essential in a VS system. With respect
to academic matters, these roles include instructional designers who create
instructional activities and materials, facilitators who enable and support
students locally, and teachers who take on responsibilities including teach-
ing, facilitating, monitoring, evaluating student learning, and coordinating
the overall VS experience. Of course, there is considerable overlap in these
roles and, in some situations, individuals may take on multiple roles. Figure
4.1 provides a schematic diagram of one common approach to VS, in which
a teacher provides a course to groups of students spread across three K–12
schools (one local and two remote). Course content and resources were
produced by a designer (D), who may continue to work with the teacher.
An instructional technology support person (IT) ensures the teacher has
 Educating Educators for Virtual Schooling 73
adequate access to technological resources and that hardware, software,
and network systems function properly. The administrator (A) at the host
school supports the teacher in many ways, including allocation of necessary
resources, logistical coordination within and across VS sites, and leader-
ship in initiating and maintaining the system.
Facilitators (F) assume key roles at remote sites. The facilitator role may
be filled by a classroom teacher, guidance counselor, aide hired specifically
for the purpose, some other individual in the school, or some combination of
these individuals. Students (S) rely on on-site facilitators to provide informa-
tion about VS possibilities, instructional support when taking VS courses,
coordination of VS facilities, and access to VS resources. Facilitators interact
with parents (P) and coordinate the efforts of their school’s IT specialists and
administrators to ensure provision of adequate support and services.
Within the instructional VS context, communication is essential for suc-
cess. Of particular interest is the technology-mediated communication that
occurs between and among teachers and students in the VS “classroom.”
The remainder of this chapter will address the use of communication theo-
ries to inform instructional practice in VS communities.

Figure 4.1 Roles in a typical VS course. By Stephen B. Gilbert.

74 Chad Harms, et al.
COMMUNICATION THEORIES AND VS PRACTICES

The application of communication theories to ground VS instructional prac-

tices addresses a central difference between traditional and VS schooling—
the nature of communication between teachers and their K–12 students.
Though many scholars might agree with a cues-fi ltered-out perspective of
mediated social interaction (Kiesler, Siegel, & McGuire, 1984), we propose
that effective interaction occurs through various technology-mediated for-
mats. As Walther (1996) suggested, though the exchange may be impeded
on different levels, the potential for rich meaningful interaction is present
when at least two people can communicate. The way in which commu-
nication is encoded is a fundamental concept in VS, as communication
between the teacher and the student is not simply the transfer of curricular
information (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 1999). In a VS setting, partici-
pants must use multiple channels and often have to work harder to achieve
the level of social interaction that is taken for granted in the traditional
K–12 school setting. Mediation of the communication through technology
decreases cues, both verbal and especially nonverbal. It reduces proxemic
cues, obscures facial expression and gestures, and eliminates haptics (cues
based on touch). Paralanguage—the pitch, volume, and variation of the
voice—may play a greater part than ever in controlling interaction and
developing relational messages, or it may be absent entirely. Face-to-face
communication is often the benchmark used for comparison (Gunawar-
dena, 1995), but as will be discussed later, quality of communication
depends on a range of factors.
Our theoretical perspectives start with the medium, before moving to the
more central aspect of social interaction. The impact of various forms of
media is best formulated in media richness theory. Media richness has been
defi ned as the “ability of a communication channel to handle information
or convey meaning contained in a message” (O’Hair, Friedrich, & Shaver,
1998, p. 60). Media richness theory suggests that the more cues afforded
to a user by a medium, the richer the medium. Specifically, richness, and
its inverse, leanness, are determined by four dimensions: (1) availability of
instant feedback, (2) the use of multiple cues, (3) the use of natural lan-
guage, and (4) personal focus (Daft & Lengel, 1984). Natural language
includes verbal and nonverbal cues as well as the communication context
(Rice, 1993).
Rich media such as face-to-face communication or videoconferencing
are most effectively used for complex or ambiguous tasks. Lean media, such
as a statistical report or memo, are effective for simple unambiguous tasks.
Such designations comply with Bruner’s (1966) third aspect of instruction
that material should be presented in the most effective sequences. Further,
Rice (1993) found that as individuals interacted, they chose specific media
to accomplish specific tasks. Time and efficiency acted as primary factors
for determining which medium individuals used at any given time.
 Educating Educators for Virtual Schooling 75
In one example of VS, two teachers, one in the Midwest and another
on the West Coast, used e-mail and chat to have their fi fth-grade students
engage in virtual literature circles. Teachers found some tasks were better
addressed through synchronous media (e.g., using chat to quickly decide on
which books to read), while other tasks (e.g., actually discussing the books)
were more effectively accomplished through asynchronous e-mail, because
students could spend time off-line preparing carefully thought-out and con-
structed responses more clearly representing their feelings, thoughts, and
ideas (Lindstrom, 2003). As seen in the example, multiple media formats
were used to accomplish a number of interrelated communication tasks effi-
ciently. As more children are exposed to various levels of mediated social
interaction, more critical assessments of the social software they are using
and its affect on interactions are warranted.
Media richness issues are apparent in the implementation of many
aspects of VS instruction. For example, in a physiology and anatomy course
designed for Iowa Learning Online (see Davis, Niederhauser, Compton, &
Lindstrom, 2005), the teacher used videoconferencing technology to hold
office hours for student presentations. This allowed the teacher to provide
instant feedback to students on whatever questions and concerns students
might have—a highly ambiguous task. Further, access to the multiple visual
and audio cues available through videoconferencing allowed both teachers
and students to communicate ideas and feelings more effectively. Students
typically handed in (relatively unambiguous) written assignments by simply
uploading fi les, but used videoconferencing to present (more ambiguous)
group and individual projects to teachers and peers. Students and teach-
ers also used asynchronous communication tools available in WebCT (e.g.,
e-mail and discussion boards) to address content and assessment tasks. This
allowed the use of natural language, including the acronyms and shorthand
prevalent in text-based interactions such as text messaging and other forms
of digital textual communication, as well as the use of emoticons to express
feelings graphically. Through these activities teachers and students built
personal relationships by using effective tools to meet the communication
needs of participants.
The social interaction accomplished across a medium is done so through
communication, which necessitates an understanding of basic dimen-
sions of communication in mediated form. A theory that works toward
that understanding is the Theory of Social Presence (Short, Williams, &
Christie, 1976). Central to this theory is the idea that different media allow
individuals to have greater or lesser social presence during mediated inter-
actions. They defi ned social presence as “The degree of salience of the other
person in the interaction and the consequent salience of the interpersonal
relationships” (Short, Williams & Christie, 1976, p. 65). Though this defi-
nition suggests a user-based perceptual construction of the other and of the
mutual relationship, Short and colleagues were interested in measuring var-
ious media to determine their capacity to allow social presence to occur.
76 Chad Harms, et al.
Distance education scholars have both utilized their (Short et al., 1976)
semantic differential scales in a longitudinal study to measure “intimacy”
of the medium (Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997) as well as developed unique
measures dimensionalizing social presence as social context, online com-
munication, and interactivity (Tu & McIsaac, 2002). According to the vari-
ous assessment of social presence, the users’ academic experiences were
heightened through increased perceptions of social presence.
In addition, alternative defi nitions of social presence include “the degree
to which a person is perceived as a ‘real person’ in mediated communica-
tion” (Gunawardena, 1995, p. 151) and “ . . . ability of participants . . . [in
a community of inquiry] . . . to project their personal characteristics into
the community, thereby presenting themselves to the other participants as
‘real people’ ” (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000, p. 4). Here they are
discussing the communication context created through familiarity, skills,
motivation, organizational commitment, activities, and length of time as
opposed to the medium carrying the message. It is the “project[ion] of per-
sonal characteristics” that seems vague as they distinguish what are “real
people.” The receiver’s ability to process and acknowledge understanding
of those characteristics differs from the medium effectiveness for support-
ing social presence. Of primary importance to Garrison et al. was the capa-
bility for individuals to share information.
Contemporary views and past defi nitions of social presence were sum-
marized by Biocca, Harms, and Burgoon (2003):

Mediated social presence is the degree to which a user of a communica-

tion technology feels that another human being or intelligence is acces-
sible and co-present via medium. The sense of social presence can vary
within and across media technologies from the simple sense that a user
is aware that “some body” is present via a mediated space, or that they
are mutually aware of their mediated co-presence, to a sense that the
mediated representation of the other enables some level of access to the
other’s attentional, cognitive, or affective states. (p. 334)

The defi nition makes clear social presence is not a property of the
medium but of the individual or individuals. It is necessary to distinguish
this because it is the individuals’ connection to others (i.e., their perceiv-
able interaction or relationship) that can culminate in potentially mutual
interdependence and knowledge sharing. The medium’s affordances,
though important in the mediation of it, are not the social phenomenon
itself. The relational connection between individuals does not necessitate
variation simply because the interaction occurs via text messaging rather
than phone or face-to-face. However, the perceptual quality varies depend-
ing on requirements or predispositions of participating individuals. There-
fore, investing time and effort to refi ne form and function of information
exchange within a particular context is valuable.
 Educating Educators for Virtual Schooling 77
Mediated communication presents a complex matrix of confounding
dimensions (Harms, 2005). Social presence was originally formulated as a
uni-dimensional concept, but recent investigation into its use and scholar-
ship has outlined six specific dimensions: co-presence, attentional alloca-
tion, perceived message understanding, perceived affective understanding,
perceived affective interdependence, and perceived behavioral interdepen-
dence (see Table 4.1) (Harms, 2004). When detailing these dimensions, the
terms “observer,” “user,” “other,” and “interactant” may be interchanged
as is typical with the terms “sender” and “receiver.” The distinction depends
on the side of the exchange.
Co-presence is the degree to which the observer believes she/he is not
alone and secluded, her/his level of peripheral or focal awareness of the
other, and her/his sense of the degree to which the other is peripherally or
focally aware of them. Co-presence is often mistakenly used interchange-
ably with social presence in the literature. Co-presence is necessary but not
sufficient for defining social presence. It is different from the other dimen-
sions in that it is hierarchical. Co-presence must occur for the other dimen-
sions to be obtained. In mediated interactions, co-presence can vary in its
indication. In videoconferencing formats, the image of the other assures the
existence of the other. Audio-only formats are enriched when interactants
provide positive back-channeling such as “yeah,” “um,” and “uh-huh.” Text
responses in instant messaging interaction do the same. Avatars, digital

Table 4.1 The Six Dimensions of Social Presence Dimension

Dimension Definition

Co-presence This construct serves to distinguish a user’s sense of

being alone compared to being aware of an existing
interactant’s agency. The capacity of interaction is
determined by perceived reciprocal awareness.
Attentional Allocation This construct addresses the amount of attention the
user allocates to and receives from an interactant.
Perceived Message Under- The ability of the user to understand the message being
standing received from the interactant as well as her/his percep-
tion of the interactant’s level of message understand-
ing.
Perceived Affective Under- The user’s ability to understand the interactant’s emo-
standing tional and attitudinal states as well as her/his percep-
tions of the interactant’s ability to understand the
user’s emotional and attitudinal states.
Perceived Affective Interde- The extent to which a user’s emotional and attitudinal
pendence states affect and are affected by the emotional and
attitudinal states of the interactant.
Perceived Behavioral Inter- The extent to which a user’s behavior affects and is
dependence affected by the interactant’s behavior.
78 Chad Harms, et al.
representations of an individual, can also provide a sense of co-presence by
their observable existence, orientation, and proxemic behavior.
Attentional allocation addresses the amount of attention the user allo-
cates to and receives from an interactant. This dimension changes dramati-
cally between a dyadic interaction and that of a small group. From the
teacher’s perspective she/he may be attending to each and every student.
But any student may feel they are being focused upon, overlooked, or dis-
regarded depending not only on their perspective but also on a variety of
other factors including their propensity toward high or low self-esteem,
intrapersonal noise, or any number of other distracters. Once again, the
media format can greatly affect this interpretation. Another important con-
sideration is the synchrony of the medium, or lack of it. Attentional alloca-
tion may be complimented, compromised, or inconsequential depending on
whether a synchronous or asynchronous medium is employed.
The third dimension, perceived message understanding, is the ability of the
user to understand the message being received from the interactant as well
as their perception of the interactant’s level of message understanding. Aside
from the various types of noise that can hamper message transmission on the
receiver’s side, there are constraints such as media literacy, experience, capac-
ity for listening, and others that must be accounted for in computer-mediated
communication (Paulsen, 1995). Here properly encoding messages is critical.
Strength can be added to reassure success by incorporating queries, supple-
menting messages with examples, and other supportive techniques. Lack of
familiarity with cultural and social subgroups interacting together, dialects
and accents, as well as slang and group-specific terminology, can impede
understanding. One particular example of this is the increasing use of acro-
nyms and shorthand prevalent in text-based interactions. Many parents and
teachers find what passes as conversation between kids to be indecipherable
(e.g., “omg” . . . “kewl” . . . “lmao”).
Understanding is not restricted to messages being exchanged in the text
or verbal forms. Perceived affective understanding is the user’s ability to
understand an interactant’s emotional and attitudinal states as well as their
perception of the interactant’s ability to understand the user’s emotional
and attitudinal states. As has been said many times, “it’s not what you said,
but how you said it.” This distinction is equally important on both sides of
the virtual desk. A teacher needs to catch the frustration and uncertainty in
a struggling student’s voice. A student is advantaged by detecting the subtle
bias toward one issue versus another when a teacher delineates certain top-
ics. This is empathy. It is the emotional connection between two human
beings to the point that they can interpret each other’s state. Here, more
than anywhere, it is important to have an understanding of various socio-
economic issues and how things such as gender, race, and economic status
can impact the individuals, their relationships, and even aspects of the VS
experience. When one’s attitude or emotional state changes the other’s atti-
tude or emotional response, we might refer to that as emotional contagion
or perceived affective interdependence.
 Educating Educators for Virtual Schooling 79
Perceived affective interdependence is the extent to which the user’s emo-
tional and attitudinal state affects and is affected by the emotional and
attitudinal states of the interactant. In a classroom, emotion can inspire
behavior and it can solidify purpose. Any number of examples can repre-
sent how teachers affect students, how students affect each other, and how
they all change the world. To assume that teaching will be the same in the
traditional setting as it is in VS is shortsighted. As mentioned earlier, each
of the aspects taken for granted in face-to-face situations must be consid-
ered in preparing for the mediated interactions.
The fi nal and perhaps most important dimension is perceived behavioral
interdependence, defi ned as the extent to which a user’s behavior affects
and is affected by the interactant’s behavior. At its simplest point, behav-
ioral interdependence has its greatest influence when students learn from
each other and group work is predicated on behavioral interdependence.
Well-recognized strategies have been developed to create online communi-
ties (e.g., Lynch, 2002). A sense of community provides multiple benefits
to the student including support, a sense of cohesion, and interdependence.
Mutual interdependence is essential toward establishing a learning com-
munity (Palloff & Platt, 1999). What one person says influences what the
next says—so goes the irreversible process that is communication. One last
distinction should be made regarding the use of the word “perceived” for
the last four dimensions. Each of these dimensions can vary between inter-
actions and interactants, and it is the perception of each individual that is
important to consider when designing for and engaging in VS.

TECHNOLOGY-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION
IN THREE INSTRUCTIONAL VS ROLES

Three central roles have direct impact on how the aforementioned com-
munication theories get integrated into VS practices: designer, teacher, and
facilitator. Individuals who fi ll each of these roles have many opportunities
to integrate theory with practice, but must fi rst be aware of them and have
some insight into how they can be carried out in practice. Individuals ben-
efit from both understanding the roles and the interdependence between
them. Providing educators with this information will assist in creating
accurate expectations, reducing turnover, and increasing performance and
satisfaction (Wanous, 1980). Some of the ways that communication theory
can inform VS instructional practices are addressed next.

Designer
Two essential aspects of the design of an online course are structural sup-
port and instructional strategies (Erlbaum, McIntyre, & Smith, 2002).
Structural support includes issues like creating a course schedule with
clear deadlines, planning for ongoing quality assurance, ensuring support
80 Chad Harms, et al.
from administration, and providing for technical support. Designers also
address ways to create a learning environment that ensures students focus
on content, establish a learning community, develop a balanced mixture of
individual and group learning activities, build in appropriate pacing, and
provide for ease of access.
A VS course designer can introduce several elements into an online
course to address Social Presence Theory issues. For example, some course
designers provide opportunities for teachers and students to create personal
Web pages that allow participants to get to know one another on a more
personal level. Further, the use of previously mentioned avatars, or other
evidence of presence in the online environment, can promote co-presence by
providing an easily identifiable presence while engaging in online activities
and discussions. Designers can enhance attentional allocation by creating
an engaging VS environment. Providing a variety of interactive activities
for student learning can increase student participation and motivation.
VS designers can also promote perceived message understanding, affec-
tive understanding, and affective interdependence. Providing multiple com-
munication channels in the course context (e-mail, videoconferencing, chat,
etc.) offers students many opportunities to ask questions and receive and
provide clarification of discussions and assignments. Designers can also
include other structural components including informational overviews to
introduce course activities, clear and explicit instructions for assignments,
and online help. Affective factors are addressed through the use of a variety
of communication options including online discussions, videoconferenc-
ing, and face-to-face meetings with guidance on etiquette and expecta-
tions (Lynch, 2002). These options address the co-presence considerations
addressed in the previous paragraph and the use of acronyms, shorthand,
and emoticons described earlier. Finally, longitudinal asynchronous com-
munication media (e.g., discussion boards) provide outstanding opportuni-
ties to address perceived behavioral interdependence.

Teacher
Essential elements for teaching an online course are: to provide a com-
prehensive set of informational materials; to facilitate discussion in a way
that keeps students on task, to manage student communication (Adria &
Woudstra, 2001), and to promote full participation. Full participation
includes encouraging peer collaboration, engaging with students without
over-engaging, and assessing student work and providing feedback (Erl-
baum, McIntyre, & Smith, 2002; Lynch, 2002).
Teachers also have opportunities to develop co-presence in their VS class-
rooms. Conscientiously using activities that encourage students to get to
know each other (especially early in the course) is important in any course
but essential in a VS environment. Teachers can also model back-channeling
in videoconferencing and chat sessions. Creating a supportive and interactive
 Educating Educators for Virtual Schooling 81
environment with mutual support and respect can provide a welcoming
environment and enhance attentional allocation. Active teacher involvement
in monitoring and engaging in student discussions, clarifying instructions,
and providing multiple opportunities for interaction through various media
can alleviate concerns about perceived message understanding.
Perceived message understanding, affective understanding, and affective
interdependence are also under the purview of the VS teacher. Teachers can
be a part of the learning community, share their personal experiences and
feelings, and encourage students to do the same. Building a caring VS envi-
ronment is grounded in effective communication among all participants.

Facilitator
Facilitators support VS students in their local K–12 school contexts.
Responsibilities include getting to know individual students to advise in
the selection of VS classes that address individual learning needs. Further,
a facilitator in a VS setting may serve as a coach to prepare students for VS,
including the development of organizational and other study skills neces-
sary to be successful online learners. Finally, facilitators mediate between
the VS teacher and the local K–12 school system, and provide a communi-
cation link for parents and guardians.
Facilitators can also promote co-presence—especially when they have
more than one student at their locale. Building community within a local
group can encourage participation and involvement and provide an ongo-
ing peer-support system. Facilitators can help students focus their attention
on course-related tasks to promote engagement and commitment to learn-
ing as they mentor and monitor student progress. They also serve as an
essential resource for students when other communication channels are not
effective. Facilitators can serve an important role by providing an immedi-
ate, personal, face-to-face communication option who can act as problem-
solver, mentor, and friend.

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Communication theory provides important insights that can inform VS

practice. Communication is clearly central to instructional interactions,
and the VS environment provides some unique affordances and challenges
that are not present in the traditional face-to-face classroom. Effective
attention to, and use of, digital communication tools is essential for the
success of VS. However, many educators are not familiar with the new
forms of digital communication that are commonplace in VS settings. The
call for manuscripts for this special issue noted that “teaching is at its root
a process of communication.” Inherent in communication technology used
by students and educators are positive and negative affordances.
82 Chad Harms, et al.
Current understandings of human learning help clarify the ways that
technology can enhance education. The most relevant aspects are that teach-
ers can use communication media to give more feedback, introduce curri-
cula based on real-world problems, and build local and global communities
that include students and teachers (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 1999)
while not being restricted by time and space. How those communities fit
together in the vastness of cyberspace is still to be determined (Rheingold,
1993). Bransford and his colleagues refer to it as social glue; it is that bond
between individuals striving toward a common goal. This discussion would
not be complete without mentioning the constructionism perspective. The
rich theoretical literature of both cognitive and social constructionism can
provide important insight into the experiences of the students. Research
into VS will benefit from both micro and macro levels of evaluation. Just as
VS and the use of the Internet may provide K–12 students with unique and
perhaps enriched educational experiences, caution must also be taken.
VS scholars and practitioners will also need to be conscious and proac-
tive with regard to the negative behaviors increasingly afforded by tech-
nologically based education and predatory dangers of online interaction.
The Internet provides students with innumerable opportunities as well
as distractions. Class time spent playing online games, socially network-
ing on such sites as MySpace.com, and chatting via instant-messaging
systems rather than attending to lessons have begun to plague teachers’
efforts to provide engaging educational experiences. Cheating and plagia-
rism are compounded by wireless devices and powerful search engines.
Cyber-bullying and fl aming behaviors can have powerful reverberations
in adolescent students learning the power of words. In addition, access
to pornography and drugs has grown with the Internet. The additional
role of safety monitor and the inclusion of precautionary messages into
instruction results in greater demands on the teacher. Predatory dangers
can include frauds and scams, information and identity theft, online
stalking and harassment, and sexual exploitation of children (Hender-
son, 2005). As mentioned earlier, the natives or individuals growing up
with the technology can easily navigate the vastness of cyberspace, but
they must be taught about these dangers before being allowed solo fl ight.
The most important thing to teach them is that personal information
must be kept private and that once something is put out in cyberspace it
becomes out of anyone’s control with an indeterminable existence. For
children at this time, the Internet poses some very serious and very real
dangers. According to Finkelhor, Mitchell, and Wolak (2000), 1 in 5 chil-
dren received a sexual solicitation online and 1 in 33 received an aggres-
sive sexual solicitation (someone asking to meet them somewhere; called
on the phone; sent regular mail, money, or gifts). These numbers are mea-
sured in millions. VS teachers will need to consider incorporating public
service programs like the I.C.A.C. (Internet Crimes Against Children)
Netsmartz program and curriculum materials such as those promoted
 Educating Educators for Virtual Schooling 83
through the iSAFE Web site. Discussions of acceptable behavior will be
necessary in the absence of established norms.
The future trends of the digital divide, which Lloyd Morrisett defined as “a
discrepancy in access to technology resources among socioeconomic groups”
(Roblyer & Doering, 2010, p.426) remain pertinent. How will the progression
and distribution of VS be impacted by issues such as planning, context selec-
tion, implementation, cost effectiveness, formative evaluation, and research
methodology (Holmes & LaBoone, 2002)? Are there specific trends that will
allow a more accurate model of racial and economic constructions of inequal-
ity (Jackson, Biocca, Barbatsis, von Eye, Fitzgerald, & Zhao, et al., 2001)?
The overview of some recent communication theories and their link to
the practices of three essential VS roles provides an important milestone
in our project. In fall 2004, the Department of Education’s Fund for the
Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) awarded Iowa State
University and a consortium of teacher education programs, including the
University of Virginia, University of Florida, and Graceland University, a
grant to create a model for integrating a comprehensive VS curriculum into
preservice teacher education. The ongoing goal of the project is to develop
a better understanding of necessary skills and responsibilities for these
roles and to integrate this knowledge into preservice teacher education to
prepare effective VS teachers (Davis & Roblyer, 2005), while considering
theoretical foundations that will support the VS movement more generally.
Toward that goal, research and development of tools to assist in the edu-
cating of educators continues. To make the most of learning opportunities
enabled by technology-mediated VS systems, students, teachers, and facili-
tators must be willing to assume new and untraditional roles. The intent
is to provide insight and guidance for VS educators that will enhance the
educational experiences of VS students.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The contents of this paper were partly developed under a grant from the Fund
for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department
of Education. However, these contents do not necessarily represent policy
of the Department of Education, and no one should assume endorsement
by the federal government. We also wish to acknowledge support from all
participating organizations. Further information on the Teacher Education
Goes into Virtual Schooling project can be found at: http://projects.educ.
iastate.edu/research/projects/tegivs/homepage.html
Niki Davis led the “Teacher Education Goes into Virtual Schooling”
(TEGIVS) initiative from Iowa State University Center for Technology in
Learning and Teaching, 2005–2008, and continues to research in this area
as professor of e-learning in the University of Canterbury, Christchurch,
New Zealand.
84 Chad Harms, et al.

REFERENCES

Adria, M., & Woudstra, A. (2001). Who’s on the line? Managing student commu-
nications in distance learning using a one-window approach. Open Learning,
16(3), 249–261.
Anderson, T. (2004). Toward a theory of online learning. In T. Anderson & F.
Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and practice of online learning. Athabasca, Alberta,
Canada: Athabasca University. Retrieved March 4, 2006, from http://cde.atha-
bascau.ca/online_book/index.html
Aronson, J., & Timms, M. (2003). Net choices, net gains: Supplementing the high
school curriculum with online courses. San Francisco: WestEd.
Berge, Z. (1999). Online teaching: Purposes and methods. Electronic
Journal of Communication/La Revue Electronique de Communication, 9(1).
Retrieved September 12, 2005, from http://www.cios.org/getfi le/Berge_v9n199
Biocca, F., Harms, C., & Burgoon, J. (2003). Theoretical development of the net-
worked minds measure of social presence. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual
Environments, 12(5), 456–480.
Bradley, J. (Ed.). (2003). The open classroom: Distance learning in and out of
schools (pp. 159–170). London: Kogan Page.
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (1999). How people learn:
Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Bruner, J. (1966). Toward a theory of instruction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Uni-
versity Press.
Clark, T. (2001). Virtual schools: Trends and issues. A study of virtual schools in
the United States. Retrieved September 12, 2005, from http://www.wested.org/
online_pubs/virtualschools.pdf
Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H. (1984). Information richness: A new approach to
managerial behavior and organization design. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Davis, N. E., & Ferdig, R. (2009, in press). Editorial: What is special about teacher
education for Virtual Schooling? Journal of Technology and Teacher Educa-
tion, 17(4), 203–214.
Davis, N. E., Niederhauser, D. S., Compton, L., & Lindstrom, D. (2005). Good
practice to inform Iowa Learning Online: Considerations for developing online
instruction and virtual laboratory activities. Retrieved September 12, 2005,
from http://projects.educ.iastate.edu:16080/%7Evhs/consider.htm
Davis, N. E., & Roblyer, M. D. (2005). Preparing teachers for the “schools that
technology built”: Evaluation of a program to train teachers for virtual school-
ing. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 37(4), 399–408.
Davis, N. E. & Rose, R. (2007). Professional development for virtual schooling
and online learning. Vienna, VA: iNACOL. http://www.inacol.org
Easton, S. (2003). Clarifying the instructor’s role in online distance learning. Com-
munication Education, 52(2), 87–105.
Erlbaum, B., McIntyre, C., & Smith A. (2002). Essential elements: Prepare,
design, and teach your online course. Madison, WI: Atwood Publishing.
Ermann, M. D., & Shauf, M. S. (Eds.). (2003). Computers, ethics and society (3rd
ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Finkelhor, D., Mitchell, K. J., & Wolak, J. (2000). Online victimization: A report
on the nation’s youth. Alexandria, Virginia: National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children. Retrieved March 13, 2006, from http://www.missingkids.
com/en_US/publications/NC62.pdf
Garrison, D.R., Anderson, T. & Archer, W. (2000). Critical Thinking in a text-
based environment. Computer conferencing in higher education. Internet and
Higher Education, 11(2), 1–14.
 Educating Educators for Virtual Schooling 85
Gibson, S. B. (2003). Pedagogy and hypertext. In L. Strate, R. L. Jacobson, & S. B.
Gibson (Eds.), Communication and cyberspace: Social interaction in an elec-
tronic environment (2nd ed., pp. 277–293). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Goodfellow, R. (2004). Online literacies and learning: Operational, cultural and
critical dimensions. Language and Education, 18(5), 379–399.
Gunawardena, C.N. (1985). Social Presence Theory and implications for interac-
tion and collaborative learning in computer conferences. International Journal
of Educational Telecommunications, 147–166.
Gunawardena, C. N., & McIsaac, M. S. (2004). Distance education. In D. H. Jonas-
sen (Ed.), Handbook of research in educational communications and technol-
ogy (2nd ed., pp. 355–395). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Gunawardena, C. N., & Zittle, F. (1997). Social presences as a predictor of satis-
faction within a computer-mediated conferencing environment. American Jour-
nal of Distance Education, 11, 8–26.
Harms, C. M. (2004) The effects of media type and personal relationship on per-
ceptions of social presence. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Michigan State
University, East Lansing.
Harms, C. M. (2005). Analysis of mediated social interactions: A matrix of meth-
odological confounds. Proceedings of the 2005 Human Computer Interaction
International Conference, Mahwah, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. .
Henderson, H. (2005). Internet predators. New York: Facts On File, Inc.
Holmes, G., & LaBoone, E. (2002). The importance of culture when creating
audio-enhanced, Web-based instruction. TechTrends, 46(2), 55–61.
Jackson, L. A., Biocca, F. A., Barbatsis, G., von Eye, A., Fitzgerald, H. E., Zhao,
Y., et al. (2001). HomeNetToo: Motivational, affective and cognitive factors
and Internet use: A model to explain the racial digital divide and the Internet
paradox. Proceedings of the 10th International World Wide Web Conference,
Hong Kong, May 1–5.
Kiesler, S., Siegel, J., & McGuire, T. W. (1984). Social psychological aspects of com-
puter-mediated communication. American Psychologist, 39(10), 1123–1134.
Kress, G. (2004). Learning a semiotic view in the context of digital technologies. In
A. Brown and N. E. Davis (Eds.), World yearbook of education 2004: Digital
technology, communities and education. New York: Routledge.
Lindstrom, D. L. (2003). Connected schools: Student reading motivation and
computer mediated communication. Unpublished master’s thesis, Iowa State
University, Ames.
Lynch, M. M. (2002). The online educator: A guide to creating the virtual class-
room. New York: Routledge Falmer.
National Education Association. (n.d.). Guide to online high school courses. Wash-
ington, DC: National Education Association. Retrieved September 12, 2005,
from http://www.nea.org/technology/onlinecourseguide.html
November, A. (2001). Empowering students with technology. Glenville, IL: Sky-
light.
O’Hair, D., Friedrich, G. W., & Shaver, L. D. (1998). Strategic communication in
business and the professions. Boston: Houghton Miffl in.
Paulsen, M. F. (1995). Overview of CMC and the online classroom. In Z. L. Berge
& M. P. Collins (Eds.), Computer mediated communication and the online class-
room: Distance learning (Vol. 3, pp. 31–57). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Palloff, R. M., & Platt, K. (1999). Building learning communities in Cyberspace:
Effective strategies or the online classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Putnam, L. L., & Stohl, C. (1990). Bona fide groups: A reconceptualization of
groups in context. Communication Studies, 41, 248–265.
Rheingold, H. (1993). The virtual community: Homesteading on the electronic
frontier. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
86 Chad Harms, et al.
Rice, R. E. (1993). Media appropriateness: Using social presence theory to compare
traditional and new organizational media. Human Communication Research,
19(4), 451–484.
Roblyer, M. D. & Doering, A. (2010). Integrating educational technology into
teaching. (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Allyn & Bacon.
Roblyer, M. D. (2003). Virtual high schools in the United States: Current views,
future visions. In J. Bradley (Ed.), The open classroom: Distance learning in
and out of schools (pp. 159–170). London: Kogan Page.
Roblyer, M. D., & McKenzie, B. (2000). Distant but not out-of-touch: What makes
an effective distance learning instructor? Learning and Leading with Technol-
ogy, 27(6), 50–53.
Setzer, J. C., Lewis, L., & Green, B. (2005). Distance education courses for public
elementary and secondary school students: 2002–2003. Retrieved September
12, 2005, from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005010
Short, J., Williams, E., & Christie, B (1976). The social psychology of telecommu-
nications. London: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Tu, C. H., McIsaac, M.S. (2002). An examination of social presence to increase
interaction in online classes. American Journal of Distance Educating 16(2),
131–150.
Wanous, J. P. (1980). Organizational entry: Recruitment, selection and socializa-
tion of newcomers. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Walther, J. B. (1996). Computer-mediated communication: Impersonal, interper-
sonal, and hyperpersonal interaction. Communication Research, 23, 3–43.
Watson, J., Gemin, B., & Ryan, J. (2008). Keeping pace with K–12 online learning:
A review of state-level policy and practice. Retrieved December 1, 2008, from:
http://www.kpk12.com/downloads/KeepingPace_2008.pdf
Wood, C. (2005). Highschool.com. Edutopia, 1(4), 32–37.
Zucker, A., & Kozma, R. (2003). The virtual high school: Teaching generation V.
New York: Teachers College Press.
Part III

Media-Rich Environments
Building Stronger Connections

In this section, the chapters emphasize the essentialness of sensorially or

spatially realistic media portrayals that facilitate perceptions of “traveling”
to a place where communication can occur. These objectives are consistent
with the spatial telepresence conceptualizations of “presence as transporta-
tion” and “presence as realism” and the “richness” of multisensory cues in
Media Richness Theory (Daft & Lengel, 1984). The chapters draw largely
on the cognitive constructivist framework, which emphasizes the signifi-
cance of the learner’s psychological engagement in the subject matter for
cognitive and affective performance. Through synchronous and asynchro-
nous video lectures, interactive media mapping systems and mobile phone–
based blogs, students, teachers and industry representatives are transported
in time and space to virtual communication that sometimes seems as “real”
as face-to-face.
Chapter 5, “A New Lens for Learning in the Communications Field:
The Effectiveness of Video Lectures with Asynchronous, Synchronous Dis-
cussions in Online/Distance Education,” by Amy S. Weiss, discusses the
impact on student engagement in distance education of video lecture com-
bined with asynchronous versus synchronous chat.
Chapter 6, “A New Educational Technology for Media and Commu-
nication Studies: Mapping Media in Australia and Sweden,” by Christina
Spurgeon, Christy Collis, Marcus Foth, and Pernilla Severson, explores
how new media can help students “find their way” in new environments
transformed by the effects of information and communication technolo-
gies. This chapter presents experiences in the interactive design, develop-
ment and ongoing usage of an interactive educational system called “Media
Maps” and how these differ across experiences in Australia and Sweden.
Media maps offer a way to create a media-rich environment for students to
connect with industry environments.
Chapter 7, “Not Your Father’s Educational Technology: A Case Study in
Mobile Media and Journalism Education,” by Susan Jacobson and Karen
Turner, investigates how journalism educators might incorporate the capa-
bilities of early 20th-century mobile phones as an instructional tool. Specif-
ically, the authors discuss both the limitations and possibilities these digital
88 Part III
devices bring to helping future journalists gather information from both
interviews and images, and then develop a news story shared through a col-
laborative blog. They point out the pervasiveness of cell phones for young
people, thus allowing educators to take advantage of a tool easily accessible
by students for learning and one that is “rich” in audio, video, text, and
Web access anywhere/anytime.
5 A New Lens for Learning in the
Communications Field
The Effectiveness of Video Lectures with
Asynchronous, Synchronous Discussion in
Online/Distance Education
Amy Schmitz Weiss

INTRODUCTION

Today’s education landscape has gone beyond the traditional brick-and-

mortar institution to the world of online and distance education. As of
the fall of 2007, 3.94 million students took at least one online course
according to an online survey of chief academic officers of higher edu-
cation institutions by the Sloan Consortium (Allen & Seaman, 2008,
p. 5). The survey results also showed enrollment in at least one online
course among students has experienced a compound annual growth rate
of 19.7% since 2002 (Allen & Seaman, 2008, p. 5). This increase is the
largest the organization has ever recorded since they began their reports
in 2002. This growth is documented by other organizations as well. The
National Center for Education Statistics of postsecondary institutions,
from 2006–2007, stated 66% offered some form of distance education
(National Center of Education Statistics, 2008). It can be said that there
is a strong dedication now for online and distance education. Among
higher education institutions, 58% said they see online education as
a critical long-term strategy for their organization (Allen & Seaman,
2008, p. 11).
As the commitment to online and distance education grows, the tech-
nology being used in online course systems is advancing. Technologies
such as audio, video, PowerPoint presentations, and animated pedagogi-
cal agents that once were difficult to implement into an online course
because of bandwidth or accessibility issues are now available. How-
ever, this does not mean the latest technology should be used because
it can without a purpose: “From this perspective, all that is needed to
update a training program is to add the latest ‘gee-whiz’ technology
while otherwise following more or less the same training or educational
procedures that were used before. Unfortunately, when an organization
90 Amy Schmitz Weiss
looks at distance learning systems in this way, its decisions can become
equipment-driven rather than needs- or results-driven and the outcomes
are likely to be disappointing” (Chute, Thompson, & Hancock, 1999,
p. 65).
Just offering these technologies does not lead to effective learning with-
out the communication between the teacher and student. According to
Vonderwell, “Social interaction among learners plays an important part
in the learning process and can have a significant impact on learning out-
comes” (Vonderwell, 2003, p. 78).
This social interaction can be found in online courses in a variety of
technology formats from discussion boards (asynchronous) to chat rooms
(synchronous). Discussion boards and chat rooms have become a com-
mon functionality in most online course systems such as Blackboard and
WebCT. These technologies allow the student to more readily communi-
cate and interact in the virtual environment, moving online and distance
education toward a learner-centered approach.
The learner-centered approach focuses on the student. They are con-
sidered the facilitators, the instructors and collaborators in the course.
The student becomes the central part of the learning experience: “An
emerging approach to twenty-fi rst-century learning calls for instruction
to become more learner-centered. Networked learning environments will
be able to put the learner at the center of the learning experience, that is,
connect learners to a rich and varied network of data and human infor-
mation resources in ways that make them feel they are at the center of the
network” (Chute, Thompson, & Hancock, 1999, p. 206).
In online distance education, technology needs to refl ect more how the
mind works to fit the learner-centered approach. “The premise underly-
ing the learner-centered approach is that multimedia designs that are
consistent with the way the human mind works are more effective in fos-
tering learning than those that are not” (Mayer, 2003, p. 10). This can be
achieved by providing visual and textual content in an online course that
helps the student learn and comprehend the information effectively. Sec-
ond, the online course needs to provide asynchronous and synchronous
communication opportunities to help the students apply their knowledge
and comprehension from the course. Thus, the learner-centered approach
is a perspective that needs to be investigated more among researchers and
this chapter aims to explore this combination of content type and com-
munication format in an online course.

OUTLINE OF CHAPTER

This chapter presents a few perspectives on the role of learning for the
field of communication and journalism in particular. There are three major
components to this chapter:
 A New Lens for Learning in the Communications Field 91
1. A case study of how this framework can be implemented in an online
course in the communications and journalism fields. The case study
is based on an experiment from a journalism course on the perfor-
mance effects of asynchronous and synchronous discussions after a
video and text lecture to show how the integration of technologies of
multiple media and discourse can impact the knowledge and compre-
hension of the online student.
2. Insight is given for communication and journalism scholars in explor-
ing a new lens and approach for doing experimental research with
asynchronous and synchronous communication in online and dis-
tance education.
3. A framework is provided of how to measure this phenomena using
open-source technology is provided.

CASE STUDY
Before addressing the specifics of the experiment, it’s necessary to provide
information on the theoretical framework that contributed to the learner-
centered approach used in this research.

The Debate Lives On

The growth of technologies such as audio, video, PowerPoint presentations,
etc. once were difficult to implement into an online or distance education
course because of bandwidth or accessibility issues, but this is less the case
now as platforms have become more adaptable and expandable. However,
just having the technology does not ensure that the student will learn better
than before. There has been an ongoing debate that the inclusion of tech-
nology is not effective for instruction (Clark, 1983, pp. 445–459). Kozma
argued Clark’s statement in 1991 that technology can assist in learning
if used in the right manner—where the medium and the method are inte-
grated (Kozma,1991, pp. 179–211).
The debate can be segmented into two approaches from a learner-cen-
tered and technology-centered approach (Mayer, 2003, p. 8). This tech-
nology-centered approach has failed in its long-term impact on learning
(Cuban, 1986). The approach focuses on how to use the technology because
it’s available whereas the learner-centered approach focuses on enhancing
the learning experience with technology (Mayer, 2003, pp. 8–12).
Using a learner-centered approach, online education can become more
effective when technology is integrated into the learning process. Part of
this integration can be explained by the principles of multimedia learn-
ing by Richard Mayer. Mayer defi nes multimedia as the presentation of
words and pictures (Mayer, 2003, p. 2). However, can a combination of
multimedia-based information become too much for the student to handle
cognitively?
92 Amy Schmitz Weiss
Grace-Martin (2001) argues that too much cognitive load may not be
necessarily bad as too little could be damaging (Grace-Martin, 2001, pp.
397–409). He argues that learning should be a challenge and recommends
strategies to assist with cognitive load such as having several paths for the
student to explore the information, providing external memory aides, and
use of multimodal representations such as animation and narration to help
ease cognitive load (Grace-Martin, 2001, pp. 397–409). This multimodal
representation is similar to Mayer’s approach to multimedia learning in
which it dissects multimedia into segments. Thus, the question arises: do
multiple media help or hinder the learner?

LITERATURE REVIEW

Before addressing the methodology of this study, a quick review of the lit-
erature of lecture and discussion studies is provided.

Content Format
When considering multimedia content in an online or distance education
course, video effectiveness is one of the areas that has been studied by schol-
ars. Some studies have shown no significance in learning effectiveness with
video in distance education (Russell, 2002; Smith & Ransbottom, 2000).
However, others have shown some support.
Scholars using a constructivist framework for a collaborative online
course found that when video-based instruction and text-based instruc-
tion were offered, a significant difference resulted in motivation with the
learners in the video format. They found that the learners recalled more
information from the video instruction. However, there were no significant
differences found in the areas of relevance, confidence and satisfaction as
it relates to motivation (Choi & Johnson, 2005, pp. 224–225). However,
Bolling and Robinson (1999) conducted an experiment with 115 students
that viewed a distance lecture and then were placed into one of three con-
ditions for postlecture activity of individual study, cooperative learning,
and interactive multimedia. Results showed that the cooperative learning
condition scored higher on comprehension than the other two groups, yet
student satisfaction with the course was higher with the interactive multi-
media condition (Bolling & Robinson, 1999, pp. 169–174). Thus, learning
may be enhanced when the students have an opportunity to gather together
and when interactive multimedia technologies such as video are involved.
In another set of three studies (Carrell & Menzel, 2001; Kekkonen-Mon-
eta & Moneta, 2002; Teng & Taveras, 2004/2005) results remain mixed
on the effectiveness of video lecture activity in online courses. Teng and
Taveras (2004/2005) investigated how video and asynchronous and syn-
chronous discussions help learning in distance education (Teng & Taveras,
 A New Lens for Learning in the Communications Field 93
2004/2005). However, this study focused on one case study of a hybrid
course that became online only that used video and asynchronous and syn-
chronous discussions as part of the course materials. The study did not pro-
vide any specific results of learning outcomes achieved. Carrell and Menzel
(2001) exposed students to either a live, PowerPoint or video lecture. Based
on perceived learning, the live lecture condition had the highest score and
for actual learning based on recall measures, the PowerPoint lecture had
the highest score (Carrell & Menzel, 2001, pp. 230–241). Kekkonen-Mon-
eta and Moneta (2002) exposed students to a traditional lecture course or
an online lecture course that included PowerPoint presentations and video.
They measured learning outcomes based on the scores from the midterm
and fi nal. Based on factual information, the students performed the same
in both conditions (Kekkonen-Moneta & Moneta, 2002, pp. 423–433).
For applied-conceptual information, however, the online group did poorly
on the midterm but improved on the fi nal, outperforming the traditional
lecture group (Kekkonen-Moneta & Moneta, 2002, pp. 423–433).
The authors explain the significant results because of the technologies
used. “The e-learning modules allowed the students to access an elevated
number of carefully designed graphics, animations, screencams, and vid-
eos” (Kekkonen-Moneta & Moneta, 2002, p. 432). As these studies dem-
onstrate, results remain mixed when specifically looking at the role of video
lectures, and more research is needed to determine how this format may
help or hinder the learning process.

Communication Type
In addition to multimedia of video, communication is also a key component
in learning. The format of asynchronous and synchronous communication
and its effectiveness in online and distance education courses remain a key
area of research for scholars. Asynchronous communication is not a new
concept since it has been used in computer-based and computer-conferenc-
ing technologies before (Chute, Thompson, & Hancock, 1999, p. 62).
Wang and Newlin (2001) used anecdotal evidence of actual classroom
experience from 20 online classes comprised of 25 to 30 students per class
of how they used asynchronous discussions and weekly chats. They con-
ducted a discourse analysis of student chats in the third week of the course
and based on the students’ total number and frequency of comments made,
this correlated with their final grade in class (Wang & Newlin, 2001, p. 17).
The asynchronous discussions helped the students in this particular case.
Another anecdotal study was by Gunawardena, Plass and Salisbury (2001),
in which they had an optional discussion area in the online course that
was rarely used by the students (Gunawaredena, Plass, & Salisbury, 2001,
pp. 36–43). The authors found that student satisfaction and learning in the
course could have improved if more discussion occurred. They concluded
that a discussion group should not just be posted on the site but offered to
94 Amy Schmitz Weiss
the students for a specific purpose, as a form of graded participation or a way
to build an online community among the students (Gunawaredena, Plass, &
Salisbury, 2001, p. 43). Haga (2002) proposed a system that incorporated
discussions into corresponding parts of lecture videos versus making them
separate in an online course system. He argued that his proposed system can
help students, “ . . . understand the content and background of the discus-
sion deeply, can accurately select comments that are relevant to each other,
and can easily determine the center of the participants’ interests . . . Thus,
a more effective distance learning education environment can be achieved”
(Haga, 2002, p. 128). Haga does not test his prototype in the study, but his
study provides a potential solution of how video lecture and discussion can
be offered simultaneously. In these two studies (Gunawaredena, Plass, &
Salisbury, 2001; Haga, 2002), reflective, asynchronous discourse can ben-
efit in helping the student’s learning in the online course.
Synchronous discussions have also been examined. In an article from
“THE JOURNAL,” the authors argue that online courses could benefit from
the use of chat: “The immediate responses ensure that all class participants
understand necessary information, thus making students feel connected to
the instructor and the course” (Wang & Newlin, 2001, p. 17). The authors
mention a lack of chat being used in online courses today because of the
high enrollment of students in Web-based courses that makes managing a
chat unwieldy. They also mention that instructors might assume chat is not
necessary since students have all the information they need on the course
site. They conclude learning can be experienced and revealed in the synchro-
nous versus the asynchronous discussions (Wang & Newlin, 2001, p. 17).
More recently, scholars have experimented with synchronous technologies
like Skype, in which the researcher had the students use Skype in the online
course to have chats about the course materials during the semester. Anec-
dotally, they found it helped the students understand, recall and clarify the
information in the interactions they had with each other in Skype. The study
also found anecdotally that the students were more motivated to learn in the
course as a result of using Skype in the course (Pan & Sullivan, 2005).
However, asynchronous discussions may contribute to the student’s sat-
isfaction with the online course as it relates to social presence. “One of the
advantages of asynchronous online learning that, in the view of some, helps
ameliorate the lack of face-to-face contact with teachers and fellow students is
the ability to interact with the class according to a schedule convenient to each
participant” (Newberry, 2001, p. 5). Other scholars state that asynchronous
settings are better for learning because time constraints are lifted and there
is room to reflect on the discourse. “The asynchronous environment allows
students the luxury of time for thought and reflection on material, which we
believe enhances the learning process” (Palloff & Pratt, 2001, p. 25).
In synthesis, asynchronous discussion is convenient and allows for time
to reflect before the student responds. This lag time, however, can have a
negative impact on motivation. “In the same way, the self-pacing benefit of
 A New Lens for Learning in the Communications Field 95
asynchronous learning can become a disadvantage when learners are unwill-
ing or unable to be self-motivating or self-directing or when organizational
policies or schedules limit the amount of time available for an educational or
training experience” (Chute, Thompson, & Hancock, 1999, p. 63).
Synchronous discussion is immediate and gives the opportunity for the
students to have stronger connections with the teacher and course. This
immediacy, though, can create emotional versus critical reaction or thought.
It is necessary to continue to test the effectiveness of these communication
types to see how they impact the learning.
Using Mayer’s framework, this study tests only the principles of multi-
media and temporal contiguity by looking at the effectiveness of video and
text lectures with asynchronous and synchronous discussions that imme-
diately follow the lecture. The presentation of a video lecture in a com-
munications course may result in better learning than a text lecture, thus
supporting the multimedia principle. Then, the presentation of short video
lecture segments followed by text of synchronous discussion in a communi-
cations course may result in better learning versus asynchronous discussion
because of how closely the activity occurs in time and space. This may sup-
port the temporal contiguity principle. Following are the hypotheses that
were tested in this experiment.

Hypotheses
This study tested the following hypotheses:

H1 There will be a difference in knowledge gain or comprehen-

sion scores from pretest to posttest among the students in the online
course.
H2 There will be a difference in knowledge gain or comprehension
scores among students who viewed the video lecture format followed
by synchronous discussions in comparison to the video lecture format
followed by asynchronous discussions.
H3 There will be a difference in knowledge gain or comprehension
scores among students who viewed the text lecture format followed by
synchronous discussions in comparison to the text lecture format fol-
lowed by asynchronous discussions.

METHOD

Case Study
This research is best understood from the case study approach that helps to
highlight nuances that may not otherwise be acknowledged via other meth-
odologies. There are three kinds of case study formats a researcher can use:
96 Amy Schmitz Weiss
exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory (Lin, 2003). In this research, the
case study is explanatory in examining how the phenomena within an online
course are impacted by the presentation of lecture (video or text), along with
the communication format (asynchronous or synchronous), can lead to spe-
cific learning outcomes to occur among the students. Lin (2003) argues that
the case study method helps the researcher when certain conditions exist:
“The method is appropriate when investigators desire or are forced by cir-
cumstances (a) to define research topics broadly and not narrowly, (b) to cover
contextual or complex multivariate conditions and not just isolated variables,
and (c) to rely on multiple and not singular sources of evidence” (p. xi).
Thus, in this research, it can help to expand our current understanding
of the learning that is achieved in online courses from the complexity of the
learning conditions created.

Procedure
The experiment had four conditions with 21 students and one instructor.
There was an instructor that conducted the course and a researcher that
conducted the experiment. Each participant was exposed to a four-week
course on “The Role of the Editor,” a course on newsroom management.
The four weeks covered each of the following media management topics of
what is an editor: leading, making decisions, creating a style; life as a middle
manager; and handling change and risk. The overall goals of the course
included how to help the participants learn how to manage the newsrooms
they work in. It provided information on how they could make valid jour-
nalistic and managerial decisions and to understand management functions.
They would also learn how to motivate and lead their subordinates. Finally,
the course would help them to seek how to achieve balance in leadership,
management, credibility and feedback in their newsroom as managers.
As shown in Figure 5.1, the course was set by a weekly format. Each
week included three five-minute videos (presented as a Macromedia Flash
player fi le that included the Quicktime movie of the instructor and Power-
Point presentation) and text lecture (presented on an HTML page) segments
for a total of 15 minutes a lecture for each lesson over the four weeks. (The
lectures were broken into five-minute segments for Internet bandwidth rea-
sons.) Each week featured a follow-up discussion or chat to the video or
text segments as well as a weekly test and a fi nal exam.
Due to system limitations in Moodle, the discussion boards were fea-
tured on another page, so the presentations of the lecture and discussion
questions were separate. However, instructions were provided to the stu-
dent on the lecture page as to the next steps for the discussion portion of
the lesson.
A within-subjects design was used but this method is subject to an order
effect and this can be minimized by ABBA counterbalancing (Martin, 2000,
p. 159). ABBA counterbalancing involves alternating between conditions in
 A New Lens for Learning in the Communications Field 97

Figure 5.1 Weekly format of online course experiment. Web site created by Amy
Schmitz Weiss.

which the A condition is given fi rst and last while the B condition is given
in between the fi rst and last to the participants. Thus, the fi rst condition
and fi rst lesson were video lectures followed by an asynchronous discus-
sion that related to the material in the video (See Figure 5.1). The second
condition and second lesson were text lectures followed by a synchronous
discussion with a deadline to visit the discussion and contribute (See Figure
5.2). The third condition and third lecture were text lectures followed by an
asynchronous discussion. The fourth condition and last lesson were video
lectures followed by a synchronous discussion with a deadline to visit and
contribute. Using a within-subjects design minimizes individual differences
and shows the differences found are real (Martin, 2000, pp. 156–157).

Participants
The students (N = 21) in this experimental course were not randomly
selected but chosen by an extensive application process by an administra-
tor. The course was offered through a nonprofit Center headquartered in
the southwestern part of the United States that offers professional train-
ing to journalists in Latin America and the Caribbean. Participants visited
the center’s Web site and applied for the course on a voluntary basis. The
center’s administrator then reviewed the applications and selected those
98 Amy Schmitz Weiss

Figure 5.2 Example 1—Asynchronous discussion board posting to video/text lec-

ture. Web site created by Amy Schmitz Weiss.

participants that would most benefit from the training. The selection cri-
teria included that participants have editorial experience and at least three
years of experience as a journalist. They also were selected based on their
interest and future goals toward promotion in management, their abil-
ity to speak and write in English, and their geographic location in Latin
America and the Caribbean to assure the group was diverse and represen-
tative of the area. The participants’ motivation to apply and enroll in the
course was based on their personal interest in learning about newsroom
management as they currently were in a management position or their
colleague or manager may have requested they get this training. All par-
ticipants were informed of their role in the research study and received
information about the ethical guidelines about the study through a con-
sent form. Participants could drop out of the course at any point in time
and their identities were assured anonymity.
Considering the participants in this course were from Latin America
and the Caribbean but the course was available in English, all participants
selected had to be fluent in English. This aspect can impact the overall
learning in the course, as cultural variability in learning styles does exist.
More information about this is addressed in the limitations section of this
chapter. The course materials were in English but if the students wanted to
 A New Lens for Learning in the Communications Field 99
have the course structure, menus and interface in Spanish or Portuguese,
they had the option to change the course settings.
All students received a pretest and posttest intended to measure the
effectiveness of the video and discussion board presentation for meaningful
learning. These tests were the discussion questions presented after the text
or video lecture that measured knowledge and comprehension of the mate-
rials, two of the six levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy for categorizing cognitive
domains for learning (Learning Skills Program, 2004, pp. 1–2).
The knowledge questions were based on the student’s mastery of the
subject matter through identification and defi nition of concepts presented
in the video or text lecture using question cues such as “list 3 roles of an
editor” or “defi ne a risk that can lead to empowering your staff.”
The comprehension questions were based on the student’s understanding
of the information and ability to predict consequences through explana-
tion, description and application of the concepts presented in the video
or text lectures using question cues such as “describe the style you use to
communicate and manage your newsroom staff. Which editor role is more
important and why?” or “detail the style you use to communicate and man-
age your newsroom staff. Which editor role is more important and why?”
The pretests were a set of eight questions with one knowledge and one
comprehension question from each lesson’s discussion questions. The post-
test was 24 questions with one knowledge and one comprehension question
from each lecture presented to the students. The instructor graded the tests.
Participants were asked before the course began about their characteristics
such as sex, age, previous experience with computers and online courses.
When the course ended, the participants were asked about their satisfaction
and perceptions of the course.

Procedure
Students gathered remotely from their respective countries (accessing the
course from work, home or another location) during the time frame. Stu-
dents were provided a username and password to access the system. In
addition to the lectures and discussions, students completed assignments
and quizzes. Each student was responsible for reviewing each week’s lesson
and materials.
The participants during the synchronous condition viewed the video or
read the lecture during a specific time frame and had 30 minutes, a recom-
mended time frame for synchronous discussions (Bender, 2003, p. 128),
to respond to the knowledge and comprehension discussion questions. For
the asynchronous condition, the participants viewed the video or read the
lecture during that week’s lesson and responded to knowledge and com-
prehension discussion questions. They were allowed to ask their own ques-
tions in either condition.
100 Amy Schmitz Weiss
ANALYSIS OF RESULTS

Each knowledge question had a specific answer as determined by the

instructor. Each comprehension question had an open-ended answer and
was graded based on how well they applied what they learned. The instruc-
tor used his own grading system to judge the responses to the students’
answers. The researcher had no part in the grading process of this experi-
ment. The scores from each lesson were used for analyzing the statistical
differences between conditions. The only limitation in the comprehension
question is the subjectivity in the grading. The knowledge and comprehen-
sion questions are presented in Figure 5.3.
The video and text conditions were analyzed for differences to see how
knowledge and comprehension fared as it applies to Mayer’s multimedia
principles. Did the video or text presentation of materials result in a better
learning performance (in support of the multimedia principle)? In addi-
tion, the two discussion formats were analyzed to see if synchronous versus
asynchronous format led to better learning because the lecture material
and the discussion afterward were closer together in time and space (in sup-
port of the temporal contiguity principle). Lastly, results from the pre- and
posttests were analyzed.

Figure 5.3 Example 2—Synchronous discussion board posting to video/text lecture.

Web site created by Amy Schmitz Weiss.
 A New Lens for Learning in the Communications Field 101

RESULTS OF CASE STUDY

Descriptives
The participants were working journalists from Latin America and the
Caribbean.

The majority was male and the average age was 36.
The participants had anywhere from five to 32 years of experience
in the field of journalism.
The participants were either reporters or editors.
The participants’ years of experience with computers averaged 14.7
and years of experience of using the Internet averaged 8.5.
As for online courses, the majority had taken a prior online course.
Of those that had taken online courses before, the majority stated at
least one other course.

Considering the sample size for this experiment, the results cannot be gen-
eralized to a larger population and will only be described in general terms.

Hypothesis 1. Hypothesis 1 looked for the overall difference in scores

from pretest to posttest among the participants to see if knowledge and
comprehension increased. By conducting a t-test among the scores, the
difference was significant. Pretest scores averaged lower than the post-
test scores among all participants.
Hypothesis 2. Hypothesis 2 involved the influence of the video lec-
ture format followed by (asynchronous) discussion or (synchronous)
chat. By conducting a t-test among the scores, the difference found was
significant. The participants averaged better scores as a result of the
video lecture format followed by discussion versus chat.
Hypothesis 3. Hypothesis 3 involved the influence of the text lec-
ture format followed by (asynchronous) discussion or (synchronous)
chat. By conducting a t-test among the scores, the difference found was
not significant. Thus the fi ndings that the participants averaged better
scores as a result of the text lecture format followed by discussion ver-
sus chat is not significant.

In conclusion, the fi ndings showed the participants did improve in their

knowledge and comprehension of media management concepts from pre-
test to posttest. Second, the participants averaged better scores from the
video lecture format followed by discussion, showing they had a preference
for the more reflective discourse activity.
These results show less support for Mayer’s multimedia learning frame-
work but reflect the multimedia and temporal contiguity principles were
applicable in some conditions, but not all. Overall, the effectiveness of the
102 Amy Schmitz Weiss
learner-centered approach through integration of multimedia material with
asynchronous and synchronous discussions can be achieved.

Additional Analysis
As for performance scores of the students by each condition, the text lec-
ture followed by asynchronous discussion had the highest average score,
whereas the video lecture with synchronous discussion had the lowest aver-
age score. These differences among the conditions may be due to the mate-
rials or topics covered in their respective weeks were easier to grasp or
understand by the participants than others.
A significant difference was found between the scores of the asynchronous
and synchronous lecture formats overall. The asynchronous format resulted
in higher scores over the synchronous format. As for the lecture, a significant
difference was found between the scores of the video and text format. Higher
scores resulted from the text lectures versus the video lectures on average, a
different finding in comparison to Choi and Johnson (2005).

Limitations
There were limitations in this study that are important to discuss and they
can serve as tips for other communication and journalism researchers when
setting up their experimental design. First, there is the impact on learning
due to the separation of the two discussion formats in this experiment,
whereas an integration of asynchronous and synchronous discussions for
the same lesson may be more conducive for certain material or learners.
Second, the lack of visual or oral cues that come from face-to-face discus-
sions are not represented in this study and this can impact the students’
learning (Rohfeld & Hiemstra, 1995, pp. 91–103).
Third, the participants were from various locations in Latin America
and English may not have been their native language. This can impact their
understanding of the course material and the cultural differences that may
exist within the course material. However, this can be a benefit in asyn-
chronous cross-cultural situations, “Information stored on the other side
of the globe is as readily accessible as is information in the next office, and
colleagues around the world are as available for collaboration as are those
across town” (Chute, Thompson, & Hancock, 1999, p. 62). In addition,
there can be intercultural biases in this experiment due to the researcher
and instructor who organized the course and its materials. The format can
influence certain cultural biases for the students that participated in this
course and their learning outcomes.
Fourth, the number of participants in this study (21) and the ratio of
more men to women in this study can impact the results. Fifth, the stu-
dents that participated in this experiment were working professionals and
their motivation for taking the course was based on personal reasons for
 A New Lens for Learning in the Communications Field 103
improvement or required by management to enhance their skill set. As a
result, the motivation of the students in this course may be higher than in
other experiments or case studies.
Finally, this study compares only the differences in scores from pretest
to posttest. This course included other materials that were graded; thus the
pretest and posttest scores of the discussion questions may not reflect the
students’ overall performance in the course.

A NEW LENS TO EXPLORE FOR RESEARCH: NEW APPROACHES

This chapter will now address the approaches and framework that can be
used by scholars in future online and distance education research.
The researcher used the learner-centered approach of Mayer’s (2003)
multimedia principles, the multimedia and temporal contiguity principles to
test learning effectiveness of the lectures given on media management (text
or video) followed by discussion (asynchronous or synchronous) regarding
issues in media management in the course.
As this study shows, there is an opportunity for those in the communica-
tions and journalism field to explore the role of learning from a different lens.
Particularly in these fields, there are few case studies on the effectiveness of
distance and online education for the journalism and communications stu-
dent (Blake 2000; Reis, Stavitsky, Gleason, & Ryan, 2000; Rosenkrans,
2001; Smith, 1994). This chapter shows how the journalism and commu-
nications field can expand its understanding of the student from a learner-
centered approach using an online and distance education platform.
Communication and journalism scholars can look at learning from a dif-
ferent lens by seeking out concepts and theories from education and other
fields to test phenomena. There are several benefits by taking this approach
for the communication school or department, the professors, the scholars,
and/or the students.
1. Communication schools and departments have the opportunity to
adjust their curriculum in the future as it relates to online and distance
education.
As the number of courses and student interest grows in online and dis-
tance education, communication schools and departments should consider
how they could be impacted by this trend. Communication and journalism
schools should consider doing experiments using a framework like the one
in this chapter to explore the best learning environment for online and
distance education for their students. This chapter provides one method by
which to test the learner-centered approach via the multimedia principles
by Mayer by analyzing student scores from discussions and chats conducted
of the video and text lectures they read. However, there are other options to
test the learner-centered approach. For instance, another form of analysis
might be reviewing the log fi les on the student’s usage and frequency of the
104 Amy Schmitz Weiss
video and text lectures. Also, another form of analysis might be discourse
or content analysis of the asynchronous and synchronous discussions.
2. Communication professors may get inspiration in creating or
enhancing online class materials from the application of Mayer’s principles
with asynchronous and synchronous communication.
Mayer’s (2003) multimedia principles were tested by using the multi-
media and temporal contiguity principle of the effectiveness of the lecture
format (text or video) followed by the type of discussion (asynchronous or
synchronous) in the course. Only two principles were tested because of time
and resource constraints. There are several other multimedia principles that
could also be tested with asynchronous and synchronous discussions. These
include spatial contiguity, coherence, modality, redundancy, and individual
differences. Mayer defi nes multimedia learning based on how the mind
works, adopting the notion of a dual channel system from Paivio (1986)
where the mind is structured to separate and integrate visual and auditory
information (Mayer, 2003, pp. 2–3). He then applies the visual and audi-
tory information to an animation and narration multimedia environment.
These principles all dissect how visuals, audio, and animation can impact
the student’s ability to learn the information. All of Mayer’s principles are
addressed following.

• The multimedia principle is that students will learn better from words
and pictures than just words alone (Mayer, 2003, p. 184).
• The spatial contiguity principle entails that students will learn better
when words and pictures are closer together on the screen or page
(Mayer, 2003, p. 184).
• The temporal contiguity principle is that students will learn better
when pictures and words are presented simultaneously than succes-
sively or if the words and pictures are presented in short segments
successively (Mayer, 2003, pp. 96–112).
• The coherence principle is that students will learn better when extra-
neous text, pictures and sounds are excluded (Mayer, 2003, p. 184).
• The modality principle is that students will learn better from anima-
tion and narration than from the combination of animation and on-
screen text (Mayer, 2003, p. 184).
• The redundancy principle is that students will learn better from ani-
mation and narration than the combination of animation, narration
and on-screen text (Mayer, 2003, p. 184).
• The individual differences principle is that design effects are stron-
ger for low-knowledge learners and for high-spatial learners (Mayer,
2003, p. 184).

Mayer focuses on less multimedia being combined and it being closer in

time or space for the student for an optimal learner-centered environment.
If more studies in communications and journalism were conducted testing
 A New Lens for Learning in the Communications Field 105
these principles with asynchronous and synchronous communication in
course materials, the fi ndings may help professors in changing or enhanc-
ing their course materials to create an optimal learning experience for his
or her students in online or distance education.
3. Communication scholars should explore new learning platforms
(such as Moodle and virtual environments like Second Life) to test course
materials that combine asynchronous and synchronous communication
with multimedia to see which leads to the most effective learning outcomes
for the student.
The experiment used an online open-source course management sys-
tem, Moodle, that allowed the students to gather online and interact. Vir-
tual and online places like Moodle provide an arena for scholars to test
hypotheses of learning effectiveness without having geographic or physical
limitations of the traditional classroom. This platform provides a space
for combining course materials with multimedia (text or video lectures)
along with functions for asynchronous and synchronous communication.
Additional information on the benefits of this type of learning platform is
described in the second section of this chapter.
4. Communication students can experience a new form of learning
that extends beyond the traditional classroom.
The benefits described thus far have been for the institution, the professor
and scholar in testing and exploring the learner-centered approach. How-
ever, there is a benefit for the student as well. Considering that online and
distance education courses are a growing part of the education landscape,
whether offered as a stand-alone course or combined with an existing class,
students have the opportunity to have new ways of learning that extend
beyond the traditional classroom and with others around the world, any-
time. The experiment featured in this chapter describes how participants
from several countries in Latin America gathered online for this course.
The students in this online course had the opportunity to learn about each
other’s cultures in the asynchronous and synchronous discussions held. In
addition, the online course gave the students the flexibility to communicate
and learn with each other and the instructor at any time in the course.

A NEW LENS TO EXPLORE FOR RESEARCH:

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

In exploring the learner-centered approach for online and distance educa-

tion, one form of testing it is through experimental design. This chapter
features a case study that can serve as a framework for others to replicate.
Specific technological resources like an open-source course management
system (i.e., Moodle) provide the researcher the opportunity to conduct and
replicate an experiment of this type without too much cost and time. There
are several benefits that I will address next.
106 Amy Schmitz Weiss
1. Setting up a test platform like Moodle may involve fewer costs than
purchasing course management software or trying to use the institution’s
existing distance education system.
A communication or journalism scholar may be able to use their institu-
tion’s existing distance learning or online course management system but
this may be limited. If the institution does not have a course management
system in place, the researcher might have to purchase a system like Black-
board or WebCT, which can be fairly costly and risky if the experiment
will not be replicated often. Thus, a researcher might want to fi nd another
course management system that is free and open-source in order to have the
freedom in designing the course with little cost involved like Moodle. The
only cost that may be necessary with this option is related to the technical
administration and space to host the platform.
The use of Moodle for an experiment is not unusual. There have been stud-
ies conducted on the usage of the Moodle platform in several fields includ-
ing education, language studies, and computing and information technology
(Antonenko, Toy, & Niederhauser, 2004; Brandl, 2005; Corich, 2005). The
Moodle platform has international recognition in the education field as a
recommended learning environment. ZDNetUK stated the pervasiveness of
the Moodle platform and how it’s becoming a course management choice
around the world (Everett, 2007). In fact, Open University in Britain uses
the Moodle platform to make its educational materials and resources free on
the Web to anyone around the world (“OU offers,” 2006).
The premise behind Moodle is that its creator, Martin Dougiamas, cre-
ated the platform based on a social constructivist philosophy (Moodle.
org, 2007). The philosophy focuses on collaboration and shared learning
experiences where the teacher becomes the learner with the students, “an
online course—not only do the ‘shapes’ of the software tools indicate cer-
tain things about the way online courses should work, but the activities
and texts produced within the group as a whole will help shape how each
person behaves within that group” (Moodle.org, 2007). Dougiamas cre-
ated the platform to support this kind of collaborative learning environ-
ment by having course settings available in social and topical formats. He
also created functions for sharing and collaboration that include discussion
forums, chats, wikis and blogs (Moodle.org, 2007).
In summary, the communications or journalism scholar should consider
the kind of learning platform and flexibility they require. The Moodle plat-
form makes it easy to modify modules and settings due to it being open
source that allows the code on the back end to be manipulated according
to the user’s wants and needs. This is different from commercial course
management systems like Blackboard or WebCT, which usually lock or
restrict modifications or editing to their code on the back end. Open source
is a way by which a program, platform, or code can be shared among pro-
grammers and changed to be used in any fashion they see fit. According to
Opensource.org, “The basic idea behind open source is very simple: When
 A New Lens for Learning in the Communications Field 107
programmers can read, redistribute, and modify the source code for a piece
of software, the software evolves. People improve it, people adapt it, people
fi x bugs. And this can happen at a speed that, if one is used to the slow
pace of conventional software development, seems astonishing. We in the
open source community have learned that this rapid evolutionary process
produces better software than the traditional closed model, in which only a
very few programmers can see the source and everybody else must blindly
use an opaque block of bits” (Opensource.org, 2007).
Since the Moodle platform is free, all that is required is a server that sup-
ports the latest version of MySQL and PHP. The user can then have a server
administrator assist with the download and maintenance of the platform.
Researchers can consider Moodle’s hosting and support services if they
don’t have space within their own institution.
2. Experimental design can be easier to achieve by using a platform
that can feature multimedia (i.e., video and chat) within one platform ver-
sus having multiple platforms.
For the experiment, the researcher was able to have all the course con-
tent of the video and text lectures, as well as the synchronous and asyn-
chronous discussions within the course platform, so the student did not
have to access multiple sites, video players or chat tools for class work. This
allowed the class activities to occur more naturally among the students. A
communications or journalism researcher should consider having all of the
multimedia and discourse tools within one platform to make the experi-
mental design easier to manage.
Second, the lectures were created based on access and bandwidth. The
text lectures could be read within 15 minutes, making them comparable
to the 15-minute video lecture. Considering bandwidth issues of viewing
video on the computer, there were three video lectures weekly that were
kept to five minutes each for a total of 15 minutes. The videos were also put
into the Macromedia Flash format to avoid issues of different versions of
video players like Quicktime or Real Player that can differ from computer
to computer.
3. Using a learning platform that is user-protected to help the researcher
protect the subjects in the experiment.
A researcher should take into consideration the ethical issues when con-
ducting an experiment. In the study, the student’s learning environment
was private and confidential. The researcher wanted to make sure the stu-
dents felt comfortable that they could participate without any harm or
worry. This can be achieved through using a platform that is protected
with a username and password. The researcher restricted access to just the
students involved in the course and this gave the students the opportunity
to contribute their ideas without inhibitions.
4. Using a test platform that is conducive to other languages makes
the environment more comfortable for students from several cultures and
countries.
108 Amy Schmitz Weiss
The researcher’s experiment was for students who lived in Latin America
and the Caribbean. The course materials were in English but if the student
wanted to have the course structure, menus and interface in Spanish or
Portuguese, they had the option to change the course settings. This creates
a more comfortable learning environment for the student. A platform like
Moodle can easily adapt its course shell to different languages, making
it feasible to test the learner-centered approach in multiple cultures and
languages.
5. Using a web-based platform makes access to the course management
system easy and accessible anytime, anywhere.
If the researcher is conducting an experiment with students who are
located in different places and across time zones, it is necessary to have a
learning platform that is accessible via the Web. Course management sys-
tems like Moodle, Blackboard or WebCT are available via a specific URL
on the Internet. This allows the students easy access to the content any
time and anywhere. In the study, the students had varying work schedules
because many of them were journalists, and they had different time zones
from each other. As a result, the researcher identified a learning platform
that would not be influenced by location or time zone.

CONCLUSION

It must be noted that the fi ndings of the case study in this chapter represents
a sample of students. The findings in this study cannot be generalized to all
students, but can provide context and complexity for further investigation
and research (Stake, 2005). The context and complexity can help to explain
the particular phenomena in how students learn in online and distance
education courses that can contribute to other studies of online courses or
help to lead researchers in the development of their hypotheses or research
questions for other types of experimental classroom research.
There is a need for more research on the integration of technologies in
online courses. As mentioned earlier, learning can be enhanced if technol-
ogy is used in the right manner (Kozma, 1991). This aspect can be explored
by adapting and exploring the multimedia principles by Mayer (2003).
The multimedia principle was tested in this study to see how effective
video may have been for the participants but the results showed contrary
fi ndings. Video presentation for learning effectiveness continues to show
mixed results like that of previous studies (Bolling & Robinson, 1999; Car-
rell & Menzel, 2001; Choi & Johnson, 2005; Kekkonen-Moneta & Mon-
eta, 2002). However, this may be due to factors of the material covered in
the video, the sample population not being native to the English language
or other external or cultural factors.
This course brought journalists from Latin America and Caribbean
together from various countries, removing any physical boundaries, but this
 A New Lens for Learning in the Communications Field 109
was a challenge because learning styles can differ across countries and nations.
These aspects were not included in the learning outcomes of this case study, but
future communication scholars can investigate this cross-cultural approach in
applying Mayer’s principles for online distance education courses.
This chapter also showed the discourse or social interaction in an online
course can be optimal if used in the right time and space for the student.
As discussed earlier, the social interaction that occurs online in these forms
of discourse helps the student learn the material more effectively (Berge &
Collins, 1995, Vonderwell, 2003).
Participants preferred the reflective exercise of the asynchronous discus-
sions as other scholars have argued (Newberry, 2001, p. 5; Palloff & Pratt,
2001, p. 25) over the synchronous chats. Reflective exercises such as the
asynchronous discussions may be a preferred format for the participants in
this study. Future studies could expand on this by conducting a discourse
analysis or changing the discussion groups from individual contribution to
group work or role play to see if differences result in learning. Also, consid-
ering that this case study was based on participants that were adult learn-
ers and in working full-time, learning outcomes may differ with younger
participants at the university or college level.

CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS

Finally, this chapter provided insight on new approaches for examining

learning within the communications and journalism field; however, these
aspects can be applied to any field in the social sciences. These aspects are
summarized again to show how they can benefit the institution, the profes-
sor, the scholar and student.

1. Schools and departments have the opportunity to adjust their curricu-

lum in the future as it relates to online and distance education.
2. Professors may get inspiration in creating or enhancing online class
materials from the application of Mayer’s principles with asynchro-
nous and synchronous communication.
3. Scholars should explore new learning platforms (such as Moodle and
virtual environments like Second Life) to test course materials that
combine asynchronous and synchronous communication with multi-
media to see which leads to the most effective learning outcomes for
the student.
4. Students can experience a new form of learning that extends beyond
the traditional classroom.

Second, this chapter also provided insight on creating the experimental

design for replicating the case study and researchers should keep the fol-
lowing aspects in consideration when creating their own project:
110 Amy Schmitz Weiss
1. Setting up a test platform like Moodle may involve fewer costs than
purchasing course management software or trying to use the institu-
tion’s existing distance education system.
2. Experimental design can be easier to achieve by using a platform that
can feature multimedia (i.e., video and chat) within one platform ver-
sus having multiple platforms.
3. Using a platform that is user-protected to help the researcher protect
the subjects of the experiment.
4. Using a test platform that is conducive to other languages makes the
environment more comfortable for student from several cultures and
countries.
5. Using a Web-based platform makes access to the course management
system easy and accessible anytime, anywhere.

This chapter has focused on how the learner-centered approach can be

explored in the communications and journalism field. However, informa-
tion from this chapter can be applicable across any of the fields in the social
sciences. There is no limit to using the Moodle platform and testing the
learner-centered approach through the integration of multimedia and com-
munication (synchronous and asynchronous) in an online and distance edu-
cation course for any discipline. The framework proposed in this chapter
should be explored as much as possible in an effort to expose new theories
and research questions in online and distance education.

REFERENCES

Allen, I. E. & Seaman, J. (2008). Staying the course, online education in the
United States, 2008. Sloan-C Consortium. Retrieved July 2009 from http://
www.sloan-c.org/publications/survey/staying_course
Antonenko, P., Toy, S., & Niederhauser, D. (2004, October). Modular object-ori-
ented dynamic learning environment: What open source has to offer. Presented
at Association for Educational Communications and Technology, Chicago, IL.
Bender, T. (2003). Discussion-based online teaching to enhance student learning.
Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing, LLC.
Berge, Z. L., & Collins, M. P. (1995). (Eds.) Computer mediated communication
and the online classroom volume three: distance learning. Cresskill, NJ: Hamp-
ton Press, Inc.
Blake, K. R. (2000, Spring). Using the World Wide Web to teach news writing
online. Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, 4–13.
Bolling, N. C., & Robinson, D. H. (1999). Individual study, interactive multime-
dia, or cooperative learning: Which activity best supplements lecture-based dis-
tance education? Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 169–174.
Brandl, K. (2005). Are you ready to “Moodle”? Language Learning, & Technol-
ogy, 9(2), 16–23.
Carrell, L. J., & Menzel, K. E. (2001). Variations in learning, motivation, and per-
ceived immediacy between live and distance education. Communication Edu-
cation, 50, 230–241.
 A New Lens for Learning in the Communications Field 111
Choi, H. J., & Johnson, S. D. (2005). The effect of context-based video instruction
on learning and motivation in online courses. The American Journal of Dis-
tance Education, 19(4), 215–227.
Chute, A. G., Thompson, M. M., & Hancock, B. W. (1999). The McGraw-Hill
handbook of distance learning. New York: McGraw-Hill
Clark, R. E. (1983). Reconsidering research on learning from media. Review of
Educational Research, 53, 445–459.
Corich, S. (2005). Let’s get ready to Moodle. Bulletin of Applied Computing and
Information Technology 3(3), ISSN 1176–4120.
Cuban, L. (1986). Teachers and machines: The classroom use of technology since
1920. New York: Teachers College Press.
Everett, C. (2007). Moodle tackles e-learning muddle. ZdNet.co.uk. Retrieved
February 15, 2007, from http://resources.zdnet.co.uk
Grace-Martin, M. (2001). How to design educational multimedia: A “loaded”
question. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 10, 397–
409.
Gunawardena, C., Plass, J., & Salisbury, M. (2001). Do we really need an online
discussion group? In D. Murphy, R. Walker, & G. Webb (Eds.), Online learning
and teaching with technology. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing Inc.
Haga, H. (2002). Combining video and bulletin board systems in distance educa-
tion systems. Internet and Higher Education, 5, 119–129.
Kekkonen-Moneta, S., & Moneta, G. B. (2002). E-learning in Hong Kong: Com-
paring learning outcomes in online multimedia and lecture versions of an intro-
ductory computing course. British Journal of Educational Technology, 33,
423–433.
Kozma, R. B. (1991). Learning with media. Review of Educational Research, 61,
179–211.
Learning Skills Program. (2004). Bloom’s taxonomy, 1–2. Retrieved April 11,
2004, from http://www.coun.uvic.ca/learn/program/hndouts/bloom.html
Lin, R. K. (2003). Applications of case study research (2nd ed.). Applied Social
Research Methods Series, Vol. 34. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Martin, D. W. (2000). Doing psychology experiments. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/
Thomson Learning.
Mayer, R. E. (2003). Multimedia learning. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
Press.
Moodle.org. (2007). Moodle.org. Retrieved February 18, 2007 from http://moo-
dle.org
National Center for Education Statistics. (2008). U.S. Department of Education.
Distance education at degree-granting postsecondary institutions. Retrieved
July 2009 from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=80
Newberry, B. (2001). Raising student social presence in online classes. Paper pre-
sented at WebNet 2001: World Conference on the WWW and Internet Proceed-
ings, Orlando, FL.
OpenSource.org (2007). Open Source Initiative. Retrieved from http://opensource.
org
OU offers free learning materials. (2006). BBCnews.co.uk. Retrieved October 23,
2006, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6071230.stm
Paivio, A. (1986). Mental representations: A dual coding approach. Oxford, UK:
Oxford University Press.
Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2001). Lessons from the cyberspace classroom: The
realities of online teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Pan, C., & Sullivan, M. (2005). Promoting synchronous interaction in an elearning
environment. T.H.E. Journal, 33, 2.
112 Amy Schmitz Weiss
Reis, R., Stavitsky, A. G., Gleason, T., & Ryan, W. (2000, Winter). Journalism
at a distance: The Oregon experiment. Journalism & Mass Communication
Educator, 14–28.
Rohfeld, R. W., & Hiemstra, R. (1995). Moderating discussions in the electronic
classroom in: Computer mediated communication and the online classroom
volume three: distance learning. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Inc.
Rosenkrans, G. (2001, Spring). Design considerations for an effective online envi-
ronment. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 43–61.
Russell, T. (2002). The no significant difference phenomenon. Retrieved April 21,
2004 from http://teleeducation.nb.ca/nosignificantdifference/index.cfm
Smith, W. E. (1994, Fall). Computer-mediated communication: An experimental
study. Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, 27–33.
Smith, T. L., & Ransbottom, S. (2000). Digital video in education. In L. K. Lau
(Ed.), Distance learning technologies: Issues, trends and opportunities. Her-
shey, PA: Idea Group Publishing.
Stake, R. E. (2005). Qualitative case studies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln
(Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research (3rd ed., pp.443–466).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Teng, T., & Taveras, M. S. (2004/2005). Combining live video and audio broad-
casting, synchronous chat, and asynchronous open forum discussions in dis-
tance education. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 33(2), 121–129.
Vonderwell, S. (2003). An examination of asynchronous communication experi-
ences and perspectives of students in an online course: A case study. Internet
and Higher Education, 6, 77–90.
Wang, A. Y., & Newlin, M. H. (2001). Online lectures: Benefits for the virtual
classroom. THE Journal, 29, 17.
6 A New Educational Technology for
Media and Communication Studies
Mapping Media in Australia and Sweden
Christina Spurgeon, Christy Collis,
Marcus Foth and Pernilla Severson

INTRODUCTION

When we think of “maps,” we may instantly think of geographical rep-

resentations of paths, streets, suburbs, cities, regions or countries. These
maps help us fi nd a fast and efficient way from origin A to destination B. In
ancient times, maps were drawn on cloth, leather or other kinds of fabric;
today, both paper-based and digital maps can be found everywhere. The
standard cartographic type of map provides information about physical
locations and directions. However, with advances in science, technology
and new media, other types of maps have evolved that are not limited to
geographical data. These maps represent abstract relationships between
perceived reality and temporal or conceptual information in areas such as
mathematics, genetics, engineering or architecture. Paper-based maps are
produced using information and communication technologies, and dynamic
mapping systems have been designed to take advantage of the processing
and visualizing capabilities of new media applications.
In the context of the knowledge-based economy, many economists and
public policy analysts want to capture, visualize and understand the com-
position, characteristics and dynamics of services sector businesses, con-
glomerations and markets in both macro- and microeconomic dimensions
(Cunningham, Hearn, Cox, Ninan, & Keane, 2003). The interrelation-
ships and blurring boundaries between suppliers, producers, distributors
and consumers, as well as cooperating and competing enterprises, have
traditionally been illustrated by mapping them onto horizontal and vertical
value chains and by notions of economies of scale and economies of scope.
Ownership, power and shareholder dependencies have been visualized by
mapping certain actors in the market to nodes, boxes, squares and lines in
flow charts, network graphs and statistical diagrams.
As this discussion suggests, there is much more to maps than their mate-
rial and cartographic forms. In their trans-disciplinary analysis of maps and
mapping behaviors, Stea, Blaut and Stephens (1996) posit mapping as “a
cultural universal.” Like language, the cognitive capacity to map appears
to be hard-wired, although maps themselves are culturally specific. Maps
114 Christina Spurgeon, et al.
can be thought of as complex “cultural technologies” (Flew, 2005, p. 20ff).
Maps are not only physical objects, tools and artifacts, but also information
creation and distribution technologies, the use and development of which
are embedded in “systems of knowledge and social meaning” (Flew, 2005,
p. 21). This approach to maps is summarized in Table 6.1. While it is pos-
sible to discern three layers in the manifestation of cultural technologies
such as maps, it is also the case that none of these layers can exist in isolation
from the others. Complex interdependencies between these layers are also
conditions of cultural technologies. An example of the application of such
a three-layered cultural technology approach to mapping in undergraduate
tertiary education is the “Media Map,” which we introduce in this chapter.
The physical layer of our Media Map consists of a student-produced
“map” of local media and communication industries. The examples con-
sidered here include The Brisbane Media Map (http://bmm.qut.edu.au/, see
Figure 6.1) and the Malmö Media Map (http://mmm.k3.mah.se/). These
maps take the form of online directories of media and communication
fi rms located in Brisbane, Australia, and Malmö, Sweden.
By working on Layer One problems of creating entries for the physical
entity, students are also compelled to generate their own schematic rep-
resentations of these industries that the online publication also puts into
wider circulation. In this way students address Layer Two problems. Layer
Three problems are embedded within the Layer One and Two processes of
obtaining and organizing the information content of Media Maps. They
also require students to fi nd points of meaningful connection with their
local industry ecologies. The pedagogy of media mapping is also a Layer
Three feature and it is the wider system of teaching and learning knowledge
into which experiences of working with Media Maps feed back.
The account of media mapping provided here is based on the involve-
ments of the authors as participant-observers in tertiary media mapping
initiatives from 1997 to the present.

MEDIA MAPPING AND ‘AUTHENTIC’ LEARNING

FOR THE KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY

Betty Collis (2005) argues that educating students for knowledge economy
employment requires a significant shift in pedagogy. Rather than learning

Table 6.1 Multiple Layers of Media Maps

Layer Features

Layer One physical objects, tools, artifacts

Layer Two information creation and distribution technologies
Layer Three wider systems of knowledge and social meaning
 Mapping Media in Australia and Sweden 115

Figure 6.1 Brisbane Media Map homepage (http://bmm.qut.edu.au). Queensland

University of Technology 2008.

how to listen, students need to know how to do; rather than learning how to
work in isolation, students need to know how to work in multidisciplinary
teams; and rather than acquiring information, students need to become co-
contributors engaged in the production of knowledge-based resources.
Collis is, in effect, arguing for a turn away from models of teaching
and learning that rely on the mere transmission of theoretical knowledge
from instructors to students. Instead, education needs to develop students’
understandings of the ways in which the tacit knowledge base of human
action might be structured or restructured through grounded exposition,
authentic practice (Inglis, Ling, & Joosten, 1999, pp. 39–40) and networks
of social connection.
The development of “authentic learning” has emerged as a key peda-
gogical modality through which these general knowledge economy require-
ments, as well as the vocational imperatives of national and institutional
educational policies, are addressed (Collis, Foth, & Spurgeon, 2005).
Authentic learning involves student participation in real-world projects and
is often referred to as “generative learning because the completion of the
116 Christina Spurgeon, et al.
task requires the students to generate other problems to be solved” (Her-
rington, Oliver, & Reeves, 2003, p. 61).
Herrington, Oliver and Reeves (2003) identify ten characteristics of
authentic learning activities, among which are “real world relevance,”
“complex tasks to be investigated by students over a sustained period of
time,” “the opportunity to collaborate,” and “the opportunity for students
to examine the task from different perspectives using a variety of resources”
(pp. 61–62). Media mapping encompasses all these characteristics and aims
to put responsibility for the design and production process of a major pub-
lic resource almost entirely in the students’ collective hands.
The experiences of implementing media mapping into tertiary educa-
tion also show that learning by mapping involves and integrates important
problem-based learning elements. This process involves, for example, learn-
ing by searching (Jönsson, 2000) and learning by doing (Dewey, 1980).
We would even suggest that media mapping involves learning by doing by
learning by searching. The students strive to defi ne what local industries of
interest are, which companies to represent, how to collaborate, what they
want to work with—and actually—who they are and what their role is in
knowledge production. The relationships between students, of course, are
based on interest, but from an instructor’s perspective, they are based on
learning by searching. When it comes to learning, the Media Map inte-
grates Dewey’s (1963) understanding that suggests there is no opposition
between traditional and progressive education. The instructor’s role can
be both that of the teacher and of the facilitator (Margetson, 1999). Fruit-
fully enough, these dynamics of being both teacher and facilitator exist for
students in media mapping development over time. For every new group of
students, the old students become both teachers and facilitators, forming
an asynchronous learning community of practice. This open progression
over time, both technically and educationally, is an important part of what
makes Media Mapping exciting.
In addition to authentic learning (B. Collis, 2005) and action learning
(Herrington, Oliver, & Reeves, 2003; Jönsson, 2000), other scholarly influ-
ences on the teaching and learning approach that the term “media map-
ping” encapsulates include developments in action research (Hearn, Tacchi,
Foth, & Lennie, 2009; Reason & Bradbury, 2001) and participatory design
(Foth & Axup, 2006; Greenbaum & Kyng, 1991; Schuler & Namioka,
1993). The disciplinary and institutional context of tertiary media and
communication studies in Australia (Flew, 2004; Putnis, Axford, Watson,
& Blood, 2002) from which media mapping has emerged is another signifi-
cant influence. The authors’ interest in exploring the networking potential
of multiple local Media Maps (Barabási, 2003; Fulk, Flanagin, Kalman,
Monge, & Ryan, 1996) has also been a crucial influence. Following one of
the key propositions of network economics, we are curious to know if the
value of Media Maps to all users (faculty, students, industry) is increased
as the maps proliferate and numbers of users increase. Although media
 Mapping Media in Australia and Sweden 117
mapping is now being used in a number of locations, the Media Map net-
work is not yet adequately extensive or integrated to support the generation
of significant answers to this question. Instead, this article draws upon
Australian and Swedish experiences with media mapping to describe and
reflect upon the interrelationships between the iterative innovation cycles
embedded within the three tiers of media mapping, as well as between gen-
erations of Media Maps.
We start by tracing the historical development of media mapping since
1997 in the Australian context. This outline informs our practice of and
reflection on implementing media mapping in tertiary education in Austra-
lia. It enables us to better understand the critical differences to the Swedish
perspective of media mapping discussed thereafter.

Implementing Media Mapping in Tertiary

Education: An Australian Perspective
The first initiative in media mapping occurred in a regional university set-
ting in 1997. Southern Cross University (SCU) is located in the rural North-
ern Rivers Region of New South Wales, close to rain forests and beaches of
Byron Bay. The natural beauty found here has contributed to the region’s
reputation as a lifestyle destination for a significant wave of internal migra-
tion from major cities to the region over the last 30 years. Artists, musicians,
performers and media practitioners have figured significantly in this move-
ment of people to the area in search of alternative lifestyles (Wilson, 2003).
Despite this demographic shift, this part of Australia can be characterized as
being on the periphery of global flows of information and money, and there-
fore as coming to terms with the challenges of regional economic decline and
the associated problems of under- and unemployment. In this context, SCU
has an important capacity-building and leadership role in a wider devel-
opment strategy: to soften the impact of structural economic adjustment
and encourage renewal by stimulating the development of knowledge-based
service industries. University-based research is also important to the task of
identifying the competitive advantages of the region in a global knowledge
economy, and for articulating these into national and international flows
(Garlick, 1998). Nevertheless, the prevailing common sense of SCU media
students was that there were very few employment opportunities for them in
the region. Upon graduation, students needed to either leave the region, cre-
ate their own work, or balance underemployment with ongoing professional
development in the form of voluntary work in community-based media. In
this context, media mapping started out with the humble aim of improving
student chances for finding or creating work in the region by building a cur-
rent awareness capacity and empirical knowledge base of local media and
communication industries.
Final-year students established an inventory of local media using their
own local knowledge as well as observation and direct enquiry. They
118 Christina Spurgeon, et al.
interviewed the principals of fi rms of greatest professional interest to them,
and wrote detailed reports on the core activities of these fi rms, describing
their markets, organization and business models. Summaries were com-
piled into a consolidated list that was shared as a common resource by all
participating students and then used as the starting point for redevelop-
ing and updating by the next cohort of students. A number of observa-
tions can be made about the intelligence generated from this initiative in
these early years. First, it provided a means for grounding students’ critical
engagement with larger debates of direct relevance to them about trends
and directions in regional, national and global economic development. The
quality of the learning experience was rated highly by students for a num-
ber of reasons. The grounded, project-based mode of learning diversified
the range of tertiary undergraduate experiences in ways that were seen to
be helpful in dealing with anxieties about the transition to post-university
life. Second, the inventory showed that there were many more media and
communication-related enterprises in the region than either students or fac-
ulty had anticipated when they fi rst embarked on the exercise. This learn-
ing experience amounted to significant new knowledge that had potential
value in a range of contexts beyond the classroom. Finally, a number of
students in the fi rst and second cohorts used the industry contacts they had
established while engaged in the media mapping exercise to obtain work
experience and employment opportunities.
Media mapping at Southern Cross University continued to evolve incre-
mentally since the late 1990s and was used principally to support the inte-
gration of a workplace-based learning program into the undergraduate
Media curriculum (Coyle, 2004). From 2002 a dynamic, Web-based inter-
face supported online publication of student-generated profi les of fi rms
in the region. Also in 2000, SCU faculty extended the mapping project
through a collaborative research initiative to culture and music industries,
and further expanded it to encompass the performing arts and writing.
SCU faculty and a local entertainment industry association now jointly
manage the “Music Map.”
Building from the early experiences at Southern Cross University, media
mapping was taken up at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in
2000 with three aims in mind. Publishing student work in the form of a
Media Map was intended to develop new media literacies of media students
in a predominantly theoretical program of study. The mapping also aimed
to build the teamwork, leadership, and project management experience of
students, as well as to develop in them a critical capacity for their “find-
ing their way” into a rapidly changing media and communication industry
environment. In this way, the QUT design and implementation of media
mapping strives to address the changing pedagogical needs of the knowl-
edge economy in an integrated system. The design comprises all three layers
of media mapping, that is, physical artifacts (database and Web server),
information creation and distribution technologies (the online interface),
 Mapping Media in Australia and Sweden 119
and on the content or discursive layer, a conceptual system of knowledge
and social meaning (media mapping as pedagogy).
Media mapping classes at QUT consist of between 30 and 70 fi nal-year
students. Two factors distinguished the experiences of the fi rst group of
QUT media mapping students to media mapping from those of subsequent
groups. Although the initiative was well resourced in the fi rst cohort, most
students and faculty were not accustomed to taking classes in computer
laboratories. Also, unlike subsequent groups, the fi rst cohort did not have
access to a preexisting physical version of a Media Map. Their map was
developed in the absence of a material starting point and a model against
which they could benchmark their own efforts. Similarly, there was no
feedback from fi rms that had been represented in earlier maps and that
wanted their details updated or corrected, or from firms that asked to be
included in the next iteration. (This kind of feedback is now commonplace,
with these kinds of requests being received at the rate of three or four per
week.) There were no data on Web site traffic, or any anecdotal evidence
that could shed light on how such a map might be used or by whom. Despite
these difficulties, QUT’s fi rst version of the Brisbane Media Map was com-
pleted on schedule and went live in October 2000.
The QUT 2000 cohort was the fi rst group of QUT students to break
with both the abstract philosophical approaches to media studies and the
highly specific professional training of the communication disciplines.
Rather than learning how to critique or produce for existing media and
communication services, these students developed new multimodal litera-
cies by designing their own resource (Collis, Foth, & Spurgeon, 2005, p. 9;
Kress, 1997). As with subsequent groups of students, they initially resisted
the requirement to decide upon the scope and depth of the map content, as
well as its taxonomical organization. In other words, before students could
commence substantive work on developing the map, they had to make gen-
eral decisions about what kinds of fi rms to include in their map, why, and
how this information would be structured and presented. They wanted to
be told how to structure their knowledge of the field rather than arrive at
their own informed decisions about what constituted the field and its limits.
Such knowledge would be generated by a critical engagement with other
tacit and explicit schemes of media and communication industries. There
were also wide variations in the team leadership, project and time manage-
ment abilities of students.
In subsequent years, faculty have paid attention to these issues by
improving the ways in which students are encouraged to collaborate with
each other, as well as with technical specialists, in the redevelopment pro-
cess. Unit workload parameters have been clarified and restructured so
that each student is now required to lead at least one team and participate
as a member in a number of teams. By identifying the component tasks
that make up the larger project, and then by assigning these to multiple
distributed teams, students have the opportunity to learn from different
120 Christina Spurgeon, et al.
perspectives on collaborative teamwork. Online learning and a teaching
environment that offers a shared file storage area, discussion board, chat,
notices, announcements and polls supports collaboration among students.
Students use multimedia tools to coordinate their work efforts and time
commitments and to establish collective efficacy (Carroll & Reese, 2003)
and a shared sense of achievement. Prior to the identification of component
tasks (around which teams are organized), each development cycle now
starts with a phase of familiarization with, and evaluation of, the physical
map as well as the larger project. Students also evaluate the quality of the
information contained within the map. They review the schemes of knowl-
edge and sources of qualitative and quantitative research that inform the
scope and schematic organization of information contained in the map.
They also learn how to use collaborative applications such as Google Docs,
Google Calendar, Microsoft Project, and del.ici.ous to support their map-
ping work.
Interdisciplinary collaboration has also been important to the ongoing
technical development of the BMM. In 2000, the BMM was comprised of
static HTML pages. The 2001 version incorporated an Access database
with active server pages (ASP). This step improved the ease with which the
contents of the Media Map database could be developed and allowed exter-
nal users to search and view the site in a more interactive and efficient way.
In 2002 a postgraduate communication design student brought to the proj-
ect the necessary skills to move the BMM to an open source format based
on PHP and MySQL, which offers a more sophisticated and stable environ-
ment that meets the support and maintenance requirements of the underly-
ing university IT infrastructure. Since this time, one of the authors with a
background in communication design and participatory design has been
part of the teaching team that works with students on the technical and
design aspects of the BMM. This participatory involvement in the design
and development process has led to a cycle of annual system improvements
to the physical mapping system, with Version 9 of the BMM launched in
November 2008. This latest version of the BMM has been rewritten from
scratch to incorporate a Ruby on Rails framework, which makes future
developments more efficient and tidy.
The participatory approach taken to designing the Brisbane Media Map
integrates the students as end users in the system development process. By
allowing students to see behind the development curtain, and to participate
in the redevelopment process itself, instructors aimed to avoid technocratic
determination of the BMM by making all aspects of its redevelopment a
genuinely student-controlled learning experience. By aiming to “walk the
talk” of participatory design, instructors also aim to maximize the authen-
ticity of media mapping for students.
Visitors to the BMM today fi nd an information-rich resource of dynam-
ically searchable profiles of just under 700 media and communication
fi rms and organizations in the Brisbane area. The BMM makes visible
 Mapping Media in Australia and Sweden 121
fi ne-grained information about the media and communication sector in
Brisbane, including its active geographical, historical and institutional
dynamics. In order to ensure that its listings are reflective of the current
state of the sector, core data are drawn from a variety of sources includ-
ing student-conducted industry interviews, online research and industry
body directories. Since 2006, the Brisbane Media Map makes use of the
Google Map API. Media records are now assigned latitude and longitude
value in order to pinpoint individual entries on the map as well as visualize
business clusters within the same media category. The BMM also features
numerous “media issue commentaries” and profi les of local media indus-
try professionals, which provide a critical and personal dimension for the
otherwise strictly empirical information contained in the resource, and has
proven its popularity with students, industry professionals and job seek-
ers. This popularity is evidenced by the fact that, over the past 12 months,
the site was attracting about 4,000 unique visitors per month. The site
also makes an important portfolio inclusion for media and communication
students who previously graduated with little tangible evidence of their ter-
tiary undergraduate achievements. Students do not only reproduce explicit
knowledge but also build a repertoire of tacit knowledge by conducting
original research, fi nding original design solutions, making responsible and
informed decisions and expressing their creativity (Hearn, Tacchi, Foth, &
Lennie, 2009; Polanyi, 1966; Rust, 2004). Thus, media mapping provides
innovative practical support for the personal and professional development
of media and communication students. The collaborative nature of media
mapping aims to foster the emergence of a community of learners that is—
upon graduation—on the verge of becoming a professional community of
practice (Hiltz & Turoff, 2002; Preece, Rogers, & Sharp, 2002; Wegner,
McDermott, & Snyder, 2002). Indeed, faculty believe that the BMM now
has nascent potential for further development as a part of the “soft” infra-
structure of evolving media and communication industries in Brisbane, and
are exploring the ways in which it can be connected to research, devel-
opment and innovation agendas (Collis, Foth, & Spurgeon, 2005; Kress,
1997) in the wider “Creative Industries.”1
Although the BMM features a cartographic map of Brisbane which spot-
lights specific industry cluster sites or “hot spots,” it is, as Spurgeon and
O’Donnell (2003) note, at the same time a conceptual as well as a geo-
graphical map: The various categories and subcategories into which indi-
vidual fi rms’ entries are entered reflect the students’ understandings of the
organization of the local sector. It is now possible for students to track back
over nine different versions of the BMM to see how this industry field, and
student perceptions of it, have evolved over time. For example, the repre-
sentation of new media services in the BMM has changed more than any
other part of the resource. This shift is not surprising to us given the rapid
growth of new media activity in the Brisbane region and further afield,
including associated theoretical knowledge of this area. For example, in
122 Christina Spurgeon, et al.
2000, students included two categories of “digital media” and “internet
service providers.” While the scope of the latter group of fi rms was clear,
the range of services included in the former was extremely diverse. In 2001
students introduced fi ner distinctions; they created a top-level category of
“online” media and communication services, which was made up of three
subcategories: “internet service providers,” “publications” and “informa-
tion and entertainment.” The students continued to develop their questions
about how best to represent the new media part of the field. By 2005 it had
assumed the form of a top level category called “new media,” made up of
five subcategories: “games and leisure software,” “electronic publications,”
“Web developers,” “Internet service providers,” and “industry organiza-
tions and associations” (see Figure 6.1).
By the end of 2003, the BMM began to attract interest from other
universities nationally and internationally. After some preliminary dis-
cussions to solve licensing issues and to develop a universally applicable
Media Map shell that interested parties could transfer, install, modify,
populate and customize to suit their needs, the physical tier was success-
fully installed at higher education institutions in Sydney and Melbourne,
as well as at one institution in Malmö, Sweden. The Malmö experience
with the three tiers of media mapping—the physical map, its meanings
in the classroom and beyond, and the adaptation of mapping as a teach-
ing and learning approach—is discussed following. Expressions of interest
have been received from additional institutions. This opens up three other
exciting possibilities for media industry mapping. First, a nascent distrib-
uted media mapping innovation system now exists, whereby knowledge
of experiences as well as improvements in technical operation or learn-
ing outcomes can be shared amongst participating institutions. Second,
students have the chance to become active members of an international
learning community of practice. Third, the potential of working with new
and existing partners to inter-link different Media Map systems into a
federated database for the purpose of generating cross-national data and
comparative analyses also exists.

Implementing Media Mapping in Tertiary

Education: A Swedish Perspective
In the experience of Malmö University, mapping as a teaching and learn-
ing activity is undertaken by students early in the educational program.
This has introduced a special focus on original learning rather than giving
proof of already accumulated knowledge. As at QUT and SCU, in the fi rst
media mapping cohort, students were required to start from scratch in the
mapping process since there was no local database to work with from pre-
vious years. Students were required to learn and conceptualize the empiri-
cal nature of how a research process works. They were able to acquire
knowledge and developed their ability to read and understand theoretical
 Mapping Media in Australia and Sweden 123
literature, to be critical of their sources, to write presentations and essays,
to interview companies and to present and fi nally publish their research
fi ndings on the Malmö Media Map Web site (http://mmm.k3.mah.se). Due
to the lack of a prior local version of the Media Map, students who partici-
pated in this first development cycle were required to make more indepen-
dent decisions under the guidance of the teaching team.
The context for media mapping in Sweden has both differences from,
and similarities to, the Australian experience. In Sweden, using media map-
ping of media and creative industries in higher education is also a product
of a local climate in which creative industries and IT and learning are high
on the political agenda. The Swedish government has declared a special
interest in these two areas. An important expression of the political agenda
can be found in the work of The Knowledge Foundation, 2 which was estab-
lished in 1994 by the Riksdag (Swedish Parliament) to enhance Sweden’s
competitiveness by supporting projects related to research, competence
development in industry, and IT development in the schools. From 1999
to 2004, the Knowledge Foundation studied creative industries—under
the label “upplevelseindustri” (experience industry)—as a possible way
to enhance Sweden’s competitiveness. Since 1995 the foundation has also
worked towards supporting IT development in Sweden by promoting IT in
schools and teaching. From 2000 to 2007 a special research project, “Lear-
nIT,” was founded to establish a long-term knowledge-building process
around learning and information and communication technology.
However, the political agenda did not itself drive Malmö instructors’
decision to undertake media mapping; rather, the decision to use media
mapping has to do with the educational environment. The Malmö Media
Map, so-called because of its geographic focus on Malmö, is mainly a peda-
gogic decision, that is, a suitable teaching concept which allows the use and
production of IT to be explored through mapping of creative industries,
and the promotion and publicity of this knowledge. Moreover, the teaching
approach in this class enables students to develop a better understanding
of interactive mapping of media and creative industries in a Swedish edu-
cational setting.
Collaborative mapping systems are taken up in different ways, in various
places, for different reasons and in different contexts. The ongoing design
and development of the Malmö Media Map Web site is guided by the same
teaching concept as found in the Australian context. The Media Map is a
visual representation of the local industry ecology made possible with the
help of a digital media application. As in Australia, the Web site includes
two major components: company profiles and topical short essays report on
current media issues. Yet, just as there are differences among local Austra-
lian universities, it is also possible to fi nd aspects that are particular to the
Swedish context insofar as the dynamics of Media Maps are not only influ-
enced by the political climate but also by the geographical and educational
environment in which they occur. Geographically, Brisbane is bigger than
124 Christina Spurgeon, et al.
Malmö. Brisbane has approximately 1.7 million inhabitants, while Malmö
Municipality has approximately 267,000 inhabitants. Malmö’s size means
a smaller market with fewer companies involved in media and communica-
tion. Although this smaller geographical location signals the possibility of
the students running out of companies to map, size does not present a seri-
ous issue due to the dynamic nature of the market.
From an educational perspective, Malmö itself also shows certain dis-
tinctions. Malmö University chose to create a dynamic media mapping
system in order to structure an ongoing learning process and to motivate
students to make their material public. This decision was a reaction to com-
ments received by students and instructors in previous years. Creating a
Media Map therefore meant focusing on more than just training students
for tertiary graduate employability. Malmö Media Map was initiated for
the fi rst time in September 2004; because 2004 was the “maiden voyage,”
no attempt has yet been made to map local “hot spots.”
The use of media mapping with students early in the educational pro-
gram achieved a key learning objective: to establish an appropriate research
process. First-year students in Malmö are required to acquire a universally
applicable skill set fi rst instead of specializing in just one area straightaway.
Thus, there has not yet been an opportunity for team specializations since
some students only take pictures and some only work on writing content.
In future courses, students are expected to have different competences.
Therefore, they have to be individually visible in order for instructors to be
able to assess their progress. Rather than practicing teamwork, students in
Malmö were mostly assigned individual work tasks. Yet students still had
to take responsibility as editors and worked in groups to sketch out the
mapping concept, that is, to understand what cultural and creative indus-
tries are in the Malmö context and to decide what to map and how.
Dynamically mapping media and creative industries for the fi rst time
brought about the importance of classification as a significant starting
point. Mapping in this sense means visualizing a local industry landscape.
The students therefore had to analyze what to map, which industries to
include, and where the geographical borders of Malmö should be drawn.
To structure the discussions, students used ideas by Hesmondhalgh (2002)
and were guided by reports from The Knowledge Foundation (see earlier).
Contact with media and communication industries meant reflecting on
what is local and fi nding out which companies exist in and service Malmö.
Due to the early phase in education, this was, for many students, a fi rst
contact with possible employers. There were several problems in contacting
companies. Some companies were almost impossible to contact and some
companies did not want to participate, which had to do with confidential-
ity issues relating to making material public.
Publishing material is a special experience in the mapping process. Ide-
ally, students who realize that what they produce as students matters in
the professional world in which they will work will critique their own
 Mapping Media in Australia and Sweden 125
sources, and consider what they say. However, to ensure the accuracy and
quality of the content of the Media Map, only instructor-approved mate-
rial was included. Instructor approval was introduced because some of the
profi les were more promotional in nature than critical evaluations of the
companies presented.
Publishing student work online also brought anxiety about the work
being “good enough.” This occurred particularly as students worked
more as individuals and realized that they were leaving the comfort-
able safety zone of trial and error that a teaching and learning environ-
ment in higher education usually provides. Students worked together to
understand the scope of media and communication industries, and they
worked individually to create profi les and essays. For the profi les, all
students were editors and were responsible for allocating companies to
research. The students consequently had many different roles in the proj-
ect. These multiple roles created confusion for many students and, com-
bined with being students early in their educational process, this meant
that clear instructions were crucial.
Students received instructions as the project progressed. The need for
instructions—and balancing this with the educational need for self-explo-
ration and frustration—meant that the students wanted the “recipe” for
action in some situations, and in other situations, the freedom to explore.
Students wanted freedom in writing profi les, but instructions in the infor-
mation-gathering process. This model turned the other way around in the
process of writing the essays; that is, students wanted freedom in what
material to use, and strict instructions on how to write an essay. The prob-
lem was fi rst seen in how and where to fi nd information, while the problem
later was the actual presentation. What seemed simple for the students from
an instructor’s point of view, the students experienced as difficult. The rea-
son for students’ requests for instructions was mostly that the project was
a learning process both for students and instructors, but also that mapping
reality in a collaborative way is a dynamic process (Kuhlthau, 2004).
Pedagogically, collaborative industry mapping means going public, which
also generates questions and implications that need addressing. For whom
are we making the Media Map? Should students, instructors or companies
decide what the map contains? Mapping provides a way for students to
reflect on geographical representations and to visualize their material. The
Malmö Media Map solved the problem of students not grasping the depth
of how different aspects are interrelated and motivated them in their efforts
by publishing their work. Interestingly, students argued that they wanted
to do the project later in the degree program when they felt they had more
skills. This outcome could be an indication of instructors demanding more
because of the inevitable publication of the students’ work.
The authentic learning project includes some challenging issues both for
students and instructors. Students not looking for a job are confronted with
non-accommodating companies, demanding instructors and pressure for
126 Christina Spurgeon, et al.
not only learning, but also performing. Instructors have trouble balancing
students’ need to learn but also to perform as future media professionals.
The balancing act led to a strategy of students having freedom within a set
framework.
The Malmö Media Map is a problem-based learning exercise situated
within a structured framework. The starting point within the framework is
to decide upon the structure of the Media Map. The problem-based dimen-
sion stems from the imperative that students take responsibility for their
own learning. For some fi rst-year students this responsibility felt strenuous.
However, the opportunities for open progression of both the Malmö Media
Map and the pedagogy of media mapping will see the difficulties of the fi rst
encounter diminish in time, and will lead to new, collaborative, problem-
based learning opportunities in which both students and instructors will
learn by searching and doing.

CONCLUSIONS

Media mapping has developed in Australia to address generic objectives of

tertiary undergraduate education, as well as those that are specific to the
disciplinary concerns of media and communication studies. Mapping has
evolved as both an approach to learning and teaching, and a learning object,
and has been successfully transferred and adapted to a variety of institu-
tional and learning contexts for various reasons, with various results. This
chapter has demonstrated the ways in which media mapping can be taken
up in order to offer students a new type of authentic and meaningful learn-
ing experience that is aligned to the requirements of tertiary education for
the knowledge economy. We have also demonstrated that reflexive engage-
ment with the pedagogy of media mapping is structured into media map-
ping and demanded of faculty involved in its year-on-year delivery. In other
words, the sum of media mapping amounts to significantly more than its
visible Web-based outcomes. Furthermore, media mapping also offers valu-
able opportunities to collaborate in comparative processes of innovation
and ongoing action research in teaching and learning with recurring cycles
of action, review and change (Hearn, Tacchi, Foth, & Lennie, 2009).
Similarities in the Australian and Swedish experiences with media map-
ping are worth noting. There were Layer One difficulties associated with
the initial development of mapping in both locations. Although the Malmö
Media Map was established using the shell of the Brisbane Media Map,
this element did not significantly diminish student anxieties arising from
the absence of a preexisting local version. Both sites experienced similar
Layer Two problems. Student resistance to the learning approach of media
mapping was reported, which most commonly took the form of demands
for more detailed direction in the tasks of obtaining and representing infor-
mation than instructors thought appropriate. Instructors often met these
 Mapping Media in Australia and Sweden 127
expectations indirectly by concentrating instead upon development in key
skills areas including research, teamwork and communication. The most
striking Layer Three similarity was the shared interest in developing a new
pedagogical approach that took account of the dynamics of the knowledge-
based economy. Even though there were variations in the precise learning
objectives of working with Media Maps in each location, there was also
a shared interest in developing and applying the open-ended learning and
teaching approaches that a cultural technological approach to mapping
supports.
Media mapping fosters an authentic, active learning approach to under-
standing media and communication industries in a rapidly changing envi-
ronment. The analysis presented here includes the ways media mapping
has been developed and practiced in two Australian locations, and draws
attention to the ways in which an ambitious, authentic, service-oriented
project such as a Media Map contributes to active, collaborative learning
by demanding student collaboration and content generation. The account
of media mapping in Malmö, Sweden, shows that the student experience
of mapping is far more complex than the fi nal product might indicate. The
similarities and differences between the Malmö and Brisbane experiences
provide important fi ndings for the ongoing autonomous development of
mapping—and authentic learning—in both locations. Both examples illus-
trate the dynamism of three layers of media mapping as well as their inter-
dependencies. The physical system itself is dynamic to the extent that it
allows content within the mapping system to be changed asynchronously
and in real time; updated and transformed by different cohorts of students
over time. In the Layer Two process of generating the information that
populates media maps, students are encouraged to become aware that defi-
nitions within these fields of knowledge are not fi xed but require constant
interrogation. They also participate in the social shaping of larger systems
of knowledge. Their map provides a valuable directory service to the indus-
try and local community; it can build students’ portfolios and connect
them directly to potential employers. It also situates students, and their
work, in larger debates about the role of media, communication, culture,
IT and education in social and economic development. Students’ legacy is
also apparent in the pedagogy of media mapping which is also continuously
refi ned in response to their demands and experiences.
The fact that Media Maps are now developing at a number of institu-
tions opens up other exciting possibilities for cross-institutional exchange
and collaboration. A nascent, distributed media mapping innovation system
exists, whereby delivery experiences, as well as improvements in technical
operation and learning outcomes, can be shared amongst participating insti-
tutions. Ideas for system improvements that may be integrated in future ver-
sions of the Media Map system include a time dimension to make archives
of previous versions of company profi les available through the user inter-
face. Common ownership patterns, conglomerations and concentrations
128 Christina Spurgeon, et al.
could also be visualized (cf. http://www.kek-online.de) through flow charts
and interactive diagrams. Aspects of geographical information systems
(GIS) are also being integrated into the existing system’s architecture. In
addition, there is the possibility of inter-linking different Media Maps into
a federated database for a variety of purposes including generating cross-
national data and comparative analyses.
The Brisbane Media Map is available at http://bmm.qut.edu.au. The
Malmö Media Map is available at http://mmm.k3.mah.se

NOTES

1 The term “creative industries” refers to those knowledge-based industries and

value chains that are particularly reliant upon the inputs of symbol creators.
It encompasses the “copyright industries” but is not limited to entertain-
ment, publishing or media. A range of national, state and regional govern-
ments around the world has taken up the creative industries concept to frame
economic renewal and industry development strategies that emphasize the
development of creative human capital as a source of competitive advantage
in wealth creation strategies. In Australia the term is used to differentiate
copyright and design-based services sectors (such as architecture) from oth-
ers. In the UK it is used more broadly to incorporate heritage-based trade and
services in, for example, art and antiques (Creative Industries Task Force,
2001). QUT is a lead site for national and international creative industries
research, and industry mapping is a key methodology for ascertaining infor-
mation about the significance of the creative industries to the wider national
economy and interest (DCITA, 2004).
2 http://www.kks.se.

REFERENCES

Barabási, A.-L. (2003). Linked: How everything is connected to everything else

and what it means for business, science, and everyday life. New York: Plume.
Carroll, J. M., & Reese, D. D. (2003, January). Community collective effi cacy:
Structure and consequences of perceived capacities in the Blacksburg Elec-
tronic Village. Paper presented at the 36th Hawaii International Conference on
System Sciences (HICSS), Big Island, Hawaii.
Collis, B. (2005, April). The contributing student: A blend of pedagogy and technol-
ogy. Paper presented at the Educause Australasia Conference, Auckland, NZ.
Collis, C., Foth, M., & Spurgeon, C. (2005, November). Local media mapping in
media and communications studies: The Brisbane media map. Paper presented
at the Communications Research & Strategy Forum, University of New South
Wales, Sydney.
Coyle, R. (2004). Welcome to the Rainbow Region media map. Retrieved Febru-
ary 14, 2006, from http://rainbowregion.scu.edu.au/MediaMap.
Creative Industries Task Force. (2001). The creative industries mapping document
2001. Retrieved August 1, 2005, from http://www.culture.gov.uk/global/publi-
cations/archive_2001/ci_mapping_doc_2001.htm
Cunningham, S., Hearn, G., Cox, S., Ninan, A., & Keane, M. (2003). Brisbane’s
creative industries. Retrieved July 31, 2009, from http://eprints.qut.edu.au/2409
 Mapping Media in Australia and Sweden 129
DCITA. (2004). Creative industries cluster study (No. 1–3). Canberra, ACT: Depart-
ment of Communications Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA).
Dewey, J. (1963). Experience and education. London: Collier-Macmillan.
Dewey, J. (1980). Individ, skola och samhälle: Pedagogiska texter av John Dewey.
Urval, inledning och kommentar av SG Hartman och UP Lundgren [Individual,
school and society: Pedagogic texts by John Dewey. Selection, introduction and
comment by SG Hartman and UP Lundgren]. Stockholm: Natur och Kultur.
Flew, T. (2004). Critical communications research in Australia: From radical popu-
lism to creative industries. Javnost—The Public, XI(3), 31–46.
Flew, T. (2005). New media: An introduction (2nd ed.). Melbourne, VIC: Oxford
University Press.
Foth, M., & Axup, J. (2006, Jul 31–Aug 5). Participatory design and action
research: Identical twins or synergetic pair? In G. Jacucci, F. Kensing, I. Wag-
ner, & J. Blomberg (Eds.), Proceedings participatory design conference (PDC)
(pp. 93–96). Trento, Italy.
Fulk, J., Flanagin, A. J., Kalman, M. E., Monge, P. R., & Ryan, T. (1996). Connec-
tive and communal public goods in interactive communication systems. Com-
munication Theory, 6(1), 60–87.
Garlick, S. (1998). Creative association in special places: Enhancing the partner-
ship role of universities in building competitive regional economies. Canberra,
ACT: Evaluations and Investigations Program, DEETYA.
Greenbaum, J. M., & Kyng, M. (Eds.). (1991). Design at work: Cooperative design
of computer systems. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence ErlbaumAssociates.
Hearn, G., Tacchi, J., Foth, M., & Lennie, J. (2009). Action research and new
media: Concepts, methods and cases. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Herrington, J., Oliver, R., & Reeves, T. (2003). Patterns of engagement in authen-
tic online leaning environments. Australian Journal of Educational Technol-
ogy, 19(1), 59–71.
Hesmondhalgh, D. (2002). The cultural industries. London: Sage.
Hiltz, S. R., & Turoff, M. (2002). What makes learning networks effective? Com-
munications of the ACM, 45(4), 56–59.
Inglis, A., Ling, P., & Joosten, V. (1999). Delivering digitally. Managing the transi-
tion to the knowledge media. London: Kogan Page.
Jönsson, B. (2000). Learning by searching. Lund, Sweden: ITiS, Tekniska Hög-
skolan.
Kress, G. (1997). Visual and verbal modes of representation in electronically medi-
ated communication: The potentials of new forms of text. In A. Snyder (Ed.),
Page to screen: Taking literacy into the electronic era (pp. 53–79). Sydney, NSW:
Allen & Unwin.
Kuhlthau, C. C. (2004). Seeking meaning: A process approach to library and
information services (2nd ed.). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Margetson, D. (1999, Nov 29–Dec 2). A critical analysis of the view that the tutor’s
role in problem-based learning is to facilitate rather than teach. Paper presented
at the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Annual Con-
ference, Melbourne, VIC.
Polanyi, M. (1966). The tacit dimension. Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith.
Preece, J., Rogers, Y., & Sharp, H. (2002). Designing for collaboration and com-
munication. In Interaction design: Beyond human-computer interaction (pp.
105–140). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Putnis, P., Axford, B., Watson, L., & Blood, W. (2002). Communication and media
studies in Australian universities. Canberra, ACT: Division of Communication
and Education, University of Canberra.
Reason, P., & Bradbury, H. (2001). Handbook of action research: Participative
inquiry and practice. London: Sage.
130 Christina Spurgeon, et al.
Rust, C. (2004). Design enquiry: Tacit knowledge and invention in science. Design
Issues, 20(4), 76–85.
Schuler, D., & Namioka, A. (Eds.). (1993). Participatory design: Principles and
practices. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Spurgeon, C., & O’Donnell, P. (2003). Mapping the media: Learner-centred orien-
tation to graduate employability. AsiaPacific MediaEducator, 14, 147–155.
Stea, D., Blaut, J. M., & Stephens, J. (1996). Mapping as a cultural universal. In J.
Portugali (Ed.), The construction of cognitive maps. Dordrecht, Netherlands:
Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Wenger, E., McDermott, R. A., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating communities of
practice: A guide to managing knowledge. Boston: Harvard Business School
Press.
Wilson, H. (Ed.). (2003). Belonging to the Rainbow Region: Cultural perspectives
on the NSW North Coast. Lismore, NSW: Southern Cross University Press.
7 Not Your Father’s Educational
Technology
A Case Study in Mobile Media
and Journalism Education
Susan Jacobson and Karen M. Turner

INTRODUCTION

The explosive growth of the mobile phone and other mobile communica-
tion technologies worldwide, particularly among young people, is well docu-
mented (Castells, Fernandez-Ardevol, Qiu, and Sey, 2006). College students
increasingly rely on cell phones instead of e-mail to communicate with their
friends and family (Carnevale, 2006). Given these trends, it is no surprise that
educators are seeking to harness the cell phone and other mobile technologies
for use in the classroom. This chapter will review some of the emerging stud-
ies on cell phone use in the classroom, examine one project in more detail, and
conclude with a discussion of how mobile technology may enhance classroom
activities, with a particular emphasis on journalism education. The theme
that emerges from all of these studies suggests that mobile media facilitate
very different kinds of educational activities than traditional computing.
Many of the emerging studies on the use of mobile media in education
have focused on using cell phones and other mobile devices as course con-
tent delivery systems. The challenges with expecting mobile devices to con-
form to this vision of educational technology are obvious: small screens
restrict the amount of visual information that may be viewed, and limited
input systems complicate two-way communication between the receivers
of content and the makers. Some of the more recent research views mobile
communication as an alternative to e-mail communication for class-related
matters, or, as in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre of 2007, as a
campus-wide communication system (Swartz & Hopkins, 2007).
The project studied in this chapter took a different approach, asking
journalism students to use mobile phones as tools in the news gathering
and reporting process by recording audio interviews and taking camera-
phone photographs while out on story assignments. The students’ work
was immediately published to a blog, where it was folded into a collabora-
tive piece about Election Day 2006 and 2007 in Philadelphia. The authors
believe that this application of mobile technology in the classroom may
prove a more effective model for educators, particularly in the context of
journalism education.
132 Susan Jacobson and Karen M. Turner
Perhaps no field has been more greatly impacted by changes in technol-
ogy and demographics than journalism. Young people may be leading the
adoption of mobile media, but they are not reading newspapers nor view-
ing evening newscasts. Contributions to the news by citizen non-journalists
have never been higher. Media scholar Mark Deuze suggests that the tradi-
tional news audience is becoming more like news colleagues to professional
journalists, co-creating the editorial product as much as, if not more than,
consuming it (Deuze, 2007). The camera-enabled cell phone is one of the
most prominent vehicles of citizen journalist contributions. Newsrooms are
struggling to fi nd productive ways to incorporate citizen journalism into
the news product, and journalism educators are grappling with ways to
incorporate citizen journalism into the curriculum. Cell phones and other
mobile devices equipped with cameras, texting abilities and access to tele-
communications networks, where content may be published on the spot,
seem like a logical place for newsrooms and news classrooms to begin to
explore this phenomenon.
This chapter begins with a review of the literature that discusses emerg-
ing studies in the use of mobile media in education, the use of mobile media
by journalists, and the ongoing debate about “convergence” in journalism
education. The next section outlines the cell phone pilot project conducted
by the authors in Experimental Journalism class during Fall 2006 and Fall
2007 semesters. The article concludes with a discussion of how well the
technology worked, where it fell short, further uses of mobile technology
in the classroom, and how mobile media present a marked departure from
other technologies as a tool for education.

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

The research on mobile learning overwhelmingly describes it as providing

flexible, “just in time,” “just for me” and “any time anywhere” learning
(Fodzer & Kuman 2007; Peng & Chou 2007; Shih & Mills 2007; Traxler
2007; Waycott, Jones & Scanlon 2005 and others). However, the distinc-
tion that mobile learning researchers have drawn between mobile learning
and traditional, “tethered” computer learning is not consistent. Broadly
speaking, these studies can be divided into three categories. First, several
well-funded mobile education projects have focused on using mobile devices
as course content delivery systems, offering functionality that is similar to
that of a computer. Second, other projects have developed more specialized
applications for cell phones and PDAs, customizing them for use on specific
educational tasks. Third, still other projects incorporate mobile devices into
an array of educational tools, using them mostly for communication. We
review a few of these studies next.
Mobile media promise a very different kind of educational experience
from the computer. Traxler developed a list of some key differences when
 Not Your Father’s Educational Technology 133
he compared the keywords of conference presentations on mobile learning
with the literature of traditional computer-based learning. He found the
former to be tagged as “‘personal,’ ‘spontaneous,’ ‘opportunistic,’ ‘infor-
mal,’ ‘pervasive,’ ‘situated,’ ‘private,’ ‘context-aware,’ ‘bite-sized,’ and
‘portable.’” By contrast, computer-based learning was described as “‘struc-
tured,’ ‘media-rich,’ ‘broadband,’ ‘interactive,’ ‘intelligent,’ and ‘usable’”
(Traxler, 2007).
A presentation by Torstein Rekkedal, director of research and devel-
opment at Norway’s NKI Distance Education, suggests that the mobile
phone manufacturers view their devices as extensions of the computer. He
lists tasks such as studying course materials, making notes, writing assign-
ments, sending e-mail and other computer-centric tasks as important to
mobile learning (Rekkedal, 2002).
In a later study, Rekkedal reported on a series of hybrid PDA–cell phone
distance learning projects that initially used cell phones for communica-
tion and PDAs for course content delivery, but later changed to making all
course content available on all platforms. The rationale behind this change
was to free students from being tied to a specific location by a computer—a
development that Rekkedal and his colleagues claim caused distance learn-
ing to take a step backward when compared with the older paper-based
model. Unsurprisingly, they cited the small screen size of most PDAs and cell
phones as the biggest challenge of the project (Rekkedal & Dye, 2007).
Jill Attwell and a team at the UK’s Technology Enhanced Learning
Research Centre tested a prototype mobile learning system, which they
called a “microportal,” on several groups of European students. The
microportal consisted of mini-Web pages linked to course materials,

Table 7.1 Qualities of mobile learning and computer learning compared. Adapted
from J. Traxler’s 2007 article: “Defining, discussing, and evaluating mobile
learning: The moving finger writes and having writ. . .”. International
Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning, 8(2), p. 1.

Mobile Learning Computer Learning

Informal Structured
Media-specific Media-rich/Broadband
Context-aware Intelligent
Portable Tethered
Private Public
Personalized/customized functions Generalized functions
Spontaneous/Opportunistic Fixed, predictable
Bite-sized Encyclopedic
Communication Productivity
134 Susan Jacobson and Karen M. Turner
communication tools and Web resources of interest to the students. Like
Rekkedal, they used hybrid phone/PDA systems with Web browser capa-
bilities. The team found that the lack of mobile Web standards made it
difficult to easily translate functions and materials between the computer
learning environment and the PDA environment. They developed some
innovative learning tools, such as quizzes and collaborative learning proj-
ects with voice recordings and camera phones, but because of the techni-
cal barriers, they had to develop awkward workarounds for the students
to make them function. For example, the quiz games had to be preloaded
onto the student mobile devices, and the camera-phone photos and audio
had to be downloaded to a computer before being uploaded to the Web
(Attwell, 2004).
Another group of studies incorporated mobile devices as part of a con-
tinuum of educational technology tools, including computers. Marcus
Ragus detailed several learning trials with PDAs in Australia. One group
of projects provided location-sensitive information to visitors at tourist
sites like Australia’s Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. Another set of
projects allowed workers to collect field data that could be analyzed and
added to a central database or evaluated for accuracy; for example, allow-
ing workers at the botanical gardens to upload text and photo reports on
the health of specific trees. All of these case studies relied on accessing
specialized databases with custom forms, supporting the idea that mobile
learning systems will be more specialized than other forms of computer
learning (Ragus, 2004).
The use of photos and video in some projects suggests that mobile media
may represent a significant departure from traditional image-making. Gra-
ham Nash and Kathy Mackey used the photo, video and image-editing
features of the mobile phone in a visual arts curriculum with a group of
middle school students in Australia. Unlike traditional photographs, they
argue, camera-phone images are not usually stand-alone objects but are
rather artifacts of communication. Nash and Mackey liken teenagers with
multimedia cell phones to Baudelaire’s 19th-century flaneurs (dubbing them
“phoneurs”), using their camera phones to record impressions of life and
place. Nash and Mackey found that because the use of the camera phone is
so different from a traditional camera, the conventions of traditional pho-
tography are relaxed, and new forms of image-making may emerge (Nash
& Mackey, 2007).
Video was well-received by students in Rekkedal and Dye’s projects,
along with a feature that read aloud text from a Web page, suggesting
that non-textual material may work better on mobile devices because it
does not require reading from the screen (Rekkedal and Dye, 2007).
Some studies that embrace the mobile phone often conclude that text
messaging, also known as SMS, is one of the most useful functions of
mobile education because it allows students and teachers to exchange mes-
sages about deadlines, changes in course schedules, and quick questions
 Not Your Father’s Educational Technology 135
about course material (Caudill, 2007; Kadirire, 2007). The tragedy of the
Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 brought SMS messaging to the attention of
college administrators as a method of alerting students to emergencies on
campus (Swartz & Hopkins, 2007).
Agnes Kukulska-Hume observes that mobile learning activity tends
to take place on devices that were not designed with educational applica-
tions in mind, and argues that the future of mobile learning will depend
on improving the usability of mobile devices to support learning. She con-
cludes that the most effective mobile learning applications will be those
that are developed for specific tasks and disciplines, rather than generic
use. This contrasts with computers, which are designed as general-purpose
machines (Kukulska-Hume, 2007).
The overwhelming acceptance of the mobile phone by younger genera-
tions worldwide encourages the possibility of adding to or changing the
tools of contemporary educational practice. James Kadirire argues that it
may create opportunities for young people who are not attending college to
participate in projects with college-going peers. He points out that young
people who do not have computers are likely to own mobile phones (Kadi-
rire, 2007). Subjects in several studies described the experience of using
mobile media for learning as “fun,” further suggesting the attraction that
mobile learning may hold out for young learners (Rekkedal and Dye, 2007;
Ragus, 2004).
Journalists around the world are also incorporating the use of the mobile
phone in the collection and dissemination of the news. The mobile phone is
perhaps the most common form of communication in the developing world,
because of its low cost and lack of reliance on expensive infrastructure.
Karin Wahl-Jorgensen and Pasco Temple reported that a group of jour-
nalists in Sierra Leone found that the mobile phone was the most reliable
source for interviews concerning the then-upcoming 2007 elections in that
country (Wahl-Jorgensen & Temple, 2006).
Perhaps the most compelling development in mobile journalism is its ties
to citizen journalism, as the mobile phone is used often to capture images
of breaking news. Allison Romano and Ken Kerschbaumer of Broadcast-
ing and Cable magazine claim that the London subway bombings were
the fi rst major news story in which mainstream news organizations fea-
tured eyewitness cell phone video (Romano & Kerschbaumer, 2005). More
recently, coverage of the protests following the 2009 presidential election in
Iran consisted of photos and videos taken by Iranians with camera phones,
which were then transmitted worldwide. The mobile phone may hold some
promise for facilitating grassroots communication. Janey Gordon looked
at mobile phone communications by non-journalists during the SARS out-
break in China, the 2004 tsunami, and the London subway bombings. She
concluded that camera images and text messages often “scooped” official
sources of information, and, in the case of the SARS outbreak, circum-
vented official repression of information (Gordon, 2007). CNN’s I-Report
136 Susan Jacobson and Karen M. Turner
feature, where readers are encouraged to send photos and videos of news-
worthy events, received more than 120 images two days after the Virginia
Tech shooting. The network used more than 40 of them (Becker, 2007).
“Mobile is the future,” Ken Sands, the former online editor of the Spo-
kane Spokesman-Review, bluntly told the Columbia Journalism Review
(Metzinger, 2007). Indeed, some American newsrooms seem to be heeding
his words. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution restructured its workflow to
put digital publication on an equal footing with print. Management created
a force of “mo-jos,” or mobile journalists, armed with wireless laptops and
digital audiovisual recorders (Klein, 2007).
Journalism educators have been slow to consider the use of mobile
phones in their curriculum. University journalism departments have been
struggling to reorganize the curriculum in an environment of rapidly
changing technology, declines in readership and viewership of traditional
news products, and the emergence of new forms of the news, such as
citizen journalism, blogging and information dissemination via social
networking. Many programs have introduced new technology and new
forms of journalism into the curriculum under the label of “convergence,”
a vague term that can mean anything from combining newspaper and
television news operations to simply incorporating multimedia elements
into a news Web site.
Several scholars have investigated the impact of convergence on journal-
ism education. Kraeplin and Criado (2005) identified the qualities of inter-
disciplinarity and multidisciplinarity as key elements in the defi nition of
convergence education programs. Most journalism programs, they found,
offer a menu of multidisciplinary programs where journalism students
learn elements of both the traditional print and broadcasting curriculum.
This model was chosen by most universities because the facilities to support
it were already in place, and faculty retraining was minimized.
A group of educators at the University of Southern California, however,
found that, when they practiced this model at their school, both students
and faculty complained about the amount of material that they had to teach
and learn, and feared that depth was being sacrificed for breadth of con-
tent (Casteneda, Murphy, & Hether, 2005). The interdisciplinary model
recommended by Kraeplin and Criado emphasizes blending both print and
broadcasting approaches in a new media format.
Supporting this idea, another study found that student satisfaction
increased and the negative effects of culture clash decreased in journalism
classes where a single instructor taught multiple media instead of when sev-
eral instructors taught separate modules for each medium (Filak, 2006).
However, another group of researchers conducted a national survey of jour-
nalism programs and found that many faculty did not have the skill set to
teach this kind of curriculum (Lowrey, Daniels, & Becker, 2005).
Indeed, scholars like Stephen Quinn question the viability of the back-
pack journalist:
 Not Your Father’s Educational Technology 137
Technology makes the multi-skilled journalist possible but in reality we
may not see many Inspector Gadgets, for several reasons. Most jour-
nalists simply do not have the necessary level of technical expertise,
and training has never been a high priority in many newsrooms. . . . In
terms of the quality of fi nal product, it is not possible for one person to
cover a major story adequately for all media. (Quinn, 2005)

Clearly there seems to be a need for multimedia publishing tools that

journalism students and faculty with minimal technical skills can use
to explore some of the new forms of “converged” journalism. The ever-
increasingly ubiquitous cell phone may provide such an entrée.

The Election Day Moblog Project

As part of a course called “Experimental Journalism” in a converged cur-
riculum at Temple University, the authors of this study set up a moblog, or
“mobile blog,” for journalism students to contribute to on Election Day
2006 and 2007. A moblog is a blog that can be updated with a mobile phone.
Our project was a collaborative effort, as many people contributed mobile
messages to a single blog. Our students were able to use their phones to call
in and record voice reports, upload photos and text to our central blog at
http://betterworldblog.livejournal.com on the LiveJournal blogging system.
We asked the students to visit polling places and other venues where Elec-
tion Day activities were taking place around Philadelphia, and then call in
a report with their cell phones. Their posts were immediately accessible on
the blog. An automated voice-recognition system attempted to transcribe
the audio reports, although we the instructors found that the transcription
needed heavy editing. The results for both Election Day events resulted in a
rich tapestry of stories from across the region.

Who Posted
Our fi rst project was on November 7, 2006, in Pennsylvania, when voters
were casting ballots for governor, one of the U.S. Senate seats, and several
local congressional seats. Incumbent Governor Ed Rendell was expected to
defeat his Republican challenger, Lynn Swann, but the Senate race between
Republican incumbent Rick Santorum and Democratic challenger Robert
Casey was highly contested, with Casey winning the seat. Several of the
local congressional races were also very competitive, and a handful of them
were decided a few days after Election Day. According to one measure,
voter turnout for the 2006 election was 40.4% of people eligible to vote
overall in the U.S., and 43.6% in Pennsylvania. These numbers increased
slightly from 2002, the previous midterm election year, when 39.51% of
people eligible to vote in the U.S. as a whole did so, and 38.78% in Penn-
sylvania (McDonald, 2007).
138 Susan Jacobson and Karen M. Turner
Election Day 2006 was also the fi rst time we conducted this project,
which we advertised to students in our Experimental Journalism class, stu-
dents in other classes, and to a community listserv. We received 32 mobile
posts in 2006: 16 from students in our class, 12 from students in other
classes, two from the community listserv, and two from the authors of this
study. Thirty Election Day posts included voice posts, four of the voice
posts included photos, one post consisted entirely of photos, and one post
was an e-mail message from a member of the community listserv who
served as a poll worker on Election Day.
Our second project took place on November 6, 2007, in Pennsylva-
nia, when voters in Philadelphia were casting ballots for the Philadel-
phia mayor. Democrat Michael Nutter was running against Republican
Al Taubenberger. Nutter was expected to win easily, as Philadelphia is a
keenly Democratic city, and the “real” race for mayor was considered by
some to have been the Democratic primary election, held in May 2007.
Nutter won the mayor’s seat with 82% of the vote. The landslide elec-
tion may explain the record-low turnout reported by thenextmayor.com,
a blog run jointly by the Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia’s public
TV station WHYY, and the Committee of 70, a local watchdog group
(Thenextmayor.com, 2007).
Although voter turnout was low in Philadelphia, participation in our
moblog project increased. We received 40 published posts, including 28
posts from students in our experimental journalism class, 11 posts from
students in other classes, and one inaudible post that we could not identify.
We did not receive any posts from the community, perhaps because of the
anticlimactic nature of the election. Twelve posts were marked as “private”
when the students called them in, meaning that students chose not to make
them publicly viewable on the blog. Of these, three were later made public
and included in the 40 published posts, and the remaining nine, most of
which were clearly failed attempts, were not published.

What They Posted

Of the 30 mobile phone posts we received on Election Day 2006, seven
featured live interviews with people at polling places, including poll work-
ers, voters and one sitting mayor from a Philadelphia suburb. The live
interviews consisted of a reporter’s introduction, after which the reporter
would hand the phone to his or her interviewee who would speak into the
phone. For example, student Jenna Brizek visited a “Democracy Café” near
a polling place next to Temple University, to interview a member of the
local Democratic PAC:

Brizek: This is Jenna Brizek reporting from the Schwartz Recreation Cen-
ter in North Philadelphia. There seems to be a steady flow of
voters tonight, and the smell of hot dogs fi lls the air. Students
 Not Your Father’s Educational Technology 139
from the voting advocacy group PA PAC for Progress have set up
their own Democracy Café in front of the polling place. They are
offering free candy, pizza, drinks and hot dogs to voters for doing
their part. Group member Anna Hyclack has been working hard
all day long to get out the vote.
Hyclack: I’ve been walking around Temple’s campus for hours, just handing
out different types of information—flyers, brochures, stickers,
buttons. We are just really trying to get a lot of Temple students
to come out and vote, lots of young people. We’re hoping that
having food here will be sort of a lure for people from campus
who might have been hesitant about otherwise coming out to the
polls.

Although Brizek’s introduction was scripted, four of the total seven live
interviews were not. In the four unscripted interviews, the students ques-
tioned their interview subjects extemporaneously. For example, one student
conducted an extended interview with the mayor of the town of Greenville,
PA, and another student conducted three interviews at the headquarters of
winning gubernatorial candidate Ed Rendell, where the victory party was
in full swing.

Figure 7.1 Campaign signs outside a polling place in East Greenville, PA, under-
score the intensity of the 2006 election. Photo by Breanna Tannous.
140 Susan Jacobson and Karen M. Turner
Four of the students who did not conduct live interviews nonetheless
reported on interviews they conducted with voters and poll workers at
the site.
Eight of the 30 phone posts were from people calling in live from the
scene to report their personal experiences and observations at polling
places. These posts did not contain interviews. One student phoned in his
experience knocking on doors in South Philadelphia to encourage people
to go out to vote:

Kaplan: I have been canvassing to get out the vote and knocking on doors
getting people to the polls since noon this afternoon. For eight
hours I have been trying to turn out voters in South Philadelphia,
which is a very interestingly mixed district. You have a lot of
Roman Catholic Italians who favor the Christian politics of Rick
Santorum, which run counter to the organized labor movement
in South Philadelphia, which tends to adamantly support Gover-
nor Rendell.

We received ten calls from students at Rendell’s headquarters, where the

celebrations could clearly be heard in the background of the reports. We
received five calls from Congressman Curt Weldon’s headquarters, where
the silence of his defeat was deafening. The students calling in from Wel-
don’s headquarters reported on the poignancy of his concession speech:

Kramer: This is Cassandra Kramer reporting from Curt Weldon’s cam-

paign headquarters outside of Philadelphia. Republican Curt
Weldon came out about 30 minutes ago and delivered his con-
cession speech. Although at the time the numbers came in at
about 57 percent for [Joe] Sestak and 43 percent for Weldon,
he acknowledged there was no way to make up the difference
of votes, regardless of the fact that the Chester County totals
had not come in. He thanked his supporters for all in their work
during the campaign, and he tried to comfort the room saying,
quote, “The mood of the country is sour right now. And because
of that a next term just wasn’t meant to be.”

Kramer’s report was among the 19 phone reports that were scripted on
the scene before phoning in. Only 11 of the 30 reports were extempora-
neous. Regardless of whether the report was scripted or not, most of the
reports reflected a great deal of energy from the reporters and their inter-
view subjects, whether in enthusiasm or defeat, which in turn reflected the
hotly contested nature of many of the races in 2006.
By contrast, the Philadelphia mayor’s race on November 7, 2007, was
expected to be a landslide win for the Democratic candidate, and many of
the interviews the students conducted with poll workers and voters reflected
 Not Your Father’s Educational Technology 141
the low-key nature of the election. Several students interviewed poll work-
ers who told them that turnout was low, nothing particularly exciting was
happening, and that they did not expect any dramatic upsets in the elec-
tion. One example:

Templeman: This is Jannine Templeman reporting live from the Youth

Club on Election Day 2007. I’m here with Mr. Michael Coleman
who’s here representing the Democratic Party. So how has the
voter turnout been today?
Coleman: Voter turnout has been kinda slow.

Although the 2007 election did not have as many contested races as the
2006 election, we received more phone posts. Of the 40 published posts,
eight were photo posts, and the remaining 32 were voice posts. Half of the
voice posts (16) included live at-the-scene interviews. Five of the students
used prerecorded interview sound bites in their phone posts, by holding
their cell phone up to the speaker of an audio recorder. One student used
this technique to include a sound bite from Democratic mayoral candidate
Michael Nutter as he was leaving his polling place. Other students prere-
corded voter-on-the-street interviews, cued them up, and played them into
the cell phone. Following is part of a transcript from the report fi led by the
student who got a sound bite from mayoral candidate Michael Nutter:

Lee: I’m here at the John C. Anderson Center, where voters are pouring
in early this morning at Democratic nominee Michael Nutter’s
polling place on Overbrook Avenue. Now Nutter is presumably
the winner of today’s election but he hopes people don’t skip the
polls today and forget about the other people running.
Nutter: I’m not the only person running. This is not an election that’s just
about the mayor’s race. The mayor, city council, I think these
supreme court seats are very important for the proper operation
of the judicial system. It’s not just about me, this election has
never been just about me. It really is about the voters, about the
future of this city. People should come out to vote. Your vote is
your voice in government.

In six of the remaining 16 voice posts that did not include an interview,
the students paraphrased interviews they had conducted with poll workers
or other voters. Five students reported on their personal voting experience.
One student gave a rather heartfelt description of his voting experience:

Supplee: I just got back from voting. This year for voting I actually decided to
go at the same time as my mom just to see what the reaction would
be. People often criticize young people for not going and voting. I
noticed that she walked in first, and it was just like—go home, just
142 Susan Jacobson and Karen M. Turner
another voter. But then when I walked in—people were shocked.
It was immediately, “Do you know what you’re doing, have you
ever done this before, do you need any help, do you know what
the issues are, do you want read some pamphlets before you vote.”
And they just make it seem that people of my age do not know how
to vote or what to do. And I think that might be a reason that a lot
of young people stay away from the polls.

Sean Supplee’s post was among the 16 phone posts that were extempo-
raneous reports, just edging out the 15 scripted reports, a departure from
2006, when slightly more of the reports were scripted. (The 32nd report
was inaudible.) Students who considered themselves broadcasting majors
were more likely to use scripted presentations, while non-broadcast majors
were more likely to speak extemporaneously.

DISCUSSION

One of the best outcomes of both of these projects was getting student
journalists out in the field on Election Day, talking to poll workers, voters,
and even city officials. Although such an observation is hard to measure,
we believe that our students gained excellent experience and increased their
sense of civic awareness by participating in these projects. Students who
may not normally have participated in election coverage decided to do so
for this project. The portable audiovisual production capabilities of the
mobile phone, combined with the power to instantly publish the material
to the Web, made the cell phone an easy reporting tool for the students to
use. Students are already familiar and comfortable with the functionality
of their phones. From the students’ perspective, it is much easier to use a
cell phone as a recording device, out in the field, than it is to check out a
full set of production gear (camera, microphone, tripod and cables) from
the university equipment office. A small mobile device is also a much less
intimidating recording device for interview subjects than a large camera or
microphone pointed at their face.
We were also amazed at how the students who participated in these two
election projects were able to fi nd ways to increase the functionality of their
mobile phone posts. By simply handing a mobile phone to include an inter-
view subject in a live report, or holding a tape recorder up to the mobile
phone receiver to play a sound bite from a press conference, the students
showed a comfort level with mobile phone technology that many of their
professors lack. Given the ubiquity of the mobile phone among college stu-
dents, and non-students of college age, we see a potential for more collab-
orative projects to which journalists and non-journalists may contribute.
Students enrolled in Temple’s Broadcast Journalism sequence called
in reports in a style similar to traditional broadcast journalism, most of
 Not Your Father’s Educational Technology 143
them writing a script ahead of time. Students enrolled in other sequences
were more likely to deviate from the traditional radio-TV news format,
often reporting their personal experiences and observations. As Nash
and Mackey observed in their study of cell phone images, the products
of the cell phone cameras are sufficiently different from other images
that they may create new categories for defi ning images. The same may
be true of audiovisual reports and text messages generated by mobile
devices.
The lack of editing is another way in which the reports generated from
the students’ mobile phones were different from stories that they would cre-
ate in traditional journalism classes. The students did not have to turn to a
computer to edit the images, audio and text that they produced because they
were able to instantly upload the material to the Web from their phones.
(Although it must be said that most of the material would have benefitted
from editing.)
The strength of the mobile phone in this project was its mobility; the
ubiquity of mobile phone ownership among the students and their comfort
level with their phones; the possibility of recording and publishing mate-
rial on the spot, without editing; and the immediacy of posting work to
the Web. Many of the differences between mobile learning and computer-
based learning that Traxler identified were evident in this project.
Still, computer-based communication and functionality remained a cen-
tral focus of this project because the end result of the students’ work was
published on a blog site on the Web. The computer screen is still a better
display than a mobile screen for collaborative projects like this because
the audience may easily view a series of entries in one glance on a larger
screen, instead of having to scroll through miniaturized representations on
a mobile handset. This situation could be partially rectified by building bet-
ter mobile interfaces to access information in collective posts, but the small
screen still would not allow the level of detail that even a small computer
monitor could hold.
The blog interface on the computer screen also had its shortcomings.
The default presentation mode for all blogs is reverse chronological order.
This format is helpful for people who are closely following updated con-
tent, or for content that is only occasionally updated, but it is not as effec-
tive for long-term presentation of material that has any depth or breadth.
We found the same to be true of our project. While it was exciting to have
the mobile posts immediately published when they were called in on Elec-
tion Day, the blog format was not a useful way of experiencing the material
after the moment had passed.
In an attempt to remedy this situation, we used some of the material to
annotate a Google Map, which allowed us to organize Election Day stories
by location.
Ideally, we would prefer a system that would automatically reformat
the moblog posts and link them to Google Maps and other applications.
144 Susan Jacobson and Karen M. Turner
Unfortunately, public blogging systems like LiveJournal limit the amount
of manipulation that users may perform on the databases that host the blog
data. It would be possible to take the raw RSS feed from the LiveJournal
blog and “parse” the data, or write a program that could correctly interpret
all of the blog tags, and then reformat the display using Web development
tools. It would take a knowledgeable programmer a few days to create
this application, which would have to be adjusted every time LiveJournal
made changes to it system. Fortunately, more mobile phones, such as the
iPhone and the GooglePhone, automatically encode information about the
location where camera-phone images were recorded, a practice known as
“geo-coding.” This information is automatically uploaded to the Web with
the image.
We continued this project for the 2008 U.S. presidential election. We
sought and received some international participation in the project, but one
of the lessons that we learned is that mobile culture differs from country
to country. Because the functionality of mobile technology and the way
people use it is always changing, accepted methods of making and sharing

Figure 7.2 Google Map showing the location of some of the 2007 Election Day
posts. [Anyone with a Google account may create customized, annotated maps. It
is possible to annotate the map by marking a location with a “push pin,” and then
adding text, images and links to the annotation. You can then share maps by sending
others the link to your map page.]1
 Not Your Father’s Educational Technology 145

Figure 7.3 Detail of one of the posts. Photo by Rachel Falcinelli. [Google Maps
does not allow audio and video to be directly embedded into an annotation, so we
summarized the post content, linked to a larger photo, and provided a link to the
audio.]

multimedia posts with a mobile phone are different in different parts of

the world. The instructions we sent to our international participants did
not make sense to them, because they were used to publishing in other
ways. The use of mobile networks for multimedia publishing may evolve to
embrace international standards, but a seamless process is not yet available.
For example, many of the camera-phone videos taken by ordinary Iranians
during the 2009 election crisis were often assisted in their publication to
the Web by individuals who uploaded them from phone to computer to
YouTube and other social media sites.
As the literature on mobile media in education indicates, and this project
demonstrates, the mobile phone presents a new kind of educational tech-
nology, with strengths and weaknesses much different from computing.
Given the cell phone’s extreme popularity with young people worldwide, it
is a potentially powerful tool for classroom projects.
146 Susan Jacobson and Karen M. Turner
NOTE

1. The links are quite long. The link to our map is: http://maps.
g o o g l e . c o m / m a p s / m s ? i e = U T F 8 & h l = e n & m s a = 0 & m s i d =110 74 0
3 7 8 3 8 8 3 8 59 218 9 4 . 0 0 0 43 f b b a 5f 2 d 61b b 0 d 1 3 & l l = 4 0 . 0 1 2 6 2 2 , -
75.132107&spn=0.146201,0.22419&z=12&om=1 Fortunately, it is possible
to embed a Google Map in a Web page and publish that URL instead.

REFERENCES

Attwell, J. (2004). Mobile technologies and learning. Retrieved November 20,

2007, from http://www.lsda.org.uk/fi les/pdf/041923RS.pdf
Becker, A. (2007). Citizen journalism comes of age. Broadcasting & Cable,
137(17), 16.
Carnevale, D. (2006). E-mail is for old people. The Chronicle of Higher Educa-
tion, 53(7), A27.
Castaneda, L., Murphy, S., & Hether, H. J. (2005). Teaching print, broadcast, and
online journalism concurrently: A case study assessing a convergence curricu-
lum. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 60(1), 57.
Castells, M., Fernandez-Ardevol, M., Qui, J., and Sey, A. (2006). Mobile commu-
nication and society: A global perspective. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Caudill, J. (2007). The growth of m-learning and the growth of mobile comput-
ing: Parallel developments. ?Retrieved August 5, 2009, from The International
Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning Web site: http://www.irrodl.
org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/348/873.
Deuze, M. (2007). Media work. Presentation at Temple University on November
29, 2007, Philadelphia, PA.
Filak, V. (2006). The impact of instructional methods on medium-based bias and
convergence approval. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 61(1),
48.
Fozdar, B. I., & Kumar, L. S. (2007). Mobile learning and student retention. Inter-
national Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 8(2), 1.
Gordon, J. (2007). The mobile phone and the public sphere: Mobile phone usage in
three critical situations. Convergence: The Journal of Research into New Media
Technologies, 13(3), 307.
Kadirire, J. (2007). Instant messaging for creating interactive and collaborative
m-learning environments. International Review of Research in Open and Dis-
tance Learning, 8(2), 1.
Klein, J. M. (2007). If you build it. . . . Columbia Journalism Review, 46(4), 40.
Kraeplin, C., & Criado, C. A. (2005). Building a case for convergence journalism
curriculum. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 60(1), 47.
Kukulska-Hulme, A. (2007). Mobile usability in educational contexts: What have
we learnt? International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning,
8(2), 1.
Lowrey, W., Daniels, G. L., & Becker, L. B. (2005). Predictors of convergence cur-
ricula in journalism and mass communication programs. Journalism & Mass
Communication Educator, 60(1), 32.
McDonald, M. (2007). 2006 Voting-age and voting-eligible population estimates.
United States Election Project. Retrieved November 20, 2007, from http://elec-
tions.gmu.edu/Voter_Turnout_2006.htm
Metzinger, K. (2007). Shifting sands. American Journalism Review, August–Sep-
tember.
 Not Your Father’s Educational Technology 147
Nash, G., & Mackey, K. (2007). The digital NATIVES are restless: Using the
mobile phone camera creatively in visual arts and media classrooms. Screen
Education, 47, 92.
Peng, H., & Chou, C. (2007). Mobile computing as a cognitive tool for middle
schools: Connecting curriculum and technology. International Journal of
Instructional Media, 34(3), 301.
Quinn, S. (2005). Convergence’s fundamental question. Journalism Studies, 6(1), 29.
Ragus, M. (2004). Mobile learning: Handheld innovations in fl exible learning
Part 3: Case Studies. Retrieved January 25, 2010, from the Australia Flexible
Learning Framework Website: http://pre2005.flexiblelearning.net.au/projects/
media/mlearningreportpt3_casestudies.pdf
Rekkedal, T. (2002). M-learning for PDAs: Enhancing the fl exibility of distance
education. Retrieved November 20, 2007, from http://learning.ericsson.net/
mlearning2/project_one/presentation/torstein1911.ppt
Rekkedal, T., & Dye, A. (2007). Mobile distance learning with PDAs: Development
and testing of pedagogical and system solutions supporting mobile distance
learners. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning,
8(2), 1.
Romano, A., & Kerschbaumer, K. (2005). The accidental journalist. Broadcasting
& Cable, 135(28), 17.
Shih, Y. E., & Mills, D. (2007). Setting the new standard with mobile computing
in online learning. International Review of Research in Open and Distance
Learning, 8(2), 1.
Swartz, J., and Hopkins, J. (2007, April 18). Could cell text alert have helped at Va.
Tech? 35 colleges have such a system. USA Today, p. 3B.
Thenextmayor.com. (2007). A quick word about turnout. Retrieved November
20, 2007, fromhttp://blogs.phillynews.com/dailynews/nextmayor/2007/11/a_
quick_word_about_turnout.html
Traxler, J. (2007). Defi ning, discussing, and evaluating mobile learning: The mov-
ing fi nger writes and having writ. . . . International Review of Research in
Open and Distance Learning, 8(2), 1.
Wahl-Jorgensen, K., & Temple, P. G. H. (2006). New degrees, no pencils. IPI
Global Journalist, 12(3/4), 32.
Waycott, J., Jones, A., & Scanlon, E. (2005). PDAs as lifelong learning tools: An
activity theory based analysis. Learning, Media, & Technology, 30(2), 107.
Part IV

Complex Virtual Systems

Making Learning Spatially and
Socially Whole
The chapters in this section call on new media to evoke spatial and social
telepresence drawing on their multiple conceptualizations, including per-
ceptions of social closeness through “presence as social richness,” depic-
tions of reality and of humanlike behaviors through “presence as realism”
and “presence of the medium as social actors,” travel through “presence
as transportation,” immersion in subject matter through “presence as
immersion,” and interaction with mediated personalities through “pres-
ence through social actor within the medium.” In the new media learning
environments depicted in these chapters, the most sophisticated and delib-
erate and yet seamless and “invisible” virtual learning environments take
shape. This is where the instructivist and social and cognitive constructivist
frameworks may meet through the vivid and interactive and yet directive
perceptual illusions of subject matter. First in Chapter 8, leaders in the field
of virtual reality in education, Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinci-
guerra, introduce the history, terms and types of the most sophisticated
technologies in learning environments. Four chapters are then presented to
examine more closely the challenges and opportunities of a cross section
of the virtual technologies—the 3-D software program Deva, computer
games, the Virtual Harlem, and the EVE head-mount/avatar wall display.
The editors identify the potential of these environments to evoke simultane-
ous perceptions of immersion in, interaction with, and guidance by illusions
of students, teachers and subject matter for the most enhanced learning.
Chapter 8, “Virtual Reality in Education,” by Veronica S. Pantelidis
and David C. Vinciguerra, offers a thorough review of the development of
virtual reality (VR) as a teaching tool. The authors provide an introduction
to VR and offer defi nitions of terms and types. They trace the evolution
of VR applications in both the K–12 and higher education classrooms in
general as well as in specific subject areas. As the authors demonstrate, the
psychological illusions of “presence” are essential to effective VR learning
experiences and are becoming increasingly apparent in the most sophisti-
cated virtual learning worlds.
Chapter 9, “A User-Centered Approach for Building Design Guide-
lines for the Use of Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning” (Virtual 3-D
150 Part IV
programs—Deva), by Daphne Economou, argues for a systematic approach
to identification of requirements for Collaborative Virtual Environment
(CVE) development. The chapter presents an example of how this approach
would work fi rst with a 2-D single display groupware system, moving to
a 2-D multi-user groupwear environment, and fi nally being built on the
Deva CVE 3-D, multi-user groupware environment. The move from 2-D to
3-D increases the media-richness of the environment as well as the level of
“presence” available to the users.
Chapter 10, “Matching Computer Game Genres to Educational Out-
comes,” by John L. Sherry, uses Bloom’s hierarchy of learning outcomes to
argue that educational games and video games can be most effective when
a genre’s intellectual puzzle matches the desired learning outcome. With
computer games touted as the next new media in education, Sherry suggests
matching video game types to Bloom’s typology will provide a heuristic to
support development of these new technologies.
Chapter 11, “The Virtual Harlem Experiments,” by James J. Sosnoski,
discusses the use of virtual reality as an instructional technology through a
series of experiments using Virtual Harlem, a VR cityscape, as the center-
piece of a collaborative learning network. After presenting the Virtual Har-
lem environment, Sosnoski discusses his experiments from January 2000
to May 2002 and offers reflections on building future VR learning sites.
He suggests that, through a VR environment, students may learn interac-
tively, creatively and collaboratively, experiencing the subject matter holis-
tically. The feeling of “being there” through the VR environment draws on
the concepts of telepresence and media “richness” to create an immersive
learning environment.
Chapter 12, “The Unique Features of Educational Virtual Environ-
ments,” by Tassos A. Mikropoulos and Joan Bellou, investigates the fea-
tures of virtual reality technology that contribute to the learning process.
Based on the technological characteristics of three-dimensional spatial rep-
resentations, multisensory channels for user interaction, immersion, and
intuitive interaction through natural manipulations in real time, the authors
propose the following features that contribute to learning outcomes: com-
plete at-will navigation, fi rst-person point of view, natural semantics, size,
transduction, reification, autonomy and presence. The authors study these
features in numerous educational virtual environments and especially in
a virtual laser system, showing how the preceding features contribute to
positive learning outcomes.
8 Virtual Reality in Education
Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra

WHAT IS VIRTUAL REALITY?

Many have tried to defi ne virtual reality (VR). Defi nitions range from the
very broad to the very narrow. An example of a broad defi nition is one
defi ning virtual reality as any medium where one feels a sense of “immer-
sion” and “presence” in the environment generated or described. Using this
defi nition, an epic poem in a book could be an example. A very narrow
defi nition is one defining virtual reality as using hardware that has to be
worn, coupled with very sophisticated software, to give the user a sense
of immersion and presence in a computer-generated, virtual environment.
Immersion is defi ned as the cognitive conviction or feeling of presence,
of “being there,” surrounded by space and capable of interacting with all
available objects (Psotka, Davison, & Bernatchez, n.d.). Presence is relating
to a feeling of being there, immersed in the environment, able to interact
with other objects there (Psotka, Davison, & Bernatchez, n.d.).
A general defi nition of virtual reality is: Virtual reality (VR) is a highly
interactive, computer-generated environment. It can be graphics-based or
text-based. Some types of VR, such as a collaborative virtual environment,
combine graphics and text.

GRAPHICS-BASED VIRTUAL REALITY

In graphics-based virtual reality, the user interacts and participates in a

“virtually real” world. This world is a three-dimensional (3D), computer-
generated simulation. The user may become immersed so fully in the vir-
tual world that the world appears to be nearly as real as reality. By use of
various hardware tools, different levels of “virtually real” can be achieved.
The most inexpensive and accessible means is by what has been dubbed
desktop virtual reality (VR) or desktop virtual systems (Blade & Padgett,
2002). Desktop VR involves using a software program that participants
can use on their home computers, which does not require special equip-
ment to view, interact with, or manipulate. Desktop VR does not have
152 Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra
the same technological demands as fully immersive VR. Users can partici-
pate in virtual environments using their personal computers and construct
virtual worlds without having to purchase costly equipment or software.
With desktop VR, users can “walk through” environments and view three-
dimensional (3D) objects from all sides (Vinciguerra, 2004a, 2006).

In practical terms, desktop VR is more suitable for widespread use

than immersive VR technology. Considering both the hardware and
software requirements, desktop VR is quite a mature technology. It is
affordable in that a basic level of technology can be achieved on most
existing personal computers at either no cost or some minimal software
cost. The expected availability of increasing numbers of virtual worlds
over the Web is likely to promote its use. While immersive VR is being
used in several practical applications, this part of the technology is less
mature, with shortcomings in such areas as displays, system lag, and
common interaction metaphors. Immersive VR is also more expensive.
(Youngblut, 1997)

Desktop VR is also popular with those wishing to partake in collabora-

tive virtual environments (CVEs). With CVEs, multiple users on different
machines on a network or on the World Wide Web can log into one virtual
environment at the same time and interact with one another. Second Life,
Active Worlds, and Blink 3D are examples of this type of virtual world.
Many CVEs incorporate the use of avatars. An avatar is a computer-gen-
erated character that is controlled by the user. A user can then see other
users’ avatars in the environment and interact with them. CVEs tradition-
ally contain a chat interface so that users can type messages to each other.
More advanced CVEs also allow the option of allowing users to speak to
one another using microphones.

TEXT-BASED VIRTUAL REALITY

In text-based VR, the user participates in a MOO (multiuser domain,

object-oriented) or other Internet-based, text-described environment. The
participants in a MOO build a simulated world with words entered via their
computer’s keyboards. Using their keyboards, participants write in text
what they are doing and saying. Normally there is a computer or coordina-
tor that provides descriptions of areas for users to visit. These descriptions
are prompted by text commands given by participants. These environ-
ments can be very similar to role-playing games and in fact the very fi rst
text-based environments developed were based on these games. According
to Ann Parsons, head of GrassRoots, the Enabling Support Foundation
(ESF) Text Based Virtual Community, using text-based virtual reality for
learning purposes can reap many educational benefits. Text Based Virtual
 Virtual Reality in Education 153
Reality environments can help “promote literacy by encouraging reading
and writing in a natural way; can be used as a way to communicate in real-
time with people at a distance; can be used to teach descriptive writing and
poetic expression; can be used as an environment in which to role play or
act out plays” (Parsons, 2006).

VIRTUAL REALITY HARDWARE

Virtual reality hardware refers to computer peripherals that supplement VR

software to create an immersive feel to an environment. There are a variety
of virtual reality hardware tools available. Viewing devices help to provide
a three-dimensional view in a virtual environment. Anaglyphic (or red/
blue) glasses offer an inexpensive way to view 3D environments in a group
setting. When an environment is presented in anaglyphic stereo, the soft-
ware projects two slightly offset angles of a virtual environment by using
two in-program camera views. One angle is fi ltered and presented in the
color blue while the other is projected on top of that image in red. As both
of these views are overlaid on top of each other, they create the illusion of
one scene. Initially, this causes the environment to appear blurry. With the
use of anaglyphic glasses, each eye is covered by a color fi lter that blocks
out that coordinating color on the screen. Because of this, the eye looking
through the blue filter, or lens, is only able to see anything appearing in red.
The exact opposite is true for the eye looking through the red filter. Since
both eyes are seeing different images, and each of these images is an offset
representation of the same environment, the environment appears to rise
from the screen in 3D (Vinciguerra, 2006).
Shutter glasses are similar to anaglyphic stereo glasses in that they pro-
vide a means for a group of people to view the same virtual environment in
3D, at the same time, from the same perspective. Although shutter glasses
are superior to anaglyphic 3D glasses in terms of image quality, they are
considered much higher end in terms of setup and price. Shutter glasses
work much like anaglyphic glasses in that they send different images to
the right and left eye. They differ in the way they accomplish this task.
Anaglyphic glasses view two offset views of a virtual environment, colored
with either red or blue. Shutter glasses alternate the environment between
two views at a rapid pace. The shutter glasses have shutters on them in
which only one eye can see at a time while the other is covered. These
shutters alternate at the same speed as the alternate views in the virtual
environment are shown. This happens in such a progressive pattern that the
user’s brain sees only one image, that of a 3D representation of the virtual
environment (Vinciguerra, 2006).
Head-mounted displays (HMDs) are worn by the user similar to a hel-
met. The HMD covers the eyes of the wearers, allowing them to see stereo
3D environments through small screens located in front of the eyes. Users
154 Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra
can hear stereo sound through headphones, incorporated into the helmet,
and look around an environment by moving their heads, just as they would
normally. Tracking systems incorporated into the helmet provide the envi-
ronment with the location and movement of the user. This allows the user
to look down, right, left in full 360-degree movements. When wearing an
HMD unit, the sight and sounds can produce a virtually immersive experi-
ence. Although this provides a much more realistic experience than using
shutter glasses and anaglyphic 3D devices, HMDs only allow a single user
to view the virtual environment, rather than a large group experiencing the
same effects. Similar to gloves, comfort is an issue with HMDs. Some units
can be heavy, allowing the user to be very cognizant of the fact they are
wearing a device (Vinciguerra, 2006).
In addition to the traditional keyboard and mouse, navigation devices
are available to allow users to interact with virtual environments in differ-
ent ways.
Gloves, or sensing gloves (Burdea & Coiffet, 2003), are worn on the
hand like a traditional glove. The user can then use the glove to navigate
and manipulate virtual environments. There are a variety of gloves avail-
able for users, ranging from simple inexpensive USB plug-and-play devices,
to complex expensive options for more advanced environments. The pri-
mary advantage to using a sensing glove to interact with a virtual environ-
ment is, in addition to navigating in four directions (up, down, right and
left) as a mouse or keyboard would provide, gloves also allow for forward
and backward movements within a 3D space. This provides the user with a
higher degree of immersion.
Many gloves use infrared sensors directed to the computer to detect the
proximity and movement of the glove. With the gloves, users can move the
cursor around on the screen as they move their hand. This allows the user
to have a more immersive experience, even within environments that only
allow the four basic movements and traditional right/left mouse button
clicks. Gloves vary in design and comfort and come in a one-size-fits-all
size (Vinciguerra, 2005).
Gloves are but one of the navigation options available. Other options
include: joysticks, ring mice, remote controls, motion tracking, and other
various motion controllers.
Joysticks are hand-operated devices that allow users to navigate within
a 3D environment. By using a joystick, users can produce a variety of tasks
and movements with one handheld control unit.
A ring mouse is worn on the hand and works much like a basic glove.
The movement of the hand is registered with the computer program and
provides navigation capabilities. Ring mice can be useful for users looking
for a small, unobtrusive way to navigate within an environment.
Remote controls typically use infrared signals to communicate a selec-
tion made by the user. Although some are tethered to a machine, using
cables, many are wireless. Some remote controls are integrated with motion
 Virtual Reality in Education 155
detectors to allow the user to use the remote as a navigation device by wav-
ing it in the air.
Tracking devices allow for motion tracking of users and objects. Gloves,
head-mounted displays, and other motion tracking navigation systems
can incorporate tracking devices in them which allow the environment
to be synchronized with the movements of a device or user. With track-
ing devices, an environment will turn as the user turns. This provides an
immersive view of an environment.
Motion tracking can be accomplished in many ways. Besides infrared
detectors, motion-capturing cameras can be used. With a motion-capturing
camera, the user’s body motions are registered by the environment as move-
ment, allowing the user to interact with an environment using their body
movements. Motion-capture cameras also allow the user to see themselves
in an environment as a mirror image. This type of immersion provides a
third-person view of the user within a virtual environment.
Immersive Projection Systems produce or project 3D environments on
one or more walls to create immersion within a virtual environment. These
systems vary in complexity and are often in the high-end range and price
in comparison to other VR hardware devices. Complex immersive projec-
tion systems allow users to step into a virtual environment by projecting
the environment on several walls, the ceiling, and sometimes the floor. This
may appear, to an observer, as if the person is standing inside a box with
blurry images all around them. To the user, the environment will appear as
if it surrounds them. Immersive projection systems often incorporate other
VR devices such as shutter glass or anaglyphic glasses, gloves, or other
navigation and tracking systems, which allow users to interact with the
environment. With these other options incorporated into the virtual envi-
ronment, the user can move within the environment, manipulate objects,
and navigate using body movements. The environment will appear to be
three dimensional and objects will appear to be floating in the air rather
than projected on a flat surface of a wall.

VIRTUAL REALITY SOFTWARE

Virtual reality software or software rendering systems (Sherman & Craig,

2003) refer to computer programs that allow users to design virtual envi-
ronments. There is a wide variety of VR software available to author vir-
tual environments.
The following artificial categories can be used to type VR software.
They are based on interpretation of currently available VR software and
can change as software evolves.

3D Object/World Creators; 3D Graphics

C or C++ (Computer Program Language) Routine Libraries
156 Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra
Motion Capture Programs
Surface Generators
Terrain Modelers/Landscape Generators
WalkThrough Programs
Specialized VR Software
Free VR Software
Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML)
Virtual Humans
Networked Virtual Environments (Collaborative Virtual Environ-
ments, Distributive Interactive Simulation Programs, and Multi-
User Shared Virtual Environment Systems)
Visualization (Data, Information, Scientific)
Interactive Panoramas (technically not VR software)

Because each program differs in options and layouts, designers examine

the many options available in a variety of programs, and then choose ones
that best fit their needs. The following are descriptions of the options avail-
able in many virtual reality programs.
Object galleries are provided with some virtual reality programs. Object
galleries are a set of pre-created objects that virtual environment designers
can incorporate into their environments. These items are provided to allow
for quick building of environments, or to provide objects that others have
created (Vinciguerra, 2004b).
Behaviors are actions that are already coded and can be placed on items
or within an environment. For example, a behavior such as fog can be
added to an environment so that when viewers visit the virtual environment
the environment will appear foggy. Other types of behaviors can be added
to items as actions. Behaviors can add more realism to an environment
(Vinciguerra, 2007).
Textures are one of the options that can make an environment more
realistic. By using texture on items, building can appear to be made out
of brick or wood, and cars can be reflective, showing reflections of the
virtual environment around them. Many virtual reality programs contain
a set of common textures that designers can place on objects to make
them more lifelike. Typically, the ability to import textures is possible
(Vinciguerra, 2004a).
Sounds can make an environment seem to come to life. A 3D sound
can be placed on an object and become louder or quieter as a viewer
nears or draws away from the object. For example, this can make a radio
in an environment seem real and become quieter as someone leaves a
room. Sounds can also be used as ambient music, narration, or in a vari-
ety of other ways. Many virtual reality programs allow for sounds to be
imported (Vinciguerra, 2007).
Lighting is another aspect that can make an environment more believ-
able. With lighting options, shadows can be added to an environment,
 Virtual Reality in Education 157
spotlights can be created, and dynamic or changing lights can be created.
This can allow the sunlight in an environment to move or change over time,
or items under a spotlight to appear brighter than ones those that are not.
Multiple views help in the creation of environments. Many virtual real-
ity programs allow designers to toggle between a top view of the environ-
ment and a side view. In this way, objects can be placed or designed in a
3D environment and put in a particular place. This is one of the options
that sets 3D authoring systems and 2D graphics programs apart from
each other (Vinciguerra, 2004b).
Modeling programs are used to create items that then can be imported
into a virtual environment. These software applications allow designers
to create 3D objects. These objects can then be saved and imported in
a virtual environment, so that behaviors can be added to them (Vinci-
guerra, 2007).
Primitives are shapes that VR authoring programs provide for users
to create their environments. Primitives are normally in the form of basic
shapes, such as sphere, cone, cylinder, and cube. With these basic shapes,
objects can be constructed within an environment (Vinciguerra, 2004a).
Portals and hyperlinks can be added to many virtual environments to
make the environment more dynamic. A portal is an area that the user,
often an avatar, can walk to or enter that transports them into another
virtual environment. This is similar to a hyperlink on a Web page in that
it allows the user to jump from one environment to another, just as hyper-
links allow the viewer to jump from one Web page to another. Hyperlinks
can be added to virtual environments as well, which allow the user to open
up a Web page when they click on an object. Hyperlinks can also link to
other documents such as virtual environments, flash programs, movie and
audio fi les, or images.
Chat can be integrated into collaborative virtual environments to allow
multiple users to communicate with each other in an environment. Although
voice chat is possible with some programs, many rely on text chat for users
to communicate with each other.
Avatars can be used with the chat option to allow users to not only com-
municate with each other, but to see each other as well (Vinciguerra, 2007).
Importing and exporting of specific file formats allow virtual environ-
ments to be created and seen in different ways. Some environments allow
for the importing of computer-generated objects from modeling programs.
Many also allow sounds, animations, and even Web pages to be imported
into a virtual environment (Vinciguerra, 2007).
Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) is a computer language
standard that was created specifically for 3D content on the World Wide
Web. This coding language allows browsers to view VRML environments
using a standard Web browser with an appropriate plug-in installed. Many
virtual reality authoring programs allow environments to be saved in vari-
ous VRML formats (Vinciguerra, 2004a).
158 Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra
VIRTUAL REALITY HARDWARE EVALUATION
GUIDE FOR EDUCATORS

Hardware prices range from a few cents for anaglyphic red-blue glasses
to many thousands of dollars for high-end head-mounted displays and
hundreds of thousands of dollars for simulators. Some VR hardware is
made for specific applications. Other VR hardware is of such a general
nature that it can be used for many applications. Some hardware will be
too expensive for a specific application; some will be too cheaply made.
Some, such as head-mounted displays, will not be appropriate for use
with younger children. Some, such as some types of gloves, will not be
appropriate for persons working with individuals with disabilities. It
may be necessary to evaluate competing models in order to decide which
VR hardware to use for a general or specifi c application. It is helpful to
use a standard form so that all features can be evaluated and accurate
comparisons can be made. Figure 8.1 is a general evaluation form created
by Dr. Veronica S. Pantelidis that can be used with various types of VR
hardware.

VIRTUAL REALITY SOFTWARE GUIDE FOR EDUCATORS

There are many different types of virtual reality software. Some soft-
ware is used to build models. Other VR software can be used to import
models into a virtual environment that has been built using a model-
building program. With some VR software, the builder can import as
well as build models to be used in the virtual environment. Prices range
from thousands of dollars to free. Some software companies provide free
downloadable demos or trial versions. Programs can be very difficult
to learn to use, very easy to use, or somewhere in between. Some pro-
grams come with excellent tutorials. Others do not. Tutorials may be
very detailed and complete or cover only the basics. The best way to
learn about the types of VR software is to visit Web sites, download
demos, try out free or restricted versions, choose several for in-depth
study and hands-on tryouts, and discuss software with others who are
familiar with various programs

VR Software Evaluation Guide

It may be necessary to evaluate competing software programs in order to
decide which VR software to use for a general or specific application. It is
helpful to use a standard form, so that all features can be evaluated, and
accurate comparisons can be made. Figure 8.2 is a general evaluation form
created by Dr. Veronica S. Pantelidis that can be used with various types
of VR software.
 Virtual Reality in Education 159

Figure 8.1 Virtual Reality Hardware Evaluation Guide. Created by Veronica S.

Pantelidis.

VIRTUAL REALITY ENVIRONMENT GUIDE FOR EDUCATORS

More and more virtual environments are appearing on the World Wide
Web as virtual reality software is becoming more affordable, user friendly,
160 Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra
and accessible to the general population. These virtual environments cover
a large range of subjects, and their authors range from professional design-
ers to elementary-school children. The quality and content of these virtual
environments vary greatly, with anyone having the potential to publish a
virtual environment online. Educators seeking to incorporate online virtual
environments into their courses need an evaluation guide to measure the
effectiveness, quality, and usefulness of educational virtual environments.
The Virtual Environment Evaluation Guide, (Figures 8.3a, 8.3b) developed
by David C. Vinciguerra, contains a point system to grade the quality of a
virtual world. This point system helps the reviewer determine if a virtual envi-
ronment is suitable to be referenced and/or used in a learning environment.
The guide also provides a standard grading system so that virtual environ-
ments that have been evaluated using the guide can then be compared to each
other to determine which environments might be the most effective.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Health and safety considerations have been a continuing issue in the use
of VR hardware. The literature on these issues was reviewed at length by
Costello, who found that reports “suggested that the use of VR equipment
may have unwanted physical, physiological and psychological side-effects”
(Costello, 1997). Health considerations stem from such symptoms as eye
strain, dizziness, disorientation, nausea, and headaches, many of the same
symptoms as motion sickness. Safety considerations deal especially with
possible aftereffects. Numerous studies have shown that simulator sick-
ness, for example, can cause nausea, headaches, and disorientation, even
after an individual leaves a simulator or 3D simulation (Kolasinski, 1995a,
1995b). The difference in time between when an action is taken and when
it appears visible to the eye is one factor. This time lag has been one of
the main reasons for simulator sickness. There can be a noticeable delay
between actual movements and represented changes within an environ-
ment with lower end head-mounted displays. Psychological problems aris-
ing from immersion in virtual environments might also be a health and
safety consideration. After using an HMD, a feeling of unreality can occur,
and it may be suggested that users should not operate heavy machinery or
drive until the effect has dissipated. It is expected that the health and safety
problems related to virtual reality will be resolved as research shows how
to build equipment that minimizes the problems.

THE USE OF VIRTUAL REALITY IN EDUCATION

The use of virtual reality in education can be considered as one of the natu-
ral evolutions of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) or computer-based
training (CBT). Use of computers as instructional aids has a long history
 Virtual Reality in Education 161

Figure 8.2 Virtual Reality Software Evaluation Guide. Created by Veronica S.

Pantelidis.

going back to the early 1950s. Serious studies began in the early 1960s.
Since the advent of the microcomputer in 1977, computers, particularly
microcomputers or personal computers (PCs), have become a growing and
recognized delivery system for many forms of education. Virtual reality,
which can be used on all types of computers, has followed that trend. In
her extensive bibliography on virtual reality in education and training, Pan-
telidis lists over 800 printed resources, such as articles and reports, on this
162 Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra

Figure 8.3a Virtual Reality Environment Evaluation Guide. Created by David C.

Vinciguerra.

application of virtual reality, going back to 1989. The list is by no means

complete and comprehensive (Pantelidis, 1991–2007).

RESEARCH ON THE USE OF VIRTUAL REALITY IN EDUCATION

Many studies have been conducted on the applications and effectiveness

of virtual reality in education and training since the 1980s. McLellan
provides comprehensive and in-depth reviews of the literature related to
the research and use of virtual reality for education and training in edi-
tions of The Handbook of Research for Educational Communications
and Technology (McLellan, 1996, 2003). McLellan traces early use of
virtual reality in training to fl ight simulators with head-mounted displays
developed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio in the 1960s and
1970s (1996, p. 458.).
Youngblut conducted an extensive survey of research and educational
uses of virtual reality during the 1990s (Youngblut, 1998). The survey
 Virtual Reality in Education 163

Figure 8.3b Virtual Reality Environment Evaluation Guide. Created by David C.

Vinciguerra.

attempted to answer questions about the use and effectiveness of virtual

reality in kindergarten through grade 12 education. Youngblut found that
164 Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra
there are unique capabilities of virtual reality, and the majority of uses
included aspects of constructivist learning (Youngblut, 1998, p. 93). Stud-
ies showed potential educational effectiveness for special-needs students
(Youngblut, 1998, p. 98). The role of the teacher changed to facilitator
(Youngblut, 1998, p. 100). Students enjoy using predeveloped applications
and developing their own virtual worlds (Youngblut, 1998, p. 100). The
majority of the teachers in the studies reviewed said they would use virtual
reality technology if it were affordable, available, and easy to use for stu-
dents and teachers (Youngblut, 1998, p. 101).
Chen asserts that “although VR is recognized as an impressive learning
tool, there are still many issues that need further investigation including,
identifying the appropriate theories and/or models to guide its design and
development, investigating how its attributes are able to support learning,
fi nding out whether its use can improve the intended performance and
understanding, and investigating ways to reach more effective learning
when using this technology, and investigating its impact on learners with
different aptitudes.” His research resulted in insights to a feasible instruc-
tional design theoretical framework, as well as an instructional development
framework for VR-based learning environments (Chen, 2006, p. 39).
A model developed by Salzman, Dede, Loftin, and Chen describes how
virtual reality aids complex conceptual learning, and how virtual reality’s
features and other factors shape the learning process and learning outcomes.
The model resulted from a study to identify, use, and evaluate immersive
virtual reality’s affordances as a means to facilitate the mastery of complex,
abstract concepts (Salzman, Dede, Loftin, & Chen, 1999).
Studies show that a virtual environment can “stimulate learning and
comprehension, because it provides a tight coupling between symbolic and
experiential information” (Bowman, Hodges, Allison, & Wineman, 1998).
Numerous studies have focused on how children and young learners interact
and learn in a 3D environment. Children and young learners have been stud-
ied in high-end projection environments, such as a CAVE (Roussos, Johnson,
Moher, Leigh, Vasilakis, & Barnes, 1999). Their activity within interactive
virtual environments has been examined to learn how interaction and concep-
tual learning are related in the context of a virtual environment, the Virtual
Playground (Roussou, 2004a, 2004b; Roussou, Oliver, & Slater, 2006).
Chee argues for the need to root learning in experience, using physics as an
example. He states that physics students have little “feel” and “understand-
ing of the qualitative dimensions of the phenomena they study.” Chee believes
that virtual reality can be used to achieve this goal, “providing a foundation
for students’ conceptual and higher-order learning” (Chee, 2001).
Dalgarno, Hedberg, and Harper believe that the most important poten-
tial contribution of 3D learning environments (3DLEs) to conceptual
understanding is through facilitation of spatial knowledge development.
They have identified aspects of a research agenda to test this, including
“exploration of the characteristics of 3DLEs that are most important for
 Virtual Reality in Education 165
spatial learning along with issues in designing appropriate learning tasks”
(Dalgarno, Hedberg, & Harper, 2002).
Selverian researched the potential of spatial and social technologies in a
virtual learning environment (VLE) through presence. She proposed a VLE
model and hypotheses that correlated the spatial and social technologies
with spatial and social presence, respectively, and with low- and high-level
learning, respectively. Findings from her research “offer educators a valu-
able guide for the design of VLEs that enhance low- and high-level learning
through spatial and social presence” (Selverian, 2005).

THEORIES RELATED TO VIRTUAL REALITY USE IN EDUCATION

Theories of learning that support the use of learning by doing, using teach-
ing methods such as simulations, learning games, apprenticeships, role
playing, and situational learning, and other theories that deal with learn-
ing by mimicking or simulating real life problems and experiences, are all
relevant to the use of virtual reality in education. Theories that consider the
social aspects and interactions of learning and collaboration are pertinent.
Teaching methods based on the premise that there should be variety in
activities in order to reach all types of learners are applicable.
Constructivist theories that hold that learning occurs when the learner
constructs knowledge are very relevant. Winn contended that the current
generation of computer-assisted instruction is founded on constructivist
theories of learning and felt that the “key to the compatibility of VR with
constructivism lies in the notion of immersion . . . Immersion in a virtual
world allows us to construct knowledge from direct experience, not from
descriptions of experience” (Winn, 1993). Dede has discussed the construc-
tivist aspects of learning in virtual worlds at length. In virtual worlds, learn-
ers can immerse themselves, becoming avatars who collaborate and learn
by doing, using virtual artifacts to construct knowledge (Dede, 1995).
Theories that back the idea of differences in learning styles are also rel-
evant. Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences is one example.
McLellan sees potential uses for virtual reality in higher education related
to this theory (McLellan, 1994). Pantelidis has provided suggestions on
how virtual reality can be used to help integrate strategies of the Theory of
Multiple Intelligences into the kindergarten through grade 12 curriculum
(Pantelidis, 1997).

REASONS TO USE VIRTUAL REALITY IN

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Reasons to use virtual reality can parallel all the reasons one would use
a two-dimensional, computer-assisted instruction simulation (Pantelidis,
166 Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra
1993). At every level of education, virtual reality has the potential to make
a difference, to lead learners to new discoveries, to motivate and encourage
and excite. The learner can participate in the learning environment with a
sense of presence, of being part of the environment.
The reasons to use virtual reality in education and training relate par-
ticularly to its capabilities. Winn, in A Conceptual Basis for Educational
Applications of Virtual Reality, states that

1. ”Immersive VR furnishes fi rst-person non-symbolic experiences that

are specifically designed to help students learn material.
2. These experiences cannot be obtained in any other way in formal
education.
3. This kind of experience makes up the bulk of our daily interaction
with the world, though schools tend to promote third-person sym-
bolic experiences.
4. Constructivism provides the best theory on which to develop educa-
tional applications of VR.
5. The convergence of theories of knowledge construction with VR tech-
nology permits learning to be boosted by the manipulation of the
relative size of objects in virtual worlds, by the transduction of oth-
erwise imperceptible sources of information, and by the reification of
abstract ideas that have so far defied representation” (Winn, 1993).

Winn concludes that “VR promotes the best and probably only strategy
that allows students to learn from non-symbolic fi rst-person experience.
Since a great many students fail in school because they do not master the
symbol systems of the disciplines they study, although they are perfectly
capable of mastering the concepts that lie at the heart of the disciplines,
it can be concluded that VR provides a route to success for children who
might otherwise fail in our education system as it is currently construed”
(Winn, 1993).
Pantelidis gives the following reasons to use virtual reality in education:

Virtual reality provides new forms and methods of visualization, draw-

ing on the strengths of visual representations. It provides an alternate
method for presentation of material. In some instances, VR can more
accurately illustrate some features, processes, and so forth than by
other means, allowing extreme close-up examination of an object, ob-
servation from a great distance, and observation and examination of
areas and events unavailable by other means.
Virtual reality motivates students. It requires interaction and en-
courages active participation rather than passivity. Some types of vir-
tual reality, for example, collaborative virtual reality using text input
with virtual worlds, encourage or require collaboration and provides a
social atmosphere.
 Virtual Reality in Education 167
Virtual reality allows the learner to proceed through an experience
during a broad time period not fi xed by a regular class schedule, at
their own pace. It allows the disabled to participate in an experiment or
learning environment when they cannot do so otherwise. It transcends
language barriers. VR with text access provides equal opportunity for
communication with students in other cultures and allows the student
to take on the role of a person in different cultures. (Pantelidis, 1995)

ADVANTAGES OF USING VIRTUAL REALITY

The advantages of VR to teach education objectives are similar to the

advantages of using a simulation, particularly a three-dimensional com-
puter simulation. Computer-based simulations have been used for many
years in computer-assisted instruction (CAI). In fact, advantages of CAI
simulations are well known.
One major advantage to using VR to teach objectives is that VR is highly
motivating. VR grabs and holds the attention of students. This has been
documented in the reports of a number of research studies. Students fi nd it
exciting and challenging to walk through an environment in three dimen-
sions, interact with an environment, and create their own three dimensional
(3D) worlds. An investigation of the attitude of education students towards
virtual reality (VR) as a tool in the educational process and towards virtual
learning environments on specific disciplines found students had a favorable
attitude towards VR in the educational process (Mikropoulos, Chalkidis,
Katsikis, & Emvalotis, 1998).
Virtual reality can more accurately illustrate some features, processes,
and so forth than by other means. VR allows extreme close-up exami-
nation of an object. VR gives the opportunity for insights based on new
perspectives. Looking at the model of an object from the inside or the top
or bottom shows areas never seen before. For example, once a molecule is
modeled in VR, students can study it in detail, go inside the molecule, walk
around, and become familiar with its parts. VR allows examination of an
object from a distance, showing the whole rather than a part. A VR model
of a neighborhood gives the inhabitants a different perspective on the inter-
connections between buildings, streets, and open areas.
VR can change the way a learner interacts with the subject matter. VR
requires interaction. It encourages active participation rather than passivity.
The participant who interacts with the virtual environment is encouraged
to continue interacting by seeing the results immediately. VR provides an
opportunity for the learner to make discoveries previously unknown. New
perspectives are made possible by modeling the real world and studying the
model can provide insights never before realized. VR allows the disabled
to participate in an experiment or learning environment when they cannot
do so otherwise. They can do chemistry and physics lab experiments and
168 Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra
learn by doing. VR allows a learner to proceed through an experience at his
or her own pace. The learner decides what to do when interacting with the
virtual environment. VR allows a learner to proceed through an experience
during a broad time period not fi xed by a regular class schedule.
VR allows a learner to learn by doing, a constructivist approach. VR
provides experience with new technologies through actual use. A simula-
tion of a new process with a new piece of equipment can train a worker.
VR provides a way for some objectives to be taught via distance education
which were previously impossible to teach in that way.

DISADVANTAGES OF USING VIRTUAL REALITY

The disadvantages of using virtual reality are primarily related to cost, time
necessary for learning how to use hardware and software, possible health
and safety effects, and dealing with possible reluctance to use and integrate
new technology into a course or curriculum. As with all new technology,
each of these issues will fade as time goes by and virtual reality becomes
more commonly used in areas outside of education.

WHEN TO USE AND WHEN NOT TO USE VIRTUAL REALITY

Virtual reality is not appropriate for every instructional objective. There

are some teaching scenarios when VR can be used and some when it should
not be used. Pantelidis has made the following suggestions on when to use
and when not to use virtual reality in education.
Use virtual reality when

• a simulation would be used.

• teaching or training using the real thing is dangerous, impossible,
inconvenient, or difficult.
• a model of an environment will teach or train as well as the real
thing.
• interacting with a model is as motivating as or more motivating than
interacting with the real thing.
• travel, cost, and/or logistics of gathering a class for training make an
alternative attractive.
• shared experiences of a group in a shared environment are important.
• the experience of creating a simulated environment or model is impor-
tant to the learning objective.
• information visualization is needed, manipulating and rearrang-
ing information, using graphic symbols, so it can be more easily
understood.
 Virtual Reality in Education 169
• training situation needs to be made really real.
• needed to make perceptible the imperceptible.
• developing participatory environments and activities that can only
exist as computer-generated worlds.
• teaching tasks involving manual dexterity or physical movement.
• essential to make learning more interesting and fun.
• needed to give the disabled the opportunity to do experiments, and
activities that they cannot do otherwise.
• mistakes made by the learner or trainee using the real thing could be
devastating and/or demoralizing to the learner, harmful to the envi-
ronment, capable of causing unintended property damage, capable of
causing damage to equipment, or costly.

Do not use virtual reality if

• there is no substitute for teaching/training with the real thing.

• interaction with real humans, either teachers or students, is
necessary.
• using a virtual environment could be physically or emotionally
damaging.
• using a virtual environment can result in “literalization” (Stuart,
1992), a simulation so convincing that some users could confuse
model with reality.
• virtual reality is too expensive to justify using, considering the
expected learning outcome (Pantelidis, 1996).

APPLICATIONS OF VIRTUAL REALITY IN ELEMENTARY,

SECONDARY, AND HIGHER EDUCATION

Nearly every subject taught in elementary, secondary, and higher education

includes specific objectives that could be possible candidates for the use of
virtual reality. Simulations, hands-on sessions, role playing, model build-
ing, problem solving, learning games, and graphic renditions can all be
adapted for use in virtual environments.
Some areas where virtual reality has been used, with examples, include
Art—Objects are drawn and studied from outside and inside, and every
angle.
Biology—Everything from cells to the largest mammals are built and
explored.
Chemistry—Molecular structures of different sizes are constructed to
show more realistic models.
Drama and Theatre—Stage layouts and design sets for plays are con-
structed, allowing walkthroughs of different scenes.
170 Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra
Environmental Education—Constructing a body of water and modify-
ing it over a period of time to show how various elements affect it. (See, for
example, Mikropoulos, Chalkidis, Katsikis, & Kossivaki, 1997–1998.)
Geography—Geographical features such as volcanoes, underwater
areas, and caves and grottoes are constructed. Mikropoulos has labeled
this virtual geography (Mikropoulos, 1996).
History—Forts, ships, buildings, monuments, battlefields, and other
historical structures and areas are constructed, along with furnishings and
related objects, allowing a student to walk through the structure or area,
for example, an ancient ship, and sense how it might have looked to users
or residents. Virtual heritage conferences that review such applications
have been held regularly.
Home Economics, Vocational Education—Homes, rooms, furnishings,
and tools are created to provide apprenticeship-like experience.
Literature—Rooms and houses from stories read or studied, illustrated
with furnishings, are built. Walkthroughs then give the student a feeling of
how the room or house in the story appeared.
Mathematics—Cubes, pyramids, and other three-dimensional geomet-
rical shapes are constructed to learn more about them.
Music—Auditorium and rehearsal layouts are designed for musical
performance.
Physical Education—Aid in body awareness for gymnasts, for example,
getting a feel for the view of the room during a backward flip; planning
activities in limited space, visualizing how to set up equipment; and design-
ing and walking through an athletic facility.
Social Studies—Villages, town, and city areas, home interiors, habitats,
and maps are constructed to provide a feeling of being there.
Science education is an area that has investigated the use of virtual
reality in depth. ScienceSpace, a collection of virtual worlds designed to
explore the potential utility of physical immersion and multisensory per-
ception to enhance science education, was an important project that led
the way (Dede, Salzman, & Loftin, 1996). A project that used virtual
reality with sixth-grade students, with a goal of helping the students learn
science inquiry skills within an environment that encouraged their forma-
tion, was described by Johnson and colleagues (Johnson, Moher, Cho,
Edelson, & Russell, 2004). Other research has investigated the potential
of virtual reality for teaching secondary school science (Crosier, Cobb, &
Wilson, 2004).
Science Museums—Corbit and DeVarco compared two examples of the
use of Active Worlds, a collaborative virtual environment, for implementa-
tion of three-dimensional, multi-user virtual science museums: SciCentr,
developed as a standalone environment at the Cornell (University) Theory
Center, and Biolearn, a virtual visitors center for a proposed LifeLearn
Bioregional Learning Center on the Northern California Coast. “SciCenter
focuses on interactive exhibits analogous to those of a traditional hands-on
 Virtual Reality in Education 171
science center, but presented solely within the virtual space. In contrast,
BioLearn is designed to provide a globally accessible interactive tour of the
seaside museum and preserve by offering web-based information about the
bioregion in a dynamic, natural 3D setting” (Corbit & DeVarco, 2000).
Special Education—Cass and Roblyer reviewed experimental research
on virtual reality in special education from 1992 through 1998 “to assess
current practices and developments, derive recommendations for future
research, and articulate some dreams that further research and develop-
ment might help make a reality in the next decade.” Their review revealed
that experimental research in the area of virtual reality and disabilities was
very limited. At that time, they found that “the few empirical studies con-
ducted had small sample sizes, and some were more demonstration projects
than experimental studies” (Cass & Roblyer, 1999). An example of this
research was that conducted by Standen and Low. In their study, “students
with severe learning difficulties and their teachers were videoed while using
an educational virtual environment. Teachers’ activity was coded into eight
categories (for example, instruction, suggestion, pointing) and the students’
into three (for example, moves in three dimensional space) and intra-rater
reliability established. Significant decreases in rate over repeated sessions
was found for all the teacher’s categories with the more didactic (for exam-
ple, instruction and physical guidance) decreasing at a faster rate than sug-
gestion and pointing. For the students’ categories, there was a significant
increase in rate between the fi rst and last sessions for two of the three
categories” (Standen & Low, 1996).
In a report on the activities of the Virtual Reality Applications Research
Team (VIRART) in designing virtual learning environments for individu-
als with learning disabilities, Neale, Cobb, and Wilson (2000) stated that
the infancy of VR for use by the general public and lack of VE applications,
particularly for special needs users, has meant that there are few examples
of usability studies and a general lack of design guidelines. Specific usabil-
ity problems were identified relating to communication, navigation and
interaction. A structured approach was used to evaluate experiential and
communication virtual learning environments (VLEs) that were designed
specifically for use in the education of children with severe learning diffi-
culties Results of this structured evaluation indicated that the three VLEs
evaluated met the “constructivist principles in very different ways” (Neale,
Brown, Cobb, & Wilson, 1999).
Technology—Applications of desktop virtual reality in industrial
teacher education have been suggested. Educators have been urged to use
VR in both research and teaching in this field (Ausburn & Ausburn, 2004).
Kameas and colleagues described EIKON, “an integrated open educational
environment used to support high-school technology courses. EIKON
combines state-of-the-art technologies, such as virtual reality, hypermedia
and networking. Our pedagogical approach is constructivism and collab-
orative learning. Students using EIKON study the evolution of agricultural
172 Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra
technology since the prehistoric times. A study with 19 high-school teachers
indicated competence of multimedia information, very good instructional
design, and very good software quality” (Kameas, Pintelas, Mikropoulos,
Katsikis, & Emvalotis, 2000).

Higher Education Applications

Virtual reality as a course of study is usually taught at the higher education
level. Burdea, in his seminal survey, looked at the teaching aspects of vir-
tual reality, as opposed to the use of virtual reality as a teaching tool. His
worldwide survey found that 3% of the universities offered virtual reality
courses, with half being in the United States. Burdea also presented a num-
ber of applications of virtual reality taught in higher education courses,
such as visualization of oil exploration, taught in geology and physics
(Burdea, 2004). Courses about virtual reality are being taught completely
online. Pantelidis and Auld have reported on their methods of teaching
virtual reality courses, using an Internet/World Wide Web delivery format
(Pantelidis & Auld, 2002, 2003).
Archaeology, architecture, biology, chemistry, engineering, geography,
history, marine and maritime studies, mathematics, and technical crafts
and trades are some of the higher education subject areas that use visual-
ization and models and have found virtual reality useful for teaching. For
example, Regan and Slator discuss the use of virtual reality to enhance
student understanding of geology, cellular biology, retailing, and history at
North Dakota State University (Regan & Slator, 2002).
Teacher training—Virtual reality can have many applications in
teacher training. Passig, Klein, and Noyman report on a study that used
virtual reality to simulate a toddler’s fi rst few days’ experiences in kin-
dergarten and tested whether the teacher’s understanding of a toddler’s
feelings could be improved. They found that experiencing a virtual world
that reflected the real world of children improved the teacher’s awareness
of emotional experiences a toddler undergoes in her/his fi rst days in day
care or kindergarten (Passig, Klein, & Noyman, 2001; Passig & Noy-
man, 2002).
Medical Education and Training—Virtual reality has been used in medi-
cal education and training at every level, from simulated human models
used in nursing education to simulated surgery used in surgical training.
The annual Medicine Meets Virtual Reality conference, in its 16th year in
2008, regularly includes papers on such applications from around the world
(MMVR, 2007). One example of the use of virtual reality is the Virtual
Radiopharmacy Laboratory (VR LAB). VR LAB, accessible via the Inter-
net, represents a “3D simulation of a radio-pharmacy laboratory, where
learners, represented by 3D avatars, can experiment on radiopharmacy
equipment by carrying out specific learning scenarios” (Alexiou, Bouras,
Giannaka, Kapoulas, Nani, & Tsiatos, 2004).
 Virtual Reality in Education 173

Training and Adult Education Applications

Virtual reality has been used in a wide range of training and adult educa-
tion situations. It is used especially to train where using the real thing is
dangerous, expensive, or impossible. Military training was one of the earli-
est and most extensive applications. Astronaut training has been a particu-
larly innovative area for VR.
Disability Training—Rose, Brooks, and Attree reported on a three-stage
investigation of virtual environments in vocational training of people with
learning disabilities. “Stage 1 results showed that active interaction with
a virtual environment can give better learning than passive observation
and that some of what is learned in a virtual environment can transfer to
the real world. Stage 2, a questionnaire survey, identified catering as the
most popular choice for a virtual training package. Stage 3, a preliminary
evaluation of that package, showed some positive transfer of training to a
real kitchen test and provided clear justification for further development
of this type of training (Rose, Brooks, & Attree, 2000). Brooks and col-
leagues reported on an evaluation of the efficacy of training people with
learning disabilities in a virtual environment. Their study found that vir-
tual training was as beneficial as real training and more beneficial than
workbook and no training in the food preparation tasks of a catering job.
Virtual, real and workbook training were found to be equally beneficial
in the hazard identification task. The study found that, “depending on the
task being trained, virtual training had a more beneficial effect on real task
performance than workbook training, even when the virtual kitchen was
not modeled on the real training kitchen” (Brooks, Rose, Attree, & Elliott-
Square, 2002). Other studies have used virtual reality to teach the disabled
how to board a bus, go to a destination, and disembark, and how to use a
wheelchair. The use of virtual reality in disability training is an area with
much promise and many possibilities.
Industrial Training—Virtual reality has been used in industrial train-
ing for many years in training situations such as assembly line work simu-
lations; training heavy equipment operators to drive/operate equipment,
for example, snowplows at airports and cranes; training lathe operators
how to work with machinery safely and efficiently; and training warehouse
workers how to work with goods and materials.
Law Enforcement, Fire, Rescue, and Other Emergency Training—Law
enforcement, fi refighting, rescue work, and other emergency training areas
have all used virtual reality to train. For example, virtual reality has been
used to teach law enforcement officers what to do in emergency situations,
and how to drive in simulated situations. Firefighters, using virtual envi-
ronments, learn how to move through burning structures. Fire investiga-
tors learn how to analyze a scene after a fi re to determine its origin. Rescue
and emergency personnel train for and practice emergency situations in
simulations.
174 Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra
Military Training—Military applications were some of the earliest uses
of virtual reality for training. Military personnel learn what to do in simu-
lated battles and on battlefields, on land, on the sea, and in the air. Field
medical personnel, using virtual simulations, learn how to work under
fi re. Simulators of all types are used to train personnel to drive tanks and
use military equipment, fly aircraft, perform ship operations, and in many
other ways.
Space Training—Space exploration training is another early and inten-
sive use of virtual reality. Space programs have been in the forefront in
research and development of virtual reality hardware and software. In fact,
much of what is available today was fi rst developed in military training or
space training years ago. The National Aeronautics and Space Adminis-
tration’s Johnson Space Center trains astronauts using virtual reality to
experience different aspects of a mission without using a mock-up or a
simulator. Astronauts in various locations in the world can use the train-
ing programs (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Johnson
Space Center, n.d.).
Transportation-Related Training—Virtual reality has a long history in
training in transportation, whether in industry, the military, or a govern-
mental agency. Examples include pilots flying simulated aircraft, such as
commercial aircraft, helicopters, and dirigibles, under all types of emer-
gency and non-emergency conditions; shipboard personnel learning how to
steer a ship, train engineers learning how to run train, and vehicle drivers
learning how to drive, or how to drive in special situations with specialized
equipment.

Collaborative Virtual Environments and Virtual Worlds

Collaborative virtual environments (CVEs) have been used in education
and training since the 1990s. These virtual worlds, with participants inter-
acting with others using avatars, have become more popular with the rise
of Active Worlds and Second Life. A conference in 2007, Virtual Worlds
Conference and Expo, drew 30 commercial virtual world platform devel-
opers (Virtual Worlds Management, 2007). The virtual world Second Life
is being explored and increasingly used in education and training, as can be
seen by the number of resources on Second Life listed by the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Information Technology Services in their
virtual world in education resource list (University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, Information Technology Services, 2007).
A study by Jackson, Winn, and Fagan investigating collaboration and
learning in immersive virtual learning environments (VLEs) concluded
that “collaborative immersive virtual reality learning experiences can be
successfully integrated into existing school curricula in spite of a signifi-
cant lack of knowledge regarding the nature of human communication,
 Virtual Reality in Education 175
interaction, and learning within VLEs” (Jackson & Fagan, 2000; Jackson
& Winn, 1999).
Dede and colleagues have conducted extensive studies with a multi-user
learning environment (MUVE), River City, to determine its effectiveness
in increasing students’ educational outcomes across a range of challeng-
ing classroom settings. This project of Harvard University, Arizona State
University, and Active Worlds is a MUVE for students to learn scientific
inquiry and 21st-century skills (Clarke, Ketelhut, Nelson, Erlandson, Diet-
erle, & Dede, 2007; Dede, 2003; Dede, Nelson, Ketelhut, Clarke, & Bow-
man, 2004; Harvard University, n.d.).
Riedl, Tashner, and Bronack have described the Active Worlds–based
AET Zone (AppEdTech), a 3D world developed by instructional technol-
ogy faculty, which is used at Appalachian State University for all online
courses in the instructional technology program, as well as for other uni-
versity-related visualizations. Students have a sense of presence in the vir-
tual worlds, with a personal physical representation in space, an awareness
of the presence of others who have also entered the area, and freedom of
movement (Bronack, Riedl, & Tashner, 2005; Bronack, Riedl, Tashner, &
Greene, 2006; Riedl, 2004; Tashner, Riedl, & Bronack, 2005).

CURRENT TRENDS AND THE FUTURE

Virtual reality has been a dynamic technology for many years. Current
trends in the use of virtual reality in education follow the trends in the use
of virtual reality in other areas. The trend and the future of virtual real-
ity in education will be to adapt virtual reality software and hardware to
the prevailing technology. An example is the growing popularity of virtual
worlds for social and business interactions. Educators are experimenting
with ways to use virtual worlds to conduct classes, provide training, form
communities, and interact with students and potential students. The trend
to provide online distance education courses at all levels will be a catalyst
for future applications of virtual reality. At the same time, educators and
trainers are using virtual reality in the classroom in both old and new ways.
Research on virtual reality in education is ongoing around the world.
Future applications of virtual reality in education were studied by Pas-
sig and Sharbat. In a study of the preferred future pedagogic mission for
using virtual reality in schools by a globally chosen group of virtual reality
scholars and developers, they found that the group agreed that the fields
where VR has the greatest potential are the ones involving visual simula-
tion, spatial thinking, and learning-by-doing activities. The participants in
the study expressed much hope in the future of VR in education (Passig &
Sharbat, 2000). That is probably the prevailing view of the applications of
virtual reality in education and training at all levels.
176 Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra
CONCLUSION

Lockwood in Evaluation of Virtual Reality in Africa; an Education Per-

spective, a study completed for the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), concluded that in Africa it is time
to adopt an improved learning method. VR is well suited to the needs of
human memory, VR is a powerful educational tool, VR is suited to both
adult and child learning, and VR can play a vital role in African educa-
tion (Lockwood, 2004). Lockwood’s conclusions could apply anywhere
in the world.
At every level of education and training, virtual reality has the potential
to make a difference, to lead learners to new discoveries, to motivate and
encourage and excite. For the fi rst time in the history of education in its
broadest sense, the learner has the opportunity to be a part of the learning
environment, to create his or her own knowledge. No longer is the learner
required to accept at face value what the teacher/instructor/trainer has to
offer. Now the learner can design or construct the learning scenario and
then become a part of it.
The learner can participate in the learning environment with a sense
of presence, of being part of the environment. If virtual reality hard-
ware such as a head-mounted display or CAVE is used to completely
block out the learner’s surroundings, the learner can become immersed
in the scene. Instead of living a scene in reality, the learner lives it in
virtual reality. In a collaborative virtual world, the learner can commu-
nicate and collaborate with other students located almost anywhere in
the world. The boundaries of the physical classroom and geographical
location fall away.
One of the oldest tenets of good teaching, helping the learner to learn
by doing, can be introduced. The learner in a virtual environment is free to
experiment, explore, make conjectures, formulate hypotheses, test theo-
ries, and solve problems based on these explorations. The virtual environ-
ment can be used for apprenticeship, with the learner doing as the master,
a virtual human or avatar, directs. The learner thus is trained in the best
way to perform a task. At the same time, the learner can try new ways of
arriving at the same objective to determine if there is a better way. The
learner is free to embellish, modify, and even improve upon the virtual
environment in many cases. Given free reign, the learner can produce, by
serendipity, new knowledge, and perhaps even add to the knowledge of
the world.
How exciting to think that perhaps a six- or seven-year-old may give
to the world new ideas and perceptions that can make a difference! How
rewarding for an adult being trained for a new career to discover that he or
she has added to the learning of all those who come after and are trained
for the same career. Such is the promise, potential, and possibility of virtual
reality in education and training.
 Virtual Reality in Education 177

REFERENCES

Alexiou, A., Bouras, C., Giannaka, E., Kapoulas, V., Nani, M., & Tsiatsos, T.
(2004).
Ausburn, L. J., & Ausburn, F. B. (2004). Desktop virtual reality: A powerful new
technology for teaching and research in industrial teacher education. Journal
of Industrial Teacher Education, 41(4). Retrieved September 29, 2007, from
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JITE/v41n4/ausburn.html
Blade, R. A., & Padgett, M. L. (2002). Virtual environments standards and ter-
minology. In K. M. Stanney (Ed.), Handbook of virtual environments: Design,
implementation, and applications (p. 18). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrnece Erlbaum
Associates.
Bowman, D. A., Hodges, L. F., Allison, D., & Wineman, J. (1998). The educational
value of an information-rich virtual environment. GVU Technical Report; GIT-
GVU-98–05. Atlanta: Georgia Institute of Technology.
Bronack, S., Riedl, R., & Tashner, J. (2005). Teaching in 3D: Developing learning
communities in a multi-user virtual environment. In C. Crawford, D. A. Willis,
R. Carlsen, I. Gibson, K. McFerrin, J. Price, et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society
for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference
2005 (pp. 2166–2170). Chesapeake, VA: Association for the Advancement of
Computing in Education.
Bronack, S., Riedl, R., Tashner, J., & Greene, M. (2006). Learning in the zone: A
social constructivist framework for distance education in a 3D virtual world. In
C. Crawford et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology
and Teacher Education International Conference 2006 (pp. 268–275). Chesa-
peake, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education.
Brooks, B. M., Rose, F. D., Attree, E. A., & Elliot-Square, A. (2002). An evaluation
of the efficacy of training people with learning disabilities in a virtual environ-
ment. Disability & Rehabilitation, 24(11–12), 622–626.
Burdea, G. C. (2004). Teaching virtual reality: Why and how? Presence: Teleopera-
tors and Virtual Environments, 13, 463–483. (Includes detailed survey of VR
courses taught at universities worldwide.)
Burdea, G. C., & Coiffet, P. (2003). Virtual reality technology (2nd ed.). Hoboken,
NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Cass, M., & Roblyer, M. D. (1999). A review of experimental research on virtual
reality in special education: The status of the dream. VR in the Schools, 4(2).
Retrieved September 28, 2007, from http://vr.coe.ecu.edu/vrits/4–2cass.htm
Chee, Y. (2001). Virtual reality in education: Rooting learning in experience.
In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Virtual Education 2001,
Busan, South Korea (pp. 43–54). Busan, Korea: Symposium Organizing Com-
mittee, Dongseo University. Retrieved September 29, 2007, from http://yam-
sanchee.myplace.nie.edu.sg/Publications/2001/ISVE2001Invited.pdf
Chen, C. J. (2006). The design, development and evaluation of a virtual reality
based learning environment. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology,
22(1), 39–63.
Clarke, J., Ketelhut, D., Nelson, B., Erlandson, B., Dieterle, E., & Dede, C. (2007).
Investigating students’ behaviors, patterns, and learning in a multi-user virtual
environment designed around inquiry. Paper presented at the 2007 American
Educational Research Association Conference, Chicago, IL.
Corbit, M., & DeVarco, B. (2000). SciCentr and BioLearn: Two 3D implemen-
tations of CVE science museums. In Proceedings of the Third International
Conference on Collaborative Virtual Environments, San Francisco (pp. 65–77).
New York: ACM Press.
178 Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra
Costello, P. J. (1997). Health and safety issues associated with virtual reality—
A review of current literature. UK: Advisory Group on Computer Graphics
(AGOCG). Retrieved October 28, 2007, from http://www.agocg.ac.uk/reports/
virtual/37/report37.htm
Crosier, J. K., Cobb, S. V. G., & Wilson, J. R. (2004). Experimental comparison
of virtual reality with traditional teaching methods for teaching radioactivity.
Education and Information Technologies, 5(4), 329–343.
Dalgarno, B., Hedberg, J., & Harper, B. (2002). The contribution of 3D environments
to conceptual understanding. In Proceedings of the 19th Annual Conference of
the Australian Society for Computers in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE), Auck-
land, New Zealand, 8–11 December 2002. Aukland, New Zealand: UNITEC
Institute of Technology. Retrieved September 29, 2007, from http://www.asci-
lite.org.au/conferences/auckland02/proceedings/papers/051.pdf
Dede, C. (1995). The evolution of constructivist learning environments: Immersion
in Distributed virtual worlds. Educational Technology 35, 46–52.
Dede, C. (2003). Multi-user virtual environments. Educause Review, 38(3), 60–61.
Dede, C., Nelson, B., Ketelhut, D. J., Clarke, J., & Bowman, C. (2004). Design-
based research strategies for studying situated learning in a multi-user virtual
environment. Paper presented at the International Conference on Learning Sci-
ences, Mahwah, NJ.
Dede, C., Salzman, M. C., & Loftin, R. B. (1996). The development of a virtual
world for learning Newtonian mechanics. In P. Brusilovsky, P. Kommers, & N.
Streitz (Eds.), Multimedia, hypermedia, and virtual reality (pp. 87–106). Berlin:
Stringer/Verlag.
Harvard University. (n.d.). The River City project: A multi-user virtual environment
for learning scientific inquiry and 21st century skills. Retrieved November 17,
2007, from http://muve.gse.harvard.edu/rivercityproject/contributors/team.html
Jackson, R. L., & Fagan, E. (2000). Collaboration and learning within immer-
sive virtual reality. In Proceedings of the Third International Conference on
Collaborative Virtual Environments, San Francisco (pp. 83–92). New York:
ACM Press.
Jackson, R. L., & Winn, W. (1999). Collaboration and learning in immersive
virtual environments. In Proceedings of the 1999 Conference on Computer
Support for Collaborative Learning, Palo Alto, California (Article No. 32).
International Society of the Learning Sciences.
Johnson, A., Moher, T., Cho, Y., Edelson, D., & Russell, E. (2004). Learning sci-
ence inquiry skills in a virtual field. Computers & Graphics, 28, 409–415.
Kameas, A., Pintelas, P., Mikropoulos, T. A., Katsikis, A., & Emvalotis, A. (2000).
EIKON: Teaching a high-school technology course with the aid of virtual real-
ity. Education and Information Technologies, 5(4), 305–315.
Kolasinski, E. A. (1995a). Simulator sickness in virtual environments. Final tech-
nical report. August 1993–December 1994. Alexandria, VA: Army Research
Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. Retrieved October 28, 2007,
from http://stinet.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefi x=html&ide
ntifier=ADA295861
Kolasinski, E. A. (1995b). Simulator sickness in virtual environments. Executive
Summary. Alexandria, VA: Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and
Social Sciences. Retrieved October 28, 2007, from http://www.cyberedge.com/
info_r_a+p05_ss-es.html
Lockwood, D. (2004). Evaluation of virtual reality in Africa: An educational
perspective. Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Orga-
nization. Retrieved September 29, 2007, from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/
images/0013/001346/134607e.pdf
 Virtual Reality in Education 179
McLellan, H. (1996) Virtual realities. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of
research for educational communications and technology (pp. 457–487). New
York: Macmillan Library Reference, USA.
McLellan, H. (2003). Virtual realities. In D. H. Jonassen & P. Harris (Eds.), Hand-
book of research for educational communications and technology (2nd ed., pp.
461–498). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
McLellan, H. (1994). Virtual reality and multiple intelligences: Potentials for higher
education. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 5(2), 31–64.
Mikropoulos, T. A. (1996). Virtual geography. VR in the Schools, 2(2). Retrieved
September 29, 2007, from http://vr.coe.ecu.edu/vrits/2–2Mikro.htm
Mikropoulos, T., Chalkidis, A., Katsikis, A., & Emvalotis, A. (1998). Students’
attitudes towards educational virtual environments. Education and Informa-
tion Technologies, 3(2), 137–148.
Mikropoulos, T., Chalkidis, A., Katsikis, A., & Kossivaki, P. (1997–1998). Virtual
realities in environmental education: The project LAKE. Education and Infor-
mation Technologies, 2(2), 131–142.
MMVR 16 Conference. (2007). Medicine Meets Virtual Reality 16. January
30–February 1, 2008, Long Beach, California. Retrieved September 29, 2007,
from http://www.nextmed.com/mmvr_virtual_reality.html.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Johnson Space Center. (n.d.).
Astronaut training. Retrieved November 10, 2007, from http://aerospaceschol-
ars.jsc.nasa.gov/HAS/cirr/ss/3/3.cfm
Neale, H. R., Brown, D. J., Cobb, S. V. G., & Wilson, J. R. (1999). Structured
evaluation of virtual environments for special-needs education. Presence: Tele-
operators and Virtual Environments, 8(3), 264–282.
Neale, H. R., Cobb, S. V. G., & Wilson, J. R. (2000). Designing virtual learning
environments for people with learning disabilities: Usability issues. In Proceed-
ings of the 3rd International Conference on Disability, Virtual Reality & Asso-
ciated Technologies, Alghero, Italy (pp. 265–272). Reading, UK: ICDVRAT/
University of Reading.
Pantelidis, V. S. (1991–2007). Virtual reality and education: Information sources;
a bibliography. Retrieved November 10, 2007, from http://vr.coe.ecu.edu/vpbib.
html
Pantelidis, V. S. (1993). Virtual reality in the classroom. Educational Technology,
33(4), 23–27.
Pantelidis, V. S. (1995). Reasons to use virtual reality in education. VR in the
Schools, 1(1), 9. Retrieved September 29, 2007, from http://vr.coe.ecu.edu/
vrits/1–1pante.htm
Pantelidis, V. S. (1996). Suggestions on when to use and when not to use virtual
reality in education. VR in the Schools, 2(1), 18. Retrieved October 27, 2007,
from http://vr.coe.ecu.edu/vrits/2–1Pante.htm
Pantelidis, V. S. (1997). Virtual reality in education and Howard Gardner’s The-
ory of Multiple Intelligences. Retrieved November 17, 2007, from http://vr.coe.
ecu.edu/gardner1.htm
Pantelidis, V. S., & Auld, L. (2002). Teaching virtual reality courses online. CCAI,
The Journal for the Integrated Study of Artifi cial Intelligence Cognitive Science
and Applied Epistemology, 19(3–4), 87–132.
Pantelidis, V. S., & Auld, L. (2003). Teaching virtual reality courses online. Global
Educator. Retrieved October 27, 2007, from http://web.archive.org/web/*/
http://www.globaled.com/articles/PantelidisVeronica2003.pdf
Parsons, A. K. (2006). Text-based virtual reality. ESF Partnership Project. Part 1.
Purpose and potential. Retrieved October 27, 2007, from http://www.enabling.
org/moointro.html
180 Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra
Passig, D., Klein, P., & Noyman, T. (2001). Improving awareness of toddlers’ ini-
tial cognitive experiences in kindergarten with virtual reality. Journal of Com-
puter Assisted Learning, 17(4), 332–344
Passig, D., & Noyman, T. (2002). Training kindergarten teachers with virtual real-
ity. In IFIP World Conference on Computers in Education 2001, Copenhagen,
Denmark. Networking the Learner: Computers in Education. New York: Klu-
wer Academic Publishers.
Passig, D., & Sharbat, A. (2000). A preferred future pedagogic mission for using
virtual reality (VR) in schools: An Imen-Delphi (ID) exercise with a group of
VR scholars and developers. International Journal of Virtual Reality. Paper
available from Dr. David Passig, College of Education, Bar-Ilan University,
52900 Ramat-Gan, Israel. Email: passig@mail.biu.ac.il
Psotka, J., Davison, S. A., & Bernatchez, M. (n.d.). Virtual reality terms. Retrieved
September 28, 2007, from http://vresources.jump-gate.com/articles/vr_terms/
vr_terms.shtml
Regan, P. M., & Slator, B. M. (2002). Case-based tutoring in virtual education envi-
ronments. In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Collaborative
Virtual Environments, Bonn, Germany (pp. 2–9). New York: ACM Press.
Riedl, R. (2004). Building a program in a virtual world. In Proceedings of World
Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunica-
tions 2004 (pp. 424–431). Chesapeake, VA: Association for the Advancement
of Computing in Education.
Rose, D., Brooks, B., & Attree, E. (2000). Virtual reality in vocational training
of people with learning disabilities. Paper delivered at The Third International
Conference on Disability, Virtual Reality and Associated Technologies, 23rd to
25th September 2000, Alghero, Sardinia, Italy. Full paper available at http://
www.icdvrat.reading.ac.uk/2000/index.htm Abstract retrieved September 29,
2007, from http://www.icdvrat.reading.ac.uk/2000/index.htm
Roussos, M., Johnson, A., Moher, T., Leigh, J., Vasilakis, C., & Barnes, C. (1999).
Learning and building together in an immersive virtual world. Presence: Tele-
operators and Virtual Environments, 8, 247–263.
Roussou, M. (2004a). Examining young learners’ activity within interactive vir-
tual environments: Exploratory studies. Technical Report No. RN/04/08. Lon-
don: University College London, Department of Computer Science.
Roussou, M. (2004b). Examining young learners’ activity within interactive vir-
tual environments. In Proceedings, 3rd International Conference for Interac-
tion Design & Children, June 1–3, 2004 (pp. 167–168).
Roussou, M., Oliver, M., & Slater, M. (2006). The virtual playground: An edu-
cational virtual reality environment for evaluating interactivity and conceptual
learning. Virtual Reality, 10(3–4), 227–240.
Salzman, M. C., Dede, C., Loftin, R. B., & Chen, J. (1999). A model for under-
standing how virtual reality aids complex conceptual learning. Presence: Tele-
operators and Virtual Environments, 8, 293–316.
Selverian, M. E. M. (2005). Being there in the VLE: A pan-pedagogical model
for enhanced learning through perceptual states of ‘presence’ (doctoral dis-
sertation, Temple University, 2005). Dissertation Abstracts International-A,
66, 1617.
Sherman, W. R., & Craig, A. B. (2003). Understanding virtual reality: Interface,
application, and design. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.
Standen. P. J., & Low, H. L. (1996). Do virtual environments promote self-directed
activity? A study of students with severe learning difficulties learning Makaton
sign language. In Proceedings of the 1st European Conference on Disability,
Virtual Reality & Associated Technologies, Maidenhead, UK, 1996 (pp. 123–
127). ECDVRAT and University of Reading, UK.
 Virtual Reality in Education 181
Stuart, R. (1992). Virtual reality: Directions in research and development. Interac-
tive Learning International, 8(2), 95–100.
Tashner, J., Riedl, R., & Bronack, S. (2005). 3 D web-based worlds for instruction.
In C. Crawford et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technol-
ogy and Teacher Education International Conference 2005 (pp. 2114–2118).
Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Information Technology Services.
(2007). Virtual worlds in education: Selected resources. Retrieved November
17, 2007, from http://its.unc.edu/tl/guides/2ndlife.php
Vinciguerra, D. (2004a). Introducing students to VR using Internet Space Builder.
VR in the Schools, 5(1). Retrieved October 15, 2007, from http://vr.coe.ecu.edu/
vrits/5–1vinciguerra.htm
Vinciguerra, D. (2004b). The desktop virtual reality gallery: Sharing student envi-
ronments online. Global Educator. Retrieved October 27, 2007, from http://
www.whirligig.com.au/globaleducator/articles/DavidVinciguerra2004.pdf
Vinciguerra, D. (2005). Inexpensive and potentially effective virtual realty hard-
ware P5 Virtual 3D Controller. VR in the Schools, 5(2). Retrieved October 15,
2007, from http://vr.coe.ecu.edu/vrits/5–2vinciguerra.htm
Vinciguerra, D. (2006). Creating 3-dimensional anaglyphic interactive virtual
environments with 3Space Assistant. VR in the Schools, 6(1). Retrieved October
15, 2007, from. http://vr.coe.ecu.edu/vrits/6–1vinciguerra.htm
Vinciguerra, D. (2007). Blink 3D: A rapid application development tool for creat-
ing 3D environments—A conversation with Clive Jackson, CEO and founder
of Pelican Crossing, Inc. VR in the Schools, 7(1). Retrieved October 15, 2007,
from http://vr.coe.ecu.edu/vrits/6–2.pdf
The Virtual Radiopharmacy Laboratory: A 3D simulation for distance learning.
Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 13(3), 307–322.
Virtual Worlds Management. (2007).Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo, Octo-
ber 10–11, 2007 San Jose, CA. Retrieved October 28, 2007, from http://www.
virtualworlds2007.com
Winn, W. (1993). A conceptual basis for educational applications of virtual reality.
Technical Report TR-93–9. Seattle: Human Interface Technology Laboratory,
University of Washington. Retrieved September 29, 2007, from http://www.hitl.
washington.edu/publications/r-93–9
Youngblut, C. (1997). Educational uses of virtual reality technology. Executive
report. Reprinted from Educational uses of virtual reality technology. IDA Doc-
ument Report Number D-2128. Alexandria, VA: Institute for Defense Analyses,
1998. VR in the Schools, 3(1). Retrieved October 27, 2007, from http://vr.coe.
ecu.edu/vrits/3–1Young.htm
Youngblut, C. (1998) Educational uses of virtual reality technology. Alexandria,
VA: Institute for Defense Analyses.
9 A User-Centered Approach for
Building Design Guidelines for the Use
of Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning
Daphne Economou

INTRODUCTION

It has long been recognized that meaningful advances in computer tech-

nology can only come about by using it to build prototypes against the
demands of real applications (Brooks, 1988). This “driving problem” phi-
losophy sees the choice of a good problem and collaborators as essential to
advancing the technology.
In the field of virtual reality, the considerable demands placed upon the
technology in order to generate even the most basic of environments has
meant that the choice of driving problem has traditionally been directed
mainly by technological concerns. For example, the single-user MAVERIK
system (Hubbold, Cook, Keates, Gibson, Howard, Murta, et al., 1999)
used as one of its driving problems the visualization of real-world process
plants. These CAD models constitute very complex man-made objects, the
rendering and management of which does not yield to traditional graphical
optimizations or generic virtual environment techniques.
CVE systems too, such as DIVE (Benford, Bowers, Fahlén, Greenhalgh,
& Snowdon, 1995; Carlsoon & Hagsand, 1993), MASSIVE (Greenhalgh
& Benford, 1995) and Diamond Park (Waters, Anderson, Barrus, Bro-
gan, Casey, McKeown, et al., 1997), have been used mainly to investigate
technical issues such as the system level mechanisms for networking, event
distribution or provision of audio or video links between users (Benford,
Greenhalgh, & Lloyd, 1997). Even the investigation of virtual human rep-
resentations has been oriented towards technical issues such as the need to
improve rendering techniques in order to maintain performance (Capin,
Pandzic, Thalmann, & Thalmann, 1998).
However, the purpose of a CVE is to support the processes of collabo-
ration between users. There is an existing body of work looking at user
needs but this is primarily from the perspective of usability (Kaur, 1998;
Kaur Deol, Steed, Hand, Istance, & Tromp, 2000a, 2000b; Stanney; Mou-
rant, & Kennedy, 1998). What is needed is to broaden that perspective to
recognize the situated and social nature of the processes in collaboration.
It is thus necessary to study a “real world” situation to determine “real”
 Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning 183
requirements for CVE technology. Problems that determine the success or
failure of a system can only arise in such a situation.
This paper argues that the multi-user, social nature of CVE technol-
ogy means that the choice and use of driving problem must be deter-
mined not just by technological concerns but also by the needs of the
end user, and that the driving problem domain must be selected with
care. The paper begins by describing the development of a CVE system
called Deva (Pettifer & West, 1999) (Section 2). A method is then pre-
sented for selecting and using a driving problem. The method is then
illustrated by describing the senet project, which involves using Deva to
create a multi-user board game for use in museum education. The choice
of problem area and the senet application is fi rst described (Section 3). A
set of application requirements was identifi ed by the study of “low-tech”
prototypes (Section 4). A rigorous methodology for studying social inter-
action in CVEs is described (see Section 5). From these requirements a
set of design guidelines were derived (Section 6). By using these design
guidelines to implement the senet application in the Deva CVE, a set of
technology requirements can be identified (Section 7). A study of the
Deva application in use led to a further set of technology requirements
(Section 8).

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE DEVA VE SYSTEM

In 1991 the Advanced Interfaces Group at the University of Manchester

set out to develop a multi-user virtual reality system for dealing with
large-scale virtual environments. The result was a prototype system
called AVIARY (Snowdon & West, 1994) that included a novel frame-
work for the management of multiple environments. At the time, limited
support both of hardware and software for networking and rendering
meant that most of the development effort had to be aimed at just mak-
ing the system work, never than satisfying the extensive real-time con-
straints of VR.
Design effort shifted from AVIARY to two complementary new systems:
MAVERIK, a single user rendering and spatial management kernel aimed
at eliminating the graphical bottleneck; and Deva, a distributed object
management layer designed to provide coherent shared virtual environ-
ments over wide-area networks.
MAVERIK has been used successfully to implement single user appli-
cations that would be significantly more difficult to implement using
other methods (Hubbold et al., 1999). It has the advantage of dealing
with relatively “low level” problems, such as rendering and spatial man-
agement. MAVERIK provides a novel architectural solution to a problem
area that is primarily technological and where the difficulties are well
understood (e.g., maintaining an appropriate frame rate for interaction,
184 Daphne Economou
rendering scenes requiring diverse representations, handling user input
appropriately). In this sense the requirements placed upon the system are
clearly defi ned, and its ability to meet these requirements readily measur-
able (e.g., take an application that is diffi cult to render, and measure the
resulting frame-rate).
On the other hand, Deva aims to address issues that are much less clearly
defined such as the relationships between users in a CVE, or the affordances of
the environment itself. Finding a meaningful measure of success or an applica-
tion that clearly drives the development of the system’s support for CVEs has
proven to be difficult (Mitchell, Economou, Pettifer, & West, 2000).

A METHOD FOR USING A DRIVING PROBLEM

There are several concerns about the use of a driving problem. Firstly, what
are the essential properties that make something a good driving problem?
Secondly, how to ensure that the application developed is “true” or “valid”
to the end users? Thirdly, how to study the application in use and derive
requirements for the technology?

A Stakeholder Approach
To address the fi rst and second concerns it was considered essential to iden-
tify from the outset who had a stake in the project and what that stake
might be. This stakeholder method of working evolved out of the Soft Sys-
tems approach (Checkland & Scholes, 1990) used for studying the appli-
cation area (museum education) (Mitchell, 1999). This emphasized the
importance of identifying stakeholders and the context of use of systems.
In the senet project the set of stakeholders consisted of:

• technologists—the Manchester University researchers responsible for

developing and implementing the application in Deva.
• designers—the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) research-
ers responsible for investigating the problem area and designing the
application.
• evaluators—the MMU researchers responsible for conducting user
studies of the application.
• end users—primary school children (~8–12 years) and teachers.

Another set of stakeholders from the problem area can also be identified,
such as the Manchester Museum itself, and the educationalists.
A good problem area can ensure that the application to be developed is
one for which end users can see a real need. This will help to ensure that the
users will be motivated to use the application and help in obtaining “real”
users for evaluation.
 Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning 185
CHOICE OF A PROBLEM AREA AND APPLICATION

Problems arising in a real world situation can determine the success or

the failure of the system (Gunton, 1993). In order to study an authentic
learning activity the research was based around the work of Manchester
Museum’s Education Service (Mitchell, 1999).
This service caters for school visits to the museum aimed at Key Stage
Level 2 (9–11 years old). It provides access to a wide range of museum
artifacts relevant to subjects in the National Curriculum for education.
One particular strength of the museum with a major part in the Education
Service’s teaching is its collection of everyday life ancient Egyptian arti-
facts from the town of Kahun. The artifact chosen as basis of the learning
activity in this research is senet—a board game for two players. Players
take turns to throw a die. The object of the game is to “bear off” your 10
pieces fi rst. Through the activity and a collaborative process the children
get familiar with the artifact and learn by using it how it was played.
Developing a CVE based on senet provides a good test bed for various
CVE properties. It allows object manipulation (the board, die and pieces),
individual operations, as well as operations in pairs or as larger groups. In
terms of collaboration it allows cooperation (to learn the game) as well as
competition (to win the game). The game situation allows a range of teach-
ing styles from traditional instructional methods (e.g., explaining the rules
in advance) to constructivist methods (learning by playing). Current educa-
tional thought recognizes the need for sociocultural methods that emphasize
the social roles of teachers and learners (Soloway, Jackson, Klein, Quintana,
Reed, Spitulnik, et al., 1996). A more practical impetus for collaborative
learning has come from two main sources in the UK. The National Cur-
riculum for education places great emphasis on such learning.
The game supports the needs of experimentation in various ways. It is a
fairly well structured task (the players have to follow certain steps to learn
the rules and play the game). The length of the time required to play the
game matches well the length of time the children could participate in a
structured task before becoming restless and lose focus (30–45 minutes).
Players’ knowledge assessment can occur in a fairly unobtrusive manner
(e.g., by observing if they follow the rules).

A PHASED APPROACH
To address the third concern, an exploratory approach to user studies was
adopted. Steed & Tromp (1998) distinguish evaluation as belonging to
either a scientific enquiry framework (concerned with the study of specific
phenomena) or a usability engineering framework (concerned with mea-
suring the effectiveness of a system). The studies being carried out are not
evaluations but observations of what is going on. The work can thus be
seen as belonging to the scientific enquiry framework.
186 Daphne Economou
Roussos, Johnson, Moher, Leigh, Vasilakis, & Barnes (1999) support
the need for such exploratory work, which involves building novel learning
applications and carrying out informal evaluations of them. Past studies
have dealt with users with ready access to the technology. However, it is
necessary to recognize the situated nature of the processes in collaborative
learning. It is necessary to study a “real world” situation to determine the
CVE requirements. Problems that determine the success or failure of a sys-
tem can only arise in such a situation.
One problem faced by CVE research is that the current immaturity
of the technology does not allow the full potential of the CVEs to be
exploited. This means that many of the applications developed so far have
been of a prototypical nature. There are two issues in respect of the pro-
totypical nature of applications: it is often not feasible to create different
conditions for experiments within the time and effort available; thus the
process of studying specific phenomena is constrained; defects in the pro-
totypical functionality of the application might cause difficulties in con-
ducting studies with real users (Steed & Tromp, 1998). The technology is
not mature enough to afford the activities that such complicated environ-
ments require.
Another problem faced in CVE research is the vast number of factors
involved in the construction of CVEs for learning. Kaur (1998) has identi-
fied 46 design properties to be considered when designing VEs for usability.
The number of factors increases dramatically when considering communi-
cation and collaboration issues in CVEs (Johnson, Stiles, & Munro, 1998).
This makes it difficult to isolate which design decisions are responsible for
the overall effectiveness of the environment. It is also difficult to identify
the interplay between various factors (e.g., the effects that usability issues
have on pedagogic issues).
To overcome these problems, application development was divided into
three distinct phases (Economou, Mitchell, & Boyle, 2000). The applica-
tions across the three phases differ in three main ways:

• population, the degree to which the environment is populated: semi-

populated (the user sees other virtual actors present); fully populated
(the user can represent themselves via a virtual actor)
• 2D/3D, use of a two-dimensional environment simplifies issues relat-
ing to navigation and the way in which objects are manipulated
• external/internal interaction, whether user interactions take place
outside or via the computer (see Figure 9.1).

Each phase addressed a subset of the range of factors in CVEs and

formed a particular situation to be studied. In the fi rst two phases of the
project a “low-tech prototyping” approach was adopted. In the fi rst phase a
single display groupware prototype was constructed to study issues relating
to playing the senet game. In the second phase a conventional groupware
 Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning 187

Figure 9.1 (a) Interactions external to the system (‘C’ child, ‘E’ expert), (b) interac-
tions internal to the system (‘C’ child, ‘E’ expert). Created by Daphne Economou.

prototype was used to study issues involving interaction and communica-

tion between remotely located users whilst playing the game. The results
of these user studies effectively formed a set of application requirements
from which design guidelines could be derived. These design guidelines
were then used to implement the application using the Deva technology in
the third phase of work.
The phased approach provides several benefits, such as managing com-
plexity by dealing with a manageable set of factors in each phase (e.g.,
2D/3D and population) and allowing the results of each phase to inform
subsequent phases. Thus, requirements can be progressively identified. The
use of more robust technologies allows the essential features of the situation
(interactivity and social communication) to be studied with real users in a
way not possible with more immature and inaccessible CVE technology.

The Method
In summary, the method consists of the following stages:

• choice of problem area and application

• identification of application requirements via “low-tech prototyping”
• development of design guidelines
• design and implementation of the application using the Deva CVE
technology
• study of the Deva application in use
• Technology requirements were identified in three main ways:
• by identifying changes that needed to be made to Deva in order to
implement the application according to the design guidelines
• by identifying design guidelines that could not be followed when
implementing the application
• following study of the Deva version of the application
• To illustrate the method, the following sections look at how it was
applied during the senet project.
188 Daphne Economou
IDENTIFICATION OF APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Single Display Groupware Prototype

For the fi rst set of studies, a prototype application was developed that
took the form of a single display groupware (Stewart, Bederson, & Druin,
1999). Users see the senet board and pieces and can also access the rules
of the game. Users sit next to each other and view the application on a
single, shared display. The interactions between them were external to the
computer. The prototype was constructed using established 2D multimedia
technology. This helped simplifying issues surrounding navigation of the
environment and the ways in which objects could be manipulated.
The prototypes were observed in use by the general public during an
open week at Manchester Museum. Observations of schoolchildren were
also conducted under more controlled conditions. Due to the nature of both
activities and the environment that occurred, note taking was used for data
collection.
The studies aimed to understand and identify the factors involved in a
real world game-playing situation:

• the types of interactions that occur between the users and the game
environment
• the communication between users (content and modes)
• the roles that the users adopt in a game-playing situation
• controls over the communication and the game-playing activity

The purpose of this study was primarily exploratory in nature. It gath-

ered a rich set of qualitative information and identified usability issues

Figure 9.2 First phase prototype, single display groupware. Created by Daphne
Economou.
 Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning 189
surrounding the prototype that informed the design of environments
developed in subsequent studies. Technical issues like interface decisions
of the prototype have also been evaluated and informed the development
of sequential prototypes. The studies also gathered requirements related to
experimental settings and conditions for organizing controllable provision
for future studies. What stood out was mainly:

• the rich range of interactivity and social communication that needs to

be supported in CVEs for learning
• the importance of the expert being aware of and able to control even
such a seemingly well-structured activity as game playing

Conventional Groupware Prototype

The second set of studies has been driven by factors that have been out-
lined in literature, as well as in the fi rst phase. It focused on understanding
the ways these factors changed when the interactions and communication
between users was internal to the environment. It also looked for possible
new factors arising in remote communication and interaction and the way
this affects the users’ behavior. The focus of the second set of studies was:

• interaction with objects in the environment and the environment

itself
• communication, including: turn taking, the communication content
in different stages of a session; the communication modes for deliver-
ing a topic; and the efficiency of the tools the system provided
• pedagogy, pedagogical tactics used for delivering various topics
• appearance, how the users were represented in the environment
• awareness, users’ perceptions of each other’s status of activity, inten-
tion of action, association of actions with users

The second set of studies was more focused in comparison with the first
phase studies. For the purpose of the studies three prototypes were devel-
oped, which took the form of conventional groupware systems. Partici-
pants were remotely located so interactions between them were internal to
the computer. The prototypes were developed using 2D multimedia tools
coupled with groupware technology typical of that used in education. The
prototypes also introduced the concept of population to the environment.
One prototype was semi-populated (the child could see a virtual actor rep-
resenting the expert) and the other two prototypes were fully populated
(the child could also see their own virtual actor). Users communicated by
typing text in chat boxes associated with their own actor or using a hand
for pointing
The groupware prototype was observed in use at Knutsford High School
over a period of three days. The subjects were 12-year-old children (year
190 Daphne Economou

Figure 9.3 (a) 2D semi-populated, dialogue external to the game environment

(P2.1), (b)2D fully populated, dialogue internal to the game environment (P2.2), (c)
2D fully populated, dialogue internal to the game environment, increased popula-
tion (P2.3). Created by Daphne Economou.
 Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning 191
7). Twenty-two children (11 pairs) participated in the studies. Two rooms
were used. One contained a researcher playing the role of the “expert” and
the second contained one or two children working on individual computers
accompanied by a second researcher (the helper). In the studies using the
third prototype (see Figure 9.3(c)), both children used the environment.
The session lasted approximately 45 minutes. Basic instructions about
the system were given to the children at the start of the session and they
were instructed to ask the expert for support. The expert and the child were
both videotaped. The text typed in the chat boxes was written to a file. Each
session was followed up by an interview with the children about their expe-
rience, which lasted approximately 10 minutes and was tape recorded.

A RIGOROUS METHOD FOR STUDYING

SOCIAL INTERACTION IN CVEs

The primary purpose of the method to be adopted is a form of requirements

gathering that follows rigorous steps to enable the identification of design
factors in a way that can directly inform CVE systems design. Candidate
methods such as conversation analysis (Atkinson & Heritage, 1984; Boden
& Zimmerman, 1991) and discourse analysis (Coulthard, Montgomery, &
Brazil, 1981) are narrowly focused on issues surrounding the dialogue itself.
Intimate and subjective study of human activities and interaction requires
a permanent record of naturally occurring events (e.g., field notes, video
and audio) (Luff, Hindmarch, & Heath, 2000). Ethnographic approaches
contribute to understanding the production of social actions and activi-
ties and recognize the activities of others. However, when coupled with
video they result in a vast amount of rich qualitative data. The complex-
ity of dealing with video data has been recognized by a growing num-
ber of researchers (Silverman, 2000). It is not only unmanageable, but the
moment-to-moment detailed analysis is notoriously time consuming (Allen,
1989; Neal, 1989). The information is interrelated and it is difficult to be
separated and rationalized. Viller and Sommerville (1999) argue that is dif-
ficult to draw design principles and other abstract lessons from a technique
that is concerned with detail of a particular situation. Thus, it is difficult
to make generalizations about design factors related to CVEs. The analysis
needs to be practiced by a group of analysts to overcome subjectivity.
One method for which video technology is essential is ‘Interaction Anal-
ysis’ (Jordan & Henderson, 1995). This method studies human activities,
such as talk, nonverbal interaction and the use of artifacts and technolo-
gies. It is primarily defi ned by its ‘analytic foci’ or ways into a videotape.
Such foci include: structure of events, temporal organization of activity,
turn taking, trouble and repair, spatial organization of activity. To counter
subjectivity of analysis, this method is performed by a group of analysts,
which is not always possible due to resource limitations.
192 Daphne Economou
The proposed solution that addresses the aforementioned problems is
the creation of an analytic grid that can be used to generate numerical val-
ues from qualitative data. For example, if the factor to be studied is physi-
cal activities the virtual actors should be eligible to perform certain actions,
such as pointing and moving to assist and improve communication and
interaction, then the quantitative information subtracted out of the qualita-
tive data should indicate in which circumstances, and for what purpose,
these physical activities were used. In this form the data is manageable and
can be linked to the design factors to be developed.
The analytic foci and orientation adopted in the method used to study the
senet project, outlined next, is based on, and adds to, the interaction analy-
sis foci. The method follows rigorous steps for organizing experimental set-
tings, collecting and analyzing data and provides the means of managing large
amounts of disparate data (videotapes, field notes, text files) (Economou &
Pettifer, 2005). It consists of seven main steps, which are carried sequentially:

• data collection
• transcription
• chunking of the transcription
• creation of a grid
• application of the grid
• analysis at the session level
• derivation of design guidelines

The data collection step involves keeping a record of all the actions,
activities and dialogue that took place during the study. This record needs
to be organized and analyzed in order to extract design guidelines.
The transcription step involves creating one account of the session (the
game-playing activity) by combining the data collected about communication
and interactions taking place internally and externally to the prototype.
Each session is divided into three main ethnographic chunks: stages, seg-
ments and turns. Stages are defi ned by changes in the communicated topic
(e.g., expert explains the system tools; children set up the board; children
play the game). Each stage is subdivided into segments that are marked
by the pedagogical tactic adopted for the delivery of a topic. A segment is
divided into a set of turns.
Central to the method is the use of a grid containing a set of analytic
categories that provides a way for studying and managing the rich, qualita-
tive data. The analytical categories identified included:

• physical activity (physical movements of the user such as: head move-
ment, facial expression, position of the body, movements of the rest
of the body)
• communication activity (the modes of communication using text,
pointing, speech, body language)
 Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning 193
• turn taking (how turn boundaries were marked, interruption mecha-
nisms users employed)
• external intervention (when complete breakdown occurs and real
world intervention is needed)
• pedagogy (issues related to who adopted the teacher’s role: expert,
co-player, helper, topic being covered, pedagogical tactics employed,
change in tactic, reason for the tactic being adopted)

The analytic categories derived from:

• a framework of design factors based on previous work in the area: vir-

tual actors’ appearance; awareness; object manipulation; communica-
tion content; communication modes; turn taking; the users’ role in the
situation (Bigge & Shermis, 1992; Benford et al., 2005; Kaur, 1998)
• the outcome of studies using the single display groupware application
regarding: the roles the users adopt in a learning situations; commu-
nication content and modes; children encountering problems and how
this affected the users’ behavior
• a preliminary analysis of selective transcriptions of the conventional
groupware application (this was to minimize possibility of ignoring
factors that have not arisen in the previous situations)
• Columns common across the grids identify: the turn chunk (location
of the turn within the session); the location of the action (this indi-
cates the relative actions internal versus external to the prototype);
the description of the chunk (this includes the content of the turns).
• The grid generates quantitative information out of qualitative data
at the turn or segment levels. Subsequent analysis across a whole ses-
sion, as well as comparisons between sessions, allows identification of
patterns of user behaviors. The fi nal stage of the method is the deriva-
tion of design guidelines (DG).
• The fi nal stage of the method translates key points deriving for each
analytic category of the grid into DG. The fi ndings from all sessions
and for all the analytic categories of the grid are considered. DG need
to be precise. Providing guidelines with extra information and exam-
ples reduces the chances of the guideline being too vague or confl ict-
ing (Reisner, 1987). The method follows a model of reporting DG for
usability in CVEs which is determined by four parts:
• design guideline, which reports the DG that needs to be incorporated
• motivation, which argues the importance of the DG based on the
phases’ results
• benefit, which discusses how the application of a DG addresses the
issues that drew the creation of the DG itself (depending on context it
is possible that some DGs may have a negative force in the CVE; this
can be addressed with the evaluation of the DGs, which may address
the need for the derivation of other DGs to overcome such problems)
194 Daphne Economou
• examples, one or two examples of the practical implementation of
the DG

This method is based on Kaur’s method of reporting DG for usability in

VEs (Kaur, 1998).
The seven-step method has been applied to the second phase of the
study and derived a preliminary set of DG (Economou, 2001; Economou
& Pettifer, 2005) which directed the development of the third phase pro-
totype CVE. The method has subsequently been applied to the third phase
of the project to evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented preliminary
DG and to investigate new factors arising in a 3D CVEs for learning.
The method can be repeated according to the analytic categories to be
studied.
The following section presents the preliminary set of DG, which derived
from the second phase of the project.

DERIVATION OF A PRELIMINARY SET OF DESIGN GUIDELINES

THAT LED THE DESIGN OF THE SENET PROTOTYPE IN DEVA

Twenty two preliminary design guidelines (PDG) were derived by the appli-
cation of the grid on the second phase of this study. The context of their use
is related to the following aspects of CVEs for learning:

• environment, which address issues related to general tools CVEs for

learning should provide
• objects, which address issues regarding the objects’ features contained
in CVEs for learning
• virtual actors, which address issues regarding the virtual actors’ fea-
tures in CVEs for learning
• virtual actor behavior, which addresses issues related to the behav-
iors virtual actors with different roles in CVEs for learning should
incorporate

Virtual actor behavior includes behaviors for two categories of users:

• the student, the naïve users, who did not know the rules of the game and
were new to the experience of participating in a CVE application
• the teacher, the knowledgeable users in the CVE, who did not play,
but knew the rules of the game, was aware of the process to be fol-
lowed, and whose duty was to assist the children and provide guid-
ance and support

The following sections present the PDG and discuss how they led the
development of the senet application using the Deva CVE technology.
 Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning 195
In the Deva senet prototype, two children were playing against each
other and the expert took the role of the mediator. The users are remotely
located, they have individual displays (a monitor, or a head-mounted dis-
play) and input devices (e.g., 3-button mouse or a 3D mouse), and the inter-
actions between the users are internal to the environment (see Figure 9.5).
It was not possible to follow all of the PDG. If a PDG was followed, then
either Deva supported the implementation or Deva had to be changed. If
a PDG was not followed, this was either due to the fact that Deva could
not be changed to support the guideline or due to a design decision. The
following sections discuss where the PDG were followed or not based on
technological limitation of the Deva CVE technology.

ENVIRONMENT

PDG1: Simultaneous Control

Unlike the NetMeeting prototype, there is no shared pointer in Deva. Users
can type or move objects independently of each other.

PDG2: History of Communication

Displaying the comparatively large amounts of text accumulated during a
session is unrealistic in a 3D environment for the reasons given next (see Sec-
tion 6.2, PDG10). It would thus not be possible to have scrollable chat boxes
within the Deva environment. Instead, each user’s text message is also writ-
ten to a transcript window which is external to the CVE. This separation was
not seen as a problem, on the basis that when a child requires access to the
historical logs to resolve an issue the engagement with the current activities in
the environment is inevitably interrupted to some extent (see Figure 9.4).

PDG3: History of Physical Activity

This guideline was not followed.
In Deva, all the events that occur in the virtual environment are broad-
cast from a central server to the client processes that manage interaction and
rendering. To provide a basic version of such a tool it would be necessary
to log these events in a fi le and to replay the events from the file rather than
from the server. This would not give perfect replay, as events are discreet
rather than continuous, but it could provide a good fi rst approximation.

PDG4: Permanent Information Resource Presentation

The rules of the game were displayed on the walls of the environment as
texture maps (see Figure 9.4).
196 Daphne Economou
VIRTUAL ACTORS

PDG5: Aesthetically Pleasing Virtual Actors

The default virtual actors currently implemented in Deva lack detail and
support only static texture maps as faces, thus limiting the level of detail and
possibilities for delivering facial expressions or body language. Attempts to
make them more realistic lead to a greater rendering load and slower per-
formance. The system already includes sophisticated radiosity-rendering
software, enabling aesthetically pleasing and realistic lighting models to
be used, and a current focus is on developing the Deva actors so that they
more closely match the actors as envisaged by the designers.

PDG6: Convey Presence and Identity

PDG7: Convey Role

Each user is represented by their own articulated virtual actor that reveals
the user’s identity and role (though a user cannot see their own representa-
tion). Three models of virtual actors had to be created: a teacher, a girl and
a boy. When users with the same role and gender were present in the envi-
ronment, their representations were distinguished by changing the color of
their clothes.

Figure 9.4 Senet prototype in Deva. Created by Daphne Economou.

 Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning 197

Figure 9.5 (a) The users’ position, orientation and distance from other objects
and virtual actors in the CVE indicates the users’ focus of attention. In this figure
the expert (the adult figure) observes the children (the child figure) moving a piece.
The differently shaded area indicates approximately the expert’s viewpoint. (b) The
physical setup of the third phase of the study using senet prototype in Deva, where
the expert is aware of the children’s viewpoint (i) expert, (ii, iii) active children. Cre-
ated by Daphne Economou.

PDG8: Convey Viewpoint

An actor is oriented in the CVE according to the user’s viewpoint (see Fig-
ure 9.5(a)).
A particular problem was the expert not being aware of a child’s view-
point. This was addressed by providing the expert with a second monitor
displaying each child’s viewpoint (see Figure 9.5(b)). It was considered to
display these viewpoints on the expert’s screen but this would have used up
screen space.
198 Daphne Economou
PDG9: Convey Actionpoint
A user selects an object that is close to them by positioning the avatar’s
hand so that it touches the object (if the virtual actor is within arm’s reach
of the object then the avatar positions its hand correctly to “touch” it). To
select and move objects that are distant from them a change had to be made
to Deva. This was done by pointing, a “laser pointer” from the virtual
actors’ hand indicating the exact point for selection (see Figure 9.4).

PDG10: Easily Associated with its Communication

Limitations of current 3D technology mean that placing large amount of easily
legible text in a virtual environment is difficult. Relatively low resolution dis-
plays, limited depth buffering and little support for anti-aliasing on all but the
most high-end of graphics hardware means that rendering anything but a few
large words in a 3D environment results in badly pixelated unreadable text.
To overcome this, text was rendered in 2D on the near drawing plane of the
virtual environment, positioned so as to appear above the head of the “speak-
ing” virtual actor and merged with the 3D components of the environment
(see Figure 9.4). This technique has the benefit of allowing several sentences of
text to be rendered clearly on the screen independent of the actual position of
the user’s actor in the virtual world. The text moves with the position of the
virtual actor, but is not subject to aliasing or depth buffering problems.

PDG11: Show Message as it is Being Composed

A chat box is associated with the speaker’ virtual actor while the messages
that were composed (as outlined earlier) addressed pedagogical as well as
turn-taking issues.

PDG12: Convey in the Process of an Activity

The laser pointer helps to convey when a user is moving an object. Deva
was able to convey when the user is moving around the environment. The
virtual actor object consists of a number of AC3D-format body parts (Pet-
tifer, 1999); these are animated based on the forward velocity of the virtual
actor to give the impression of walking (or running, with extra bounce
when the velocity is high enough) (see Figure 9.6).

PDG13: Convey the User’s Intention to Take a Turn

PDG14: Convey the User’s Offering of a Turn

These guidelines were not followed. Instead, they were seen as issues to be
investigated during the user study of Deva.
 Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning 199

Figure 9.6 (a) Shows that the girl child was in the process of going to read the rules;
(b) shows that the girl child reached the board where she was intended to make a
move playing the game. Created by Daphne Economou.

PCG15: Identify Speaker When Out of Other Users’ Viewpoints

To follow this guideline, Deva was changed so that when an actor speaks
who is out of viewpoint, a text box appears at the left or right edges of
the screen, depending on the speaker’s location relative to the listener.
A prompt is also provided to indicate who is talking (e.g., “the user’s
name is talking”; see Figure 9.7). The warning bars on the left and right
sides of the middle figure (user A’s viewpoint) indicate that other users
are talking.

PDG16: Convey intention to take turn even

when not in users’ viewpoints

PDG17: Convey offering a turn even when

being out of users’ viewpoints
This could only be done verbally by the chat boxes.

Figure 9.7 The warning bars on the left and right sides of the middle figure (user A’s
viewpoint) indicate that others users are talking. Created by Daphne Economou.
200 Daphne Economou

PDG18: Private Communication

PDG19: Show When the User is Involved in Private Communication

TEACHER ACTOR

PDG20: Control Over an Individual User’s Viewpoint

This guideline was not followed. Such a tool is not provided in Deva. A
possible solution is to control the user’s viewpoint from the Deva server, as
the virtual actors in Deva are objects represented by a single entity whose
velocity and position can be controlled.

BPDG21: Able to Take Control of the Session

This guideline was not followed. Such a tool is not provided in Deva. How-
ever, it could be supported by virtue of Deva’s explicit management of the
“Time” in an environment, which could allows such notions as freezing the
virtual time. Before implementing such a tool it was decided to investigate
how necessary it was during the user study stage.

PDG22: Teacher Aware of and has Control

Over Private Communication
These guidelines were not followed. Instead, they were seen as issues to be
investigated during the user study of Deva.

STUDY OF THE SENET DEVA APPLICATION IN USE

The study of the senet prototype application developed in Deva CVE tech-
nology allowed issues identified in certain PDG to be investigated in greater
depth. In addition, the exploratory nature of the empirical study revealed
other issues not identified previously that led to further technology require-
ments. These are discussed in the following sections.

METHOD OF STUDY

The third phase of the study was conducted in laboratories of the

Advanced Interfaces Group at the University of Manchester. Twelve (6
pairs), 12-year-old children participated in the studies. Three rooms were
used. One contained a researcher playing the role of the ‘expert,’ and the
 Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning 201
other two rooms each contained a ‘child’ actively participating in the
activity accompanied by a second researcher, a ‘helper’ providing techni-
cal support (see Figure 9.5).
The children were introduced to the use of the Deva tools (e.g., the
mouse controls and communication tools) and afterwards they were asked
to carry out various tasks such as: read the rules and set up the board; learn
how to play the game; and play the game.
The children were videotaped individually. The video cameras were set
to capture the users’ interactions, the artifacts and other users in the CVE.
Screenshots of one of the children’s screens providing a detailed record
internal to the system interactions between users was also videotaped.
Transcription of the users’ textual communication saved in a fi le provided
a permanent record of the user’s dialogue. The transcription provided a
record of the sequential organization of the user’s turns to talk and the
exact time of the exchange. For capturing the expert’s activities, the ‘think-
aloud’ method was used (Monk, Wright, Haber, & Davenport, 1993) and
tape-recorded. It is one of the few methods of getting a record of the user’s
mental activity. The way it works is that the users think aloud about their
activities in terms of mental reasoning (e.g., the expert described aloud her
actions, decision making and observations while playing with the children).
This studied closely the problem such as the expert’s lack of awareness of
the child’s exact situation. Questionnaires filled out by the children before
the session obtained background information about the children.
Each session lasted approximately 45 minutes. Each session was fol-
lowed up by an interview with the children about their experiences, which
lasted approximately ten minutes and was tape-recorded.

RESULTS

The data gathered are being analyzed using the method outlined previously
(see Section 5). Some of the major fi ndings are reported following.

Awareness of Others
A virtual actor was successful in conveying information about the user’s
viewpoint, actionpoint, and the activity they are in the process of doing
(e.g., typing, reading the rules, navigating) (PDG8, PDG9, PDG12).
The fact that the application was a 3D environment increased the chances
of events occurring outside of a user’s viewpoint (PDG15, PDG16, PDG17).
This might be because something was blocking a user’s view (e.g., someone
else’s actor), or the user was physically located far away from the event.
When an actor speaks who is out of viewpoint, a text box appears at
the left or right edges of the listener’s screen, depending on the speaker’s
location relative to the listener. A prompt is also provided to indicate who
202 Daphne Economou
is talking (e.g., “the user’s name is talking”). This was very useful as it
increased the user’s awareness of the ongoing dialogue.
This also suggested another design guideline concerning a user being
aware of other users’ actions, as well as communication outside their view-
point. A large number of activities taking place outside the field of view
could lead to an overcomplicated display. This raises deeper issues over
what “grain” of action would need to generate prompts.

Turn Taking
Turn taking, one of the major problems in earlier studies, appeared to be
much easier in Deva. One reason was that PDG1 was satisfied (users had
simultaneous control and did not have to share a pointer).
Another reason that turn taking was smoother was due to following
PDG8, PDG9 and PDG10. The virtual actor conveyed a lot of information
about the user’s viewpoint, actionpoint, and the activity they are in the pro-
cess of doing (e.g., typing, reading the rules, navigating), which increased
other’s awareness of the user’s current activity and communication.
The position of the virtual actor also conveyed information about the
user’s intention (see PDG12). For example, a virtual actor moving close to
the board usually meant that the user was going to interact with the objects
on it. Another example, a child would turn their actor to the expert after
completing their turn to seek feedback.
There were no explicit mechanisms built in for turn taking. The only
way was to negotiate by typing text messages. The interruption mechanism
the expert used was to be within the children’s viewpoint and send a mes-
sage. Children rarely interrupted. When they did so, it was to remind their
co-players to take a turn, or ask the expert to repeat something.

COMMUNICATION

Satisfying PDG10 (presenting a user’s communication as a text box above

their virtual actor) helped in making explicit who the speaker was. One
problem occurred when virtual actors were positioned close to each other.
In this case one text box would obscure another. In such cases the users
resorted to using the transcript window (see PDG2). Another problem was
that the text remained in a text box until the user next typed something.
This was confusing because it appeared as if the speaker was currently
referring to something that was in fact referred to much earlier. This indi-
cates that some means is needed of making a text box disappear after a
certain period of time.
The text boxes also had a benefit in focusing the viewpoint. To follow
the ongoing dialogue, a user would have to turn to see someone else’s text
box. They thus also saw the actions that the speaker might be doing whilst
talking (e.g., the teacher demonstrating the information as she talked).
 Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning 203
Interviews with the children after the sessions highlighted that although
textual communication was sufficient, there were times when it was tir-
ing and audio communication would be preferable. One child’s comment
(typical of many) was that “if the application was not playing this type of
a game but shooting, he would not bother talking because by the time he
would have to type a message he would be shot”. This shows that while
text-based communication was suitable for this specific application (for
educational and literacy reasons), it is not necessarily so for other types of
applications.
In some cases the expert had to spend extensive time explaining things
to one of the children. This was frustrating for the other child, as borne out
by comments such as “not again” when the expert asked the child to do
another action again. This emphasized again the need for private commu-
nication channels (PDG18). This will be an issue for further investigation,
especially when the population in the environment increases.

Pedagogical Issues
Pedagogical issues divided into three main categories:

• support for educational resources

• support for various styles of teaching/learning
• support for practical issues of keeping order and managing the learn-
ing situation

Following PDG4 and providing the rules as a permanent source of infor-

mation in the CVE was very useful. Children would walk to the wall and
read the rules either after being directed by the expert or on their own ini-
tiative. However, Deva supported this via a texture map and the resource
was static. This suggested a further technology requirement of incorporat-
ing multimedia display techniques in the CVE.
The CVE supported a variety of different teaching styles. The instruc-
tional style was supported by permanently displaying the rules on the wall.
Children could also learn to play the game by observing others playing
(Bandura, 1971; Salomon, 1979). In some cases a style based on the cog-
nitive apprenticeship approach (Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989) was
used, the expert gradually removing support as the children became famil-
iar with the game.
Practical management was eased by providing support for the expert to
be aware of the activities of the children (PDG8, PDG20). At a simple level
this was done by displaying the children’s viewpoints on a separate monitor
next to the expert (Post-it notes were used to associate the viewpoints with
particular children) (see Figure 9.5). This was found to be very helpful for
the expert in terms of deciding when and how to support the children. For
example, when the expert saw that a child had a poor view of the board,
they were able to ask the child to move closer to the board to see better. The
204 Daphne Economou
expert made use of this tool when trying to attract a child’s attention. In
such a case the expert would position her actor so that it was visible to the
child (i.e., within their viewpoint) before speaking to them.
At another level the expert needs to be aware of past actions of the chil-
dren. This could be for assessment purposes or simply to see what move
the child had made last. This suggests that the Deva technology needs to
be changed to provide mechanisms for managing “virtual time,” as PDG3
suggests. This would allow past events to be viewed.
There was no explicit mechanism for the expert to take control of the
session (PDG21). In general, this was not a problem but in some extreme
cases children took advantage of this (e.g., kept rolling the dice until getting
a suitable score for capturing a piece, or moving pieces off the board with-
out being permitted to do so). This highlighted the need for implementing
mechanisms to support PDG20. A virtual time mechanism would perhaps
allow the events in a session to be “frozen” in order to restore order.

TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS AND FUTURE WORK

Deva is a sophisticated programming environment, not an end-user appli-

cation. The core of Deva provides only the basic services for rendering.
The semantics and rules of the environment, together with the objects and
mechanisms for communication, are loaded at runtime as “plug ins.” This
provides the flexibility to add new functionality to the system. The analysis
method outlined earlier derived a set of DG concerning the effectiveness of
the application. The third phase application is being developed according to
these DG. By analyzing the gap between the PDG and what could actually
be implemented in Deva, it has been possible to identify shortcomings in
Deva. Some of the technology requirements did not require large changes in
Deva (e.g., the provision of a laser pointer). Some requirements were more
surprising.

TEXT IN THE CVE

The importance placed on text as a means of communication and its impor-

tance in the environment (e.g., for displaying rules) came as a surprise to
the technologists. This was mainly a requirement of the application and
wider problem area, as literacy is a key skill in education.
Results from the fi rst and second phases have indicated that it is impor-
tant for the text to be embedded within the context of the virtual environ-
ment itself rather than appearing in external windows. User studies showed
that the change of context between a “game window” and a “text win-
dow” is considerable for children, and disruptive of their engagement with
the environment.
 Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning 205
Placement of text in a 2D window is a simple enough task; however,
limitations of current 3D technology means that placing large amount of
readily legible text in a virtual environment is difficult. Relatively low reso-
lution displays, limited depth buffering and little support for anti-aliasing
on all but the most high-end of graphics hardware means that rendering
anything but a few large words in a 3D environment results in badly pix-
elated unreadable text.
Nevertheless, being able to display reasonably large quantities of read-
able text (i.e., several sentences) within the context of the environment has
been a rigid requirement placed on the third phase CVE. For the fi rst tri-
als of the CVE version, text rendered in 2D on the near drawing plane of
the virtual environment, positioned so as to appear above the head of the
“speaking” avatar and merged with the 3D components of the environ-
ment, is to be trailed (see Figure 9.4). This technique has the benefit of
allowing several sentences of text to be rendered clearly on the screen inde-
pendent of the actual position of the user’s avatar in the virtual world. The
text moves with the position of the avatar, but is not subject to aliasing or
depth buffering problems.

VIRTUAL ACTORS’ APPEARANCE

The two major requirements that arose from the study in terms of the vir-
tual actors’ appearance in CVEs are related to:

• aesthetically pleasing virtual actors

• believable personalized representation
• realistic motion

The need for good aesthetics for the actors and the environment in gen-
eral was not as surprising but in the past was not seen as a major factor in
driving the technology development. An aesthetically pleasing environment
is important for children. Children come with high expectations from their
exposure to the high-performance computer graphics available in most
computer games. In comparison, the default virtual actors provided in Deva
are lacking in detail. Attempts to make them more realistic lead to a greater
rendering load and slower performance (the ‘ideal’ actor pictured next far
exceeds the real-time rendering capability of PC graphics accelerators, and
challenges even the ability of high-end workstations). The system already
includes sophisticated radiosity-rendering software, enabling aesthetically
pleasing and realistic lighting models to be used, and a current focus is on
developing the Deva actors so that they more closely match the actors as
envisaged by the designers.
Personalization of virtual actors in order to make users easier to distin-
guish is important. This requirement arose from the virtual actors’ need
206 Daphne Economou
to provide a personalized representation to users that convey their user’s
identity, role, process of activity and intentions of action. Some possibilities
explored in the literature include: virtual actors bring a name tag above
their head; personal colors and textures (as in PDG7); a palette of clothes
and colors that the users can choose to customize their virtual actor (as
in the ‘Mirror’ project that introduced the idea of ‘fashion in cyberspace’
[Walker, 1997]); and pasting a static image of the user’s face to the head of
the user’s virtual representation. The current CVE technology supports the
aforementioned design solutions.
However, there is a requirement for more intuitive and effective virtual
actors representations. This can be achieved by:

• analyzing the visual parameters of lip movement by analyzing the

textual communication or the audio signal of the speech (Lavagetto,
1995)
• capturing the user’s face and projecting the image on top of a vir-
tual body (Kshirsagar, Escher, Sannier, & Thalmann, 1999; Pandzic,
Kalra, Magnenat Thalmann, & Thalmann, 1994)
• capturing users’ actions and expression of emotions, which are key
issues conveying the users’ focus of attention and state of mind that
can make the interaction more intuitive

These solutions require speech and face recognition and real-time video
streaming in CVEs, which are not supported by the majority of current
CVE systems. DIVE is an exemplar CVE system that supports real-time
video streaming.

Incorporating Intelligence in Objects’ and Virtual Actors’ Behavior

Developing intelligent CVEs is a major requirement from most of the appli-
cations, not necessarily pedagogical ones. This means that objects con-
tained in CVE and virtual actors should incorporate behaviors sensitive to
the spatial context of the environment they inhabit.
Objects contained in the CVE should incorporate behaviors that cor-
respond to:

• the material they are constructed with (e.g., solid objects collide with
each other)
• their attributes
• Intelligent virtual actors need to convey the following characteristics:
• capability of performing language commands as visual actions
• sensitivity to the spatial context in which they are situated
• understanding of communication in the CVE
• sensitivity to their own role
• understanding of procedures and the progress of actions
 Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning 207
• ability to keep episodic memory of actions and activities

These last three points may affect the virtual actors’ access control and
ownership over other objects in the CVE (Badler, Bindiganavale, Allbeck,
Schuler, Zhao, & Palmer, 2000; Pettifer & Marsh, 2001) and may affect
their reaction towards activities and other virtual actors participating the
same CVE.
Adding intelligence in the CVE aids the functionality of the CVE, the
efficiency of the activity and the believability of the experience.

PREVIOUS COMMUNICATION/INSTRUCTION/ACTIVITY

Children in the previous trials made considerable use of the “logs” of com-
munication between themselves and the teacher available in the chat boxes.
Confusion over the rules of the game was occasionally resolved “locally” or
without reference to the teacher by looking through the logs for confirmation
of a rule stated previously. It was decided to retain this ability in the CVE.
However, displaying the comparatively large amounts of text accumu-
lated during the exchanges of the game is unrealistic in a 3D environment
for the reasons given earlier. Although a requirement was identified for
displaying “speech” text within the environment, it has been considered
appropriate to display this historical text in a window external to the 3D
view of the CVE, on the basis that when a child requires access to the his-
torical logs to resolve an issue the engagement with the current activities in
the environment is inevitably interrupted to some extent. Although this is
a hypothesis that remains to be confirmed by the real trials, the use of the
previous prototypes lends a degree of confidence to the design decision.

MANAGING VIRTUAL TIME—TRACKING,

REWINDING AND FREEZING VIRTUAL TIME

The transcript approach raised the issue of time in the CVE. A transcript
provides the basis for freezing and rewinding to previous activities in the
transcript. Time also came up when considering how transient an actor’s
text box should be. Keeping track and being in control of virtual time are
technology requirements that have been considered in the literature and
various solutions have been proposed:

• leaving trace pathways: Keeping track of users’ earlier presence in an

environment is beneficial in terms of identifying the sequential steps
that have been followed for the fulfi llment of a certain task. One pro-
posed solution that has been attempted to address this issue is leaving
trails and pathways through the virtual space (Benford et al., 1995).
208 Daphne Economou
However, this way of visualizing activities in the past does not neces-
sarily provide information regarding the activities the users have been
involved in and/or fulfi lled.
• providing transcripts: A transcript-based approach provides a basis
for keeping control over time in the CVE, as it allows the users to
follow sequences of past activities and dialogue. However, freezing
virtual time to fi ll in on past activities can result in missing current
activities.
• “If it were possible to ‘freeze time’ at a specific instant, then the indi-
vidual would be paying attention and responding to a set of stimuli
corresponding to one environment, not paying attention to all the
other stimuli, or interpreting stimuli from one environment in the
context of the currently present one (for example interpreting a sound
from the real world as belonging to the virtual world)” (Slater &
Steed, 2002).

This calls for deeper investigation of how exactly recording, rewinding

and freezing virtual time can be integrated in CVE systems to benefit social
interaction.
The need for supporting historical awareness of past presence and
activity has already been stated in the literature (Benford et al., 1995).
The temporal links technique (PDG3) enables all the actions in a CVE to
be recorded in such a way that can be re-created and re-experienced as
a 3D virtual world (Greenhalgh, Purbrick, Benford, Graven, Drozd, &
Taylor, 2000). This means rewinding the virtual time not just as ‘replay’
but with the ability to manipulate the dynamics of the activity, which
extends the means of body beyond its normal use. The pedagogical value
of such a tool is momentous. Users can learn from past mistakes and alter
their decisions and strategies accordingly. A similar concept has been
applied in games like the ‘Sim City’ (a city simulator from Maxis) that
allows users to build, manage and follow the city development through-
out time. The game supports users going back in time and changing their
decisions based on knowledge acquired by seeing the city development.
For example, a decision to built a power station close to the city may be
retracted after discovering the increased the levels of pollution in the sur-
rounding area. Similar ‘superpowers’ have been attempted and proved
to be valuable for training team members to make good decisions in
stressful situations (e.g., training fi re-fighters in VR) (Romano & Brna,
2001).

PARTICIPATING PARALLEL ACTIVITIES IN DIFFERENT CVEs

Another technology requirement that needs to be addressed is users being

able to participate in parallel activities in different CVEs, or different areas
 Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning 209
of the same CVE that may not necessarily be visible to all users (e.g., in a
large scale CVE that contains different areas of activities). This arose from
the users’ need to attend private social interactions—communication and
physical activities (e.g., for the expert to provide extra support to individual
users, or a particular set of users). Earlier research has also addressed the
need for people inhabiting different places at the same time, either through
multiple direct presence, or through some kind of computer agent acting on
their behalf (Benford et al., 1995).
A possible solution discussed (COVEN 2.6, 1997) is the implementation
of ‘subjective views.’ This is based on the logic that the representation of a
CVE can be tailored to particular users (e.g., in an office CVE electricity
cables would be visible only to electrical engineers). This means that private
areas of social interaction could be incorporated within the main CVE, but
rendered transparent until some users need to participate in private activi-
ties. In this case this private environment would be rendered normally for
these users, allowing them to get involved in social activities invisible to
other participants.
For such solution to be effective, issues related to greater rendering load
and slower performance have to be addressed. Further investigation is also
required to address the issue of users being able to follow and control paral-
lel social interactions in a CVE.

CONCLUSION

The paper has outlined how a systematic method for choosing a driv-
ing problem and developing an application can derive a set of technology
requirements. There are several directions for future work. A particular
type of educational situation was chosen for investigation. This meant that
certain issues took priority (e.g., the use of text rather than audio commu-
nication). The population used was limited to a maximum of three users.
Increasing the population will have an effect on viewpoints and the need
for private channels of communication.
The phased approach allowed the large number of factors involved to be
handled in a manageable way. The fi rst two phases focused on the require-
ments of the learning application. The third phase focused on particular
issues concerning the move to a 3D environment (e.g., the problems of loca-
tion and viewpoints and its impact on user awareness).
The use of a set of design guidelines ensured that application require-
ments were captured and expressed in the Deva version of the application.
They also provided a way of focusing the studies throughout the project.
The design guidelines captured in a more formalized way the application
requirements obtained in the fi rst two phases. They provided a system-
atic way of expressing these requirements during the implementation of the
CVE version of the application in the third phase. They also provided a way
210 Daphne Economou
of focusing the studies throughout the project. Technology requirements
can derive by analyzing where design guidelines could not be followed.
Paying careful attention to the problem area and application require-
ments revealed areas of concern for designing “real-world” problems. For
example, this included the importance of text rather than audio for com-
munication because of various educational and literacy requirements.
While the educational situation investigated is quite specific in terms of
age group and curriculum, we believe that the guidelines are generalizable
to some degree. What became apparent over the course of the project was
that the key pedagogical issue was not that of which particular theory of
learning had to be supported. Rather, the emphasis became the practical
issues of keeping track of and controlling children in an educational situa-
tion. These practical issues underlie most educational situations. From that
point of view, we believe that the design guidelines can be generalized not
only to other educational situations but also more general situations where
such control is desirable.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to the State Scholarships Foundation of Greece for funding Daphne

Economou’s Ph.D., the MMU Manchester Multimedia Centre for use
of their facilities, Claremont Road Primary School and Knutsford High
School, the ‘Advanced Interfaces Group’ at Manchester University for their
cooperation.

REFERENCES

Allen, C. (1989). The use of video in organizational studies. ACM SIHCHI Bulle-
tin: Special Edition on Video as a Research and Design Tool, 21(2), 115–117.
Atkinson, J. M., & Heritage, J. (Eds.). (1984). Structures of social action: Studies
in conversation analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Badler, N. I., Bindiganavale, R., Allbeck, J., Schuler, W., Zhao, L., & Palmer,
M. (2000). Parameterized action representation for virtual human agents. In
J. Cassell, J. Sullivan, S. Prevost, & E. Churchill (Eds.), Embodied conversa-
tional agents. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Bandura, A. (1971). Social learning theory. New York: General Learning Press.
Benford, S. D., Bowers, J. M., Fahlén, L. E., Greenhalgh, C. M., & Snowdon, D.
N. (1995). User embodiment in collaborative virtual environments. Proceedings
of the 1995 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI
’95) (pp. 242–249). Denver: ACM Press.
Benford, S. D., Greenhalgh, C. M., & Lloyd, D. (1997), Crowded collaborative
virtual environments. Proceedings of the 1997 ACM Conference on Human
Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’97) (pp. 58–66). Atlanta: ACM Press.
Bigge, M. L., & Shermis, S. S. (1991). Learning theories for teachers (5th ed.).
HarperCollins.
Boden, D., & Zimmerman, D. H. (1991). Talk and social structure: Studies in eth-
nomethodology and conversation analysis. Cambridge: Polity.
 Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning 211
Brooks, F. P. (1988). Grasping reality through illusion: Interactive graphics serving
science. Proceedings of the 1988 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Com-
puting Systems (CHI ’88) (pp. 1–11). Washington, DC: Addison Wesley.
Capin, T. K., Pandzic, I. S., Thalmann, N. M., & Thalmann, D. (1998). Realistic
avatars and autonomous virtual humans in VLNET. In R. Earnshaw & J. Vince
(Eds.), networked virtual environments. “Virtual worlds on the Internet.” (pp.
157–174). Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press.
Carlsoon, C., & Hagsand, O. (1993). DIVE—A platform for multiuser virtual
environments. Computer and Graphics, 17(6), 663–669.
Checkland, P., & Scholes, J. (1990). Soft systems methodology in action. Chich-
ester, UK: John Wiley.
Collins, A., Brown, J. S., & Newman, S. E. (1989). Cognitive apprenticeship:
Teaching the crafts of reading, writing and mathematics. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.),
Knowing, learning, and instructions: Essays in honour of Robert Claser (pp.
453–494). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Coulthard, M., Montgomery, M., & Brazil, D. (1981). Developing a description
of spoken discourse. In M. Coulthard & M. Montgomery (Eds.), Studies in
discourse analysis (pp. 1–50). London: Routledge.
COVEN D2.6. (1997, August). Guidelines for building CVE applications. In G.
Van Liempd (Ed.), Public report number D2.6. Retrieved September 1, 2010
from http://chinin.thomson-csf.fr/projects/coven
Economou, D. (2001). The role of virtual actors in collaborative virtual environ-
ments for learning. Ph.D. thesis, Department of Computing and Mathematics,
Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK.
Economou, D., Mitchell, W. L., & Boyle, T. (2000). Requirements elicitation for
virtual actors in collaborative learning environments. In R. S. Heller & J. Under-
wood (Eds.), Computers & education (pp. 225–239). Oxford: Elsevier Science.
Economou, D., & Pettifer, S. (2005). Towards a user-centred method for studying
CVEs for learning. In Maria-Isabel Sánchez-Segura (Ed.), Developing future
interactive systems (pp. 269–301). Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing.
Greenhalgh, C., & Benford, S. (1995). MASSIVE: A collaborative virtual environ-
ment for tele-conferencing. ACM Transactions on Computer Human Interfaces
(TOCHI), 2(3), 239–261.
Greenhalgh, C., Purbrick, J., Benford, S., Graven, M., Drozd, A., & Taylor, T.
(2000). Temporal links: Recording and replaying virtual environments. In R.
Price (Ed.), Proceedings of the ACM Multimedia 2000 (pp. 67–74), Los Ange-
les, October 30–November 4.
Gunton, T. (Ed.). (1993). Information systems practice: The complete guide. Man-
chester, UK: NCC Blackwell.
Hubbold, R., Cook, J., Keates, M., Gibson, S., Howard, T., Murta, A., et al.
(1999). GNU/MAVERIK: A micro-kernel for large-scale virtual environments.
Proceedings of the 1999 ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and
Technology (VRST ’99), pp. 66–73.
Johnson, W. L., Stiles, R., & Munro, A. (1998). Integrating pedagogical agents
into virtual environments. Presence, 7(6), 523–546.
Jordan, B., & Henderson, A. (1995). Interaction analysis: Foundations and prac-
tice. The Journal of Learning Sciences, 4(1), 39–103.
Kaur, K. (1998). Designing virtual environments for usability. PhD thesis, Centre
for HCI Design, City University, London.
Kaur Deol, K. K., Steed, A., Hand, C., Istance, H., & Tromp, J. (2000a). Usabil-
ity evaluation for virtual environments: Methods, results and future directions
(part 1). Interfaces, 43, 4–8.
Kaur Deol, K. K., Steed, A., Hand, C., Istance, H., & Tromp, J. (2000b). Usabil-
ity evaluation for virtual environments: Methods, results and future directions
(part 2). Interfaces, 44, 4–7.
212 Daphne Economou
Kshirsagar, S., Escher, M., Sannier, G., & Thalmann, N. M. (1999). Multimodal
animation system based on the MPEG-4 standard. Proceedings of the Multime-
dia Modelling 99, Ottawa, Canada, October 4–6, pp. 215–232.
Lavagetto, F. (1995). Converting speech into lip movements: A multimedia tele-
phone for hard of hearing people. IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation Engi-
neering, 3(1), 90–102.
Luff, P., Hindmarch, J., & Heath, C. (Eds.). (2000). Workplace studies, recovering
work practice and informing system design. Cambridge, England. Cambridge
Press.
Mitchell, W. L. (1999). Moving the museum onto the Internet: The use of virtual
environments in education about ancient Egypt. In J. A. Vince & R. A. Earn-
shaw (Eds.), Virtual worlds on the Internet (pp. 263–278). Los Alamitos, CA:
IEEE Computer Society Press.
Mitchell, W. L., Economou, D., Pettifer, R. S., & West, A. J. (2000). Choosing
and using a driving problem for CVE technology development. Proceedings of
VRST 2000 7th Virtual Reality Software and Technology Symposium, 22–25
October 22–25, Seoul, South Korea, pp. 16–24.
Monk, A., Wright, P., Haber, J., & Davenport, L. (1993). Improving your human
computer interface: A practical approach. Hemel Hempstead, UK: Prentice
Hall International.
Neal, L. (1989). The use of video in empirical research. ACM SIGCHI Bulletin:
Special Edition on Video as a Research and Design Tool, 21(2), 100–101.
Pandzic, I., Kalra, P., Magnenat Thalmann, N., & Thalmann, D. (1994). Real time
facial interaction. Displays, 15(3), 157–163.
Pettifer, S. (1999) .An operating environment for large scale virtual reality. PhD
thesis, University of Manchester.
Pettifer, S., & Marsh, J. (2001). A collaborative access model for shared virtual envi-
ronments. Proceedings of the 10th IEEE International Workshop on Enabling
Technologies Infrastructure for Collaborative Enterprises (WetIce2001), MIT,
Cambridge, MA, June 20–22, IEEE Computer Society.
Pettifer, S., & West, A. (1999). Deva: An operating environment for large scale
virtual reality. Technical Report UMCS-99–10–1, Department of Computer
Science, University of Manchester.
Reisner, P. (1987). Discussion: HCI, what is it and what research is needed? In J.
M. Carroll (Ed.), Interfacing thought: Cognitive aspects of human–computer
interaction (pp. 337–352). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Romano, D. M., & Brna, P. (2001). Presence and reflection in training: Support
for learning to improve quality decision making skills under time limitations.
CyberPsychology & Behavior, 4(2), 265–277.
Roussos, M., Johnson, A., Moher, T., Leigh, J., Vasilakis, C., & Barnes, C. (1999).
Learning and building together in an immersive virtual world. Presence,8(3),
247–263.
Salomon, G. (1979). Interaction of media, cognition, and learning. San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass.
Silverman D. (Ed.). (2000). Doing qualitative research: A practical handbook.
London: Sage.
Slater, M., & Steed, A. (2002). Meeting people virtually: Experiments in shared
virtual environments. In R. Schroeder (Ed.), The social life of avatars: Pres-
ence and interaction in sharded virtual environments (pp. 146–171). New York:
Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
Snowdon, D., & West, A. (1994). AVIARY: Design issues for future large-scale
virtual environments. Presence, 3(4), 288–308.
Soloway, E., Jackson, S. L., Klein, J., Quintana, C., Reed, J., Spitulnik, et al.
(1996). Learning theory in practice: Case studies of learner-centered design.
 Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning 213
Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
(CHI ’96), Vancouver, Canada, April 13–18, pp. 189–196.
Stanney, K. M., Mourant, R. R., & Kennedy, R. S. (1998). Human factors issues in
virtual environments: A review of the literature. Presence, 1(7), 327–351.
Steed, A., & Tromp, J. (1998). Experiences with the evaluation of CVE applica-
tions. In D. Snowdon & E. Churchill (Eds.),Proceedings of the 1998 Collabora-
tive Virtual Environments (CVE ’98) (pp. 123–130). Manchester, UK:
Stewart, J., Bederson, B. B., & Druin, A. (1999, May). Single display groupware:
A model for co-operative collaboration. Proceedings of the 1999 ACM Confer-
ence on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’99), Pittsburgh, PA, pp.
286–293.
Walker, G. R. (1997). The mirror—reflections on inhabited TV. British Telecom-
munications Engineering Journal, 16(1), 29–38.
Waters, R. C., Anderson, D. B., Barrus, J. W., Brogan, D. C., Casey, M. A., McKe-
own, S. G., et al. (1997). Diamond park and spine: Social VIRTUAL REALITY
with 3D animation, spoken interactions, and runtime extendability. Presence,
6(4), 461–481.
Viller, S., & Sommerville, I. (1999). Social analysis in the requirements engineering
process: From ethnography to method. Proceedings of the International Sym-
posium on Requirements Engineering (RE ’99), Limerick, Ireland, June 7–11,
IEEE Computer Society Press, pp. 6–13.
10 Matching Computer Game
Genres to Educational Outcomes
John L. Sherry

MATCHING COMPUTER GAME GENRES

TO EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES

Within the past decade, an increasing number of researchers around the

world have been investigating the efficacy of using computer games for
education. Researchers at Northwestern, UCLA, Georgetown, and Texas
share the NSF-funded Children’s Digital Media Center; Michigan State has
the Communication Technology Lab, which has been developing educa-
tional multimedia for 20 years, as well as the new Games for Entertain-
ment and Learning Lab; and MIT features the Education Arcade program.
There is every reason to believe that this relatively new and highly popular
mass medium will make a powerful platform for education (Gee, 2004;
Prensky, 2000). In addition to commanding tremendous amounts of player
attention and time, games can be tailored to individual ability levels, can
facilitate individual study through repetition or discovery, and can simulate
just about any phenomenon a teacher might want students to understand.
In fact, computer games can be used to do many things in a classroom
that are not otherwise possible (e.g., simulate a billion years of geophysical
development).
Unfortunately, this vision for educational gaming has yet to be realized.
In fact, recent news reports tell a very different story. Revenues for home
educational games have dropped from a high of $498 million in 2000 to
$148 million in 2004 while revenues for classroom games have seen a simi-
lar decline (Richtel, 2005). Frequently, gamers complain that educational
games simply aren’t as fun as commercial games. Many games to date do
little more than emulate books or flashcards. However, the potential for
educational gaming is significantly better than examples to date would
lead us to believe. Gee (2006) argues that commercial games have com-
plex learning tasks built in; designers need to learn how to leverage these
embedded learning tasks and match them to desired educational outcomes.
This paper provides a heuristic to guide thinking on educational game use
and design. By linking genre specific learning tasks to Bloom’s hierarchy
of learning, we provide a path by which educational game designers can
 Matching Computer Game Genres to Educational Outcomes 215
leverage the internal educational strengths of commercial games and, in the
process, make educational games fun.

COMPUTER GAMES AS EDUCATIONAL PLATFORM

Computer games come in a broad array of genres. Table 10.1 outlines vari-
ous game genres, provides a description of each, and then lists examples
of games for a particular genre. There are fi rst-person shooters, in which
the player navigates a 3D world while shooting at enemies from a fi rst-
person perspective. Fighters feature a third-person perspective of two or
more combatants in a fight to the death. Action-adventure games and
role-playing games allow the player to go on a quest, learning to overcome
enemies and progress from one world to the next. Sports games simulate
sporting events (e.g., football, baseball, soccer, etc.) while other simulation
games model everything from urban development (SimCity) to geophysics
(SimEarth) to relational interaction (The Sims). Strategy games, such as the
highly popular Age of Empires and Command and Conquer, require play-
ers to think through massive strategic scenarios such as commanding an
army in a war. A broad array of games, subsumed under the puzzle genre,
include real-time manipulation of puzzle pieces (e.g., Tetris), simulation of
traditional card or dice games, early arcade video games (e.g., Asteroids,
Missile Command, PacMan), and quiz or trivia games that feature a ques-
tion-and-answer format.
The gaming experience is best understood as engagement in a set of com-
plex cognitive puzzles. In uses and gratifications studies, the most popular
reason for playing games among players of elementary school age through
young adults is the challenge of beating the game and advancing to the next
level (Sherry, Lucas, Greenberg, & Lachlan, 2006). In order to conquer
each level, the player must learn the basic rules of the game universe and
apply those rules to puzzles presented. As such, games provide an oppor-
tunity for inductive and deductive reasoning in real time. A well-designed
game engages players in a flow experience by gradually increasing cognitive
challenges as the skill level of the player increases (Sherry, 2004). The game
is a great example of the process of equifi nality because there is typically
one answer, but an almost limitless number of ways of getting that answer.
As such, computer games are tailored to a wide variety of backgrounds and
learning styles.
The flow state is indicative of another advantage of games for education;
games are highly addictive. The flow state offers an intrinsic intellectual
reward, referred to by flow theorist Mahaly Csikszentmahayi (1988) as
an autotelic experience. As such, players are engaged in a mental task for
hours; probing options, learning rules, and making sense of the underlying
logic of the environment. Due to the dynamics of flow that emerge in a well-
designed game, the experience tends to hold the attention of the player for
216 John L. Sherry
Table 10.1 Video Game Genres and Descriptions

Genre Description Examples

Strategy Games that use strategic Command & Conquer,

planning skills Civilization, Age of Empire
Puzzle Games that can be solved, no Tetris, Free Cell
element of chance
Fantasy/ Games that let you assume a Final Fantasy, The Legend of
Role Playing character role Zelda, Diablo
Action-Adventure Games where you go on an Resident Evil, Tomb Raider
adventure
Sports Games based on athletic Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, NBA
teams and events Jam
SIM Games where you create a Rollercoaster Tycoon, SimCity
simulation
Racing/Speed Games that focus on going Super Mario Kart, Grand
fast Turismo, Need for Speed
Shooter Games where you shoot Quake, Duke Nukem
other characters
Fighter Games that focus on martial Mortal Kombat, Tekkan
arts or hand-to-hand combat
Arcade Games based on original PacMan, Frogger, Pinball
arcade games
Card/Dice Games that have an element Solitaire, Vegas Fever 2000
of chance
Quiz/Trivia Games that test your Jeopardy, Who Wants to Be a
knowledge Millionaire
Classic Board Video game versions of Monopoly, Checkers
Games old-time favorites

as long as it takes to master the material (Sherry, 2004). The game industry
targets each new game as 50 hours of entertainment; the equivalent of 10
weeks of high school classroom instruction. Unlike the traditional high
school classroom, every game experience is customized to the individual’s
prior knowledge and learning rate.
Finally, like cartoons and books, games are not limited by what is plau-
sible in the real world. Games can simulate any existing world, worlds that
do not exist, or worlds that are unperceivable to the naked eye. The Fan-
tastic Voyage (Asimov, 1966) through the body is not only possible, but the
interactive nature of the medium allows the player to investigate and make
sense of the diegesis of the body in a variety of ways. Complex dynamic
phenomena that are difficult to explain in the linear confi nes of lecture or
 Matching Computer Game Genres to Educational Outcomes 217
printed word come alive as the player explores the game world. Students
can encounter worlds through both time and space that they normally
would not be able to interactively access.

BLOOM’S HIERARCHY OF COGNITION

In 1956, Benjamin Bloom published the fruits of a decade-long quest to

formalize language for discussing educational outcomes. In the time since,
Bloom’s hierarchical taxonomy has provided the basis for thinking about
and discussing goals for educational planning and assessment. Despite the
influence of Bloom’s work on educational design, no one has systematically
linked his taxonomy to game playing to date. The taxonomy has six lev-
els of educational objectives ranging from the simple to the most complex,
with each building on the previous objective: knowledge, comprehension,
application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (see Table 10.2). Educational
messages can be devised to meet criteria of each objective or an educational
program can be evaluated to determine the extent to which it contains any
of the objectives from the taxonomy. The latter is what we do in this paper.
The fi rst level of the taxonomy is knowledge. Bloom (1956) defi nes the
knowledge objective as “remembering of the idea of phenomenon in a form
very close to that in which it was originally encountered” (p. 29). This is fre-
quently referred to as rote memory of factual information. Knowledge lays
the necessary basis for higher levels of cognition and may include knowl-
edge of specifics, such as terminology, facts (e.g., dates, events, persons,
places), conventions, trends, classification categories, criteria, or method-
ology. Further, knowledge can be of universals and abstractions such as
principles, generalizations, theories, and structures.

Table 10.2 Bloom’s Hierarchy of Cognition

Knowledge Rote memory of factual information such as terminology, facts

(e.g., dates, events, persons, places), conventions, trends, classifi-
cation categories, criteria, etc. Does not understand the meaning
of factual information.
Comprehension Understanding the meaning of factual information such that trans-
lation, interpretation, and extrapolation are possible.
Application The extent to which an individual can use abstract knowledge
(e.g., facts) in a concrete situation.
Analysis Individual can divide a problem into its component parts in order
to clarify the hierarchy of relationships among those parts.
Synthesis The ability to take knowledge or ideas from a variety of sources
and to reassemble them to create a new whole.
Evaluation The ability to judge the quality of arguments or ideas based on a
standard criteria such as accuracy, economy, or effectiveness.
218 John L. Sherry
The second level of the taxonomy, comprehension, concerns understand-
ing of knowledge from the first level. Comprehension is indicated in any
of three ways: translation, interpretation, and extrapolation. Translation
is the faithful and accurate rendering of information in a different form
of communication. Commonly, this is known as “saying it in one’s own
words.” Interpretation involves explaining or summarizing the knowledge,
for example, by reorganizing the salient features. Extrapolation extends the
knowledge to discuss implications or consequences of the trend of thought.
The third level of the hierarchy, application, refers to the extent to which
an individual can use the abstract knowledge in a concrete situation. Can the
individual use general ideas, rules of procedure, or general methods from one
situation and apply it in another? For example, can the individual identify
metaphors in a poem? Can she use the Pythagorean theorem to calculate the
hypotenuse of any right triangle?
The analysis objective refers to cognitive tasks that require the individual
to break the problem into its component parts in order to clarify the hierarchy
of relationships among those parts. The process of analysis clarifies the logic
of the communication by explicating the underlying organization of the ideas.
Elements for analysis include such things as assumptions, facts, and hypothe-
ses. Further, analysis makes explicit the connections and interactions between
those elements, as well as the structure that holds them together, including
explicit as well as implicit structure. Using the example of poetry again, a
student engaging in analysis would be able to identify the structure and rhyme
scheme of the poem and how that works to realize the emotional effect.
Synthesis is the second highest level on the taxonomy. Here, Bloom was
concerned with the ability to take knowledge or ideas from a variety of
sources and to reassemble them to create a new whole. Synthesis may take
the form of a unique idea, a new plan or set of operations, or the derivation of
a set of abstractions such that a new way to classify the phenomena emerges.
Something new is generated, based on information that had been learned at
lower levels of the hierarchy.
The sixth and highest level in Bloom’s taxonomy is evaluation. Evaluation
addresses one’s ability to judge the quality of arguments or ideas based on a
standard criteria. Accuracy, economy, or effectiveness of the arguments may
be judged qualitatively or quantitatively. Essentially, evaluation introduces
values or criteria for judgment in addition to all the prior steps (knowledge,
comprehension, etc.). Unlike opinions, the evaluative judgments are well
thought out and based on knowledge and analysis of that knowledge.

GAME GENRES AND BLOOM’S HIERARCHY

Bloom’s educational objectives are realized to a variety of extents in differ-

ent broad genres of video games. We take each objective in turn, describing
the genre and indicating which levels of Bloom’s hierarchy are best related
to each genre (see Table 10.3).
 Matching Computer Game Genres to Educational Outcomes 219

Shooters
Probably the most notorious game genre is the first-person shooter. These
games are often among the most technologically and graphically sophisti-
cated, with the introduction of new versions of games anxiously anticipated
by the most hard-core gamers. Included in this genre are such famous titles as
Doom, Quake, Halo, and the Medal of Honor series. Shooters are typified by
a first-person perspective in which the player navigates a large and complex
3D world. The goal of these games is ‘kill or be killed’ as players engage mul-
tiple enemies lurking behind every corner. Players have access to a staggering
array of weaponry, from fists and knives to assault rifles, bombs, artillery,
rockets, and weapons from science fiction (e.g., laser guns, lightning shooters,
etc.) which the player finds hidden throughout the 3D world. Graphics are
highly sophisticated; the world of the game ranges from carefully rendered
versions of WW2 Nazi Germany to alien spaceships to science fiction versions
of hell. Additionally, these games are often networked allowing multiple play-
ers to interact in the same 3D environment. In brief, the player inhabits and
interacts in the world of a science fiction or historical novel.
Stripped of its controversial violent content, shooters are games that
encourage exploration of complex 3D environments, finding objects, and
interacting with a variety of characters, including other players. Educators
could easily imagine a different shooter world in which the players interact
with science content such as a human body, searching for pathogens, and
removing them. Any 3D world is available for investigation; a variety of
interactions with the environment is possible. Learners can view content
from a fi rst-person perspective, move in any direction they choose, and
see the results of their interactions. The world is dynamic and constantly
changing, which is consistent with many theoretical scientific systems.
Because of the dynamic, on line nature, of shooter games, this genre
opens the possibility to teach at several of Bloom’s levels. Upon beginning
the game, the player must learn the components of the game (knowledge)
and the function and limits of these components (comprehension). Educators
could take advantage of this genre by embedding content and function in
design of the interactive world. Further, this understanding of components

Table 10.3 Game Genres Based on Bloom’s Educational Objectives

Shooters Action/FRP Sports/Sims Puzzle Quiz

Knowledge X X X X X
Comprehension X X X X
Application X X X X
Analysis X X X X
Synthesis X X X
Evaluation X X X
220 John L. Sherry
must be applied in order to play the game. That is, knowledge of the game
components is constantly used by the player to advance through the game.
Knowledge, comprehension, and application can be ramped up during the
game by scaffolding more sophisticated understanding of the components
as the game proceeds.
It is at the higher levels of Bloom’s hierarchy that shooter games really
shine. Successful play of these games requires extensive logical probing
of the environment by the player; wandering through the environment to
learn where things are, testing different options to accomplish goals (e.g.,
opening doors, beating enemies, transporting); assessing the limits of the
interactive mechanisms (e.g., weapons, vehicles); and tracking the environ-
mental map and available supplies. Essentially, the player must develop a
theory of the rules and dynamics of the diegetic space based on extensive
inductive reasoning, and then test the theory deductively. In order to play
the game competently, the player must be able to identify significant com-
ponents in the causal chain in the game (analysis), fi nd the logic linking
those components (synthesis), and judge a variety of alternate strategies to
fi nd which one is most appropriate for that game (evaluation). In fact, the
process of exploring the environment and constructing and testing a theory
of that environment is highly consistent with the process employed by sci-
entists who generate theory. This genre allows players to engage scientific
content and in the process develop a theory consistent with scientific theory
on their own.

Puzzle/Arcade/Card and Dice

A large number of video games have been based on casino and traditional
games. These games fall into such computer game genres as puzzle, arcade,
and card/dice. Puzzle and arcade games have the easiest objectives, making
them more common for play among those who do not normally play video
games. This category includes games such as PacMan, Tetris, Snood, and
Pinball. Other games mimic traditional card games such as the multiple
versions of solitaire or poker that have been around ever since people have
played computer games. Games from these genres are typically in two-
dimensional formats with few backgrounds (sometimes the games have
several levels on different screens, but the main format of the game rarely
changes). These genres challenge players with puzzles based on repetitive
manipulation of words, numbers, or shapes to complete tasks. The objec-
tive of these games is to beat opponents’ scores, obtain a personal best
score, or to beat the game itself (which is often impossible). It is not unusual
that a player becomes addicted to a puzzle, arcade, or card game.
Puzzle, arcade, or card games provide an excellent platform for educa-
tional material that requires memorization. In the same manner that teach-
ers use flashcards or puzzle games to teach children math or reading, using
games with repetitive tasks will enforce learning. The advantage is that
 Matching Computer Game Genres to Educational Outcomes 221
each game is customized to student abilities and speed. In addition, current
games can be modified for specific educational outcomes. For example, the
objects used in PacMan could be exchanged for numbers to complete math
problems. Some games have the shapes and colors already in the game; if
the goal of the puzzle game is changed to focus on the learning of colors and
shapes, it could be used in the classroom. Players learn through mastery of
levels, with increasing levels containing more complex information.
The three genres, puzzle, arcade, and card/dice, demonstrate four lev-
els of Bloom’s taxonomy. In order to begin play, a person must know the
general rules of the game. Identification of the objects used in the game
is also required, such as the shapes, words, or colors. If this knowledge
is not previously known, then it will be learned while playing the game.
Understanding (Comprehension) of the concepts is also needed to predict
what will happen, based on a move the player makes. In addition, associat-
ing like colors, or suits of cards, is often needed in card and puzzle games.
Knowledge and comprehension are the basis of all of these genres. The
concepts become more difficult in higher levels, and require that knowledge
and comprehension broaden throughout play of the game.
To beat the game, players must apply what they have learned about the
concept to solve more difficult problems (Application). As a game speeds
up at higher levels, it is to the player’s advantage to devise shortcuts for
answering questions. Due to the trial-and-error nature of many of these
games, experimenting is often necessary to complete a level. For example,
the organization of the objects in a game is often a main problem. Solitaire
requires players to rearrange cards in particular orders to win, requiring
Analysis level thinking in Bloom’s taxonomy. Being able to separate differ-
ent objects and classify or connect them is a skill required in most puzzle,
card, or arcade games. These games require that a player master the repeti-
tive manipulation of objects and identification of all components to pass
levels and complete the game.

Fantasy/Role Playing and Adventure

Fantasy/role playing and adventure games are the most complex interactive
video games on the market. These two genres are made for dedicated gam-
ers and often involve hundreds of hours of game play. The intricacy of these
games requires dedication to learning how to play. Games included in the
two genres are Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider, Lost in Time, and The Legend
of Zelda. The goal of these games is to complete levels until you can master
and complete the whole game. A player must gain knowledge, power, and
skills to move on and overcome enemies or puzzles. Players also can collect
different tools throughout the game to help with future levels, including
spells, weapons, and clues. These games are presented as a fantasy world
requiring imagination of the player. They can take place anywhere on earth,
in space, or in a world developed just for the game (fantasy). All of these
222 John L. Sherry
worlds are large virtual spaces enhanced by 3D imagery and intense graph-
ics. The player takes on the role of the character in the game, while visual
effects create an effect of being inside the game. Further, these games can
be played with more than one person, such as through a network, increas-
ing the sense that real people are interacting inside the game. Fantasy and
adventure games enable a player to travel and interact in worlds or places
they can only visit through video technology.
Fantasy and adventure games can be modified to portray real situations
on earth, teaching history, social dynamics (e.g., economics), and geogra-
phy through immersive virtual interaction. The three dimensional worlds
that have been developed could represent any real place and any given time.
A player’s decisions control what the future will be, and each move made
affects every other aspect of the game. Players can also portray more than
one person; in some games one player can represent up to six different char-
acters. Learning the makeup and skills of six different characters makes
game play even more complex. With this aspect of the game, a player could
be learning about a group of people in an environment rather than just one
specific character.
The dynamism, high complexity, and multiple stages involved with fan-
tasy and adventure games reach every level of Bloom’s hierarchy over and
over again throughout the many levels of play. Like most video games, the
player must know the rules of play as well as the ultimate goal (Knowledge).
In addition, to play these types of games you must constantly learn new
information and be able to recall what you have learned during the game.
Many fantasy and adventure games have video sequences throughout the
game that explain who the new characters are and also what is happening
in the story. A player must be able to translate what they learn in the video
sequences to how they play the game (Comprehension). To pass on to new
levels, players have to defeat enemies and solve puzzles. Application of the
skills of the particular characters and use of the tools collected along the
way are the only way a player can advance. It is expected in fantasy and
adventure games that the player pay close attention to detail and any new
information. These basic skills are needed in all parts of the game, but as
the player advances they will need to be able to use higher cognitive skills.
To achieve the ultimate goal of an adventure or fantasy game, beating all
levels and puzzles, the player must demonstrate complex problem-solving
skills. The fi rst necessary skill is the ability to identify and connect related
components of the game that will help the player advance (Analysis). It is
also necessary that the player be able to explain what is happening in the
game, demonstrating understanding. The trial-and-error nature of game
play is reminiscent of the inductive and deductive logic involved in scientific
theory building. In order to be successful, players must create and test theo-
ries of play and design a plan to overcome the next enemy or puzzle based
on that theory (Synthesis). Evaluation, the highest skill in Bloom’s hier-
archy, is necessary for adventure and fantasy games. Because the worlds
 Matching Computer Game Genres to Educational Outcomes 223
in the games are created to react differently depending on the paths cho-
sen throughout the game, a player must have the ability to make choices
based on reasoned argument. Players constantly test what is right or wrong,
works or does not work, or leads to success or failure. Selecting the correct
path to take your character on is done after careful consideration of all
events that have occurred in the game. Collecting evidence of past successes
to base future decisions on is a difficult process. These types of games allow
players to control their own destiny.
Fantasy and adventure games give players the power to control the
outcome of each game. They must learn an entire story or characters and
events, then take part in that world to make the end of the story come
together. This advanced technology had the opportunity to lead to endless
simulations of people and the environment throughout the past, present,
and future.

Quiz/Trivia
Quiz and trivia games require the least amount of cognitive skill. These
games are based on factual knowledge that is most often presented in ques-
tion-and-answer formats. The most common type of quiz and trivia games
are based on television game shows such as Jeopardy and Who Wants to Be
a Millionaire. The games consist of one basic background, such as a studio,
and the option of a few different characters to portray the player. The main
engagement in these games is beating opponents and obtaining high scores.
If the game is networked, competition with other players (sometimes for
money) often serves as a goal of the game.
This type of game can be used to test knowledge, whether or not com-
petition is involved. Any kind of information can be put into a question-
and-answer format to test memory of or mastery of a subject. These games
require only one level of Bloom’s taxonomy, knowledge, because the games
focus on recall of information. They do not require that a person be able
to understand or use the information. However, the focus on knowledge
testing makes this genre of games useful and appropriate for educational
outcomes requiring memorization of information.

Sports and Simulations

Typically, sports genre games and simulations are not considered the same
genre. However, for the purposes of this paper sports games can be consid-
ered highly interactive simulations. Simulations do exactly what their name
implies; given a set of rules and input variables, the games simulate possible
outcomes. Often, these outcomes are judged by the game. For example,
SimCity players make a number of decisions about where to place items
in a city such as housing, power plants, railways, streets, police, and other
essential components of a city. Using urban planning theory, the game
224 John L. Sherry
models outcomes that would be expected for such an arrangement of items.
For example, if the railways are located too far from the core city, goods
cannot get to businesses and the businesses fail.
Similarly, sports genre games simulate outcomes of sporting events such
as football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and even rugby or tennis. The most
sophisticated games, such as those found in the highly popular Madden
football series, allow players tremendous freedom to customize the param-
eters of the game. Players are able to choose from a menu to form teams
from the present and the past, to set up their own teams by drafting play-
ers, or to custom design teams and players (including team name, stadium,
location, and dominant weather conditions). Further, sports games allow
players to try different game strategies. For example, Madden allows play-
ers to create their own playbook. Game play follows the rules of the actual
sport, although modifications to rules (e.g., which rules are used and how
strongly the rules are enforced) and player abilities (e.g., allow for players
to become tired or injured through the game) are possible. Players control
the athletes on the playing field as the game simulates the conditions of the
sporting event.
Both simulations and sports games are potential exploration laborato-
ries for understanding dynamic systems such as the human body, econom-
ics, particle physics, evolution, geophysics, and a plethora of other topics.
Instead of reading about complex interactions, such as cellular membrane
transport, the student can experiment with a wide variety of variables until
the proper balance is found. Things that don’t occur in the real world can
be simulated. For example, it would be difficult for a science teacher to dem-
onstrate the results of rockets launching under a variety of levels of thrust,
trajectory, or load. This is easily accomplished with simulation games.

EDUCATION IMPLICATIONS

The power of video games for education remains largely untapped. Recently,
our college hosted a 15-year video game industry veteran who summa-
rized the problem by saying that kids know educational games are not fun
and stay away from them like the plague. A survey of educational games
will bear this out: educational games are generally too simplistic to hold
the attention of experienced gamers. However, this doesn’t need to be the
case. It is common in the gaming industry to build successful games on the
‘engine’ of popular games. The game engine is the sophisticated software
that controls and keeps track of game play. Designers are free to modify the
graphics, maps, and interaction layered on the engine to create new games.
For example, the engine that drives the third-person shooter Quake also
drives such highly popular games as Castle Wolfenstein, Soldier of Fortune,
and Counterstrike. There is no reason these engines cannot be modified
to carry educational content, taking advantage of the highly sophisticated
 Matching Computer Game Genres to Educational Outcomes 225
game play of Quake. In fact, the maker of the Quake engine has made it
available for free. Similar engines are available for other genres such as
fantasy (e.g., Ambrosia Software’s Coldstone) or side scrolling adventures
(e.g., Sawblade Software’s Power Game Factory).
Michigan State’s Games for Entertainment and Learning (GEL) lab is in
the early stages of developing a biology game, based on the Quake engine,
that can teach difficult concepts such as membrane transport, photosyn-
thesis (particularly the Calvin cycle), and ATP synthesis. By using the 3D
Quake engine, we will design a game in which learners can enter cells to
figure out how these dynamic systems work. In order to satisfy the objective
of the game, players will need to intuit the rules of the dynamic system and
be able to apply those rules to keep cells alive.
As with any carefully planned educational process, successful use of
video games requires specification of the outcomes desired both in terms
of content and in level of understanding (Bloom’s hierarchy). The fi rst step
is to specify these goals as clearly and completely as possible. An excellent
resource for seeing what such clear specification looks like can be found
in the description of the pre-planning for Sesame Street by the Children’s
Television Workshop (Lesser, 1974; see also Fisch, 2004). Table 10.2 can be
used as a heuristic for identifying the best genre for the educational game,
given the content and the goals of the producers. Producers should become
familiar with genre game play before planning the game; it is often help-
ful to discuss games with children. They are eager to share their gaming
experiences, particularly when they sense they can teach you something. It
should be remembered that certain genres are popular with different age
groups and genders (Sherry et al., 2006). Consideration of these trends is
crucial in designing effective games based on popular genres.
Understanding preferred genres goes well beyond simple content (e.g.,
girls don’t like violent shooter games because of the violent content). Stud-
ies in our lab have shown that innate cognitive skills (e.g., 3D rotation
ability, verbal fluency) are stronger predictors of game success than gender.
As such, we are conducting experiments to understand the limits of cogni-
tive skills in predicting gaming success. What types of 3D interfaces are
too difficult for low 3D ability individuals to navigate? What can be done
to mitigate the difficulty encountered by these individuals? Early research
suggests that providing landmarks in 3D space will eliminate most of the
disorientation associated with 3D game play. We don’t want to create a
game that alienates a large number of students because they lack the cogni-
tive ability to navigate the interface.

CONCLUSION

Video games have a great deal of potential to hold children’s attention while
teaching them everything from simple facts to the dynamics of complex
226 John L. Sherry
systems. Currently, the power of this technology is underutilized because
educational media designers lack the sophistication and resources to develop
games that are as fun as entertainment offerings. However, this need not
be the case. By modifying game engines, educational media designers can
leverage the power of sophisticated and popular games for education.
Educational goals must be clearly stated and matched to game genres
in order to maximize effectiveness. Some game genres, such as first-person
shooters, simulations, and role-playing games, can be very effective at mod-
eling complex systems that are difficult to explain in the linear confi nes
of textbooks and lectures. Other game genres, such as quiz/trivia games,
are powerful tools for testing knowledge and encouraging rote memory
of facts. By thinking through the educational goals for the software and
matching those to game genres that feature required use of those goal pro-
cesses, educational software can be both fun and highly effective.

REFERENCES

Asimov, I. (1966). The Fantastic Voyage. New York: Bantam.

Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classifi cation of
educational goals by a committee of college and university examiners. New
York: Longmans.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1988). The flow experience and its significance for human
psychology. In M. Csikszentmihalyi & I. S. Csikszentmihalyi (Eds.), Optimal
experience: Psychological studies of fl ow in consciousness (pp. 15–35). New
York: Cambridge University Press.
Fisch, S. M. (2004). Children’s learning from educational television: Sesame Street
and beyond. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Gee, J. P. (2006). Learning by design: Good video games as learning machines. In
P. Messaris & L. Humphrey (Eds.). Digital media: Transformations in human
communication (pp. 173–186). New York: Lang.
Gee, J. P. (2004). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy.
New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Lesser, G. S. (1974). Children and television: Lessons from Sesame Street. New
York: Random House.
Prensky, M. (2000). Digital game-based learning. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Richtel, M. (2005, August 22). Once a booming market, educational software for
the PC takes a nose dive. New York Times, p. C1.
Sherry, J. L. (2004). Flow and media enjoyment. Communication Theory, 14,
328–347.
Sherry, J. L., Lucas, K., Greenberg, B. S., & Lachlan, K. (2006). Video game uses
and gratifications as predictors of use and game preference. In P. Vorderer & J.
Bryant (Eds.), Playing computer games: Motives, responses, and consequences
(pp. 253–268). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
11 The Virtual Harlem Experiments
James J. Sosnoski

VIRTUAL HARLEM

Virtual Harlem is a virtual reality cityscape of Harlem, New York, in the

1930s. It was designed by Bryan Carter at the University of Missouri to
accompany his courses on the literary works produced during the Harlem
Renaissance, an important period of African American cultural history.1
Carter’s idea was that students would more fully understand the literature
of the Harlem Renaissance if they were able to experience the cultural set-
ting in which its writers lived. In the 1920s and 30s Harlem was a cultural
center that attracted musicians, painters, novelists, poets, and intellectuals
who constituted the New Negro movement, more familiarly known as the
Harlem Renaissance. The New York City neighborhood was bordered on
the west by St. Nicholas Avenue and stretched east to the Harlem River.
It was bordered on the south by 114th street and stretched north to 156th
street. Within these two square miles, numerous cafes, theatres, clubs,
bookstores, churches, stores, and bars were located amid residences. Vir-
tual Harlem, on the other hand, has only ten blocks but features the more
famous buildings, in many instances sometimes locating them out of their
historical places (Figure 11.1).
Bryan Carter described a tour of the cityscape in “Virtual Harlem in the
Beginning”:2

As the journey begins, a passing trolley car full of people must be

avoided, as well as other Model-T’s parked in the street. Straight
ahead, the Lafayette Theater . . . with an all black cast playing in the
version of Macbeth produced by Orson Welles. . . . [You] can stop
and hear a portion of Macbeth’s infamous monologue. . . . [You] pass
street vendors selling their wares, and as you approach one, he will
start to call out his jingle, “the meat pie man is a mighty fi ne man.”
. . . [You] might happen upon two men playing checkers or telling
“hoodoo” stories, . . . [What] most people want to experience is the
Harlem’s famous Cotton Club, where African-Americans are not
228 James J. Sosnoski

Figure 11.1 The Virtual Harlem Experiments. Created by James J. Sosnoski.

allowed. The gold and wood-crafted doors of this Mafi a-controlled

club are unmistakable, and as they open, you have a sense of enter-
ing a world of wealth, exoticism, sensuality, and illusion. Designed
to be reminiscent of old plantation life, the interior strikes you as a
combination of the Old South and an exotic island jungle. There are
palm trees everywhere, and the room is fi lled with laughing guests
in evening gowns and tuxedos. If you stay long enough, the curtains
will part, and actual footage of a fi lmed performance of the Duke
Ellington Band will play on stage as dancers tap in the foreground as
an introduction to singer Freddie Washington. (Sosnoski & Carter,
2001, pp. 34–36)
 The Virtual Harlem Experiments 229
As Virtual Harlem was being constructed at the Advanced Technology
Center, Carter’s students gathered information, photographs, and record-
ings from the Harlem Renaissance period that graphic designers and pro-
grammers at the Advanced Technology Center built into the virtual reality
scenario. For example, the exterior and interior of the Cotton Club were
simulated from 30s photographs. Similarly, recordings of Paul Robeson
and Duke Ellington were inserted into Virtual Harlem. Using a text about
voodoo spells from the period, Carter recorded his students performing
a scripted conversation about them. This recording is included in Virtual
Harlem as a sound clip which is triggered when visitors approach the two
men playing checkers in an alleyway. Carter himself appears as a waiter in
the Cotton Club.
Because of the immense amount of code required to produce the vir-
tual reality images, the “persons” in Virtual Harlem are not rendered fully
in 3D and appear to be cardboard figures. The shows that appear inside
the Cotton Club are films of performances inserted within the frame of a
stage. Though most of the photographs and fi lms used to construct Virtual

Figure 11.2 The Virtual Harlem Experiments. Created by James J. Sosnoski.

230 James J. Sosnoski
Harlem are in black and white, the buildings and figures in it are in color,
except in the case of the fi lms shown on the Cotton Club stage.
In the summer of 1999, I visited Virtual Harlem at the Advanced Tech-
nology Center with three colleagues. That fall, I arranged for Bryan Carter
and William Plummer to meet with Andrew Johnson and Jason Leigh from
the Electronic Visualization Lab3 at the University of Illinois–Chicago
(UIC) directed by Tom DeFanti and Dan Sandin. As a result of this meet-
ing, they agreed to collaborate in the construction of Virtual Harlem (John-
son, Leigh, Sosnoski, Carter, & Jones, 2002). This collaboration led to the
Virtual Harlem experiments that I coordinated.

THE VIRTUAL HARLEM EXPERIMENTS

During the academic years 2000–2002 the Virtual Harlem project team4
experimented with two networked courses in the Harlem Renaissance fea-
turing Virtual Harlem. Using the fi rst course as a trial run, we then did
two studies of student reactions during the second. We also showed Virtual
Harlem to several high school groups, to the participants in a MOBE (Mar-
keting Opportunities for Black Entrepreneurs) conference, 5 and to visitors
to our exhibit at the iGrid 2000 exhibit, INET ’2000 held in Yokohama,
Japan.6 From these groups, we received substantial informal feedback.
Finally, we experimented with interactive dramatizations designed for Vir-
tual Harlem.

The Hall/Carter Harlem Renaissance Course

The fi rst experiment was a trial run of a learning network with Virtual
Harlem as the centerpiece. James Hall, a professor in the African American
Studies department at UIC, agreed to teach a course in the Harlem Renais-
sance in conjunction with Bryan Carter’s course at Central Missouri State
(CMSU). Carter and Hall planned their courses together so that students
would be studying the same texts at the same time.
Early in the semester, when Carter was giving a presentation at the
Sorbonne in Paris, students from Chicago and Missouri had “chats” with
the students in Paris about the Harlem Renaissance. During the semester,
both classes visited Virtual Harlem in the same week. The students in
Missouri experienced Virtual Harlem in a theatre-like classroom with a
curved screen. Carter, as the instructor, gave the seated students a tour
of the cityscape as he “walked” around in it using a joystick to control
his movements and their view of the scenarios. The students wore 3D
glasses and the effect was much like watching a 3D movie. The students
in Chicago visited the Electronic Visualization Lab’s CAVE (Computer
Assisted Virtual Experience), a 10 × 10 room with screens in front, to
the left and right.
 The Virtual Harlem Experiments 231

Figure 11.3 Students visiting Virtual Harlem in UIC’s CAVE wearing 3D glasses.
(Note: the buildings seem blurred because they are in 3D.) Created by James J.
Sosnoski.

Students were immersed in the scene. Because the CAVE admits only
6 to 8 persons at a time, students had to wait their turn outside. Carter
appeared in the CAVE and gave the UIC students a guided tour of Virtual
Harlem synchronously with the tour he gave his students in Missouri.
The following week, both groups held a class meeting in video conferenc-
ing rooms. Each group could see the other on a large screen and themselves
on a second, smaller screen. Voice-activated cameras zoomed in on the per-
son speaking and zoomed out when no one in the room was speaking. The
teachers did most of the talking. Most students were hesitant to join in.
Though all the students were invited to contribute to Virtual Harlem,
only a few students from UIC did so. Several students from CMSU contrib-
uted materials. However, because the only lab constructing the cityscape
at this time was UIC’s Electronic Visualization Lab, the materials from
CMSU were not available to the lead programmer in Chicago, Tim Port-
lock, and were not included in Virtual Harlem. The project team had not
yet developed a system of exchange and the modeling aspect of the project
was not realized. (See “Learning by Modeling” in the next section.)

The Brody/Carter Harlem Renaissance Course

A second experiment was conducted at UIC in the fall semester of 2000.
We organized the courses on the basis of the trial run the previous
232 James J. Sosnoski
semester. Jennifer Brody from the African American Studies department
at UIC agreed to use the same syllabus and follow the same timetable as
Carter at CMSU. The classes were scheduled to visit Virtual Harlem in
the same week and video conference the following week. To encourage
exchanges between the classes, Carter signed up the UIC students to his
CourseInfo site. Students were not asked to contribute materials to the
model in this course.
Kyoung Park, a PhD candidate in computer science working at the
Electronic Visualization Lab under Andrew Johnson’s direction, designed
a study to examine student reactions to the increasing complexity of the
technologies used in the courses associated with Virtual Harlem in Chi-
cago and Missouri. Park also designed a recording software, which she
termed “annotations,” and programmed it into the model. Using it, stu-
dents from one class could leave messages for students in the other class.
She also designed a tracking software to follow the paths students took as
they toured Virtual Harlem. The results of her study were published both
in the Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Virtual Sys-
tems and Multimedia and in Works and Days (Park, Leigh, & Johnson,
2001b; Park, Leigh, Johnson, Carter, Brody, & Sosnoski, 2001). The con-
clusion she reached in her study is quoted in “Comments on the Classes”
in the next section.
Richard Besel, a graduate student in communication, investigated how
student reactions to technology manifest themselves in a learning environ-
ment that depends upon technology. He gathered data from the student
responses on the CourseInfo site. He then used NUD*IST to analyze their
attitudes. The results of his study were also published in Works and Days
(Besel, 2001). His conclusions are quoted in “Comments on the Classes”
in the next section.

Virtual Harlem vs. “The Thing Growing”

We were well aware that Virtual Harlem lacked interactivity. It was basi-
cally a tour of Harlem in the 30s. As it happened, at the time of the experi-
ments, Josephine Anstey, a graduate student pursuing an MFA in digital art
at the Electronic Visualization Lab, developed a virtual reality short story
called “The Thing Growing” in which visitors to the CAVE were required
to interact with virtual reality characters in the story.7 Her story provided
us with a model for introducing interactive dramas into Virtual Harlem.
“The Thing Growing” begins with a stark landscape in which a box
is visible. Soon, the audience hears repeated cries of “Let me out!” With
instructions from the “voice” to use the remote control in the hands of their
“leader,” the audience frees her.8 She jumps out and exudes joy, praising the
audience. After a few moments, villainous figures appear in the landscape
and the voice begs the audience to save her. Again, following the voice’s
instructions, the audience, using their remote device, shoots the villains,
 The Virtual Harlem Experiments 233
who disappear as they are hit. Again the voice expresses delight, suggest-
ing that she and the audience dance. She gives instructions by waving her
arms up and down. If the group leader does not move his remote in the
manner she suggested, she complains loudly.9 Depending on whether the
leader “dances” or not, the voice becomes increasingly domineering and
emotionally ruthless. After a time, the audience fi nds itself desperate to get
out of the situation. Finally, again depending on the tactics of the leader,
the voice is either killed with the remote control, or after a lengthy period,
she dissolves.
On Wednesday, April 26, 2000, I brought my graduate seminar over
to the CAVE to see a demo both of Virtual Harlem and of “The Thing
Growing.” Anstey showed both virtual reality scenarios to groups of four.
While one group saw the demo, the other group talked to Anstey about
her work. Afterward, I took my class to a nearby computer lab and asked
them to respond to their experiences of the two virtual reality scenarios
in e-mail messages to me. They unanimously preferred “The Thing Grow-
ing” because it was interactive and had a story line. They found Anstey’s
story engrossing if disturbing and, by comparison, found Virtual Harlem
rather placid.
During the winter semester of 2001, Tim Portlock, the lead program-
mer of Virtual Harlem at UIC, took an independent studies course from
me on “narrative.” We worked together exploring how an interactive
virtual reality scenario dramatizing events of the Harlem Renaissance
might be constructed. We studied various computer games to research
possible methods. Our study, “A Design for Multiple Interactive Nar-
ratives in VIRTUAL REALITY Scenarios,” was published in Work and
Days (Sosnoski & Portlock, 2001). On the basis of this design, two grad-
uate students, who were interested in Virtual Harlem, wrote dramas in
an independent studies course I directed in the spring semester of 2001.
Their dramas were also published in Works and Days (Lively, 2001; Tap-
pan, 2001).
The Virtual Harlem project team wrote a grant proposal to produce
these dramas. We had hoped to engage drama students from a nearby art
center to act in the plays, fi lm their performances, and transfer the recorded
performances to virtual reality scenarios. Unfortunately, the proposal was
unsuccessful.

The Virtual Harlem Collaborative Learning Network

On Friday, April 7, 2000, we did a trial run of a hookup between the UIC’s
two CAVEs and the virtual reality installation at UM. The staff at the
Electronic Visualization Lab had considerable experience in designing col-
laborations between persons in networked CAVEs at great distances from
one another.10 Bryan Carter was in the Advanced Technology Center in
Missouri, Jason Leigh was in one of the CAVEs at UIC, and I was in the
234 James J. Sosnoski
other. Suddenly, an avatar popped up in my CAVE and I heard Carter’s
voice. Seconds later another figure popped up representing Leigh. Carter
then invited us to take a tour of Virtual Harlem and proceeded toward
the Lafayette Theater. Leigh and I followed him in our separate CAVEs.
I experienced following two avatars “walking” down the street in Virtual
Harlem. We were able to converse with each other. Though at a distance,
Carter’s presence was immediate and vibrant.
A more formal experiment in networked CAVEs was conducted on July
19, 2000. A hookup between the CAVE in Chicago and a CAVE at the
iGrid 2000 exhibit (INET 2000) held in Yokohama was engineered by the
Electronic Visualization Lab’s technical staff. When the time for the experi-
ment arrived, high school students who were enrolled in Jim Hall’s summer
course responded to questions about the Harlem Renaissance and Virtual
Harlem asked by visitors to Virtual Harlem in Yokohama. Hall’s students
offered explanations to Japanese visitors to Virtual Harlem synchronously.
This experiment demonstrated to the project team the potential of a col-
laborative learning network.
During the academic year 2001–2002, I was a fellow at UIC’s Great Cit-
ies Institute. I received the fellowship to develop a collaborative learning net-
work based on the Virtual Harlem project. Working from the experiences
of the networked classes in the Harlem Renaissance, I developed the Arts
and Science Collaborative Exchange Network Development (ASCEND).
The network linked groups at various universities (UIC, CMSU, U Ari-
zona, Sorbonne, Paris, and Vaxjo, Sweden) to study the Harlem Renais-
sance by modeling Virtual Harlem. Through this network we conducted a
number of experiments using Web cams to video conference with faculty
and students at the five sites in the network. Discussions of these experi-
ments are available in Configuring History.
“Teaching the Harlem Renaissance through Virtual reality Cityscapes”
(Sosnoski, Harkin, & Carter, 2006).

WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT LEARNING

THROUGH VIRTUAL REALITY APPLICATIONS

In my view, the most important lessons we learned from the Virtual Har-
lem experiments are:

1. Unless Virtual Harlem is a historically accurate representation, it

clashes with the materials being studied in courses in the Harlem
Renaissance.
2. Figures rather than buildings stir students’ interest.
3. Unless students from one site collaborate with students from another
site, communicating with students from other universities does not
contribute to the learning experience.
 The Virtual Harlem Experiments 235
4. Unless students are able to interact with the virtual environment, the vir-
tual reality scenario is more a spectacle than a learning environment.

Following are summaries of the main comments of the project team on

the Virtual Harlem Experiments.

Comments on the Classes

In her study of the course, Kyoung Park concluded that:

In the post-course survey, students gave positive responses to this exer-

cise. Students said it was a unique opportunity for them to meet classes
elsewhere, which extended the traditional classroom boundary. Stu-
dents said they could share each other’s perspectives about some topics
they learned in their respective classes. Technology in general helped in
bringing the classrooms closer than ever before.
However, students also responded that they wanted more collabora-
tion between two classes. Some UIC students suggested more frequent
and casual chats with CMSU students for the future distance-learning
classroom. Students suggested that the future distance-learning class-
room should have more opportunities to work with remotely located
students. It seemed we did not give an attractive reason to draw stu-
dents naturally into collaboration over technology. Instead, it seemed
we just forced them to use technologies; posting messages on the dis-
cussion board was just one example of such failures. Thus, it is impor-
tant to have a believable reason that students between classrooms will
benefit from collaborating. (Park et. al., 2001, p. 93)

In his study of the course, Richard Besel concluded that11

most postings . . . reflected positive value assessments, most students

concluded that “technology was very helpful” or that “it was extremely
beneficial to communicate.” When students went beyond these very
vague statements, two general claims surfaced. One the one hand, stu-
dents appreciated being given the ability to see what it was they were
learning about. This visualization does not apply to VIRTUAL REAL-
ITY alone either. One student commented, “Through technology we
were able to read other student’s responses, instead of just hearing them.”
On the other hand, students also felt that communication with another
class in a different state somehow made what they were studying more
important and salient. As one student claimed, “It [the communication
through technology] made me feel like the subject we were discussing
[sic] was more important because it was being exmainen [sic] by these
other people too.” The students in these classes felt that technology in
general was a good thing and something of value. (Besel, 2001, p. 111)
236 James J. Sosnoski

SUMMARIES OF THE RESPONSES THE VIRTUAL HARLEM

PROJECT STAFF OFFERED IN E-MAIL EXCHANGES

The participating members of UIC’s African American Studies Department,

though appreciative of its aims, were critical of Virtual Harlem on scholarly
grounds. They found it frustrating that buildings were not in their historical
locations and that the persons in the model could not have been in Harlem at
the same time—Paul Robeson’s performances of Macbeth did not coincide
with Ellington’s performances at the Cotton Club. One staff member was
especially unhappy that so few women were represented in Virtual Harlem.
She felt that the Dark Tower, a famous salon hosted by A’Lelia in her Harlem
mansion, should have been in the scenario. Though the African American
Studies faculty was impressed by the technology in general, they seemed to
regard Virtual Harlem as a kind of gimmick that took their students away
from what they should be learning. Carter, not surprisingly, felt that Virtual
Harlem gave students a virtual experience of history. Hall agreed, pointing
out that Virtual Harlem gave students an embodied sense of the Harlem
Renaissance. All the teachers agreed that Virtual Harlem needed to include
many more figures of the Harlem Renaissance than it does.
The technological staff from UIC’s Electronic Visualization Lab thought
that the experiment went rather well. They were generally pleased that the
technology did not break down during the showings. They did fi nd that the
virtual reality application was far too slow in generating images during the
tour. They also noticed that the differences in the virtual reality installa-
tions at the two universities interfered with Carter’s ability to give a tour of
Virtual Harlem to UIC students.
They thought that the students in the class seemed interested, although
a little shy at fi rst. Leigh noted that:

There were a few “hey! that’s Connie’s” or “that’s the Apollo!” So they
were defi nitely making the connections. On a number of occasions they
asked “what street are we on?” We might consider adding the names
of streets to the environment (once we place everything in their correct
geographical locations) since the street names seemed to serve as men-
tal as well as physical landmarks.

Though the students enjoyed seeing the buildings they had earlier read
about, Johnson noted that the figures in the scene motivated more conver-
sation. He also noted that the students in the CAVE in which the teacher
of the course was present asked far more questions than the students in the
second CAVE.
The technical staff also noticed that a few students experienced eye-
strain and some dizziness. In addition, they noted that the students outside
the CAVEs had little to do and simply waited in line until the students in
the CAVE relinquished their places.
 The Virtual Harlem Experiments 237
Having done many demos of virtual reality applications over the years,
they noted that the planning of the visit needed to be improved. There was
considerable confusion among the students about what they were supposed
to do and where they were supposed to stand, etc.

Comments on the Chats

As Besel notes, students often experienced technical difficulties in the
CourseInfo chat rooms. In addition, not enough chat times were scheduled.
The few scheduled exchanges could not develop into relationships; con-
sequently, we suspect that students used the communication technologies
only to the extent they were required to do so.

Comments on the Video Conferences

Generally the Virtual Harlem project team agreed that the video confer-
ences with both classes in one room looking at the other class on a large
screen did not stimulate dialogue between the two groups of students.
Instead, the teachers did most of the talking. As in more conventional lec-
ture settings, the speakers (teachers) asked for questions from the audience.
Only a few students volunteered.
We agreed that collaboration among students from different universities
needs to be built into the course requirements. We believe that webcam chat
sessions might encourage collaboration because they simulate face-to-face
exchanges.

Comments on the Contrast Between Virtual

Harlem and “The Thing Growing”
One of the most important lessons of the Virtual Harlem experiments was
the need for interactivity. Once students had seen Virtual Harlem, they had
little desire to return to the virtual reality scenario. The students enjoyed
experiencing Virtual Harlem but most felt that one visit was sufficient.
The learning environment needs to be more interactive and students need
to experience alternative ways of experiencing Virtual Harlem that might
motivate return visits.

Observations about the Virtual Harlem Experiments

as Experiments in Instructional Technology
As the coordinator of the Virtual Harlem experiments, I have a number of
observations to make about their implications for the use of virtual reality
scenarios in curricula involving the study of cultural history.
1. Learning Pathways: The impact of UIC’s Electronic Visualization
Lab on the Virtual Harlem project was considerable. Not only did it give
238 James J. Sosnoski
the project a technological base from which to work, but it also provided an
exemplary learning environment. So much did it dominate my perspective
on the Virtual Harlem experiments that I was continuously aware of the
conventional classroom’s limitations.
The Electronic Visualization Lab is a technological laboratory offering
advanced degrees in computer science or digital art. Students who experi-
ence it as a learning environment roam purposefully around a room full
of persons at computer terminals all networked. Usually they work on a
project under the direction of a staff member. The pattern of learning is
one of exchanging ideas about programming while problem solving. More
experienced students are often consulted by less experienced students. In
addition to visits to the computer lab, the instructional staff usually meets
with the students working on particular projects around a conference table
in the main office. Advice is sought from other labs all over the world via
videoconferencing. It is a highly energetic and charged atmosphere largely
because each student is committed to a project and involved in solving the
problems it presents. At the motivational core of the lab is an understand-
ing on the part of the students that their work in it requires a solution to a
programming problem no one has yet solved.
The contrast to the conventional literature classroom is sharp. In lit-
erature classes, students are not required to do original research at the
undergraduate level. Moreover, the subject matter they learn is transferred
to them as information. They are accustomed to being relatively passive
recipients of accepted “knowledge” in the field. They arrive at a set time
in a classroom, sit in audience fashion, and listen to their professors talk,
occasionally answering questions directed at them.
In the Virtual Harlem experiments these two learning environments
clashed. Whereas the students who were programming were motivated
by the idea of designing effects that were not previously programmed, the
undergraduate students had no similar personal projects. The papers they
wrote did not necessarily have any connection to Virtual Harlem. By con-
trast, Carter’s students at CMSU were placed in a position similar to the
students at the Electronic Visualization Lab and asked to undertake per-
sonal projects.
New to learning by computer modeling, the teachers from UIC’s African
American Studies department had no mechanism to judge whether a par-
ticular student’s project was completed with sufficient historical accuracy
to be included in Virtual Harlem. Though a Harlem Renaissance scholar in
his own right, like the engineers, Carter was more flexible in his approach
because he also was deeply involved in the technical side of the project.
This clash of teaching and learning styles proved to be an obstacle to the
project. I believe that if a CLN focused on building a model of Virtual Har-
lem is to succeed, a lab is a far more suitable educational framework than
a classroom. Rather than using the classroom as the model learning envi-
ronment for such projects, we need to adapt a learning pathways model.
 The Virtual Harlem Experiments 239
One of the issues Johnson, a computer scientist at EVL, raised during the
experiments was: is taking class time to see Virtual Harlem worth it? He
understood the need to build a learning environment capable of attracting
students to it. Virtual Harlem is not attractive to literature students in this
sense for whom it is more of an exhibit than a “workshop.”
At the Electronic Visualization Lab, art students work on their digital
art projects. Students like Josephine Anstey, a fi ne arts major at UIC, are
not confi ned to a classroom as the major learning environment. She took
classes in the fi ne arts building and in the engineering building but read
fiction on her own and brought all of these learning experiences together
in the lab. I think of this pattern as a “learning pathway.”12 Your proj-
ect sends you along many paths to acquire what you need for it. In my
view, it is difficult to take students for whom the conventional classroom is
their major learning environment and “throw” them into a situation that
requires project-oriented learning pathways. Such a sink-or-swim approach
proved unsuccessful.
2. Collaborative Learning Networks Require Shifting Roles: As we
envision it, a collaborative learning network—because of its complex
structure—requires persons in the network to be both teachers and learn-
ers. The technical staff has to learn about the Harlem Renaissance from
the non-technical staff. Similarly, the non-technical staff has to learn
about the technologies of networking from the technical staff. Within this
framework, everyone in the network is both teacher and learner at some
level and with respect to some area of study. The unusual combination
of disciplines in our project—African American culture, literary, histori-
cal, urban, gender, social, anthropological, artistic, graphic, and dramatic
studies, communication, psychology, engineering, computer science, and
visualization—mandates that no one person in the network can master all
perspectives. At the same time, the diversity of perspectives allows each
person in the network to view the subject matter and the technology from a
previously unfamiliar point of view. Moreover, since the project is based on
virtual reality scenarios at the higher end of the technological spectrum, a
certain excitement is continuously generated, especially when persons enter
the network and view the work that has been completed.
Again, the “classroom” framework is an obstacle. It does not readily
admit such shifting roles and perspectives. This is especially problematic in
subjects like literature or history where relationships between teachers and
students have the character of masters instructing apprentices.
3. Learning by Modeling: Hypothetically, Virtual Harlem is a “dynamic
system of relations.” It comprises many elements: buildings, people, cars,
events, communications, markets, and other phenomena. These elements
can be understood as a “neighborhood,” a dynamic system of relations.
People live in buildings, pay rent, buy goods, make decisions, respond to
injunctions, talk, sing, dance, drive, and involve themselves in multifarious
relations with the other elements in the immediate environment. Computer
240 James J. Sosnoski
models allow for a variety of possible systematic relations and provide a
way of understanding the historical period.
Another obstacle in developing the Virtual Harlem project as a collab-
orative learning network was that learning by computer modeling is unfa-
miliar to humanities scholars. In addition, the concept of a system, as in
“system dynamics,” is suspect in the humanities as a consequence of the
post-structuralist movement in the 60s and 70s.
4. Learning History through Virtual Experiences, a New Form of
Historiography: Persons associated with the Virtual Harlem experiments
agreed that the virtual reality model of Harlem provided an “experience”
of history. Its capacity to put visitors in the past where they could “walk”
down a city space, turn around, and look back to where they had been,
turn corners into side streets and watch buildings they could not see ear-
lier come into view went beyond what printed textbooks about history
could provide. Even so, the experience Virtual Harlem provided was a
tour of a historical setting. History, on the other hand, is a story. We
were very much aware of the limitations of Virtual Harlem as a mode of
history telling.
Virtual Harlem is being redesigned as a dramatic presentation of the
history of the Harlem Renaissance. Scripts of everyday life will be built
into the presentation to dramatize the historical events. In time, students
will interact with figures that “live” in Virtual Harlem whose character
and behavior are as historically accurate as we can make them. If the vir-
tual reality scenario is not historically accurate, the virtual experience is
not an experience of history but of fiction. The line between these two
genres is often blurred and it becomes difficult to know when the narra-
tive is historically accurate and when it isn’t.13 The circumstance that some
scenes have been invented will trigger complaints that they are historical
fictions. In my view this is an important part of the learning experience.
Historians’ interpretations are often controversial. Studying history entails
sorting out the competing claims of historians. Controversies are regularly
included in conventional courses—for example, questions about dating the
“beginning” and “ending” of the Harlem Renaissance have been answered
differently by historians. If dramatic presentations in Virtual Harlem are
challenged, the emerging controversies should enliven learning history.
Virtual reality history telling is a new and unfamiliar mode of historiog-
raphy. Until this new mode achieves legitimacy, it will generate arguments.
But intellectual ferment is needed to interest students in solving historical
problems.

IF I WERE TO DO ANOTHER VIRTUAL HARLEM EXPERIMENT

Financial issues: We were fortunate that Tom DeFanti and Dan Sandin were
willing to share EVL’s resources and staff the Virtual Harlem experiments.
 The Virtual Harlem Experiments 241
Though all of the Electronic Visualization Lab ‘s projects are funded by
grants, Virtual Harlem fit well enough into existing projects in 1999 to be
supported. If I were to coordinate a second set of Virtual Harlem experi-
ments, a reconstituted project team would probably have to apply for grant
money to develop the Virtual Harlem collaborative learning network. If
none was forthcoming, no experiments could be conducted.
Technological issues: In 2002–2003, I conducted some experiments in
Chicago based on the Virtual Harlem experiments. We were invited to cre-
ate a Virtual Bronzeville by a group in that neighborhood who had seen
Virtual Harlem. The Electronic Visualization Lab staff was moving away
from CAVE technology because it was prohibitively expensive. A one-
walled 3D platform (a GeoWall) that cost only a fraction of the immersive
CAVE but still provided a virtual reality experience has been developed at
the Electronic Visualization Lab.
That same year I was invited by Tom DeFanti to participate in an
National Science Foundation grant to fund research on high-speed delivery
of images and other types of data. As a result, I decided to experiment with
graphical information software (GIS) into which 3D applications could be
placed. Kheir Al-Kodmany in the Data Visualization Lab at UIC’s College
of Urban Planning and Policy had developed a technique he called “smart
maps” that allowed for GIS maps to be Web based and include various
QT videos of the areas in the map.14 I wanted to adopt his technique to the
design of Virtual Bronzeville. Using a Geowall2 installation,15 it would be
possible to present viewers with a map of Bronzeville and to include 3D
graphical representations of specific buildings that could be accessed with
a mouse click. An additional advantage is that the GIS database system
could provide instant demographic, economic, and cultural information
about the sites on the map. Creating Virtual Bronzeville as a smart map
also allows access to it from home computers and would make student col-
laboration much easier.

Figure 11.4 Visitors to the Aurora Small Science Museum GeoWall. Created by
James J. Sosnoski.
242 James J. Sosnoski
We ran the Virtual Bronzeville experiment for a year. Chris White was
the lead programmer under Andrew Johnson’s direction. Two exchange
students from Vaxjo University in Sweden worked in the Electronic Visu-
alization Lab under my direction assisting White. We built two Bronzeville
sites. However, complex negotiations with the Bronzeville group that had
invited us slowed our progress to a standstill by the end of the year. None-
theless, if another Virtual Harlem experiment were to be conducted, it
should include smart map representations mounted on a Geowall2 as well
as CAVE applications.

Network Issues
One of the lessons of the Virtual Harlem experiments was that involving
students from other universities, and it was a very attractive aspect of the
learning environment both to students and to administrators.
During the Virtual Harlem experiments we learned that student collabo-
rations were difficult for students because of the limits of their training. As a
result I would include classes from more than one department in the collabor-
ative learning network, e.g., a African American studies class, a virtual real-
ity computer science class, a digital fine arts class, a history class. It would be
important to have at least one class in some related technological field.
We also learned that the large video conference rooms are best suited for
presentations. Students there listen to researchers from other parts of the
world who are developing applications that could apply to the work they
are doing or at a minimum acquaint them with cutting-edge research.
Our experiments in the ASCEND network with webcam video con-
ferencing convinced us that student interactions would be best suited to
webcam conferences. This would also enable students at one university
to partner with students at a distance and would encourage collaboration
among the different classes.

Student Issues
I believe it was a mistake to take a regularly scheduled conventional class
and bring its members into an educational experiment as complicated as
the Virtual Harlem collaborative learning network model. Instead, I would
introduce a prerequisite course requirement on communication technolo-
gies. Once students completed the prerequisite, they would be eligible to
sign up for a course in modeling Virtual Harlem. Groups of students might
then form project teams. To participate in the project they would sign up
for independent course credit in their degree department. Rather than ask
faculty from an African American studies department to link their coursed
to a technology lab and courses at other universities, it probably would be
more effective to ask them to sponsor independent study students. Of course,
the staff of the experiment would need to include a Harlem Renaissance
 The Virtual Harlem Experiments 243
scholar whom the sponsoring teachers respected. Similar arrangements
would pertain for students in computer science, engineering, literature, fi ne
art, history, and so on. Such an arrangement would avoid the “classroom
problem” I mentioned earlier and allow the students to take a project ori-
entation. In this context, it would be much easier to require students to
collaborate, particularly if the student teams could include students whose
expertise was needed for the projects undertaken. If students from depart-
ments that relied heavily on technology were on a project team, they could
set up the technology for everyone on the team. This would facilitate the
use of webcam conferences and computer modeling to encourage student
interactivity. It would also allow rather sophisticated collaboration soft-
ware to be utilized (e.g., Marratech conferencing software which includes
white boards and other modes of communication).

Teacher Issues
As I have already mentioned, in future experiments I would not link exist-
ing classes. Funding from a grant source is critical in this matter because
university administrators do not ordinarily support the kind of team teach-
ing that would be required by a collaborative learning network, nor are
they usually willing to give degree credit to students working with teachers
from other universities. In addition, the problem of full time equivalent
students would likely be a serious obstacle unless the financial aspects of
participation in the collaborative learning network were taken care of with
grant money. Here’s a team-teaching schematic that would suit a collabora-
tive learning network:
Each Virtual Harlem project group A, B, C, D would have a student
from one of the four university independent studies courses. (See Figure
11.5. The oval symbolizes a virtual lab featuring four modeling projects;
the squares symbolize sites at different locations.)

CONCLUSION

The key element that was missing in the early Virtual Harlem experiments
was a “transportive scenario.” For a virtual experience to be effective, the
scenario through which the experience is expressed must be capable of trans-
porting its audiences into a virtual world much as moviegoers lose conscious-
ness of sitting in a theatre and are transported into the world of the film. Since
the learning involved in the Virtual Harlem experiments can be described as
counter-stereotyping, it entails changes in people’s belief systems. Such trans-
formative learning experiences depend upon correlative motivation; thus the
virtual experiences must have a strong emotional impact. Stereotypes are
difficult to change but historically “counter-stereotyping” (displacing a ste-
reotype with a more representative figure) has been successful.
244 James J. Sosnoski

Figure 11.5 Diagram of a Virtual Harlem Collaborative Learning Network Project

Group. Created by James J. Sosnoski.

In Narrative Impact: Social and Cognitive Foundations, the editors

state that the subject of their book is “the impact of narratives in the public
sphere” (Green, Strange, & Brock, 2002, p. 7). Several contributors refer
to studies that show the widespread social impact of narratives such as
the Bible or Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Their remarks are often based on previ-
ous research that demonstrates the role narratives have played in social
change.16 Green and Brock conducted a series of experiments involving
“imagery-rich narratives.” These experiments demonstrate that imagery-
rich narratives that confi rm or threaten their audiences’ worldviews can
change prior beliefs
Studies of the phenomenon of “psychological transportation,” which is
defi ned “as a state in which a reader becomes absorbed in the narrative
world, leaving the real world, at least momentarily, behind” (Green, &
Brock, 2000; Green et. al., 2002, p. 317), indicate that readers’ propensity
to experience transportation is dependent upon mental imagery evoked by
the narrative.17 “A mental image is a representation of a particular stimulus
that is formed by activation of a sensory system and, thus, is experienced
by the organism as having similar qualities to the actual perception of the
stimulus” (Green et. al., 2002, p. 321). Such sequences of mental images
 The Virtual Harlem Experiments 245
contextualized by a narrative provide the sensations that accompany actual
experiences. Instead of seeing activity in their physical surroundings, trans-
ported readers see the action of the story unfolding before them (Green et.
al., 2002, p. 317). Such virtual experiences, which are usually “seen in the
mind’s eye,” can be remembered. When recalled, they can be applied to
analogous situations in an experience transfer. Virtual reality narratives
are likely to have similar outcomes.
Green and Brock’s “Transportation-Imagery Model” consists of the fol-
lowing five postulates.

• Postulate I. Narrative persuasion is limited to story texts (scripts) (a)

which are in fact narratives, (b) in which images are evoked, and (c)
in which readers’ (viewers) beliefs are implicated.
• Postulate II. Narrative persuasion (belief change) occurs, other things
being equal, to the extent that the evoked images are activated by
psychological transportation, defi ned (following) as a state in which
a reader becomes absorbed in the narrative world, leaving the real
world, at least momentarily, behind.
• Postulate III. Propensity for transportation by exposure to a given
narrative account is affected by attributes of the recipient (for exam-
ple, imagery skill).
• Postulate IV. Propensity for transportation by exposure to a given
narrative account is affected by attributes of the text (script). Among
these moderating attributes are the level of artistic craftsmanship
and the extent of adherence to narrative format. Another conceivable
moderator, whether the text is labeled as fact or fiction (as true or not
necessarily true), does not limit transportation.
• Postulate V. Propensity for transportation by exposure to a given
narrative account is affected by attributes of the context (medium).
Among these moderating attributes may be aspects of the context or
medium that limit opportunity for imaginative investment and par-
ticipatory responses. (Green et. al., 2002, pp. 316–317.)

Since persons can learn from virtual experiences how to conduct them-
selves in situations they have not yet encountered, it can be expected that
“null experiences” (impossible actual experiences, e.g., a white person can-
not experience what black persons typically do) can also be transferred
virtually. Teaching history through virtual experiences of the past allows
students to experience virtually what they cannot experience actually. Null
experiences, such as past events, can be transferred into our memories
through virtual experiences. The transfer process in witnessing actual and
virtual events is quite similar. Persons typically use “scripts” (patterns of
routine behavior) garnered from past experience to guide them in specific
situations (Harkin, 2006). “Null experience transfers” produce a configu-
ration of past experiences together with an empathetic effect that “bridges”
246 James J. Sosnoski
gaps in experience. In the process of configuring, a “bridge” (trans-script)
is constructed through which other persons can be perceived as possessed
of an inner life analogous to the interpreter’s. However, until dramatic sce-
narios are built into Virtual Harlem, experience transfers via transporta-
tion will not often take place for visitors to it. Yet, when Virtual Harlem
is displayed in a CAVE (a four-walled virtual reality setup), visitors are
immersed in the setting which surrounds them and feel as if they are walk-
ing down the streets of Harlem although they are actually standing still.
Because of the “immersive” quality of the Electronic Visualization Lab’s
CAVE, visitors to Virtual Harlem feel that they have experienced history
even though it is not possible to do so. In effect they learn about experiences
that they cannot have. This suggests that virtual reality scenarios have the
potential for transformative learning and calls for further experimentation
involving null experience transfers.

NOTES

1. The Virtual Harlem model was built in UM’s Advanced Technology Center
(ATC) under the direction of William Plummer between 1996 and 1999. The
lead programmer was Thaddeus Parkinson.
2. Carter’s essay appears in a special issue of Works and Days, “Virtual experi-
ences of the Harlem Renaissance,” dedicated to the Virtual Harlem Project
(Sosnoski & Carter, 2001). See http://www.evl.uic.edu/cavern/harlem/ for
additional information about the project.
3. For an overview of the projects undertaken at the Electronic Visualization
Lab at UIC, see Sosnoski, 2005b and visit their Web site at http://www.evl.
uic.edu.
4. The Virtual Harlem Project team was composed of Bryan Carter (director,
English), James J. Sosnoski (coordinator, English/communication), Andrew
Johnson (EVL, computer science), Jason Leigh (EVL, researcher), Kyoung
Park (EVL, programmer), Tim Portlock (EVL, fi ne arts, programmer), James
Hall (African American studies, teacher), and Jennifer Brody (African Amer-
ican studies, teacher).
5. See http://www.evl.uic.edu/core.php?mod=4&type=4&indi=49.
6. See http://www.startap.net/igrid2000/cultHeritVR00.html.
7. For a brief description of “The Thing Growing,” see http://www.evl.uic.edu/
core.php?mod=4&type=1&indi=28. A more detailed account is available at
http://www.ccr.buffalo.edu/anstey/VDRAMA/THING/index.html.
8. The remote control device used to navigate the scene when pointed toward
the box on the screen becomes a “key” that unlocks it.
9. The person who has the remote control device is, in effect, the leader of the
group. Cameras track the movements of the remote.
10. 07[7] See http://www.evl.uic.edu/core.php?mod=2&type=3&cat=34.
11. The quoted remarks in Besel’s paragraph are from student responses and
contain various errors.
12. 08[8] For a more detailed account of learning pathways, see Sosnoski, 2001,
pp. 127–129.
13. 09[9] Though such experiences are fictive by defi nition, the dramatizations
are governed by an effort to interpret what it felt like to live in Harlem during
the 1930s and to encounter the many great artists who worked there. While
 The Virtual Harlem Experiments 247
admittedly an unconventional form of history telling, whose historiography
has yet to be developed, every effort is being made to give students an expe-
rience of the past that matches scholars’ interpretation of it. The governing
genre in this endeavor is history, not fiction, not even historical fiction. The
fictive elements arise from the absence of video or audio documentation.
Whereas it is possible to write sentences such as “residents of Harlem could
purchase the Crisis” at a local newsstand, a dramatization of that event
requires a specific figure to approach the newsstand and ask for a copy of
the Crisis (see Tappan). Since we do not have photographs of that event or
recordings of what was said, that figure in Virtual Harlem cannot represent
an actual person who lived in Harlem at the time. Yet, to dramatize the
historical generalization (residents purchased the Crisis at local newsstands)
does not entail the genre of fiction. The stories told in Virtual Harlem are
governed by historical constraints.
14. See the Pilsen project for an example of a “smart map” (http://www.uic.edu/
cuppa/udv/pilsen.htm).
15. See http://www.evl.uic.edu/core.php?mod=4&type=1&indi=288 for an
explanation of this technology.
16. [16] In the Introduction to the volume, Green, Strange, and Brock note that
“the impact of public narratives on beliefs and behavior has received sub-
stantial scholarly investigation in disciplines such as sociology, communica-
tions, humanities, and political science” (p. 2).
17. In the research on knowledge transfers or sequential extrapolations, the
general view is that persons resort to a variety of transfer strategies when
encountering a problem-solving situation (Nokes, 2001). My research con-
cerns the choice of an “experience transfer” in interpersonal situations in
which the trigger is a narration of an experience that the other person has
not yet had or cannot have. The narrative dimension is one of the conditions
for the empathetic effect.

REFERENCES

Besel, R. (2001). “Are humanists technophobes, or is this a myth?” In J. Sosnoski,

& B. Carter (Eds.), Virtual experiences of the Harlem Renaissance: The virtual
Harlem project. Works and Days, Spring/Fall, 99–113.
Green, M. C., & Brock, T. C. (2000). The role of transportation in the persuasiveness
of public narratives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 1–721.
Green, M. C., Strange, J. J., & Brock, T. C. (Eds.). (2002). Narrative impact: Social
and cognitive foundations. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Harkin, P. (2006). Understanding virtual experiences by configuring them. In J.
J. Sosnoski, P. Harkin, & B. Carter (Eds.), Configuring history: Teaching the
Harlem Renaissance through virtual reality cityscapes. New York: Peter Lang.
Johnson, A., Leigh, J., Sosnoski, J., Carter, B., & Jones, S. (2002). Virtual Harlem.
IEEE Computer Graphics, Art History, and Archaeology, September/October,
1–8.
Lively, J. (2001). Writing a narrative for Virtual Harlem: A learning experience.
In J. J. Sosnoski & B. Carter (Eds.), Virtual experiences of the Harlem Renais-
sance: The Virtual Harlem Project. Works and Days, Spring/Fall, 189–197.
Park, K., Leigh, J., Johnson, A., Carter, B., Brody, J., & Sosnoski, J. (2001). Dis-
tance learning classroom using Virtual Harlem. Proceedings of the Seventh
International Conference on Virtual Systems and Multimedia, October 25–27,
Berkeley, CA.
248 James J. Sosnoski
Park, K, Leigh, J., & Johnson, A. E. (2001b). How humanities students cope with
the technology of Virtual Harlem. In J. J. Sosnoski & B. Carter (Eds.), Virtual
experiences of the Harlem Renaissance: The Virtual Harlem Project. Works and
Days, Spring/Fall, 79–97.
Sosnoski, J. J., &. Carter , B. (Eds.). (2001). Virtual experiences of the Harlem
Renaissance: The Virtual Harlem Project. Works and Days, Spring/Fall.
Sosnoski, J. J., Harkin, P., & Carter, B. (Eds.). (2006). Configuring history: Teach-
ing the Harlem Renaissance through virtual reality cityscapes. In Steve Jones
(Ed.), Digital formations. New York: Peter Lang.
Sosnoski, J. J., & Portlock, T. (2001). A design for multiple interactive narratives
in virtual reality scenarios. In J. J. Sosnoski & B. Carter (Eds.), Virtual experi-
ences of the Harlem Renaissance: The Virtual Harlem Project Works and Days,
Spring/Fall, 167–176.
Tappan, G. (2001). “A girl’s life” in Virtual Harlem. In J. J. Sosnoski & B. Carter
(Eds.), Virtual experiences of the Harlem Renaissance: The Virtual Harlem
Project. Works and Days, Spring/Fall, 177–187.
12 The Unique Features of Educational
Virtual Environments
Tassos A. Mikropoulos and Joan Bellou

INTRODUCTION

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are considered to be

the most powerful tool for the support of the learning process. Their main
contribution comes from their technological characteristics, the ways they
record, represent, manage and transfer information. These characteristics
concern the management of high volume of data and information in a short
time, information presentation through dynamic interactive and multiple
representations, as well as the communication and motives they provide.
The essential contribution of ICT to the learning process comes indirectly,
through their pedagogical exploitation and certain features that arise for
the technological characteristics. This mainly involves tasks for the active
participation of students and teachers, action and counteraction through
interactive activities, as well as processes that support the creation of men-
tal models.
Virtual reality (VR) technologies seem to have become a powerful
and promising tool in education since their appearance, because of their
unique technological characteristics that differentiate them from all other
ICT applications. These VR unique characteristics can be summarized as
follows:

• creation of three-dimensional (3D) spatial representations, namely

virtual environments (VE)
• multisensory channels for user interaction
• immersion of the user in the VE
• intuitive interaction through natural manipulations in real time

Thus, VR supports the creation of highly interactive 3D environments that

represent real or nonreal situations and may be used as learning or edu-
cational environments at all educational levels and in all disciplines from
sciences to humanities.
An educational virtual environment (EVE) or virtual learning environ-
ment (VLE) can be defi ned as a virtual environment that incorporates one
250 Tassos A. Mikropoulos and Joan Bellou
or more educational objectives, pedagogic metaphors, provides users with
experiences they would otherwise not be able to experience in the physical
world and redounds specific learning outcomes.
Learning using virtual environments has been proposed since 1990 when
Bricken specified natural semantics and cognitive presence as the main fea-
tures of virtual environments and constructivism as the theoretical model sup-
porting EVEs. Helsel in 1992 proposed a conceptual and not technological
orientation to VR concerning educational applications, describing VR as “a
process that enables users to become participants in abstract spaces where the
physical machine and physical viewer do not exist,” implying that a sense of
presence is important for education. Pantelidis gives a number of reasons for
the use of VR in the classroom, reporting active participation, high interactiv-
ity and individualization as the main features for learning outcomes (1993).
Winn argues on a conceptual basis for educational applications of VR, stat-
ing that immersive systems involve first-person experience and non-symbolic
interaction, and support the construction of knowledge under a social con-
structivist point of view (1993). Later, Winn and Windschitl extend their theo-
retical approach to desktop environments, reporting that the sense of presence
that students feel in the virtual environments is of main importance for the
learning process (2000). Researchers in these first steps of VR educational
applications argue on the usefulness of the technology as an educational tool,
although there are not yet evaluations of certain EVEs.
Since then, a number of research articles have appeared reporting on
the design, development and evaluation of EVEs concerning a variety of
disciplines and different educational levels. There are many technological
approaches that the EVEs follow, but few pedagogical ones. In general, the
minority of research reports on specific virtual reality features that EVEs
exploit. The unique features that designate VR as a promising and power-
ful educational tool are not yet so clear.
The aim of this study is to identify these specific features that arise from
the technological characteristics of VR and can be exploited in the educa-
tional process contributing to positive learning outcomes.

FEATURES OF EVEs

Learning is a complex process and the features of a learning environment

do not act in isolation, but all play a role in the learning process and out-
comes (Salzman, Dede, Loftin, & Chen , 1999). However, defi ning and
studying the main features that arise from the VR characteristics is an
important step for understanding the contribution of virtual environments
to learning outcomes.
Spatial representations allow the user’s complete at-will navigation in
the 3D virtual space in real time, as well as a fi rst-person user point of view.
These two features enhance the learners’ experiences, contributing to the
 The Unique Features of Educational Virtual Environments 251
transfer of third- into fi rst-order experiences. They also allow the design of
virtual places and objects in realistic ways, based on scientific data. This
leads to the elimination of symbols often used in simulations and visualiza-
tions, causing misconceptions to learners (Chang & Weng, 2002). Virtual
environments allow the use of natural semantics which, as proposed by
Bricken (1990), is an important feature for EVEs. The Round Earth Project
investigates how VR can be used to help teach concepts that are counterin-
tuitive to a learner’s currently held mental model (Johnson, Moher, Ohls-
son, & Gillingham, 1999). The authors’ focus was on the effectiveness of
multiple visual representations of scientific phenomena in children’s learn-
ing. Their main criterion for the use of VR was that the learning goal must
be enhanced by immersive VR. The learning activities involved navigation,
fi rst-person point of view, natural semantics and a certain level of interac-
tion. Although the pupils were very engaged in the activities, the learning
outcomes were limited and did not combine with the VR features.
Following the VR characteristics, Winn proposes ‘size,’ ‘transduction’
and ‘reification’ as features for educational applications (1993). Changes
of size are significant for the learning process. The virtual environment
gives the users the ability to ‘change’ their physical size, so that they can
navigate and interact in macro and micro worlds. A VE as a transducer
extends the users’ capability to feel data that would normally be beyond
the range of their senses or experiences. Reification is the transformation
of abstract ideas into perceptible representations, something that can be
realized by virtual objects. These features seem to be exploited by Salzman
and associates in the design of EVEs concerning conceptual learning in
science (1999). Their three EVEs of Newton, Maxwell and Pauling worlds
for physics teaching exploit the features of size, transduction and reifica-
tion. The authors’ main conclusion was that the VR features have to work
together with other factors such as learner characteristics and experience in
order to reach certain positive learning outcomes.
Virtual environments are autonomous worlds and function indepen-
dently of the user’s actions. The laws of physics may apply in space and time
inside the virtual environment. The autonomy of a virtual environment for
technology courses has showed positive learning outcomes (Kameas, Mik-
ropoulos, Katsikis, Emvalotis, & Pintelas, 2000).
All the preceding features, together with the technological characteristics
of multisensory interaction channels, intuitive interactivity and immersion,
contribute to another feature, that of presence with rather psychological
origins. Presence is described as the user’s ‘sense of being there,’ in the vir-
tual environment as a separate entity. Although there is not much research
in the educational domain, presence seems to play an important role in
EVEs (Mikropoulos & Strouboulis, 2004). The feature of presence gives
another dimension to the users, that of participants.
The questions that arise are if researchers take into account the pre-
ceding features for the design of EVEs and if these features do contribute
252 Tassos A. Mikropoulos and Joan Bellou
to positive learning outcomes. Salzman and associates consider that the
VR technological characteristics of 3D immersion, frames of reference and
multisensory cues are promising features for conceptual learning (1999).
The conclusions of their study on science learning using immersive EVEs
are that VR affordances have to be studied in a context together with other
factors such as the concepts to be learned, learner characteristics, learning
and interaction experience. Our approach is a little different. We try to fi nd
out these specific features that arise from the inherent technological char-
acteristics of VR and might contribute to learning. Although there is much
research on EVEs, there are not explicit references on VR features such as
those we defi ne and the ways they support the learning process. The VR
features of free navigation, fi rst-person point of view, natural semantics,
size, transduction, reification, autonomy and presence are those that make
EVEs constructive learning environments, following the main principles
of constructivism: rich user-centered interaction, use of authentic problem
situations, collaborative learning and deep learning experience of and with
the knowledge construction process. Based on these principles, Boyle has
compiled the following seven principles for constructivist ICT-based learn-
ing environments (1997):

1. Provide experience of the knowledge construction process.

2. Provide experience in and appreciation of multiple perspectives.
3. Embed learning in realistic and relevant contexts.
4. Encourage ownership and voice in the learning process.
5. Embed learning in social experience.
6. Encourage the use of multiple modes of representation.
7. Encourage self-awareness of the knowledge construction process.

We believe that the VR features exploit the preceding principles and make
VR powerful educational tools in a constructivist context.
In the next section we report on some EVEs we have designed and evalu-
ated, based on certain VR features.

EVEs BASED ON CERTAIN FEATURES

Lake eutrophication is a good example for sensitizing students about envi-

ronmental problems. The phenomenon concerns the increase in the amount
of salts inside a lake coming from the surrounding agricultural activities,
having as fi nal result the decrease in fish population. The objectives of our
learning environment are the discovery of the factors involved in eutro-
phic lakes and their relation, the consequences of the phenomenon, and the
development of children’s critical abilities, responsibility, and environmen-
tal consciousness (Mikropoulos, Chalkidis, Katsikis, & Kossivaki, 1997).
Although models and simulations for eutrophication do exist, they are not
 The Unique Features of Educational Virtual Environments 253
appropriate for high school students since they give their results as arithme-
tic data and graphs. Moreover, they do not support mental representations
and models. The EVE we have developed offers students the possibility to
understand related concepts, to observe directly the behavior of the system
using the conceptualization tools of the students without making reference
to data representation techniques or languages. It simulates a number of
lake environments having different degree of eutrophication, where the stu-
dent can ‘swim’ or ‘be a fish’ and experience the given situation. Natural
semantics, free navigation and fi rst-person user point of view are the main
feature of the EVE. An empirical research with 20 students gave positive
learning outcomes. The students gave emphasis on the features of free navi-
gation and fi rst-person point of view, which helped them to get new experi-
ences and feel a sense of presence inside the EVE (Mikropoulos, Chalkidis,
Katsikis, & Emvalotis, 1998).
Size and interactivity were the two main features for the design of a vir-
tual plant cell for the learning of photosynthesis (Mikropoulos, Katsikis,
Nikolou, & Tsakalis, 2003). Natural semantics were exploited for the repre-
sentation of the cell organelles. Pedagogic metaphors were used for the rep-
resentation of electrons, atoms and molecules as spheres of different color
and size. Changes of the size of 37 teachers who took part in an empirical
study allowed them to enter the virtual cell, navigate and experience its
structure. They also entered a chloroplast where the chemical reactions of
photosynthesis were reified, navigated and interacted with the molecules,
successfully integrating the process of photosynthesis. The specific didac-
tic goals and learning tasks followed by direct manipulations inside the
EVE provided significant differences between the pre- and the posttests.
The importance of the learning tasks in the EVE, in combination with the
particular VR features, gave positive learning outcomes. The teachers also
reported a sense of presence as a result of free navigation and high degree of
interactivity contributing to the integration of the learning tasks.
Autonomy of another EVE allowed teachers and students to get expe-
riences about the diachronic approach to agricultural technology since
prehistoric times (Kameas et al., 2000). EIKON is an open EVE for the
interdisciplinary approach to technology courses. The EVE that combines
VR, hypermedia and networking is based on constructivist and collabora-
tive learning through the enhancement of students’ experiences and the
allowance of new ones. The laws of physics apply inside the EVE and it acts
autonomously as the time passes as long as the users navigate in the land-
scape searching for information and interacting with virtual agricultural
tools and machines. The autonomy of the EVE had as consequences for the
users the ability to be able to pick up and drop objects, watch the changes
in the landscape over time and integrate certain learning tasks.
Moving to EVEs for humanities, we have found that presence is an
important factor that contributes to the users’ experiences and learning
outcomes ‘living’ in an ancient city (Mikropoulos and Strouboulis, 2004).
254 Tassos A. Mikropoulos and Joan Bellou
This particular EVE was represented the ancient city of Kassiopi in Greece
with all its buildings and a detailed house with two floors inhabited by
avatars. Participants could navigate freely in the city, outside and inside the
house. They could explore the architecture of the buildings and perform a
series of tasks in the streets, the courtyard and the interior of the house.
Participants navigated and performed the tasks through an avatar—their
personal representation in the EVE. Sixty pupils aged 11 to 13 took part in
an empirical research and reported a high sense of both personal and social
presence. This allowed the pupils to complete their learning tasks more eas-
ily and successfully and construct knowledge.
In the next section we report on the design and evaluation of an EVE
concerning a virtual laser laboratory based on the VR features we argue
that contribute to positive learning outcomes.

THE VIRTUAL LASER

For the study of all the VR features together, we have designed a virtual
science laboratory that covers a variety of topics (Mikropoulos et al., 1997,
2003). One of them is an EVE concerning a virtual laser laboratory. It is
based on a previous EVE we have developed aiming at an introduction to
laser physics reporting on electromagnetic waves, spontaneous and stim-
ulated emission of radiation (Brown, Mikropoulos, & Kerr, 1996). The
complete EVE represents a laser physics laboratory, where the users enter
and interact. Their task is to spot all the appropriate optical, mechanical
and electronic parts in order to assemble a Nd:YAG continuous wave laser
system and make it fi re by adjusting the input power to its proper value,
above the laser threshold.
Our research axis is to investigate if the VR features contribute to critical
thinking and positive learning outcomes on laser physics and engineering.
Natural semantics and autonomy are used for the representation and
function of the laboratory as close as possible to reality. All the virtual
objects are based on the real ones, having a high degree of realism. More-
over, the law of gravity applies inside the EVE and the experimental setup
functions independently of the presence of the user.
Free navigation and fi rst-person point of view allow the user to locate
the parts on the selves and in the closets. Size, transduction and reifica-
tion are the features that allow the user to enter the laser material that
is the Nd:YAG rod, study the transitions inside the atoms, as well as the
phenomena of population inversion, spontaneous and stimulated light
emission, laser threshold. All the user’s interactions are intuitive using
a data glove. This, together with the preceding features, gives a sense of
presence to the user.
Using the fi rst version of the virtual laser, we have contacted an empir-
ical study with eight physics students (Mikropoulos, 1997). The results
 The Unique Features of Educational Virtual Environments 255
showed that the students navigated and interacted with the EVE easily,
using both the mouse and the data glove, and assembled the laser success-
fully. The main reasons for that, as they reported, were the fi rst-person
experiences they had. The low degree of realism of the virtual objects did
not bother the students. Although the students were wearing an almost
heavy power glove, they manipulated the virtual objects immediately and
easily, with natural hand movements, feeling that they use a real and not a
virtual device. The students constructed knowledge and developed skills on
laser principles and engineering. They declared that the EVE offered them
an educational environment where they applied theoretical principles and
understood the meaning of the complex differential equations describing
the laser operation.
Taking into consideration the results of the aforementioned empirical
study, we designed the next version of the virtual laser (Figure 12.1). The
new EVE involved more realism, more functionality, as well as a handier
data glove used for both navigation and interaction inside the virtual envi-
ronment. A pilot study was contacted with seven special users, postgradu-
ate students having experience on virtual environments, but not on laser
physics. The realism of the representations, the context of the EVE, the
functionality of the virtual objects and the content contribute to the effec-
tuation of the VR features.
Natural semantics, autonomy, free navigation and first-person point of
view contributed to a sense of presence inside the EVE and made the users

Figure 12.1 The virtual laser in use. Created by Tassos A. Mikropoulos and Joan
Bellou.
256 Tassos A. Mikropoulos and Joan Bellou
feel being and working in a real laboratory. Concerning the peripheral devices
for navigation and manipulation of the virtual objects, the users preferred the
usual mouse for navigation with the data glove as their second choice. The
data glove is considered to be the more proper peripheral for interaction in
three-dimensional synthetic spaces, but the users reported that they had a
sense of presence using the combination of mouse and keyboard, although
they had a more natural feeling manipulating the virtual objects with the
glove. The use of the glove was tedious and the users proposed the use of
exoskeleton systems for interaction. The users reported that the features of
size, transduction and reification helped them to create mental models on
the physical phenomena under consideration. All students constructed basic
knowledge on laser principles and engineering, exploiting the features that
arise from the technological characteristics of virtual reality.

CONCLUSION

This chapter proposes the features that arise from the technological char-
acteristics of virtual reality that contribute to positive learning outcomes
in educational virtual environments. Starting from the main VR charac-
teristics that are the creation of three-dimensional spatial representations,
multisensory channels for user interaction, immersion of the users in the
VE and intuitive interaction through natural manipulations in real time, we
propose the following VR features as being those that contribute to positive
learning outcomes:

• free navigation
• fi rst-person point of view
• natural semantics
• size
• transduction
• reification
• autonomy
• presence.

The results of our EVEs show that the VR features we propose play an
important role for knowledge construction in constructivist educational
environments. The particular features that give certain learning outcomes
depend on both the discipline and the content of the EVE under study.
Thus, complete at-will navigation was an adequate feature for the sensi-
tization of the students about the phenomenon of lake eutrophication, or
the construction of historical knowledge. On the contrary, the high degree
of intuitive interactivity was of main importance for the successful task
integration in EIKON and virtual laser. In all cases, presence is the premier
feature that contributes to positive learning outcomes.
 The Unique Features of Educational Virtual Environments 257
We believe that the features we propose have to be taken into consider-
ation for the design of EVEs, in combination with the discipline and con-
tent under study. Of course, we follow Salzman and associates’ statement,
reporting that “the success or failure of VR learning environments in prac-
tice critically depends upon the web of relations among VR’s features, the
concepts to be learned, learner characteristics, the learning experience, the
interaction experience, and more” (1999).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

“We thank Dr. Vassilios Strouboulis for developing the virtual environ-
ment.”

REFERENCES

Boyle, T. (1997). Design for multimedia learning. London: Prentice Hall.

Bricken, W. (1990). Learning in virtual reality. Technical Report No. HITL-
M-90–5. Seattle, WA: Human Interface Technology Laboratory, University
of Washington. Retrieved May 10, 2006 from www.hitl.washington.edu/
publications/m-90–5
Brown, D. J., Mikropoulos, T. A., & Kerr, S. J. (1996). A Virtual laser physics
laboratory. VR in the Schools, 2(3), 38.
Chang, C., & Weng, Y. (2002). An exploratory study on students’ problem-solv-
ing ability in earth science. International Journal of Science Education, 24(5),
441–451.
Helsel, S. (1992). Virtual reality and education. Educational Technology, May,
38–42.
Johnson, A., Moher, T., Ohlsson, S., & Gillingham, M. (1999). The Round Earth
Project—Collaborative VR for conceptual learning. IEEE Computer Graphics
and Applications, 19(6), 60–69.
Kameas, A., Mikropoulos, T. A., Katsikis, A., Emvalotis, A., & Pintelas, P. (2000).
EIKON: Teaching a high-school technology course with the aid of virtual real-
ity. Education and Information Technologies, 5(4), 305–315.
Mikropoulos, T., A. (1997). Virtual environments in science education. Interna-
tional Conference Virtual Reality in Education and Training, Loughborough,
UK, pp. 43–48.
Mikropoulos, T., A., Chalkidis, A., Katsikis, A., & Emvalotis, A. (1998). Students’
attitudes towards educational virtual environments. Education and Informa-
tion Technologies, 3, 137–148.
Mikropoulos, T., A., Chalkidis, A., Katsikis, A., & Kossivaki, Ph. (1997). Virtual
realities in environmental education: The project LAKE. Education and Infor-
mation Technologies, 2, 131–142.
Mikropoulos, T., A., Katsikis, A., Nikolou, E., & Tsakalis, P. (2003). Virtual
environments in biology teaching. Journal of Biological Education, 37(4), 176–
181.
Mikropoulos, T. A., & Strouboulis, V. (2004). Factors that influence presence in
educational virtual environments. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 7(5), 582–
591.
258 Tassos A. Mikropoulos and Joan Bellou
Pantelidis, V. S. (1993). Virtual reality in the classroom. Educational Technology,
April, 23–27.
Salzman, M. C., Dede, C., Loftin, R. B., & Chen, J. (1999). A model for under-
standing how virtual reality aids complex conceptual learning. Presence, 8(3),
293–316.
Winn, W. (1993). A conceptual basis for educational applications of virtual reality.
Technical Report No. TR-93–9. www.hitl.washington.edu/publications/r-93–9
Winn, W., & Windschitl, M. (2000). Learning science in virtual environments:
The interplay of theory and experience. Themes in Education, 1(4), 373–389.
Part V

Discussion and Conclusion

In Chapter 13, “‘Real’ Learning in Virtual Worlds: An Integration of Media,

Curricula and Pedagogy through Telepresence,” Melissa E. Markaridian
Selverian and Concetta M. Stewart draw together the pedagogical and theo-
retical frameworks with the increasingly social and spatial virtual learning
environments presented in this book. In this chapter, the editors carefully
link the conceptualizations of spatial and social telepresence with the charac-
teristics of media richness (Daft & Lengel, 1984) and social presence (Short
et al., 1976) theories and the pedagogies of instructivism and social and
cognitive constructivism to identify and forecast the comprehensive poten-
tial of telepresence in the development of enhanced virtual learning environ-
ments. As increasingly advanced technologies emerge to immerse students
in portrayals of and interactions with/about subject matter, understanding
the power of telepresence to evoke illusions of engagement, discussion and
instruction will be critical to the success of virtual learning.
13 ‘Real’ Learning in Virtual Worlds
An Integration of Media, Curricula
and Pedagogy through Telepresence
Melissa E. Markaridian Selverian and
Concetta M. Stewart

INTRODUCTION

At the end of the 20th and start of the 21st centuries, technologies for
teaching and learning were becoming more sensorially and spatially
sophisticated and socially interactive, ultimately able to create educational
experiences through a spatial immersion in and interaction with psycho-
logical perceptions or illusions of teachers, learners and subject matter in
what was increasingly called the virtual learning environment. Education
research had reflected this evolution, as the classroom had embarked on
a path from a once-linear, hierarchical, sender-message-receiver system
drawing on the instructivist paradigm (Bloom, Englehard, & Furst, 1956;
Blumler, 1979; Katz, 1959; Krathwohl, Bloom, & Masia, 1964; Rosen,
1998) to an interactive social network seated in a social constructivist
framework (Bandura, 1977; Daft & Lengel, 1984; Hiltz, 1986; Levie &
Lentz, 1982; Liao & Bright, 1991; Short, Williams, & Christie, 1976;
Wright, 1970), to an engaging spatial environment that promoted cogni-
tive (thoughtful) and affective (satisfying) performance from a cognitive
constructivist perspective (Piaget, 1970; Satterly, 1987; Zajonc, 1984);
and fi nally to combinations of these systems (Brunner, 1990; Margules,
1996; Strate, 1999; Zhao, 2002). The road had not been direct or smooth,
however, as a balance of teacher, learner, subject matter and technology
had been hard to achieve in the rapidly fluctuating, often intimidating, and
exclusive technology world.
Amid the turbulence, a particular conceptual framework emerged, prom-
ising to direct the effective use of new media in the classroom, theoretically
and practically. In parts II, III and IV of this book, a carefully selected
sampling of a range of new media in education research at the time of this
writing directly and indirectly suggested that the communication concept
called telepresence was essential to the successful creation and integration
of meaningful social and spatial illusions in the evolving virtual classroom.
The editors find evidence that the social and spatial conceptualizations of
telepresence (presence) are instrumental in the design of the virtual class-
room because they reflect the basic premises of the social and cognitive
262 Melissa E. Markaridian Selverian and Concetta M. Stewart
constructivist paradigms and the related social presence (Short et al., 1976)
and media richness (Daft & Lengel, 1984) theories to provide sets of con-
ceptual and technological form and content factors capable of evoking illu-
sions of social interaction and spatial immersion that enhance learning and
satisfaction. Further, the sample of research included in this book suggested
that an association of social and spatial telepresence illusions with subject
matter might provide the necessary teacher direction from the instructivist
vantage to ensure the achievement of desired learning objectives. While the
authors of these chapters did not always refer directly to telepresence in their
referenced learning environments, the editors fi nd within their chapters clear
indications that the primary challenges and successes of enhancing learning
and satisfaction keyed to illusions of social interaction, student engagement
and guided instruction, particularly relevant to the social constructivist,
cognitive constructivist and instructivist elements of social and spatial tele-
presence. The editors propose that these challenges could be mitigated and
the successes embellished through a more deliberate consideration of the
conceptualizations of social and spatial telepresence.

A VISIBLE TRANSFORMATION OF THE CLASSROOM

TO THE VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

In the 1980s and ’90s, the most advanced multisensory and interactive
technology in the history of education entered some educational arenas
with the potential to bridge the teaching, learning and subject matter
gaps in the classroom—virtual reality or VR (see Chapter 8, this volume,
“Virtualy Reality in Education,” by Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C.
Vinciguerra). The most sensorially or spatially immersive and interactive
of the VR technologies used were sophisticated head-mounts and projec-
tion equipment to display three-dimensional (3-D) images and sounds of
people, places and things and could be found primarily in military and
medical rehabilitation training settings. Although these advanced VR sys-
tems soon became the focus of several research studies in K–12 and higher
education, their technologies were expensive and difficult to use and so
they rarely made their way into the primary, secondary or postsecondary
classrooms. The VR systems that were more likely to make their way into
schools were generally text-based with 2-D visual graphics displayed on
computer screens, known as MultiUser Domains (MUDs), Object Oriented
(MOOs), and MultiUser Virtual Environments (MUVEs). These technolo-
gies were relatively inexpensive and self-programmable and sparked some
interest and use in schools and labs because of their cognitive constructivist
potential to encourage student engagement through spatial immersion and
technological interaction.
While better received than the more advanced 3-D VR systems, the early
2-D graphical systems rarely attracted the administrative investment that
 ‘Real’ Learning in Virtual Worlds 263
their socially interactive technological predecessors, the conferencing sys-
tems, had. Often time-consuming and spatially unconvincing, the 2-D sys-
tems were frequently bypassed for two-way electronic and digital phone,
audiovisual, and interactive text communication systems that had been
advancing over the previous two decades. Conferencing systems were gen-
erally viewed as easier to use, more readily available, and with the potential
to grow the market by attracting new students through distance-education
capacities. Although not without their problems, including technical fail-
ures often complicating communication and discouraging integration into
curricula, the socially interactive distance technologies had proliferated,
changing the look and style of many classrooms and transforming once-
instructivist teaching frameworks into social constructive teacher-student
networks that promoted more dialectic experiences and student control.
While distance technologies were firmly planted in many classrooms by the
start of the 21st century, an enormous propulsion of Internet, digital, wire-
less and mobile media—many of which incorporated 3-D graphics and were
labeled VR—began to claim the attention of educators and academicians.
Growing more affordable, available and prevalent at all societal levels—from
entertainment (especially gaming), business and medicine to homes, librar-
ies and schools—and increasingly merged with Web-based desktop systems
such as MUVEs, VR was on the rise, and with it, a renewed interest in VR
for learning. The field of education seemed readier than ever to embrace com-
bined socially rich and spatially engaging teaching and learning systems that
could enhance the classroom experience as never before. Educators as well as
researchers were increasingly enthralled with the potential of advanced VR
to propel both teacher and student into a simultaneously socially interactive,
spatially immersive and instructive learning experience that could engage the
student, encourage his/her discussion, and guide her/him to learning objec-
tives (Mania & Chalmers, 2000; Schacter, 2001; Selverian, 2005; Youngblut,
1998). In essence, evidence was emerging to suggest that the virtual learning
environment had the potential to draw together social constructivist, cog-
nitive constructivist and instructivist elements, making it more “real” and
meaningful than any learning environment before it.

A THEORETICAL PATH TO TELEPRESENCE

While a growing number of administrators and faculty at all levels of edu-

cation in the U.S. and abroad were showing a renewed interest in the poten-
tial of advanced VR for learning at the time of this writing in response to
an increased availability of, exposure to, and familiarity with the tech-
nologies in students’ everyday lives, some important barriers remained.
Importantly, socioeconomic and demographic divides persisted. While a
growing number of institutions had incorporated sophisticated electronic
and digital resources into their facilities, many residences and neighborhoods
264 Melissa E. Markaridian Selverian and Concetta M. Stewart
throughout the world remained unconnected to and unfamiliar with the
advancing tools of learning and communication. Further, another kind of
digital divide was often apparent in educational settings themselves. This
one related to fluency with the technologies, sometimes separating the digi-
tally competent student from the novice teacher. As significant as any of
these divides—and perhaps paramount insofar as its necessity to justify
an investment in VR—was the deficiency of theoretical guidelines to direct
the design, implementation and assessment of the virtual learning environ-
ment. While much social constructivist-based research existed, focusing
largely on the practical methods and benefits of drawing together teachers
and students in technology-connected or distance-learning environments,
little research had expounded on the methods and potential advantages of
engaging students and teachers in combinations of spatially rich, socially
interactive, and instructive VR learning experiences.
In the 2000s, researchers were increasingly turning their attention to VR
technologies in the K–12 and higher education classrooms. In particular, the
psychological perceptions or illusions evoked through advanced VR tech-
nologies were beginning to take the spotlight, as educators increasingly pon-
dered how to make these highly intellectually and socially satisfying. At the
time of this writing, a growing body of evidence suggested that the achieve-
ment of psychological perceptions conducive to virtual learning might be
highly dependent upon the communication concept of telepresence.
The literature on telepresence, which could be broadly categorized as
social and spatial in nature, offered conceptualizations of the psychological
illusions evoked through a full range of virtual technologies; and reflected
the basic premises of the social constructivist, cognitive constructivist and
instructivist learning frameworks and the theories that were built upon
them (International Society for Presence Research; 2008; Lombard & Dit-
ton, 1997; Selverian, 2005). The psychological illusions of social “rich-
ness,” through perceptions of warm, sensitive and personally focused
communication with social actors within/through a medium, were called
social telepresence and drew on the verbal and nonverbal “face-to-face”
cues (technological form factors or prompts) of Social Presence Theory
(Short, Williams, & Christie, 1976); the instant feedback and natural lan-
guage dimensions of Media Richness Theory (Daft & Lengel, 1984); and
the social interaction and student control tenets of the social constructiv-
ist pedagogy. The psychological illusions of spatial immersion in, realism
of and “transportation” to portrayals of social actors, places and things
within/through a medium were called spatial telepresence and drew on the
multisensory cues, natural language, and personal focus of Media Richness
Theory; and the engagement and student control emphases of the cognitive
constructivist pedagogy. Finally, the psychological illusions of instruction
through perceptions of the personal nature of the communication and the
realism of the portrayals were evident in social and spatial telepresence,
drawing on the personal focus of Media Richness Theory (Daft & Lengel,
1984) and the directive emphasis of the instructivist pedagogy.
 ‘Real’ Learning in Virtual Worlds 265
As social and spatial telepresence conceptualizations were being devel-
oped to capture the characteristics of the social and spatial illusions, so were
technological form factors capable of evoking the illusions and measures
appropriate to assessing their effectiveness (Freeman, Avons, Pearson, &
IJsselsteijn, 1999; International Society for Presence Research, 2008; IJssel-
steijn & Ridder, 1998; Lessiter, Freeman, Keogh, & Davidoff, 2001; Lom-
bard & Ditton, 1997; Lombard, Ditton, Crane, Davis, Gil-Egui, Horvath,
et al., 2000; Slater & Steed, 2000; Steuer, 1995). As VR took a firmer hold
in the classroom, the fascination with virtual technologies was increasingly
matched by a fascination with their potential for more interactive, engaging
and meaningful psychological experiences of teaching and learning through
the social and spatial illusions of telepresence (Mania & Chalmers, 2000;
Roussou, Johnson, Moher, Leigh, Vasilakis, & Barnes, 1999; Selverian,
2005; Wenglinsky, 1998; Youngblut, 1998).
In this book, the editors present a carefully selected capsule of the litera-
ture on advanced technologies and learning at the start of the 21st century
that clearly show the increasingly rapid physical and theoretical evolution
of the classroom from a uniquely instructivist, teacher-driven format; to
a socially constructive, collaborative exchange; to a cognitively construc-
tive, student-focused and engaging environment; and finally to a com-
bined instructivist, socially constructivist and cognitively constructivist or
simultaneously teacher-guided, interactive, and immersive experience. In
essence, the instructivist and constructivist paradigms have drawn more
closely together than ever before, at times able to coexist in the most tech-
nologically sophisticated virtual environments. Most significantly, the edi-
tors identify the conceptualizations of social and spatial telepresence in the
research about these classrooms and their potential in the design of the most
psychologically, socially and intellectually fulfilling learning experiences.
In this concluding chapter, the editors address the three main topics that
emerged in this collection of research on the evolving virtual learning envi-
ronment—social interaction, student engagement and guided instruction—as
these relate to the paradigms and theories of social constructivism, cognitive
constructivism and instructivism, respectively. Initially, the editors explore
the relationship among successes in these three areas and the achievement of
social or spatial telepresence. Ultimately, the editors identify evidence that
the greatest enhancement of learning and satisfaction might depend on an
integration of social interaction, student engagement and guided instruction
through combinations of social and spatial telepresence.

PART II: IMPACTS OF SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM AND

INSTRUCTIVISM ON SOCIAL TELEPRESENCE AND THE
EVOLVING SOCIALLY CONNECTED CLASSROOM

As the editors identified in their evaluation of and introductions to the

chapters of Part II, the socially connected classroom was transforming at
266 Melissa E. Markaridian Selverian and Concetta M. Stewart
the time of this writing (Arbaugh, 2000; Sandholtz, Ringstaff, & Dwyer,
1997; Severin & Tackard, 1997), increasingly influenced by more sophisti-
cated virtual technologies and the psychological perceptions evoked through
these. Research in Part II drew particular attention to the practical and
theoretical changes of Web and online course management systems. As the
technologies were advancing in sensorial potential, the research began to
look beyond the utilitarian nature of the exchanges to the richness or real-
istic nature of the social cues that created them and the need for an instruc-
tive force to guide an appropriate understanding of them. The research was
initially focused on achieving the social constructivist objective of dialectic
exchange and the Social Presence Theory standards of face-to-face com-
munication through the presence of verbal and nonverbal cues (Short et
al., 1976). As the technologies advanced, the research keyed increasingly
to the “richness” of the communication medium, reflective of Media Rich-
ness Theory (Daft & Lengel, 1984) and its elements of instant feedback,
multiple sensory cues, natural language, and relevant task assignment. Ulti-
mately, the editors observe, the focus shifted to the effectiveness of the
illusions of communication evoked through the increasingly sophisticated
technologies, which could be uniquely defined and measured through the
conceptualizations of social telepresence. The editors, therefore, propose
social telepresence and its focus on the perceived warmth, sensitivity, and
personal nature of discussions about subject matter as a potentially relevant
gauge of the evolving socially connected classroom’s success at enhancing
learning and satisfaction in student-teacher communication.
In Chapter 2, “Effects of Web-Enhanced Course Materials on College
Students’ Engagement and Learning Outcomes,” author Xigen Li explored
how psychological perceptions of socially interactive learning through tex-
tual and graphical Web-based course materials might have the potential to
relate positively to the student’s learning outcomes. He found that, while
the online course management systems offered students increased control
over and potentially increased involvement in discussions about the subject
matter, the success of the socially interactive environment at enhancing
learning seemed to depend upon both the success of evoking perceptions
of a personally meaningful social interaction and of the relevance of the
interaction to the subject matter. Li’s research showed that the availability
of more interactive and sensory Web technologies in the social classroom
was, in and of itself, insufficient in assessing students’ engagement in and
enhanced learning through social interaction. He found that, when there
was the perception of learning through Web technologies, however, there
was a strong correlation with learning outcomes, raising the question as
to the nature and significance of the illusions of social interaction that are
perceived as learning-enhancing. Li’s research keyed to Web resources with
a range of interactivity and sensorial cues, from less interactive and sense-
engaging study guides and course notes to more interactive and sense-
engaging links and online discussions. While some of the media richness
 ‘Real’ Learning in Virtual Worlds 267
factors of multiple cues, natural language and instant feedback were evi-
dent in these technologies, their effectiveness at evoking social telepres-
ence illusions of warm, sensitive and personally focused discussions were
unqualified. Li concurred that the presentation format and the type of con-
tent were likely significant in the perceptions of learning-enhancing social
interaction. “How the course materials are presented on the Web and what
type of course materials are actually made available to the students will
also make a difference in student learning experience and performance,”
he forecast (page 45).
Further, Li’s research suggested a need for an instructivist element in the
selection and use of Web technologies, since different types of interactions
might lead to different perceived learning processes and learning outcomes.
He further confi rmed the need for an instructivist element through his ref-
erence to the student majority’s desire for use of lecture in the classroom.
In sum, Li’s observations suggested a strong need for a consideration of the
social constructivist factors of effective interaction through use of multiple
cues and natural language, together with the instructivist element of rel-
evance to subject matter, as reflected in the social richness dimensions of
social telepresence, for the effective design and assessment of the socially
connected classroom.
Similarly, in Chapter 3, “From Homer to High Tech: The Impact of Social
Presence and Media Richness on Online Mentoring in Higher Education,”
Jamie Switzer studied the relationship of technology-evoked perceptions of
social interaction to learning and satisfaction. Looking through the theo-
retical lenses of social presence and media richness, she suggested that the
success of online course management systems at bridging students, advisors
and mentors might rely greatly on their psychological perceptions of con-
nectedness, enhanced through feelings of interactivity and personal focus.
Switzer’s findings reiterated Li’s observations that the availability and use
of the social technology in the learning environment were alone insufficient
factors to enhance perceptions of meaningful social interaction. Switzer noted
the frequency of online interaction was sometimes a benefit and sometimes a
detriment to meaningful communication among mentors and mentees. Sig-
nificantly, about two-thirds of both mentors and mentees responded that they
would be very comfortable extending their relationship if a “richer” medium,
or one more evocative of social interaction, was used, suggesting that the
value of the social technology might be its ability to evoke socially rich illu-
sions. Switzer recognized the need for more research to explore whether the
use of richer media would expand a sense of “social presence” between men-
tors and mentees and whether that in turn would increase the amount of
satisfaction with and intellectual reward from the online mentoring environ-
ment. The editors feel that consideration of the social telepresence measures
of social richness—warmth, sensitivity, and the personal and intimate nature
of the communication—and their association with more sophisticated social
technologies could greatly assist future research in this area.
268 Melissa E. Markaridian Selverian and Concetta M. Stewart
In Chapter 4, “Educating Educators for Virtual Schooling: Communi-
cating Roles and Responsibilities,” authors Chad M. Harms, Dale S. Nie-
derhauser, Niki E. Davis, M. D. Roblyer, and Stephen B. Gilbert supported
the formation and application of guidelines to aid teachers in the effective
use of social technologies in K–12 virtual schools. Their review of com-
munication theories provided a conceptual framework that strengthened
the call for the design and implementation of virtual learning environments
that were effective at evoking the socially rich cues of warmth, sensitivity
and the personal nature of communication among students and teachers
while maintaining a relevance to subject matter. The authors emphasized
the importance of a constructivist vantage, keying to elements of interac-
tivity, use of multiple sensory cues, and student control, as they provided a
theoretical examination of the potential of the most advanced communica-
tion technologies in the evolving socially connected classroom.
While endorsing the editors’ contention that “teaching is at its root a
process of communication,” the authors emphasized that students and
teachers might draw positive or negative effects from communication.
They proposed that teachers in virtual schools, who relied on advanced
communication Web and audio and/or video conferencing systems to keep
connected with students, needed appropriate guidelines at their disposal to
cultivate the technologies’ social interaction potential. The authors called
on communication theories to develop a constructivist framework for the
virtual school, emphasizing the importance of “rich” social interaction
among students and teachers through the effective use of interactivity and
multiple cues. The authors indicated, however, that assembling a multitude
of communication channels might be unsuccessful if the channels inhib-
ited the exchange of verbal and/or nonverbal cues through poor design or
interference. The authors drew on the face-to-face benchmark of Social
Presence Theory (Short, Williams, & Christie, 1976), which suggests that
clear perceptions of facial expressions, gestures, and/or aural and tactile
stimuli might be essential to effective communication (Carpenter & McLu-
han, 1960). Further, the authors endorsed the constructivist premise of
student control by recommending teacher flexibility in the teacher-student
communication format, e.g., face to face or at a distance, synchronous or
asynchronous.
While the authors emphasized a constructivist framework for the virtual
school, their findings indicated the usefulness of an instructivist element in
the design and implementation of the technologies to counter such misun-
derstandings and distractions as media illiteracy, cultural disparity, and sub-
ject matter unfamiliarity. They proposed that messages be encoded properly
in order to heighten the chance that they are decoded correctly. The edi-
tors identify characteristics of the communication concept of social telep-
resence—namely its ability to evoke illusions of exchanges among students,
teachers and subject matter that are warm, sensitive, personal and relevant
to a desired task—that are potentially well-suited to designing and assessing
 ‘Real’ Learning in Virtual Worlds 269
communication technologies that balance constructivist and instructivist ele-
ments to enhance learning and satisfaction in the virtual school.

CONCLUSION: THE EVOLVING SOCIAL

CLASSROOM AND SOCIAL TELEPRESENCE

In sum, the success of the increasingly virtual social learning networks

depicted in the chapters of Part II at encouraging meaningful and satisfy-
ing learning experiences seem to depend largely on their success at creating
“rich” social interactions, advocated in the social constructivist research; and
on the relevance of the interactions to the students, teachers and subject mat-
ter, reflective of instructivist guidance. As social telepresence identified the
dimensions necessary to evoke illusions of “rich” social interaction through
sophisticated social technologies—namely warmth, sensitivity, and a personal
nature of exchange; and as social telepresence illusions can be instructive of
subject matter, the editors propose a consideration of social telepresence in
the design and implementation of the social learning system.

PART III: MEDIA-RICH ENVIRONMENTS CREATE ENGAGING

LEARNING EXPERIENCES IN THE COGNITIVE CONSTRUCTIVIST
TRADITION THROUGH SPATIAL TELEPRESENCE

In Part III, researchers unveiled newly developing spatially immersive vir-

tual learning environments that increasingly called on student engagement
through immersion of the senses, reflective of the cognitive constructivist
framework and the multimedia cues of Media Richness Theory (Daft &
Lengel, 1984). In this set of spatial learning environments, which keyed
to synchronous and asynchronous video lectures, interactive media map-
ping systems, and mobile phone–based blogs, immersion and engagement
demanded as much attention as social interaction. The chapters also called
on dimensions of instructivist guidance as referenced in Media Richness
Theory through their association of relevant spatial cues to task accom-
plishment. The editors identify a strong association among the elements
of engagement, spatial immersion and instruction in the spatial learning
environment research and the psychological factors of “transportation”
and “realism” of spatial telepresence, proposing spatial telepresence as an
important consideration in the design of virtual learning environments
capable of delivering students to captivating educational worlds.
Recognizing that the senses are increasingly called upon in virtual
learning worlds, Amy S. Weiss explored “A New Lens for Learning in the
Communications Field: The Effectiveness of Video Lectures with Asynchro-
nous, Synchronous Discussions in Online/Distance Education” in Chapter
5. In the tradition of Media Richness Theory (Daft & Lengel, 1984), she
270 Melissa E. Markaridian Selverian and Concetta M. Stewart
examined the individual sensory cues and use of natural language that
might facilitate or inhibit the most engrossing and meaningful educational
exchanges in an online network. In her research on a Moodle (modular
object-oriented dynamic learning environment), Weiss called on Richard
E. Mayer’s (2003) multimedia principles to explore how visuals, audio, and
animation can impact the student’s ability to learn information. Consistent
with the cognitive constructivist focus on realism, immersion, and student
control and the instructivist element of relevance to task accomplishment,
she found that video lectures might have the potential of being designed in
engaging and instructive ways but that all sensory cues are not right for all
learning environments.
Specifically, Weiss’ research showed that students might be engaged
through immersion in the visual sense while watching a video lecture but
that the addition of instant social feedback might not be advantageous to
learning. Instead, learning in the Moodle she studied seemed better when
instructive elements of the lecture were supported with discussion only
after students had time to reflect and were ready for conversation. Weiss
drew attention to the fact that many course participants were from Latin
America and that the cultural barriers to an American program may have
contributed to the need for time to reflect. The results provided evidence
that, in some increasingly virtual learning environments, cognitive con-
structivist engagement (e.g., through immersion in the senses) might need
to be accompanied by immediate instructivist guidance (simultaneous
lecture); but not by immediate social feedback (discussion before reflec-
tion). Spatial telepresence illusions, which provide defi nitions and measures
for evoking realistic and immersive illusions capable of guiding students
to personally relevant portrayals of and discussions about subject matter,
seem particularly relevant to the Moodle and necessary in determining the
appropriate combination of engaging, instructive and socially supportive
cues that could enhance learning and satisfaction within it.
In Chapter 6, Christina Spurgeon, Christy Collis, Marcus Foth and Per-
nilla Severson further discussed how cultures could be bridged through
networks of spatial cues in the virtual learning network called “media
map.” In “A New Educational Technology for Media and Communication
Studies: Mapping Media in Australia and Sweden,” the authors explored
how a complex and ever-expanding yet student-controlled and navigable
new medium could help students “fi nd their way” to new industrial and
cultural environments transformed by the effects of increasingly sense-
engaging information and communication technologies.
Spurgeon, Collis, Foth, and Severson drew on Australian and Swedish
experiences to outline the formation of a virtual learning environment that
facilitated authentic learning experiences for students preparing to work
in the rapidly evolving media and communication industries. The media
map was an elaborate network, including not only portrayals of physical
objects, tools and artifacts, but also information creation and distribution
 ‘Real’ Learning in Virtual Worlds 271
technologies. The visualization of the media systems through maps and
illustrations called on cognitive constructivist elements of engagement
through the senses as well as Media Richness Theory’s (Daft & Lengel,
1984) focus on multiple sensory cues; but the living, growing environment
called mostly on the cognitive constructivist dimension of student control,
as students were in charge of building and manipulating the spatially “rich”
environment. Further, visual cues, such as flow charts and diagrams, offered
an instructive element to the framework, as they called on Media Richness
Theory’s relevance to task accomplishment to help direct and guide to sub-
ject matter. As in the Moodle environment of Chapter 5, the Australian and
Swedish media maps called on elements of social constructivist interaction
but not necessarily through a synchronous interchange. Control over the
learning experience remained the priority, and the students might have pre-
ferred less immediate feedback.
One of the greatest assets of the media map seemed to be its ability to
transcend space and time to “transport” students to other cultures in order
to explore new media industries and understand the nuances of working in
these. The illusion of “transportation” together with the illusion of real-
ism, and the ability to associate these with portrayals of and discussions
about subject matter as explicated in the conceptualization of spatial tele-
presence, seemed particularly relevant to the media map network. The edi-
tors propose spatial telepresence as a potentially enhancing addition to the
media map model.
Studying the heightened sensory experience of mobile cell phones in
Chapter 7, authors Susan Jacobson and Karen Turner discussed how jour-
nalism educators might incorporate the phones as instructional tools in the
news-gathering process. In “Not Your Father’s Educational Technology: A
Case Study in Mobile Media and Journalism Education,” the researchers
explored both the limitations and possibilities of these digital devices to
help future journalists gather information, then develop a news story, and
fi nally share it through a collaborative blog. The research suggested that the
success of the cell phones at information gathering and sharing depended
largely on the success of combining audio, video, text, and Web access any-
where/anytime in a spatially as well as socially “rich” experience.
Through their emphases on the information-gathering, delivery and
sharing potential and on the multiple visual, aural and textual cues of
the mobile phone technology during an election cycle, the authors drew
greatly on the student control and engagement elements of the cognitive
constructivist framework and on the multimedia cues, natural language
and instant feedback of Media Richness Theory (Daft & Lengel, 1984).
Young participants were particularly inclined to hold a mobile phone
to include an interview subject in a live visual report, or to hold a tape
recorder up to the mobile phone receiver to play a sound bite from a press
conference. While the mobile phone environment drew, likewise, on the
social constructivist dimension of social interaction, it might not always
272 Melissa E. Markaridian Selverian and Concetta M. Stewart
have demanded the dimension of immediate feedback, as was indicated in
the Moodle and media map environments of Chapters 5 and 6. “While it
was exciting to have the mobile posts immediately published [on the blog]
when they were called in on Election Day, the [reverse chronological]
blog format was not a useful way of experiencing the material after the
moment had passed,” the authors wrote (page 143). Through their prefer-
ence of a more coherent ordering of posts, the authors suggested a need
for an instructivist element to the blog design for better comprehension of
“long-term presentation of material that has any depth or breadth” (page
143).
Perhaps the most vivid convergence of cognitive constructivist and
instructivist elements in the mobile phone system was evident in the Google
Map. The Google Map’s success depended both on the user’s inclination to
design the Election Day news coverage through a collection of audiovisual
and textual accounts and on his/her ability to organize the stories by loca-
tion through annotated maps. Users had the ability to create their own maps
by marking subject matter locations with “push pins” and then adding text,
images and links to the annotation. They could then share their maps with
others, charting a course to news and information. The ability to engage
the senses in realistic portrayals of and discussions about the news and to
be transported or transport others to the news is uniquely captured in the
realism and transportation conceptualizations of spatial telepresence. The
editors propose spatial telepresence as a potentially highly relevant tool in
the design and assessment of realistic and meaningful spatial illusions in
the mobile phone news network.

CONCLUSION: MEDIA-RICH ENVIRONMENTS

AND SPATIAL TELEPRESENCE

The chapters of Part III offered strong evidence that the most technologi-
cally advanced virtual learning environments were increasingly drawing
upon immersive sensory cues that could transport students, teachers, and
mentors through space and time to meaningful spatial illusions of subject
matter. The ability to create successful spatial illusions seemed depen-
dent upon the ability to present multiple spatial cues in both a sensorially
immersive and student-controlled experience, as endorsed in the cognitive
constructivist research; and on the relevance of the illusions to the students,
teachers and subject matter, as emphasized in the instructivist literature.
As spatial immersion in and “transportation” to subject matter are the pri-
mary dimensions of spatial telepresence illusions, and as spatial telepres-
ence keys particularly to illusions evoked through spatial technologies in
virtual environments, the editors propose spatial telepresence as a key con-
sideration in the design and assessment of the increasingly spatial virtual
learning environment.
 ‘Real’ Learning in Virtual Worlds 273
PART IV: SPATIAL AND SOCIAL TECHNOLOGIES
CONVERGE IN TELEPRESENCE, PAVING WAY
TO ENHANCED VIRTUAL LEARNING

In Part IV, VR worlds that showcased the most advanced technologies

entered the educational arena, intending to evoke both social and spatial
illusions of students, teachers and subject matter. Leading VR researchers
and educators Veronica S. Pantelidis and David C. Vinciguerra presented a
thorough overview of the development of virtual reality as a teaching tool.
The subsequent four chapters presented research in four different VR learn-
ing environments—the 3-D software program Deva, VR computer games,
the Virtual Harlem VR, and the EVE head-mount and avatar wall—that
provided evidence that social telepresence perceptions of warmth, sensitiv-
ity, and a personal and intimate focus, in the tradition of social construc-
tivism, might be combined with spatial telepresence perceptions of realism,
transportation, immersion, and social actors, consistent with cognitive
constructivism. Further, there was evidence that the achievement of learn-
ing objectives, as emphasized in the instructivist framework and in Media
Richness Theory’s focus on task accomplishment (Daft & Lengel, 1984),
might be realized by evoking relevant or instructive social and spatial tele-
presence illusions. Importantly, the chapters suggested that the right com-
binations of all-at-once vivid, interactive and instructive social and spatial
telepresence illusions might enhance learning and satisfaction in the virtual
learning worlds.
In Chapter 8, “Virtual Reality in Education,” Veronica S. Pantelidis and
David C. Vinciguerra set the scene for an inspection of four advanced vir-
tual learning environments by presenting a comprehensive summary of the
development of VR in teaching and learning environments. The authors
provided sets of relevant VR defi nitions and classifications to add perspec-
tive to the rapidly evolving media terms. Their overview spans K–12 to
higher education and a range of classroom subject areas. The authors con-
fi rmed a growing interest in and research to investigate the potential of tele-
presence (presence) in the design of enhanced virtual learning experiences.
In Chapter 9, “A User-Centered Approach for Building Design Guide-
lines for the Use of Virtual Actors in CVEs for Learning,” author Daphne
Economou explored the increasingly immersive 2-D and 3-D collabora-
tive virtual environment called Deva. Through her investigation of the
social richness and spatial realism of the virtual actors in the program,
she identified social and spatial perceptions relevant to learning that were
clearly aligned with the illusions of social and spatial telepresence. Specifi-
cally, she attempted to design guidelines for the use of the virtual actors in
the collaborative environments, calling on the social richness elements of
warmth, sensitivity, and a personal and intimate focus of social telepres-
ence, and the dimensions of realism, transportation, immersion and social
actors consistent with spatial telepresence. Further, her research identified
274 Melissa E. Markaridian Selverian and Concetta M. Stewart
the essentialness of conveying an instructive element in the social and spa-
tial illusions, as is feasible through social and spatial telepresence, so that
learning may be relevant and meaningful.
Using Deva, Economou explored the re-creation of an ancient Egyp-
tian game (senet), designed for children following the National Curriculum
for Education in England and administered in a museum setting. Econo-
mou’s research was in three phases, following much the same path as the
instructivist, social constructivist and cognitive constructivist research and
the development of increasingly virtual technologies, particularly over the
last decade. In the fi rst phase, which drew on instructivist and social con-
structivist elements, the researcher formed a 2-D single display groupware
system in which information was relayed on a screen and additional inter-
actions took place face-to-face in the ‘real world’ (outside of the CVE). In
the second phase, she drew primarily on the social constructivist frame-
work and to a lesser extent on the cognitive constructivist framework using
a conventional 2-D multi-user groupware environment in which the users
were remotely located and interactions were internal to the CVE. These
fi rst two phases built into the third phase, which more completely intro-
duced a cognitive constructivist perspective and intertwined it with social
constructivist and instructivist elements in a 3-D multi-user groupware
environment that allowed students to transcend space and time to interact
virtually within the CVE.
In the fi rst phase of the Deva world, Economou examined a low-tech
single-display groupware prototype focusing primarily on instructing stu-
dents about the rules to playing the senet game. Users saw the senet board
and pieces and could access the rules of the game. They sat next to each
other as they might have in a traditional classroom and viewed the appli-
cation on a single, shared display. They could interact with one another
face-to-face, external to the computer. The prototype was constructed
using 2-D multimedia technology that was familiar to the students and
easy for them to use. Here the value of instruction and the need for social
interaction for enhanced learning and satisfaction became equally appar-
ent. Economou wrote: “What stood out mainly was [1)] the rich range
of interactivity and social communication that needs to be supported in
CVEs for learning [; and 2)] the importance of the expert being aware of
and able to control even such a seemingly well structured activity as game
playing” (page 189).
In the second phase, a more socially interactive groupware program
was used to study issues involving communication among remotely located
players of the game. In the social constructivist tradition, this environ-
ment keyed particularly to evoking illusions of socially “rich” interaction
through the use of interactive and multimedia cues. The media cues used
to evoke these illusions were mixed in complexity, however, so that some
were recognizable, instructive and easy to use and some were more sensori-
ally intricate and novel. The CVE brought together the more conventional,
 ‘Real’ Learning in Virtual Worlds 275
directive technologies of phase one in the instructivist tradition and draw-
ing on the Media Richness Theory factor of task accomplishment (Daft &
Lengel, 1984); with a more highly sensory program of socially interactive
avatars or virtual actors representing experts and students, drawing on the
social constructivist foundation of social interaction and student control
and the Media Richness Theory factors of multimedia, natural language
and/or instant feedback to evoke social telepresence perceptions of warm,
sensitive, and personal communication.
The editors observe, however, that the illusions of “rich” social interac-
tion in the phase two Deva might not have been fostered by all multisensory
cues and instant feedback all the time, as was apparent in the social learn-
ing systems of Part III. Attention had to be given to aligning the technolo-
gies and the interactions to the learners’ needs and learning objectives. The
author advised “[p]aying careful attention to the problem area and applica-
tion requirements . . . [and using] text rather than audio for communica-
tion because of various educational and literacy requirements” (page 210).
While audio capability might have enabled an instant verbal exchange, text
seemed the better choice given the students’ difficulty with oral expression
in certain languages. Further, the author noted the benefit of inserting the
text seamlessly into the multisensory experience to provide an instructive
element that was not distracting and did not burden the student as she/he
navigated through the more highly sensory cues. She wrote: “Results from
the fi rst and second phases have indicated that it is important for the text
to be embedded within the context of the virtual environment itself rather
than appearing in external windows. User studies showed that the change
of context between a ‘game window’ and a ‘text window’ is considerable
for children, and disruptive of their engagement with the environment”
(page 204).
In the phase two and particularly the phase three CVEs, the value of
potentially engaging and meaningful spatial illusions of virtual actors
began to take center stage, reflective of the spatially immersive and stu-
dent-controlled emphases of the cognitive constructivist perspective, the
multiple media cues of Media Richness Theory (Daft & Lengel, 1984), and
the realism, immersion and “transportation” dimensions of spatial telep-
resence. Virtual actors were designed to convey realistic 3-D portrayals
that “transport” students and experts to illusions of one another in discus-
sion. Even these highly spatial environments, however, proved to be inef-
fective when an instructive textual element was missing. Finding the right
combinations of instructive, socially interactive and spatially immersive
illusions was necessary but difficult, the research suggested. For instance,
inserting text into the 3-D environment could drain the hardware and soft-
ware systems, and spatial illusions of virtual actors communicating were
sometimes unrealistically conveyed. The author was encouraged by the
potential of some (pages 196, 205). “aesthetically pleasing and realistic
lighting models” to help convey immersive, realistic and relevant images,
276 Melissa E. Markaridian Selverian and Concetta M. Stewart
however, “and a current focus is [placed] on developing the Deva actors
so that they more closely match the actors as envisaged by the designers”
(page 196, 205) to evoke illusions of more meaningful discussions.
Again drawing together instructivist and constructivist elements, the
author introduced a set of educational design guidelines to promote both
direction and flexibility in the CVE. Keying to instructivist motivations,
Economou wrote: “The use of a set of design guidelines ensured that
application requirements were captured and expressed in the Deva ver-
sion of the application. They also provided a way of focusing the studies
throughout the project . . . They provided a systematic way of expressing
these requirements during the implementation of the CVE version of the
application in the third phase. They also provided a way of focusing the
studies throughout the project . . .” (page 209). Keying to constructivist
motivations, she noted the need to provide “support for various styles
of teaching/learning” (page 203). Economou further offered practical
reasons for the guidelines: “[T]he emphasis became the practical issues
of keeping track of and controlling children in an educational situation.
These practical issues underlie most educational situations. From that
point of view, we believe that the design guidelines can be generalized
not only to other educational situations but also more general situations
where such control is desirable” (page 210).
In Chapter 10, “Matching Computer Game Genres to Educational Out-
comes,” author John L. Sherry similarly drew together instructivist and
constructivist elements to design a successful virtual learning environment.
He did this by suggesting the value of directive guidelines in evoking highly
spatial and highly social illusions that enhanced learning and satisfaction
in virtual worlds. Specifically, Sherry drew on Bloom’s hierarchy of learn-
ing outcomes to propose that video games could be used with great effect
if the genre’s intellectual puzzle matched the desired learning outcome. In
essence, he suggested that spatial and social illusions had to be spatially
engaging and socially rich in order to allow students to solve the puzzle
(a constructivist vantage); but that the puzzle had to be instructive of the
learning objectives in order for the learning to be meaningful (an instruc-
tivist perspective). He proposed a set of guidelines that the editors view
as potentially compatible with the conceptualizations of spatial and social
telepresence to achieve these goals.
As in the Deva CVE research, the gaming investigation keyed to stages
of instructivist, social constructivist and cognitive constructivist devel-
opment through references to qualities of intellectual investment, social
interaction and spatial immersion in virtual gaming worlds. The social
constructivist ideology, Media Richness Theory’s focus on multiple media
cues, natural language, instant feedback and task accomplishment (Daft
& Lengel; 1984) and social telepresence’s dimensions of warm, sensitive
and personally focused illusions were particularly emphasized in the games
requiring collaboration with other players or avatars, mainly in the genres
 ‘Real’ Learning in Virtual Worlds 277
of “shooters” and “fantasy/role playing and adventure.” Further, a rela-
tionship could be drawn between an increase in illusions of “rich” social
interaction and an increase in mental investment, as measured in Bloom’s
taxonomy of learning outcomes. The taxonomy could be viewed on a scale
of instructive (least mentally challenging) to constructive (most mentally
challenging) outcomes. The socially interactive games seemed to encourage
the greatest range of outcomes, spanning the lowest level—knowledge—to
the highest levels—synthesis and creativity.
The cognitive constructivist ideology, the Media Richness Theory (Daft
& Lengel, 1984) focus on multimedia cues, and more precisely, the spatial
telepresence dimensions of realism of, immersion in, and “transportation”
to virtual persons, places and things in the gaming worlds, were strongly
reflected in the games that generated high-quality 3-D graphics, again
most apparent in the “shooters” and “fantasy/role playing and adventure”
genres. The same association is drawn between an increase in highly spatial
illusions and an increase in high mental investment, as measured in Bloom’s
taxonomy. Since there was overlap between the most sophisticated social
and spatial illusions, it was hard to determine which of the illusions is most
highly associated with the most mentally challenging outcomes.
Interestingly, the investigation of the gaming genre “sports and simula-
tions” suggested that an environment combining highly spatial and highly
social illusions might have had the greatest potential to inspire the most
challenging and complex mental outcomes. The author wrote: “Both simu-
lations and sports games are potential exploration laboratories for under-
standing dynamic systems such as the human body, economics, particle
physics, evolution, geophysics, and a plethora of other topics. Instead of
reading about complex interactions, such as cellular membrane transport,
the student can experiment with a wide variety of variables until the proper
balance is found” (page 224).
Equally importantly, the investigation of the gaming genre “puzzle/
arcade/card and dice” suggested that an environment lacking highly spatial
and highly social illusions might have been the least conducive to challeng-
ing outcomes. The research indicated that low-spatial 2-D graphics and
text might have only enabled the lowest levels of learning—knowledge and
understanding. Only as the games progressed from trial and error to inter-
action with sensory cues and calculation through interaction did higher
levels of intellectual investment become apparent, namely application and
analysis.
As gaming environments often used the most sophisticated technolo-
gies capable of evoking social and spatial illusions that were socially “rich”
and spatially realistic, immersive and able to “transport” players to virtual
learning worlds; and as social and spatial telepresence were specific gauges
of the social and spatial illusions evoked through sophisticated technolo-
gies, the editors propose social and spatial telepresence as potentially inte-
gral parts of a gaming learning environment model. They further propose
278 Melissa E. Markaridian Selverian and Concetta M. Stewart
the potential value of aligning established educational guidelines, such as
Bloom’s taxonomy presented in this chapter, with the social and spatial
telepresence conceptualizations so that social and spatial illusions might
be particularly relevant to the portrayals of and discussions about subject
matter in the gaming learning environment.
Among those virtual learning environments referenced in this book with
the most socially and spatially sophisticated technologies and that began
to draw specifically from the dimensions of telepresence is ‘Virtual Har-
lem’ of author James J. Sosnoski’s ‘The Virtual Harlem Experiments’ in
Chapter 11. Sosnoski presented a VR environment within sense-surround-
ing CAVEs (Computer Assisted Virtual Experiences) with the potential of
evoking illusions so socially “rich” and spatially vivid that a student might
have felt psychologically and physically “transported” to the VR cityscape
and completely engaged in interaction with “social actors.” It was in this
type of environment that elements of the socially constructivist, cognitive
constructivist and instructivist frameworks might have integrated most
seamlessly, as the technologies might have disappeared and social and spa-
tial illusions of students, teachers and subject matter might have emerged
in the most learning-enhancing and satisfying virtual worlds. Importantly,
Sosnoski’s analyses of the significance of illusions of social interaction,
immersion and instruction in Virtual Harlem were closely aligned with
the conceptualizations of social and spatial telepresence and confi rmed the
essentialness of their consideration in the design and assessment of the most
advanced virtual learning worlds.
In his evaluation of sets of experiments on 3-D immersive portrayals
of a 1930s cityscape of Harlem, New York, from 2000 to 2002, Sosnoski
traced the evolution of the Virtual Harlem VR world, identifying its poten-
tial as well as its stumbling blocks as it grew from a strictly visual 3-D
portrayal to a more immersive and interactive learning experience. In its
early stages, Virtual Harlem displayed 3-D images on multiple surround-
ing theater screens to six to eight 3-D-wearing participants at a time. The
author indicated that the environment was often engaging and immersive
but was hindered by some weaknesses in technological fluency, personal
focus, and instant feedback, emphases of Media Richness Theory (Daft
& Lengel, 1984) and spatial telepresence. For instance, Sosnoski noticed
in the early Virtual Harlem visualizations that “[b]ecause of the immense
amount of code required to produce the virtual reality images, the ‘persons’
in Virtual Harlem are not rendered fully in 3D and appear to be card-board
figures” (page 229). Sosnoski forecast that improvements to the visualiza-
tions could also have improved perceptions of “transportation” to portray-
als of and discussions about subject matter, drawing specific attention to
and emphasizing the importance of the “transportation” dimension of spa-
tial telepresence. Sosnoski wrote: “The key element that was missing in the
early Virtual Harlem experiments was a ‘transportive scenario.’ For a vir-
tual experience to be effective, the scenario through which the experience
 ‘Real’ Learning in Virtual Worlds 279
is expressed must be capable of transporting its audiences into a virtual
world much as moviegoers lose consciousness of sitting in a theatre and are
transported into the world of the fi lm” (page 243).
While Sosnoski drew mainly on the cognitive constructivist elements of
spatial immersion and student control, he interjected what could be con-
sidered an element of instructivism in his evaluation of the effectiveness of
the spatial illusion. He observed that the illusion was effective in the virtual
learning environment only if it was relevant to the subject matter, learning
objectives and other learning materials: “Unless Virtual Harlem is a his-
torically accurate representation, it clashes with the materials being studied
in courses in the Harlem Renaissance” (page 234).
Significantly, Sosnoski identified another deficiency to learning and
satisfaction in early versions of Virtual Harlem—its lack of interactivity.
Interactive narratives were eventually added to the visualizations, enabling
a more social constructivist learning experience and drawing higher rat-
ings from the students and more interest in the subject matter. Ultimately,
the highly spatially immersive avatars could engage in highly collaborative
“face-to-face” interactions, in the Social Presence Theory tradition (Short
et al., 1976), drawing the greatest praise. In this environment of combined
socially “rich,” spatially realistic, immersive and “transportive” social and
spatial telepresence illusions, the social and cognitive frameworks drew
more closely together. Sosnoski again suggests what could be considered
an instructivist force in the constructivist classroom—directive staff. “As
we envision it, a collaborative learning network—because of its complex
structure—requires persons in the network to be both teachers and learn-
ers. The technical staff has to learn about the Harlem Renaissance from
the non-technical staff. Similarly, the non-technical staff has to learn
about the technologies of networking from the technical staff. Within this
framework, everyone in the network is both teacher and learner at some
level and with respect to some area of study” (page 239). Through this net-
work, the socially interactive constructivist classroom might have stayed
on task (Daft & Lengel, 1984) and have kept personally focused (Lombard
& Ditton, 1997).
Another vivid example of a highly advanced social and spatial learn-
ing experience in which the importance of telepresence and a multi-par-
adigmatic exploration were specifically considered in the virtual learning
formula is Tassos A. Mikropoulos’ and Joan Bellou’s Educational Virtual
Environment (EVE) in Chapter 12. The authors defi ned an EVE as a virtual
environment that is based on pedagogy, incorporates or implies didactic
objectives, provides users with experiences they would otherwise not be
able to experience in the physical world, and results in specific learning out-
comes. They took a theoretical approach to evaluating educational applica-
tions of virtual reality in the form of a mosaic of technologies that support
the creation of synthetic, highly interactive 3-D spatial environments that
represent real or nonreal situations.
280 Melissa E. Markaridian Selverian and Concetta M. Stewart
The research supports the consideration of multiple paradigmatic
approaches and a synthesis of spatial and social technological character-
istics in the virtual learning formula. It is based on the contention that the
essential contribution of information and communication technologies to
the learning process comes through a pedagogical exploitation and the fea-
tures that arise as technological characteristics. This mainly involves inter-
active, meaningful learning tasks and processes that support the creation
or enhancement of students’ mental models.
Elements of cognitive and social constructivist and instructivist ideolo-
gies and spatial and social telepresence characteristics can be seen in the
authors’ analysis of learning tasks and processes in the EVE. Apparent fi rst
is the cognitive constructivist element of engagement through the spatial
telepresence dimensions of realism of, immersion in, and “transportation”
to virtual objects and social actors as evidenced in the characteristics of
free navigation, fi rst-person point of view, natural semantics, size, trans-
duction, reification, autonomy, and presence.
Further, the research suggests that elements of social constructivist-
based interaction through illusions of socially “rich” interchanges allowing
multiple forms of instant and natural interactions (Daft & Lengel, 1984;
Lombard & Ditton, 1997; Short et al., 1976) might enhance perceptions of
learning and satisfaction in the spatially rich EVE. The “social actor within
the medium” dimension of social telepresence becomes particularly appar-
ent in the EVE through the characteristics of multisensory channels for user
interaction, free navigation, immersion of the user in the VE, and intuitive
interaction through natural manipulations in real time.
Finally, Mikropoulos and Bellou alluded to the importance of an instructiv-
ist influence in the EVE that takes into consideration elements of task accom-
plishment and personal focus, as emphasized in Media Richness Theory (Daft
& Lengel, 1984), that work together with spatial and social technological
characteristics to promote learning and satisfaction. The authors suggested
that spatial and social technological characteristics may only contribute to
positive learning outcomes when they are taken into account together with
other factors concerning the educational process, such as specific learner
characteristics and meaningful learning and interaction experiences. Asso-
ciations among the achievement of spatial and social telepresence illusions
with relevant learner characteristics and meaningful learning interactions and
experiences in the EVE support the value of formulating a multidimensional
telepresence formula that considers the production of relevant and meaningful
spatial and social illusions in the design of virtual environments.

CONCLUSION: SPATIAL AND SOCIAL

TELEPRESENCE AND ENHANCED LEARNING

The Deva CVEs, computer games, Virtual Harlem and EVE research fea-
tured in Part IV of this book offered particularly strong evidence to suggest
 ‘Real’ Learning in Virtual Worlds 281
that social and spatial telepresence should be essential considerations in the
design of virtual learning environments capable of integrating instructive,
socially interactive and spatially engaging cues to enhance learning and sat-
isfaction. In the social constructivist perspective, the research emphasized
the importance of evoking illusions of “rich” social interactions among stu-
dents and teachers through the social telepresence dimensions of warmth,
sensitivity, and the personal nature of the communication. In the cognitive
constructivist vantage, the research emphasized the significance of achieving
spatially immersive illusions of students, teachers and subject matter through
the spatial telepresence dimensions of realism of, immersion in, “transporta-
tion” to social actors, places and things within/through the medium. From
an instructivist vantage, the research consistently suggested the value and
potential of evoking illusions that were relevant to and directive of subject
matter, tasks and learning objectives through an association of these ele-
ments with the dimensions of social and spatial telepresence. Importantly,
the research associated the most learning-enhancing and satisfying illusions
with the most socially rich, spatially engaging and instructive learning envi-
ronments and offered evidence to support the potential to achieve these illu-
sions through integrations of social and spatial telepresence.

DISCUSSION: ‘REAL’ LEARNING THROUGH

TELEPRESENCE IN VIRTUAL WORLDS

Considered together, the chapters of this book provide an enlightening

view of three main focuses of the “new media in education” literature in
the design of the increasingly virtual classroom at the start of the 21st cen-
tury—social interaction, student engagement and guided instruction. The
chapters keyed fi rst and foremost to the growing potential of advanced
educational technologies to evoke socially interactive and spatially engag-
ing illusions, drawing on the student control, interactivity and multisensory
immersion dimensions of the social and cognitive constructivist pedagogi-
cal frameworks. A shift from instructivist to constructivist frameworks had
been apparent as early as the distance education movement of the mid- to
late-20th century. Interestingly, however, instructivist tenets seemed revived
in the research of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Evidence from the
sample of research in this book showed that the most effective socially
interactive and spatially immersive learning environments require combi-
nations of social, spatial and instructive sensory cues that evoke all-at-once
psychologically, socially and intellectually meaningful illusions. Guidelines
for evoking such illusions for learning, however, were by and large absent.
Guidelines for evoking social and spatial illusions for other purposes—
namely for entertainment, medical rehabilitation and military training—
meanwhile, were emerging in the communication literature. Research on
the concept of telepresence offered conceptualizations of “rich” social and
engaging spatial illusions, as well as categorizations of technological form
282 Melissa E. Markaridian Selverian and Concetta M. Stewart
factors capable of evoking them (see International Society for Presence
Research, 2008). Further, the telepresence research offered measures to
assess the effectiveness of technologies at evoking the illusions (Lombard
et al., 2000). At the time of this research, a handful of scholars had begun
to consider telepresence conceptualizations, technology form characteris-
tics and measures in the design of the virtual learning environment, but
only a few had begun to assemble guidelines for evoking social and spa-
tial illusions relative to learning objectives (see Mania & Chalmers, 2000;
Schacter, 2001; Selverian, 2005; Youngblut, 1998).
Part II of this book offered particularly strong evidence to support the
consideration of social telepresence in the virtual classroom and in guide-
lines to design it. In the socially connected online course managements
systems presented in these chapters, the editors identify a focus on social con-
structivist interaction through a reliance on the multisensory cues, instant
feedback, personal focus, natural language and face-to-face standards of
Media Richness (Daft & Lengel, 1984) and Social Presence (Short et al.,
1976) theories. In their application of these elements, the researchers placed
heavy emphasis on evoking illusions of socially “rich,” warm, sensitive,
and personal/intimate communication with social actors within/through a
medium, consistent with the conceptualizations of social telepresence.
Part III of this book offered equally compelling evidence to suggest the
value of spatial telepresence in a virtual classroom framework. In the spa-
tially immersive video lectures, interactive media mapping systems, and
mobile phone–based networks explored in these chapters, the editors
identify a concentration on the cognitive constructivist premises of spa-
tial immersion, engagement and student control through a reliance on the
multisensory cues, natural language and personal focus of Media Richness
Theory (Daft & Lengel, 1984). In their application of these elements, the
researchers placed heavy emphasis on evoking illusions of realism, immer-
sion, “transportation,” and portrayals of social actors within/through the
medium, consistent with the conceptualizations of spatial telepresence.
Part IV of this book is particularly persuasive of the need for a combined
consideration of social and spatial telepresence in the design of the virtual
classroom. In the socially connected and spatially immersive VR applications
presented in these chapters, the editors find evidence of the joint influences of
the social and cognitive constructivist pedagogies and the multisensory cues,
instant feedback, personal focus, natural language and face-to-face standards
of Media Richness (Daft & Lengel, 1984) and Social Presence (Short et al.,
1976) theories. In their application of these dimensions to learning systems,
the authors placed heavy emphasis on evoking illusions of socially “rich,”
warm, sensitive, and personal/intimate communication with social actors
within/through a medium, consistent with the conceptualizations of social
telepresence; as well as on evoking illusions of realism, immersion, “transpor-
tation,” and portrayals of social actors within/through a medium, consistent
with the conceptualizations of spatial telepresence.
 ‘Real’ Learning in Virtual Worlds 283
Finally, the editors identify evidence to support the value of instructivist
influences in each of the book’s sections through the authors’ attention to
task accomplishment and personal focus, as emphasized in Media Richness
Theory (Daft & Lengel, 1984). In their effort to accomplish the task and
achieve personal focus, the researchers placed heavy emphasis on evoking
illusions that were personal in communication and realistic in portrayals,
consistent with the conceptualizations of social and spatial telepresence.
It was in the all-at-once socially interactive, spatially immersive, and
instructive virtual learning worlds of Part IV—in which the conceptualiza-
tions of telepresence were most clearly observed and telepresence, learning
and satisfaction outcomes were most precisely identified—that the editors find
the strongest evidence that social and spatial telepresence have the capacity to
draw together the social constructivist, cognitive constructivist and instruc-
tivist frameworks for the most integrated, learning-enhancing and satisfying
experiences. It is here in the most virtual classroom that the value of social
and spatial telepresence becomes as “real” as the illusions of students, teachers
and subject matter generated through it. A leader in the field of virtual reality
and learning, Veronica Pantelidis, projected the comprehensive and yet dis-
tinctive contributions telepresence could make in the virtual classroom:

At every level of education, virtual reality has the potential to make a dif-
ference, to motivate and encourage and excite . . . VR can more accurately
illustrate some features, processes, and so forth than by other means, al-
lowing extreme close-up examination of an object, observation from a
great distance, and observation and examination of areas and events un-
available by other means . . . The learner can participate in the learning
environment with a sense of presence, of being part of the environment . . .
The learner . . . is free to experiment, explore, make conjectures, formu-
late hypotheses, test theories, and solve problems based on these explora-
tions . . . Such is the promise, potential, and possibility of virtual reality in
education and training . . . (Pantelidis, Ch. 9) (page 176).

The research presented in this book offers strong evidence to support

the need for continued investigation of the relationship of social and spatial
telepresence to learning in the virtual environment and, specifically, for
the development of appropriate guidelines to enable the creation of effec-
tive and relevant illusions of students, teachers and subject matter, through
which the potential of telepresence to “transport” the virtual student to
enhanced learning is effectively realized.

REFERENCES

Arbaugh, J. B. (2000). How classroom environment and student engagement affect

learning in Internet-based MBA courses. Business Communication Quarterly,
63(4), 9–26.
284 Melissa E. Markaridian Selverian and Concetta M. Stewart
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Bloom, B. S., Englehard, M. D., & Furst, E. J. (1956). Taxonomy of educational
objectives. Handbook I: The cognitive domain. New York: Longman.
Blumler, J. G. (1979). The role of theory in uses and gratifications studies. Com-
munication Research, 6, 9–33.
Brunner, C. (1990). What it really means to “integrate” technology. Technology &
Learning, 11(3), 12, 14.
Carpenter, E., & McLuhan, M. (1960). Acoustic space. In E. Carpenter & M.
McLuhan (Eds.), Explorations in communications (pp. 65–70). Boston: Beacon
Press.
Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H. (1984). Information richness: A new approach to
managerial behavior and organizational design. Research in Organizational
Behavior, 6, 191–233.
Freeman, J., Avons, S. E., Pearson, D. E., & IJsselsteijn, W. A. (1999). Effects of
sensory information and prior experience on direct subjective ratings of pres-
ence. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 8(1), 1–13.
Hiltz, S. R. (1986, Spring). The “virtual classroom:” Using computer-mediated
communication for university teaching. Journal of Communication, 36(2),
95–104.
IJsselsteijn, W. A., & de Ridder, H. (1998). Measuring temporal variations in pres-
ence. Presented at the ‘Presence in Shared Virtual Environments’ Workshop, BT
Laboratories, Ipswich, UK, 10–11 June 1998. [Full text available at http://www.
presence-research.org/papers/btpaper.html]
International Society for Presence Research. (2008). Concept of presence: Explica-
tion statement. Available at: http://ispr.info
Katz, E. (1959). Mass communication research and the study of culture. Studies in
Public Communication, 2, 1–6.
Krathwohl, D. R., Bloom, B. S., and Masia, B. B. (1964). A taxonomy of educational
objectives. Handbook II: The affective domain. New York: David McKay.
Lessiter, J., Freeman, J., Keogh, E., & Davidoff, J. D. (2001). A cross-media pres-
ence questionnaire: The ITC sense of presence inventory. Presence: Teleopera-
tors and Virtual Environments, 10(3) 282–297.
Levie, W. H., & Lentz, R. (1982). Effects of text illustrations: A review of research.
Educational communication and technology journal, 30(4), 195–232.
Liao, Y. K., & Bright, G. W. (1991). Effects of computer programming on cognitive
outcomes. A meta-analysis. Journal of Research on Computing in Education,
24, 367–380.
Lombard, M., & Ditton, T. (1997). At the heart of it all: The concept of presence.
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 3(2). Retrieved February 15,
2007, from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue2/lombard.html
Lombard, M., Ditton, T., Crane, D., Davis, B., Gil-Egui, G.; Horvath, K., et al.
(2000). Measuring presence: A literature-based approach to the development
of a standard paper-and-pencil instrument. Retrieved January 23, 2008, from
www.matthewlombard.com
Mania, K., & Chalmers, A. (2000). A user-centered methodology for investigating
presence and task performance. Paper presented at the Presence 2000 work-
shop, Delft, The Netherlands.
Margules, D. (1996). Instructivism or constructivism: Which end of the contin-
uum? Paper given at the AUC Academic Conference, “From Virtual to Reality,”
The University of Queensland.
Mayer, R.E. (2003). “Multimedia learning.” Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univer-
sity Press.
Piaget, J. (1970). Structuralism. New York: Basic Books.
 ‘Real’ Learning in Virtual Worlds 285
Rosen, J. (1998). K–16: Instructivism, and history of U.S. education. Retrieved
September 20, 2000 from the Toronto District School Board Web site: http://
westview.tdsb.on.ca/Mathematics/articles/article.instructivism.html
Roussou, M., Johnson, A. E., Moher, T., Leigh, J., Vasilakis, C. A.; & Barnes, C.
R. (1999, June). Learning and building together in an immersive virtual world
[Special issue]. Presence Journal, 8(3), cover, 247–263.
Sandholtz, J. H., Ringstaff, C., & Dwyer, D. C. (1997). Teaching with technology:
Creating student-centered classrooms. New York: Teachers College Press.
Satterly, D. (1987). Piaget and education. In R. L. Gregory (Ed.), The Oxford com-
panion to the mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Schacter, J. (2001). The impact of education technology on student achievement:
What the most current research has to say. Santa Monica, CA: Milken Exchange
on Education Technology.
Selverian, M. E. M. (2005). Being there in the VLE: A pan-pedagogical model for
enhanced learning through perceptual states of ‘presence.’ Doctoral disserta-
tion, Temple University). Dissertation Abstracts International-A, 66, 1617.
Severin, W. J., & Tackard, J. W. (1997). Communication theories: Origins, meth-
ods and uses in mass media. New York: Longman.
Short, J. W. E., & Christie, B. (1976). The social psychology of telecommunica-
tions. London: John Wiley & Sons.
Slater, M., & Steed, A. (2000, October). A virtual presence counter. Presence:
Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 9(5). Available at: http://www.cs.ucl.
ac.uk/staff/m.slater/Papers/bips.pdf
Steuer, J. (1995). Defi ning virtual reality: Dimensions determining telepresence. In
F. Biocca & M. R. Levy (Eds.), Communications in the age of virtual reality (p.
33). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Strate, Lance. (1999, Summer). The varieties of cyberspace: Problems in defi nition
and delimitation [Electronic version]. Western Journal of Communication, 63,
382–412.
Wenglinsky, H. (1998). Does it compute? The relationship between educational
technology and student achievement in mathematics. Princeton, NJ: Educa-
tional Testing Service Policy Information Center.
Wright, A. R. (1970, Fall). Participative education and the inevitable revolution.
Journal of Creative Behaviour, 4(4), 234–282.
Youngblut, C. (1998). Educational uses of virtual reality technology. Alexandria,
VA: Institute for Defense Analyses.
Zajonc, A. G. (1984). Computer pedagogy? Questions concerning the new educa-
tional technology. Teachers College Record, 85(4), 569–577.
Zhao, Y. (2002). Constructivism vs. instructivism. Retrieved February 28, 2003,
from http://www.coe.uga.edu/~yzhao/edit6150/constructivism.htm
Contributors

Joan Bellou is School Advisor, Research Associate, EARTH (Educational

Approach to Virtual Reality Technologies) Lab, Department of Primary
Education, The University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.

Christy Collis is Senior Lecturer, Media and Communication, Creative

Industries Faculty at the Queensland University of Technology, Bris-
bane, Australia.

Niki E. Davis is Professor of e-Learning at the University of Canterbury,

New Zealand.

Chris Dede is Timothy E. Wirth Professor in Learning Technologies, Tech-

nology, Innovation, and Education at the Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

Daphne Economou is Lecturer in Interactive Multimedia and Hypermedia

at the Department of Cultural Technology and Communication, Univer-
sity of the Aegean (UoA), Mytilene, Greece.

Marcus Foth is Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Creative

Industries and Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Bris-
bane, Australia.

Stephen B. Gilbert is Associate Director at the Virtual Reality Applica-

tions Center (Human Computer Interaction, Psychology) at Iowa State
University, Ames, IA.

Chad Harms is Assistant Professor at the Greenlee School of Journalism

and Communication, Iowa State University, Ames, IA.

Susan Jacobson is Assistant Professor at the Department of Journalism,

Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.
288 Contributors
Xigen Li is Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Communi-
cation, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Tassos A. Mikropoulos is Director of the EARTH (Educational Approach

to Virtual Reality Technologies) Lab, Department of Primary Education
at The University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.

Dale S. Niederhauser is Associate Professor at the Center for Technology in

Learning and Teaching, Iowa State University, Ames, IA.

Veronica S. Pantelidis is Distinguished Professor, Co-Director of the Vir-

tual Reality and Education Laboratory, and Coordinator, Certificate in
Virtual Reality in Education and Training at the Department of Library
Science at the College of Education, East Carolina University, Green-
ville, NC.

M. D. Roblyer is Professor, Graduate Studies, at the College of Health,

Education, and Professional Studies at University of Tennessee at Chat-
tanooga.

Catherine C. Schifter is an Associate Professor in Curriculum, Instruction

and Technology in Education (CITE) at Temple University, Philadelphia,
PA. Her scholarship focuses on issues of implementation of technology
in K–12 environments for attainment of technology-infused pedagogy,
and most recently the use of virtual environments in assessment in mid-
dle grades.

Amy Schmitz Weiss is Assistant Professor at the School of Journalism and

Media Studies, San Diego State University.

Melissa E. Markaridian Selverian is an editor of and writer for several

academic journals, including VR in the Schools, the Electronic Journal
of Communication, and Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environ-
ments. Dr. Selverian has researched extensively on new media in educa-
tion with particular emphasis on the concept of “telepresence” and has
created working guidelines to enhance the uses of new media in learn-
ing. She holds a Ph.D. from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, and
lectures at Philadelphia area colleges and universities.

Pernilla Severson is based at the MEDEA Collaborative Media Initiative,

School of Arts and Communication, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden.

John L. Sherry is Associate Professor at the Department of Communica-

tion, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.
 Contributors 289
James J. Sosnoski is Professor of Communication, President of Alterna-
tive Educational Environments, and Coordinator of the Virtual Harlem
Project at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL.

Christina Spurgeon is Senior Lecturer in Journalism, Media and Communi-

cation at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.

Concetta M. Stewart, Dean of Art and Design at the Pratt Institute in

Brooklyn, NY, previously served as Dean of Communications and The-
ater at Temple University as well as in planning and marketing at AT&T/
Bell Labs. Stewart holds a Ph.D. from Rutgers University and publishes
on social and policy issues related to communication technologies.

Jamie S. Switzer is Associate Professor in the Department of Journalism

and Technical Communication, Colorado State University, Fort Collins,
CO.

Karen M. Turner is Associate Professor at the Department of Journalism,

Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.

David C. Vinciguerra is Instructor, Instructional Development Consultant,

Co-Director of the Virtual Reality and Education Laboratory, Co-Edi-
tor of VR in the Schools, and Department of Library Science Webmaster
at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.
Index

A Collaborative Virtual Environ-

academic achievements, see learning ments (CVEs), 149–150, 152,
outcomes 156–157, 174, 182–187, 189,
academic engagement, see class engage- 191,193–195, 197, 199, 200–
ment 201, 203–209, 273–276, 280.
action research, 116, 126 comfort using a computer, 36, 41, 43
application requirements, 183, 187– computer-mediated communication
188, 209–210, 275, 276 (CMC): 51, 53–54, 62
asynchronous, 89–112 computer game genres, 216
authentic learning, 115–116, 127 constructivist ICT (Information and
avatars, xviii, 14, 20, 3, 77, 80, Communication Technologies)-
based learning environments,
B principles for, 252
Blackboard 90,106,108 constructive(ist) learning, see
blogs, 131, 136–138, 143–144 cognitive(ly) constructive(ist)
Bloom’s Hierarchy of Cognition, explica- learning
tion of, 214, 217–218; table, 217 conventional groupware, 186, 189, 193
Brisbane, Australia, 121, 127 convergence, 132, 136
conversation analysis, 191
C creative industries, 121, 123, 124, 128n1
camera-phone, 131–132, 134–135, cultural technologies, 114
143–145
Caribbean, 97–98, 101, 108 D
CAVE (Computer Assisted Virtual Envi- data collection, 188, 192
ronment), 230, 231, 232, 233, data glove, 255–256
234, 236, 241, 242, 246 design guidelines, 149, 171, 182, 183,
cell phone, see mobile phone 187, 192, 193, 194, 202, 209,
Children’s Television Workshop, 225 210, 273, 276
chunk: stage, 192; segment, 192; turn, Deva, 23, 149, 150, 169, 170, 171,
192 177, 183, 184, 187, 194–205,
citizen journalism, 132, 135–136 209, 273–276, 280
class engagement, 31, 33–34, 36–38, discourse analysis, 93, 109, 191
40–42, 44 distance education 89–93, 103,
cognitive(ly) constructive(ist) learning, 105–106, 108–110
definition of, 4, 10, 265,
cognitive(ist) learning, see cognitive(ly) E
constructive(ist) learning e-learning 93
Collaborative Learning Network EVES (Educational Virtual Environ-
(CLN), 230, 233–234, 238, ments), description of, 249;
collaborative mapping, 123, 125 features of, 250: at-will, free
292 Index
navigation, 250, 253–256; autonomy, Iran, 135, 145
253, 255, 256; first-person point
of view, 250, 253–256; first- J
order experiences, 251; natural Journal of Technology and Teacher
semantics, 251, 253–256; pres- Education, 71
ence, 251, 253–256; reification, journalism 90–91, 101–104, 106–107,
251, 254, 256; size, 251, 253, 109–110, 131–132, 135–137,
254, 256; transduction, 251, 142–143; education in, 131–
254, 256 132, 136–138, 143

F K
FIPSE (U.S. Department of Education’s knowledge-based: economy, 113–114,
Fund for the Improvement of 118–119, 127; service industries,
Postsecondary Education), 83 117
flow, 215 Knowledge Foundation, 123–124
frequency of use, 36–37, 41–44
L
G Latin America 97–98, 101–102, 105,
game genres, 215, 226; adventure, 108
221–223; fantasy role playing, learner-centered approach 90–91,
221–223shooters, 219–220; 102–103, 105, 108, 110
puzzle/arcade/card & dice, learning environment, 31
220–221; quiz/trivia, 223; simu- learning facilitation, 31
lations, 223- 224; sports, 223- learning outcomes, 30–34, 36, 38,
224; table, 216 40–44: comparison of, 30–33;
game engine, 224–225 learning process, 33, 36, 38–43;
geo-coding, 144 no significant difference phe-
grid, 192–194 nomenon, 32; predictor of,
38–41, 43–44
H learning theory, 30, 44
Harlem Renaissance, 227, 229, 234, local industry ecology, 123
236, 239, 240; networked low-tech prototyping, 183, 186, 187,
courses of, 230–233 274
Hesmondhalgh, 124
history, 227, 234, 236, 237, 239, 240, M
242, 243, 245, 246 Malmö, Sweeden, 123–124, 129; Uni-
versity of, 122–124
I mapping, 113, 124–126; media, 117,
immersion, 249 126–127
immersive interfaces, xviii Mayer, Richard 90–92, 95, 100–101,
information and communication tech- 103–104, 108–109
nologies (ICTs): 50, 51, 52, 53, media and communication: industries,
60, 63 114, 117, 119, 121, 124–125,
instructions, the balancing of, 125 127;
instructive(ist) learning, definition of, 4, studies, 113, 116, 126
10, 265 Media Maps, 114, 116–118, 122–123,
Interaction Analysis, 191–192 125–128; Brisbane (BMM), 114,
Internet Crimes Against Children, 82 119–122, 126, 128;
Internet for learning, see Web-enhanced Malmö, 114, 122–126, 128; and peda-
learning gogy, 114, 125–127
intuitive interaction, 249 Media Richness Theory, characteristics
involvement in learning activities, see of, 4, 16–17, 74–75: definition
class engagement of, 49; online mentoring pertain-
Iowa Learning Online, 75 ing to, 55–57, 64–65
 Index 293
media’s function in education, 32–33 Q
medium of instruction, 32 Queensland University of Technology
mentor: definition of, 49–50; origin of, (QUT), 118–119, 122
49; roles of, 50
mobile blog (MoBlog), 137, 138, 143 S
mobile culture, 144 Second Life 105, 109
mobile learning, explications of, senet, 183–187, 192, 194, 196–197,
131–135, 143, 145 200, 274
mobile media, 132, 134–135, 137, single display groupware, 150, 186,
143–145 188, 193, 274
mobile phone, 131–135, 137, 142– SMS. See text messaging
144 social media, 136, 145
Moodle 96, 105–110 social(ly) constructive(ist) learning,
Morrisett, Lloyd, 83 explication of, 4, 10, 265
multimedia, 134, 136–137, 145; learn- Social Presence Theory, attentional allo-
ing, 91–92, 101, 104; principled, cation in, 77–78; characteristics
100, 103–104, 108 of, 4, 17–23, 27, 52–57, 62–65,
multisensory channels, 249 75–79; co-presence in, 77–78;
museum education, 183–184 explications of, 13, 14–15, 54;
Music Map, 118 online mentoring pertaining
to, 55–57, 61–62, 63, 64, 65;
N perceived affective interdepen-
National Center for Education Statis- dence in, 77–79; perceived affec-
tics, 70 tive understanding in, 77–78;
Netsmartz, 82 perceived behavioral interde-
new media, 113, 118, 121–122 pendence in, 77–79; perceived
null experiences, 245–246 message understanding in, 77–78
social (tele)presence, explication of, 19
O South Cross University (SCU), 117–
online education, see Web-enhanced 118, 122
learning spatial (tele)presence, explication of, 20
online learning, see Web-enhanced stakeholder approach, 184
learning statistical analysis, 37–41: correlation
online mentoring: challenges of, analysis, 37–38; factor analysis,
53; characteristics of, 16–21, 37; regression analysis, 40–41;
29–30, 31, 34, 37, 38, 51; t-test, 37–38
definition of, 50–51; goals of, synchronous 89–112
63–64; roles of, 51–52; theory
of, 55–57 T
open-source 91, 105–106 telepresence, see social (tele)presence,
spatial (tele)presence
P tertiary education, 114, 117, 122, 126:
paradigm, see pedagogy media mapping into, 116, 119;
paralanguage, 56, 74 performance, student, 30–31
participatory design, 116, 120 text messaging, 132, 134–135, 143
pedagogy: explications of, 4, 10, 265, transcription, transcription chunking,
114, 117, 123, 125, 127; media 137, 192, 193, 201
mapping and, 114, 125–127 transportation, 243–246
Pennsylvania elections, 137–142
PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), V
132–134 virtual actor, 193–194, 196, 198,
phased approach, 185, 187, 209 200–202, 205–207, 273, 275
presence, see social (tele)presence, spa- virtual environments, 249, 251
tial (tele)presence Virtual Harlem, 227–230
294 Index
virtual laser, 254 155–157; text-based, 152–153;
Virtual Reality (VR), advantages of theories related to use in educa-
using, 167–168; applications, tion, 165; use in education,
169–174: elementary, second- 160–162; Virtual Reality Envi-
ary education, 169–172; higher ronment Guide for Educators,
education, 172; training, adult 159–160; 162–163; Virtual
education, 173–174; collab- Reality Hardware Evaluation
orative virtual environments, Guide for Educators, 158; 159;
virtual worlds, 174–175; cur- Virtual Reality Software Evalu-
rent trends and the future, 175; ation Guide for Educators, 158;
definition, 151; disadvantages 161; when to use, 168–169;
of using, 168; explications of, when not to use, 169
3, 14, 20, 21, 23, 57, 63, 227, virtual schooling: roles, 72–73, 79–81;
229, 232–233, 234, 235–237, system, 72–73
239, 240, 241, 246, 249–250,
256, 262, 273, 278–279, 283; W
hardware, 153–155: viewing Web-based learning, see Web-enhanced
devices, 153–154; navigation learning
devices, 154–155; tracking Web-enhanced learning: course mate-
devices, 155; immersive projec- rials on the Web and, 29–30,
tion systems, 155; graphics- 36–40, 43: education through,
based, 151–152; health and 89, 91, 103; lecture notes for,
safety, 160; reasons to use 43; type of, 37–39; WebCT
in education and training, and, 90, 106, 108; effect of,
165–167; research on use in 33, 42; explications of, 29–32,
education, 163–165; software, 41–44