Using a Mediated Environments Reference Model
to evaluate learners' experiences of Second Life
Mark Childs,
Warwick Institute of Education, University of Warwick, UK, m.childs.1@warwick.ac.uk
Abstract
The intention of this paper is threefold. Firstly it outlines a reference
model that has been developed to describe the experiences of learners
in mediated environments. Secondly, it describes the Theatron 3 Second
Life theatre project. Finally, it analyses the value of the reference
model in developing an evaluation framework. The fourth part of the process,
that of applying the evaluation framework to the project, is still to
be undertaken, but the preliminary results of this will be presented at
the conference.
A mediated environment can be defined in a variety of ways, but the essential
features are that they enable users to communicate synchronously at a
distance, and use a spatial metaphor to enhance the interaction. Examples
of these are telematic environments, where the participants see a physically
real but remote environment, and multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs),
where participants see a computer-generated simulated environment.
Conducting the literature review for this study was problematic due to
the various disciplines involved; including the technological literature
regarding presence (for example the use of teleoperators and telerobotics
for remote operation), the use of online communication for teaching (although
this is largely the role of computer-mediated text-based communication),
the field of serious gaming (that is the use of gaming in education and
other non-gaming areas) and the study of the social aspects of massive
multiplayer online role play games (MMORPGs) and MUVEs. There are overlapping
concepts between these fields, but also some inconsistencies with the
terms used. It was in order to synthesise descriptions from these domains
and create a more comprehensive framework for cataloguing these experiences
that a reference model for mediated environments was developed.
The Mediated Environments Reference Model (MERM) divides the concepts
associated with mediated environments into the following categories:
- Types of environment
- Characteristics of experience
- Characteristics of environments
- Characteristics of participants
- Types of activity
These are further subdivided and explained within the paper.
The MERM is being used to structure the data gathered during the evaluation
of the Theatron 3 project. This project is directed by the directed by
the King's Visualisation Lab, part of CCH, in collaboration with the Higher
Education Authority Subject Centres for Dance, Drama & Music and English
and funded by the Eduserv Foundation. and are a collection of twenty theatres
from different historical periods. As part of this project 3D models of
theatres from different periods in history will be built on a pair of
islands in Second Life. Five UK higher education institutions will develop
learning activities that will take place within these theatres.
As a tool for reviewing literature, the model is a means by which further
literature can be viewed, and additional categories placed within the
larger context. At any stage, therefore, the framework should only be
seen as a snapshot of a developing work; as a means of communicating the
various elements of any analysis, not an attempt to portray the entirety
of the field. It also acts as a shared ground with other researchers for
them to reflect upon and challenge the structure of the research. As an
evaluation framework its weakness is that the structure can become self-fulfilling,
in that the data that fit within it will be recognised, and that which
does not will be excluded. Even if this specific framework is not adopted
outside of this study, the practice of using a reference model as an effective
tool to help other researchers make sense of ones research and place it
within its relevant context is recommended.
Full Paper - .pdf
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