Ask a learner who has been in a virtual world what they think and you may hear that they love that they get to explore new places and meet new people. Ask another and you might hear that they hate feeling disoriented or even nauseated. These individual anecdotes can be lively, funny, and curious – but they are not a basis on which to make decisions about whether your organization will undertake a virtual world learning project.
As part of a recent project, I had the opportunity to survey nearly 300 students who had just participated in a constructivist learning experience in Second Life (SL), to learn what they loved, what they hated and what they would like to see changed. In this article, I’ll share with you what a large number of real learners said about their learning experience in a virtual world.
The context
These learners were first year college students, enrolled in their first Financial Accounting course as business majors. The course required use of Second Life. The majority of the participants were between 18 and 23 years old. Generally, they were very experienced with computers and the Internet. Fewer than one percent of the learners had Second Life experience before enrolling in this accounting class.
Learners received support and scaffolding to help them adjust to using SL for learning on a regular basis. Their professor hosted a SL orientation in-world that 66% of the learners attended. During that orientation, he showed them around the class space, and taught them basics of using their avatars to navigate the space, and of interacting with each other and with the interactive accounting equation model.
Students had the option to participate in my research experiment for extra credit. In this experiment, I wanted to measure changes in participants’ accounting knowledge and changes in anxiety related to the use of SL for learning. Prior to using SL for the experiment, participants completed a validated survey instrument which provided a baseline of their self-reported levels of anxiety before they had this learning experience in SL. After the SL learning session and posttest, participants completed the survey again. The self-reported anxiety after the SL experience showed that participants became less anxious about using SL for learning as a result of the controlled experiment. There were also open-ended questions that enabled learners to report whether they experienced any adverse impacts, and how they felt the experience could be improved. Participants were offered the opportunity to provide feedback about the best and worst parts of the experience along with advice for improvements. Their feedback was not limited to the experiment, but to all the experiences they’ve had since starting use of SL for this course.
Adverse events reported by learners
First, it was encouraging that 77% of participants reported no negative experiences in SL. Other platforms, purpose built for training, may have an even lower rate of negative experiences. For learning professionals considering using SL as a learning platform, this means most new users are not likely to have negative issues. The fact that no participants reported experiencing griefing (harassment by other avatars) is a better outcome than in the general world of SL and may be attributable to Dr. Hornik’s use of a school and class-specific code of SL conduct in addition to the standard SL community rules. This provides useful context when reviewing the negative experiences – fewer than one quarter of learners reported the negative experiences.
Amongst those who did report negative experiences, the most frequently reported were that the SL site or client software moved slowly or froze and crashed their machines, confusion, disorientation, and loneliness. Confusion was defined as not knowing what you should do once you are in-world. Disorientation was the experience of feeling that you don’t know where you are now and how it relates to the greater world around you in the 3D environment. Issues related to platform performance are not in the control of the user. Other than using a computer with a great graphics card and a high-speed internet connection, the learners could do nothing more to resolve that issue. Confusion and disorientation, the learners reported, reduced with time and experience in-world. A very small number of people who use 3-D platforms or video games experience a physical issue with a loss of balance or nausea. While this is rare, if you are planning a 3-D learning experience, it helps to be aware that it’s possible that some of your learners may experience this.
What learners hate about Second Life for learning
By far, the largest source of issues for learners was the SL platform itself. Participants reported, 114 times, that what they hated most was that the SL platform would freeze or crash, their computers were frozen and had to be rebooted, and that they had to wait for slow updates before they could use the program. The next largest group of issues was personal or individual. These included distraction, confusion, disorientation, and generally feeling annoyed by SL.
Learners also reported that there were two steep learning curves to overcome before they could learn. One was how to use SL in general; the other was how to master specific tasks that were key to their academic use of SL. Less often reported were interpersonal issues including crowding at the class academic site in SL which created waiting times for use of the accounting equation model. A surprising interpersonal issue was that many learners reported annoyance at feeling obligated to respond to chats from other avatars. One of the features that proponents of 3-D immersive environments advocate is its ability to be used for interaction between learners. But, what about learners who don’t want to interact? For them, this feature is a liability.
While this was the least often reported by learners, it is interesting that 18 unique learners reported that they doubted that SL (or other 3-D platforms) had any potential for learning value at all. One learner summed it up like this: “I find Second Life a difficult tool to use for accounting work. It’s just too confusing and slow, on top of an already difficult class to grasp and learn.” While my empirical research has shown that 3-D platforms can be effective learning environments (when the experience is well crafted), this learner disbelief or discouragement may be an issue for learning professionals to overcome as part of instituting a 3-D immersive learning experience.
You may have heard many of these complaints about 3-D platforms from people who believe they simply can’t be used effectively for learning. But, to make an informed decision about whether 3-D learning experiences are for you, you also need to hear what learners love about the experience.
What learners love about Second Life for learning
To start, more than half of the nearly 300 participants stated that their favorite part of the experience was using the interactive model of the accounting equation. The model helped them increase their understanding of accounting and, in their estimation, helped them improve their test scores and overall class performance. Personal learning style played a strong role for many learners. Eighty-two learners reported that because they perceive themselves to be visual learners, it was significantly easier to understand the accounting equation because of the ability to visualize the impact of transactions using the model. Sixteen learners who classify themselves as tactile learners believed their academic performance was boosted by the hands-on nature of the 3-D model activities. One learner simply said “it is an interesting way of learning a subject that isn’t necessarily an interesting topic.”
For 25 learners, their favorite part of the experience was the instructional videos which demonstrated how to use the 3-D model to practice accounting transactions, combined with the related practice problems they were provided for hands-on practice with the model. They felt this improved their comprehension. While it might not have been the favorite part for all learners, the reality is that they all had improvements in their learning scores as a result of their work in SL.
While a small number of learners reported annoyance at what they perceived to be forced social interaction, 44 learners reported that they enjoyed the opportunity to interact with other learners for both academic and social purposes. As one learner said: “you can ask peers for help when you don’t understand”.
In another finding, 26 learners reported that being able to use the 3-D environment at any time was very convenient for their unconventional work and school schedules. If your learners have been complaining that the training environment is drab or boring, you may be interested to know that 22 learners commented that they found the created environment, which included trees, bonfires, and an ocean with sea turtles to be the best part of their experience. So, now that we know what they hate and what they love—how do we make it better? Here’s the advice I received from the learners.
How virtual world learning can be made better
The top participant recommendations for improvement focused on having more of the 3-D models (to help handle the large number of students trying to use them), having more instructional videos similar to the ones in the experiment as part of the course, having the choice whether or not to use SL, and getting more help learning to use it. In fairness to Dr. Hornik, the original expected enrollment for his class was 200 students. However, because his use of technology scales the learning experience so efficiently and effectively, the university opened the enrollment for his course to over 900 students. Dr. Hornik has already remedied this issue – he has replicated the 3-D model, and placed several copies throughout the academic SL site for the class.
The second most frequent recommendation was for more of the instructional videos that I produced for the experiment. Students wanted additional videos produced to support the entire semester of the course. The learners reported that these videos were helpful both for increasing content knowledge (accounting), and for increasing understanding of and ability to use the 3-D model for practice. Each video focused on a single type of accounting transaction, explained the transaction in general, and then demonstrated how to practice the transaction using the 3-D model.
Some learners (30) thought use of SL should have been optional for the course. This makes sense for learners whose personal learning styles are already well served by traditional textbook reading and classroom lecture. This reinforces what we as learning professionals know – no single approach fits all learners. Using a 3-D platform can be an engaging and compelling part of an overall blended learning solution. A small number (4) recommended we extend activities in-world to include more small-group collaborative assignments, study groups, and tutoring sessions. This shows that for the learners who are comfortable in this environment, the learning opportunities can be diverse.
This study demonstrated that these participants, in their current circumstances, with these tools, were able to use SL to learn accounting concepts. This study also demonstrated that while experiment participants are learning, they are also experiencing reduction in their anxiety about using a virtual world for learning. This is encouraging news for those who wish to use SL for teaching or training. They can confidently propose SL learning initiatives for their organizations knowing that the funds spent in developing the environment and manipulatives or 3-D models will be an investment, not a waste.
Conclusion
Currently, it would not be fair to recommend use of SL for a one-time event. The learning curve to adjust to SL is steep. Learners need time to get accustomed to operating an avatar and navigating the environment. Additionally, acquiring virtual land in SL and developing an environment for learners to inhabit takes time. At this time, SL is best used for a longer term, such as a semester of college or 2 to 3 months or more in corporate training. There are other 3-D platforms in the marketplace, each in their own stage of development with features and functions that are purpose-built for learning and knowledge sharing. The learning curve to use these platforms varies, but generally is less than for SL. It is worthwhile to compare the existing vendors to determine if your learners will be better served by a simpler 3-D immersive environment platform that is focused on learning. In the end, a well-constructed learning experience enables the learner to “follow instructions step-by-step and provides a pretty failsafe way of learning to use SL,” as one of the participants said. So, whichever platform you choose, use the same serious effort that your other learning projects receive – and perhaps more. You can design an effective learning experience in a virtual world that your team will love.
