Training in Virtual Worlds -Guide of good practices

Training in Virtual Environments Guide of Good Practices

Edition VITA PROJECT—VIRTUAL LEARNING FOR THE MANAGEMENT O F SUC ESSFULL SMEs Lifelong Learning Programme - Leonardo da Vinci Transfer of Innovation 2008-1-PT1-LEO05-00411

VITA Project 2009-2010

Organizer Clara Rodrigues Authors Clara Rodrigues Leonel Morgado Gerhard Doppler Hillevi Koivusalo Erja Lakanen George Velegrakis Giovanni Sorrentino Chiara Sancin Valentina Castello Aura Haidimoschi

Project Promoter

EDITION

Instituto Politécnico de Beja

Instituto Politécnico de Beja Portugal

www.ipbeja.pt Partner Organisations

2010

Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (Portugal)

ISBN: 978-989-95366-4-7

Camera de Comert si Industrie a Municipiului Bucaresti (Romania) bitmedia e-Learning solution (Austria)

SUPPORT

IDEC ,S.A. (Greece) The project has been funded with support from the European Comission. This publication reflects the vision only of the authors and the Comission cannot be held responsable for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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HYRIA Education (Finland) DIDA Network (Italy)

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Index 0. INTRODUCTION |P.5|

1. ATTRIBUTES AND ADVANTAGES OF VIRTUAL WORLDS FOR LEARNING |P.7|

2. BEING A TRAINER IN A VIRTUAL WORLD |P.11|

3. GOOD PRATICES AND LESSONS LEARNED |P18|

4. CONTRIBUTORS AND CONTACTS |P.20|

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Introduction The project VITA – Virtual Learning for the management of successful SMEs — presents an innovative approach to learn and practice entrepreneurship and business management competences, based on the activities and interactions in virtual environments.

VITA was developed during 24 months (2009-2010) and aimed to increase the capability of SMEs to adapt to European contexts, resorting to a specific training, and increase adults employability, mobility and multicultural awareness, by: 

Defining the European manager profile in terms of SME management competences on the basis of needs analyses in collaboration with employees;

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Defining courses, pedagogical approaches and evaluation tools addressing identified needs, upon the results of different projects, adapted to the characteristics of a virtual learning campus;

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Conceiving a 3D virtual learning environment where learners will participate in collaborative learning experience, located in Second Life platform and will have the opportunity to test their competences in a safe context of application by generating and managing a virtual SME;

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Delivering the management course in Second Life and certify the participants.

As result of the training experiences in VITA virtual campus, this Guide aims to share good practices and lessons learned on how to educate in virtual worlds, such as Second Life.

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Introduction 3D environments have special features for distance learning, which determine differences between simple e-Learning and on-line, interactive simulation and building. These differences are explored in the first part of this guide ―Attributes and Advantages of Virtual Worlds for Learning‖.

Acknowledging this background will enable the reader to understand better the experiences of VITA trainers, as they tell it. Our trainers were regular teachers and trainers in schools and training centres without previous experiences in the use of Second Life, in general. Their achievements and learning show their overcome of challenges and tracking for solutions. The testimonials are presented in the second part ―Being a Trainer in a Virtual World‖.

In the third part—―Good Practices and Lessons Learned‖- we demonstrate some strategies to increase the efficiency of training. These were found solutions that proved to have good results within VITA courses. As trainer, we can adapt those or find inspiration for others. Sharing problems and research by asking others, inside the community of Second Life educators is a powerful way to improve developments in this field.

At fourth, because the end users teach us how to improve, we share the ―Feedback from Participants‖ we received. They tell us what was better and worst in their learning experiences.

Our participants were also not regular users of virtual worlds, therefore they passed all through the process of adaption and competence acquiring for Second Life at the same time as they participated in the management actions.

Lastly, we introduce the people behind the experiences and their contacts. Keep in touch to share your own good practices.

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Attributes and Advantages of Virtual Worlds for Learning* Professional and personal lives often go head-to-head. Training and education often get crushed amidst this conflict, and professionals facing serious time and location constraints in terms of availability for attending training and education is an all too typical situation. For this reason, elearning approaches (in the sense of distance learning) have long been used to help overcome those constraints.

However, the detached and autonomous nature of traditional e-learning is not entirely comfortable for many learners, particularly those with decision-making responsibilities. For instance, heads of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) ―exhibit activist and pragmatist learning styles, prefer learning by doing and favour problem-centred approaches that offer flexibility‖ (NJM European, 2000, p. 3). We thus envisage and analyse the opportunity of using new e-learning approaches with virtual worlds in support of active and pragmatist learners, as a way to better provide real world training and education to professionals.

Virtual worlds offer interesting potential in this regard, since they are increasingly being used for learning contexts where students and teachers interact cooperatively, immersed in context-rich situations (e.g., De Lucia et al., 2008; Hetherington et al., 2008). * Adapted from Morgado et al. (2011)

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Attributes and Advantages of Virtual Worlds for Learning Let us first clarify the meaning of Virtual Worlds.

We could consider that a plain text adventure game – where the player plays a role as if present within the game, regularly receives textual descriptions of the places where he/she ―is‖ and uses textual or iconic commands to cause changes in the game state – is indeed a virtual world. But using this concept in such fashion is confusing, not enlightening. Therefore, we add the concepts of multi-users and inter-user communication, thus limiting the concept of virtual world just to software platforms, such as games or social environments, where several players/users can be telepresent, and able to communicate amongst themselves.

Furthermore, we add the concept of avatar-mediated interaction; that is, those worlds with which the user interacts by controlling a virtual character – the ―avatar‖. It is the user avatar that actually interacts with the world and is affected by it. In this sense, multi-player text adventures are virtual worlds, as would be a multi-player PacMan, as long as players can communicate with each other; but social platforms such as MySpace or Facebook – where several users are telepresent and can communicate but don’t use avatars to interact with the environment – are not.

One of capacities of virtual worlds is the simulation in 3D environments.

Various research approaches have provided significant information regarding the full technologicalcognitive process of the use of virtual environment simulations for educational purposes.

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Attributes and Advantages of Virtual Worlds for Learning There is now a consensus that the use of simulations within virtual environments is, generally, beneficial to learning of procedural knowledge and various theoretical and practical concepts.

Simulation is not the single option: in many cases we may experience real situations in virtual worlds, not just simulated ones – and in such cases the simulation perspective gives way to alternatives, such as service-learning, on-the-job learning, learning traineeship, or apprenticeship learning (henceforth, we’ll simply mention ―apprenticeship learning‖ as a shorthand version of these different approaches).

Also, real-life learning can happen in unstructured situations, such as, intergenerational learning (Kurniawan, 2008) or learning of foreign languages (Bryant, 2006), apart from the elements of the games or predicted virtual ―storyboard‖.

In fact, current accounts focus on these cases, (e.g., Reeves & Malone, 2007, for an example related to management) but we dare propose an expansion: we believe that in many situations we can immerse virtual activities in everyday activities. In other words: we believe that it is possible, as part of many day-to-day activities, to use virtual worlds as a component of those activities, rather than a replacement for them, as we’ll explain in the coming sections.

However, such benefits are not something that is automatically attained or ensured by the plain act of using a simulation for educational purposes.

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Attributes and Advantages of Virtual Worlds for Learning Research efforts must not ignore how strongly their results may depend on factors which they may not be directly analysing. That is, we cannot analyse a virtual world in a vacuum, if we want to ascertain something about its educational impact: one must take into account the actual content of the virtual world (at the pedagogic and technological levels), the context within which the technology is being used, the constraints of the computer hardware, software, and networking, the pedagogical strategy being used, the social and educational context, including cognitive, experiential and emotional dimensions (Castello et al., 2009), ...

References Bryant, Todd (2006). Using World of Warcraft and Other MMORPGs to Foster a Targeted, Social, and Cooperative Approach Toward Language Learning, Academic Commons [On-line]. April 11, 2009, http://www.academiccommons.org/commons/essay/bryant-MMORPGs-for-SLA Castello, Valentina; Pescuma, Saverio; Sorrentino, Giovanni; Dell’Aiuto, Vittorio; Sancin, Chiara (2009). Ubiquitous (and) social learning. Where is the potential for innovation?. In Proceedings of the European Distance and E-Learning Network Annual Conference, Innovation in Learning Communities, Gdansk, Poland, 10-13 June 2009. Budapest, Hungary: EDEN, Budapest University of Technology and Economics.

De Lucia, Andrea; Francese, Rita; Passero, Ignazio; Tortora, Genoveffa (2008). Supporting Jigsaw-Based Collaborative Learning in Second Life. In Proceedings of the 2008 Eighth IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies, pp. 806-808. Washington, DC: IEEE Computer Society.

Hetherington, Robina; Bonar-Law, Janette; Fleet, Tony; Parkinson, Lindy (2008). Learning in a Multi-User Virtual Environment. In Proceedings of the 2008 International Conference Visualisation - Volume 00, pp. 99-105. Washington, DC: IEEE Computer Society.

Morgado, Leonel; Varajão, João; Coelho, Dalila; Rodrigues, Clara; Sancin, Chiara; Castello, Valentina (2010). The Attributes and Advantages of Virtual Worlds for Real World Training. The Journal of Virtual Worlds and Education, 1 (1).

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Being a Trainer in the Virtual World In VITA project, most trainers were newbies regarding educational use of virtual worlds. They were experts in the curriculum topics (management, communication, marketing, negotiation, ‌) and they had experience in traditional presential training. Therefore, it was very important to get them confident enough to use the educational potential of a virtual world (Second Life) in the best way, before starting sessions with participants. VITA trainers started by being learners. They were trainees in the same environment where they would be trainers next. That training focused on the operation of Second Life but also on how to transform learning content (whatever it might be: either mathematics or gardening) to suit the virtual environment.

The Curriculum was supported by a set of technological SL tools, which enabled the pedagogical dynamics of each module and allowed the trainers to make full use of the virtual learning environment by interacting with the groups in games, demonstrations and simulations of management situations. These were devised by trainers and technology experts, working in concert. Trainers also benefited from practicing the use of those tools with the developers.

You can find more about the curriculum and training sessions of VITA in the multimedia handbook ―Training SME Managers in Second Life‖. available at http://vita.bitmedia.cc.

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Being a Virtual Trainer Training in virtual worlds can be a challenging experience, specially for plain users of computer or web-based applications. Therefore, becoming a trainer is also a learning experience. And, so we would like to share here what our trainers have achieved and learned and how any trainer can profit from our project.

The trainers’s perspective Teaching in Second life (SL) and other virtual worlds differs a lot from normal face-to-face or classroom teaching. Usually teachers aren’t very technically oriented and such 3D spaces are something, which is very odd to many of us. That’s why becoming a virtual trainer needs a change in mindset and skills. Also it’s obvious that a virtual trainer feels uneasy at the beginning of the process.

Helpful things before initiating Second life training Trainers training — Trainers themselves need a basic training to use SL. It is important to master the technology itself before using this virtual space as a teaching environment. A trainer has to know what kind of possibilities are offered as learning environment as well as what kind of tools might be used to implement the curriculum. Also it’s necessary to learn how to use those tools and how to act. Moving, for instance may be quite difficult initially.

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Being a Virtual Trainer — The trainers’s perspective Tentative module planning with Second Life experts — Although trainers learned a bit about, just basic system training is not enough. You have to collaborate with technical experts. Usually a trainer is a content expert but not an expert in technical issues. One useful experience is to do group work with training module planning so that members are both content and technical experts. Without that kind of cooperation, typical teachers cannot plan virtual training – or need a lot of time or/and will learn through trial and error.

Ask for help and admit your difficulties — After general curriculum planning you might come across challenges, when you have to plan the actual training sessions in Second Life. If you have a group of people or community, ask for help. Write down your questions and your curriculum plan – what you need and would like to do. After all, self learning may not be enough to understand and know the SL tools. Particularly, it may not suffice to build the tools yourself nor to organize everything according to your desires in the SL environment. It’s very useful if you can do that with the help of some expert. Virtual worlds are a very good place to have an online meeting when you are in different sides of the world and need to coordinate more than two people. At this, experts can show you the tools and explain you how to use them in your training.

Challenges in Second Life teaching — It’s normal that a regular teacher or trainer finds big challenges in virtual training after all preparations: 

Curriculum plans are quite different from most real situations;

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Providing training in virtual worlds requires special skills.

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Being a Virtual Trainer — differences in training Virtual training is different from real life training You can plan the sessions in a very detailed format, but the actual session may differ significantly from your plan. For instance you may not be able to forecast how many trainees will participate in your sessions, if they are not regular SL users; they may discover only at that very moment that their network or computer are not ready to use the software. They may not be sufficiently prepared to use the tools in the environment or to follow the communication. Common problems in other online technologies, like users that don’t know how to mute their microphones, will also be common. You can come across many surprises.

Usually you plan the whole learning process of your topic, with sessions following the previous ones. It’s quite usual in such training schemes for trainees to miss earlier sessions, having chosen a different learning path. So you may have to change the plan again as these trainees join the sessions.

It’s good to be prepared to change and improve.

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Being a Virtual Trainer — special skills Virtual training needs special skills Very quickly you’ll notice that there are many challenges for the trainer and virtual teaching demands special concentration from the trainer. It differs extensively from real life training situations – there are more challenges – and you have to be flexible. A virtual world trainer has to juggle many things at the same time: 

virtual tools, voice, writing, and talking;

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pedagogy (how to lead the group, teach the tools and keep their motivation);

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control of one’s own avatar and understanding possible problems faced by trainees with their avatars;

―At the end you have to hold your horses – anything can happen!

Despite that, you learn a lot yourself as a trainer.‖ Erja Lakanen Hyria Education, Ltd

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implementing the curriculum plan and delivering the content;

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time-table management;

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and being able to cope with technical problems.

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Being a Virtual Trainer — Useful checklists If you are getting prepared to train in a three-dimensional virtual space, it will be useful to be sure to have everything planned and — as much as possible — under control. As trainers, you may find useful to use progress checklists. Below are some examples of items to check in different moments of the preparation.

2 weeks before the training 

check the objectives of your training;

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check the preparation documents (target group, time plan, additional links and documentation);

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verify the administrative procedures (exact timing of sessions, time to wait for participants, handling of the participant list, handling of eventual skill check lists);

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contact your trainer colleague (if you have one) for aligning a preparation training;

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check all necessary tools in the 3D environment;

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check all additional websites;

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check all additional documents for the participants;

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train your training to feel really comfortable.

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Being a Virtual Trainer — Useful checklists 2 days before the training 

finalize the training preparation;

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check the participants list;

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verify that the timing did not change;

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exchange experiences with trainers of previous modules;

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check your internet connectivity on the place where you will conduct the training

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verify your audio equipment;

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finalize the time plan and the prepared task texts which you will want to copy to the session chat;

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check if you can access the necessary administrative files (participants list, skills checkist);

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open the 3D environment and try out all necessary tools. If possible already arrange the tools for your session in the virtual session location.

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Being a Virtual Trainer — Useful checklists 2 hours before the training 

check your internet connectivity;

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check your audio equipment and setup;

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prepare your office with a ―do not disturb – remote training in progress‖ sign or similar;

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open the administrative files (participant list, skills check list);

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open your session preparation file with the ready prepared task-texts;

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open additional preparation material and websites (in different tabs of a browser window) to check their availability;

―Relax, enter mentally into your

virtual 3D classroom, which gives you lots of more tools than a traditional classroom, relax again, concentrate – and enjoy!‖ Gerhard Doppler bitmedia elearning solutions

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prepare something to drink;

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open the 3D environment;

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check and prepare;

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meet your trainer colleague for some small talk and clearing of last doubts;

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if it was not possible before, arrange your tools in the virtual session location.

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Good Practices and Lessons Learned Here is a final list of tips and tricks to make your virtual training successful: 

Create a mailing list (or online group such as a Google group) of your participants and start communicating with them before the sessions in the virtual world: present yourself, allocate them ice-breaking tasks, send reading materials, …

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Set up a behavior regulation for all the participants and yourself. Be sure that all people comply with the rules as they have signed a contract.

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Realize a live session/video conference with your participants. Let them know each other and you in person, so that everyone has a real image of the one behind the avatar. This strategy will develop the social relations within the group and increase their motivation and responsability, avoiding drop-out.

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If you can, use two computers during the session: one connected to the virtual world and another where you can manage your materials and support to implement the learning activities.

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Create a online repository of study materials (for example, at Google docs or a Youtube channel).

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Plan the session so that every first minutes are dedicated to check if all the technical features of the virtual world are operating for all: sound, text, move, interaction with the learning objects, …

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Prepare a detailed protocol of the session minute by minute.

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Good Practices and Lessons Learned — Final list 

Have a partner. A more experienced co-trainer or a technical assistant will support you to manage all the things and control the capacity of the trainees to follow the session.

Remember that this can be also the first experience for some trainees and they will need time and help to understand some exercises and to control their behavior. You can share this tutorship with a partner.

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Track the learnings of your students at the moment those happen. For example, if you propose an exercise, fill in a table aside where the expected achievements are marked for each trainee. Compliment the trainees for their successes.

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Allow space and time in the virtual world for the social informal contact between the trainees. For example, by having ―coffee-breaks‖ in a decorated café with sorrounding music in the pauses of the session or after.

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Ask for feedback after each session. A simple way of doing this is to create a survey online with simple and fast questions about the feelings during the session. Send the link as last moment of the session everytime. The trainees will soon get used to this ―ending‖ and you can get information that allows you to revise your strategies in time to change for them.

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Use a variation of learning resources — remember that you are online, students can also search for information themselves, but you might make them use the information in different exercises and learning activities, further than presentations. If you are in lack of creativity speak with the technics about the potential of virtual worlds.

Contributing Trainers Aura Haidimoschi: graduate from the Academy of Economics Bucharest in International Economic Relations and holder of postgraduation in management and business ( 2000 ). Experience in human resources, adult education and project management. Since 2005 working for Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry in adult education and project management.

Erja Lakanen: master in Education, graduate from Helsinki University, she holds grades in Social Psychology and Management Education Program of Aalto University. Vocational degree in business and marketing. Over 10 years experience as Human Resources Manager and Developer of research organizations and private enterprises. Since 2006 she works for HYRIA as consultant and trainer of Management and Organizational Development of SMEs. Gerhard Doppler: After studies in telecommunication, informatics and business sciences Gerhard Doppler has collected sound experience in giving training, in software development and creation of e-learning content. Development of educational programs based on Blended Learning methodology is one of his major fields since 2001.

George Velegrakis: Electrical and Computer Engineer, graduate of the National Technical University of Athens (2007). He holds a M.Sc. in Environmental Policies and Development (2009) and he is a postgraduate student in the Architecture School of the National Technical University of Athens. Since 2008 he works for IDEC as project manager.

Giovanni Sorrentino: graduated in literature from the Rome University Tor Vergata, he was a software analyst developer from 2001 to 2003, when he became an e-Learning consultant for Didanetwork.

Contacts In addition to this publication you can find more information on VITA project webpages:  http://vita.bitmedia.cc  http://vitaproject.blogspot.com  http://www.youtube.com/user/Vitaproj Or contact the project team using the following address:  vita-project@googlegroups.com

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