1,720,994 research outputs found
Can ICT support inclusion? Evidence from multi-user edutainment experiences based on 3D worlds
No full textCan ICT support inclusion? This paper presents some evidence collected during a 6-years experience with educational programs based on multi-user virtual worlds, involving more than 9,000 students from 20 different countries across 3 continents. Eloquent anecdotes, supported by quantitative data, tell us that, under some conditions, ICTs can be a powerful tool to involve disaffected students, raise interest, promote socialization and trigger important changes of attitude
European virtual classrooms: building effective ‘‘virtual" educational experiences
Full text linkAbstract. This paper presents Learning@Europe, an educational service, supported by VR, that has involved in year 2004–2005 more than 1,000 students from 6 different European countries. L@E has fostered the reation/reinforcement of three different kinds of communities: (1) the classroom community (reinforcing the bonds among students, and between students and their teachers), (2) communities among different schools competing together through 3D environments, (3) a global community (roughly involving 20% of the total) of all the teachers and students. A similar situation was created, at regional level, in the Italian Region of Lombardy, involving nearly 800 individuals. Given that the behaviours of the different communities in the two projects were very similar, it seems to be arguable that a pattern of community building through virtual environments has been detected. The important facts (detected by surveys of teachers and students, inspection, direct observation, qualitative data analysis) about these communities are: (1) the depth of the pedagogical impact, in terms of increased knowledge (about history and related subjects), skills (use of functional English, use of ICT in learning/teaching processes, group work) and attitudes (more curiosity towards history, increased motivation in school activities, improved respect and interest for other cultures). (2) The engagement of all the participants, with very high level of customer satisfaction. (3) The depth of the social impact, reinforcing existing relationships (within the same class) and creating new ones. The key feature of this success apparently lies in the sense of ‘‘social virtual presence’’, that is, a feeling of being engaged in a virtual situation, so strong that the technological means become ‘‘transparent’’ and the social situation (meant at different levels and for different time frames) becomes ‘‘the king’’. The paper will present the project, its main features and its outcomes, eventually discussing the role of social virtual presence into building effective and lively communities
3D for Cultural Heritage and Education: Evaluating the Impact
Full text linkSince the year 2002, Politecnico di Milano has been developing several educational projects aimed at schools, based on advanced technology (3D virtual worlds, shared over the Internet). The two most recent projects are about history: Learning@Europe (www.learningateurope.net) deals with the formation of European nation-states, and Stori@Lombardia (www.storialombardia.it) with medieval history in Northern Italy. Both projects underwent massive testing in spring 2005, thanks to the support of Accenture Foundation and the regional Government of Lombardy. L@E involved almost 1000 students and 60 teachers from 6 different European countries (Belgium, France, Italy, Poland, Norway, Spain); Stori@Lombardia involved 800 students and 40 teachers from Lombardy region (Italy). A huge amount of data was collected in order to verify the cultural impact of the project. The projects were very successful — beyond our expectations — both in terms of pedagogical impact and of customer satisfaction. The paper will present the most relevant data and the most salient aspects of the qualitative analysis. It will also argue a generalization of this case study, exploring how a deep impact (cultural and pedagogical) upon users can be achieved through technology, and in particular, the role of "virtual presence" in collaborative 3D virtual environment
E- Learning and Accessibility for Cultural Heritage
No full textThe paper describes the results of two innovative
projects, in the field of Cultural Heritage, carried
on by HOC (http://hoc.elet.polimi.it) the multidisciplinary
Laboratory of the Politecnico di Milano Department of Electronics and Information: SEE (advanced e-learning) and WED (accessibility to the web for blind users). SEE (Shrine Educational Experience; www.seequmran.it) project, the result of cooperation between Politecnico and the Israel Museum of Jerusalem, provides an educational experience concerning the Dead Sea Scrolls and related issues. Students of different classes meet in a 3D world, shared over the Internet, to discuss, learn and play together in an engaging intercultural exchange, creating bonds
and understanding between different cultures. WED addresses the issue of accessibility to the Web for visually impaired users. The assumption is that the interaction between a human being and a machine can be compared to a sort of dialogue: studying its features and comparing them with efficient natural dialogues, it is possible to develop design guidelines in order to switch the interaction from the visual to the oral channel
3D Worlds for Edutainment: Educational, Relational and Organizational Principles
No full textCan 3D graphics convey robust cultural value in an effective, engaging way? Can virtual worlds be a magic place where intercultural exchange with remote peers takes place? Can difficult students be “rescued” by unusual learning activities supported by technologies?
Can teachers play a fundamental facilitating role while using advanced eLearning tools? The paper presents the educational impact of SEE, Shrine Educational Experience – a joint cooperation between Politecnico di Milano and the Israel Museum. SEE is a 3D world shared over the Internet where students from all over the world meet to learn and play, tackling cultural topics
related to the Dead Sea Scroll. SEE underwent a successful evaluation between November 2002 and May 2004, involving over 1500 participants from Europe and Israel. The paper discusses the educational, relational and organizational principles that were crucial for the success of this pervasive eLearning experience
Visual Communication in Virtual 3D Environments
No full textHow does visual communication in multi-user educational 3D environments support interaction and collaboration? To what extent does it affect learning? How can it be improved? We investigate the role of visual communication in 3D virtual reality basing on our 8-years experience of VR-based educational projects, tested with good results by thousands of users from 17 countries. We identify 3 key aspects strongly related to the visual nature of VR, contributing to the success of collaborative experiences: virtual presence, proxemic semiotics, and peripheral awarenes
Factors Influencing Chat-Based Cultural Discussions for Learning History in a 3D Virtual World
Full text linkIn a fast-changing world, there is an increasingly felt need to bring what we teach and how we teach it into the 21st Century. Learning@Europe is an attempt in this direction: a shared online virtual world where students from different European countries meet to play and learn about European history.
Chat-based discussions of study material, research homework to prepare in collaboration with remote peers on online forums, team games and a cultural com-petition are the main ingredients of this innovative experience, already tested by over 6000 high-school students and teachers from 18 European countries. This paper focuses on a particular Learning@Europe activity – chat-based cultural discussions about history – and analyzes the elements that are essential to its success. Basing on evaluation data and our 3-years experience, we describe strategies deal with the different elements to be taken into account: Technology; Content; Interaction Design; and – most important of all – Social Behavior
SEE (Shrine Educational Experience): an Online Cooperative 3D Environment Supporting Innovative Educational Activities
No full textWhat do new technologies have to offer to education? And in particular, can online collaborative 3D environments fulfill high educational goals, combined with the playful and social aspects that make them so attractive? SEE (Shrine Educational Experience), a project by Politecnico di Milano and the Israel Museum, represents a major step towards the answering to this question. SEE brings together, in a shared 3D virtual space, students from around the world, to learn about the Dead Sea Scrolls and the two thousand year old culture that produced them. During the experience, robust cultural content is delivered; cross cultural exchange and interaction among physically remote participants are encouraged. The experience is also an intriguing occasion of becoming familiar with state-of-the-art technologies. This paper describes the SEE experience, its major educational goals and the design choices made to accomplish them. The first results of tests performed in schools are also presented
- …
