Evaluation of Learning Efficiency and Efficacy in a Multi-User Virtual Environment

Abstract This study evaluated the multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) known as Second Life, integrated with Moodle and SLOODLE technologies, as an exploratory course delivery platform and for its ability to enable teachers to meet elements of NETS•T. Graduate student participants (N = 17) interacted, constructed simulated schools, and attended classes in the MUVE. The researcher used pre- and posttest measures of self-efficacy and learning efficiency to understand the effects of the MUVE on participants and their rate of learning to make educational use of the environment. Findings imply that the technologies have potential as a distance-learning platform and as a tool to meet elements of NETS•T. Preparing teachers to use the MUVE for these purposes is likely to require a significant amount of scaffolding.

[1]  Andreas Holzinger,et al.  Efficiency in Learning: Evidence-Based Guidelines to Manage Cognitive Load , 2007, J. Educ. Technol. Soc..

[2]  Joe Sanchez.  Barriers to Student Learning in Second Life , 2009 .

[3]  Louis E. Yelle.  THE LEARNING CURVE: HISTORICAL REVIEW AND COMPREHENSIVE SURVEY , 1979 .

[4]  Lloyd P. Rieber,et al.  The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning: Multimedia Learning in Games, Simulations, and Microworlds , 2005 .

[5]  Shawn Foley,et al.  Designing and Developing Rubrics as an Instrument To Assess ISTE's (International Society for Technology in Education) National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T). , 2001 .

[6]  A. Bandura.  Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control , 1997, Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy.

[7]  Sue Cobb,et al.  The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning: Multimedia Learning in Virtual Reality , 2005 .

[8]  Jaime Sánchez,et al.  VIRTUAL REALITY AND LEARNING: TRENDS AND ISSUES , 1999 .

[9]  Laurie D. Edwards,et al.  Microworlds as Representations , 1995 .

[10]  Richard Mayer,et al.  Multimedia Learning , 2001, Visible Learning Guide to Student Achievement.

[11]  D. Campbell,et al.  EXPERIMENTAL AND QUASI-EXPERIMENT Al DESIGNS FOR RESEARCH , 2012 .

[12]  Charles J. Teplitz,et al.  The Learning Curve Deskbook: A Reference Guide to Theory, Calculations, and Applications , 1991 .

[13]  M. Malbrán.  The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning , 2007 .

[14]  C. Bailey.  Forgetting and the learning curve: a laboratory study , 1989 .

[15]  Celia Hoyles,et al.  Computers and exploratory learning , 1995 .

[16]  F. Paas,et al.  Teaching complex rather than simple tasks: balancing intrinsic and germane load to enhance transfer of learning , 2006 .