Unreal PowerPoint™: Immersing PowerPoint presentations in a virtual computer game engine world

At a recent conference on games in education, we made a radical decision to transform our standard presentation of PowerPoint slides and computer game demonstrations into a unified whole, inserting the PowerPoint presentation to the computer game. This opened up various questions relating to learning and teaching theories, which were debated by the conference delegates. In this paper, we reflect on these discussions, we present our initial experiment, and relate this to various theories of learning and teaching. In particular, we consider the applicability of ''concept maps'' to inform the construction of educational materials, especially their topological, geometrical and pedagogical significance. We supplement this ''spatial'' dimension with a theory of the dynamic, temporal dimension, grounded in a context of learning processes, such as Kolb's learning cycle. Finally, we address the multi-player aspects of computer games, and relate this to the theories of social and collaborative learning. This paper attempts to explore various theoretical bases, and so support the development of a new learning and teaching virtual reality approach.

[1]  David H. Jonassen,et al.  Handbook of Individual Differences, Learning, and Instruction , 1993 .

[2]  D. Kolb,et al.  Experiential Learning Theory: Previous Research and New Directions , 2000 .

[3]  Daniel L. Schwartz,et al.  The Emergence of Abstract Representations in Dyad Problem Solving , 1995 .

[4]  L. Vygotsky.  Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes: Harvard University Press , 1978 .

[5]  Sherry Turkle.  From Powerful Ideas to PowerPoint , 2003 .

[6]  W. G. Perry.  Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the College Years: A Scheme. Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series. , 1970 .

[7]  Edward R. Tufte,et al.  The cognitive style of PowerPoint , 2003 .

[8]  Edward R. Tufte,et al.  The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint: Pitching Out Corrupts Within , 2003 .

[9]  Stefano Carpin,et al.  USARSim: Providing a Framework for Multi-Robot Performance Evaluation | NIST , 2006 .

[10]  G. Lakoff,et al.  Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind , 1988 .

[11]  Edwin Hutchins.  How a Cockpit Remembers Its Speeds , 1995 .

[12]  G. Salomon.  Distributed cognitions : psychological and educational considerations , 1997 .

[13]  Linda Kreger Silverman,et al.  The Visual-Spatial Learner , 1989 .

[14]  Barbara A. Frey,et al.  Learners' Perceptions on the Value of PowerPoint in Lectures. , 2002 .

[15]  I. Kinchin,et al.  Using concept maps to reveal conceptual typologies , 2006 .

[16]  Michael J. Zyda,et al.  From Viz‐Sim to VR to Games: How We Built a Hit Game‐Based Simulation , 2005 .

[17]  J. Novak,et al.  A Twelve-Year Longitudinal Study of Science Concept Learning , 1991 .

[18]  G. Lakoff,et al.  Metaphors We Live By , 1980 .

[19]  Pierre Dillenbourg,et al.  Collaborative Learning: Cognitive and Computational Approaches , 1999 .

[20]  R. Vince.  Behind and Beyond Kolb's Learning Cycle , 1998 .

[21]  Joshua E. Susskind.  PowerPoint's power in the classroom: enhancing students' self-efficacy and attitudes , 2005, Comput. Educ..

[22]  D. Kolb.  Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development , 1983 .

[23]  J. Novak,et al.  Educational Psychology: A Cognitive View , 1969 .

[24]  Cliff Atkinson.  Beyond Bullet Points: Using Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate, and Inspire (Bpg-Other) , 2005 .

[25]  Noel Entwistle,et al.  Promoting deep learning through teaching and assessment: conceptual frameworks and educational contexts. , 2000 .

[26]  D. Christopher Kayes,et al.  Experiential Learning and Its Critics: Preserving the Role of Experience in Management Learning and Education , 2002 .

[27]  Michael Zyda,et al.  Entertainment R&D for Defense , 2003, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications.

[28]  Catherine Adams.  PowerPoint, habits of mind, and classroom culture , 2006 .

[29]  J. Biggs.  Individual differences in study processes and the Quality of Learning Outcomes , 1979 .

[30]  Dennis McGrath,et al.  UnrealTriage: A Game-Based Simulation for Emergency Response , 2004 .

[31]  Noel Entwistle,et al.  Styles of learning and teaching , 1981 .

[32]  Ian M. Kinchin,et al.  Exploiting variations in concept map morphology as a lesson-planning tool for trainee teachers in higher education , 2005 .

[33]  David H. Jonassen,et al.  Computers in the Classroom: Mindtools for Critical Thinking , 1995 .