Andersen: Basically how human being interact with computer

Andersen: behind you is a set of questions

Andersen: What kinds of learning does AW produce

***

digigardener: click on the webli nk

Andersen: contribute to social d

queenbee: guys geri is introducing the panel

Andersen: Comments by Dean

"Jeanne": i found my problem. I was in the wrong place

"Jeanne": which web link?

queenbee: you can explore the pages by click ing on the weblnks starting on the left

"Murray Turoff": my weblink is telling the 98 conference is over

Andersen: Part of what we want to do when we get conversations earlier in the

Andersen: afternoon shar what we're asking.

Andersen: social dynamics perspective

"Jeanne": I had that too, murray

Andersen: what is diffferent in virutla world.s.

Andersen: Conducted experiemnt with Duke got on line with Palace two dimensional chat

Andersen: room

Andersen: theoretical reduct uncertainty on line

Andersen: round face avitar

Andersen: salient in conversation

Andersen: interact and find out how to find out about

Andersen: others. Questions how can we apply what we

Andersen: know in new environment. Hypotheses gender based

"Murray Turoff": i never felt these one line chats were conducive to real reflection and learning

Andersen: typically when go on line we try

Andersen: to look how into the conversation did they move closer

Manoduro: murray - they are not just one line

Andersen: together familiary confortable in the environment. The other things we

Andersen: did existing models of uncertainty duction theory

queenbee: if you want audio go to the sign above the stage

Andersen: Different form of uncertainty

Andersen: One of the questions social attractions

virtualmike: I'm somewhat skpetic of the potential of online chat alone myself

Andersen: results from face to face environment

Andersen: how this different form of communications

Andersen: how these issues come up

virtualmike: although I think in tandem with other technologies, ti my prove to be useful.

"Jeanne": You should come to our MOO, Murray, and see what students have done

Andersen: take communication perspective in this environment

***

queenbee: do you see the speaker up on the sign?

"Murray Turoff": for some reason my audio is full of static

queenbee: guys if you have realaudio you can click on th e speaker audio and hear him

queenbee: ok lemme check the audio

virtualmike: this mix of audio and text is a little disconcerting...

"Murray Turoff": jeanne invite me some time to vist your student moo turof@vc.njit.edu

queenbee: well i adjusted the rate of the picture download from the camer

queenbee: camera

queenbee: so your audio should all be clearer

"Murray Turoff": better but not good audio

queenbee: ok we are working on it

queenbee: hey everyone else, are you getting audio?

queenbee: show of handss :)

virtualmike: should be begin some discussion in this world in the meantime?

queenbee: yes please start discussions amongst youserslves

"Jeanne": i am just on 28.8 so it's buffering like crazy

queenbee: we will ask for questions

"Jeanne": Murry, I can't cut and paste here but our addy is easy to remember. URL www.du.org

"IMG": I had to turn my volume up very high, but it works

tam: e would like to ask participants to reflect on their own experiences with AW to engage in a dialogue over the following questions.

queenbee: goodie

queenbee: i am glad it is working

queenbee: we are moving the mike closer to the speakers

"drizldrazl": to QB:audio ok

"Jeanne": I clicked on the speaker and RA came up and is buffering somethign it's saying is live

tam: which kinds of learning, for which content areas and for what kinds of social interactions do you believe Active Worlds is appropriate?

queenbee: ok all we will try to repeat questions in world by text

queenbee: a question!!

queenbee: Geri?

"Murray Turoff": i can see the artistic value for courses in those areas (design, etc)

queenbee: yes it is beautiful but what does it have to do with learning?

queenbee: (bruce speaking)

"Murray Turoff": however, much finer resolution is going to be needed for collaborative laboratory courses and much greater control

queenbee: yes more ability to do realistic behaviours in the world

Sammer Mammer: It's very clear to me that kids will respond to this type of interface in whatever educational way it's used.

***

queenbee: what is this medium ready for in learning?

tam: But isn't there also pedagogical uses for the non-realistic experiences provided through this medium

queenbee: is it a question of medium richness at atll?

queenbee: at all

queenbee: active worlds is very media rich

queenbee: but this does not mean it will be effective for education

queenbee: we have to look at educational principles first

tam: Won't the educational utility depend on the particular educational objectives?

queenbee: a question from the room..

queenbee: what do you mean by educational prinicples?

queenbee: we are pointing the camera at the room

queenbee: so you can see folks here

queenbee: the principles about how constructive learning works

queenbee: first

queenbee: and worry about the medium

queenbee: second

queenbee: (speaker's answer)

tam: But doesn't the environement and media of learning help constitute the learning experience? So it's not secondary

queenbee: Geri is speaking..

queenbee: hmm.. Geri?

queenbee: but children below a given age have a great deal of facility with these worlds

queenbee: we now take the classroom for granted.. but do young people think of this environment as a barrier..?

queenbee: a comment from the audience

"Jeanne": anyone with ADD would go nuts though :)

queenbee: heheheh

queenbee: (this is bruce damer speaking, i kidnapped queenbee)

Mrs Chan: jeanne good pooint

queenbee: the environment is different but the same educational questions are there

"Murray Turoff": the other missing item is well linked asynchrnonous conferencing ability for involved and complex discussions as well as "virtual classroom" type features

queenbee: yes murray is right i think

Mrs Chan: the merging of asynchronous and synchronous media provides new questions.

"Murray Turoff": your too agreeable to bruce!!!

San Marco: he's an agreeable guy!

queenbee: guys can you hear all ok

tam: How do you think the "presence" afforded by avatars enhances learning?

"Jeanne": I suspect when teh bandwidth is enough we'll have the ability to write notes for ppl, have newspapers

queenbee: heheh how could i be otherwise with the father of CMC/Learning :)

queenbee: welcome pammy, next speaker who is an anthropologist

"Murray Turoff": as a dephi designer i think avatars are great way to introduce pen names, roles and learning by people undertaking roles

"Jeanne": who is considered the father of CMC/Learning?

queenbee: Murray I would say

queenbee: she says..

"Murray Turoff": our work on cmc learning is at http://eies.njit.edu/~hiltz

queenbee: presence within a world as an avatar is one affordance of embodiment..

"Jeanne": gee, I thought I had heard of most ppl in this field

queenbee: but what does that embodiment allow you to do in a learning process?

queenbee: what is the purpose of this learning experinece?

Mrs Chan: the avatar provides a form of identity

queenbee: what are the learning styles and social norms that are already established?

"Jeanne": thanks, I wrote that down, Murray

queenbee: what norms and expectations are imposed in this situation?

Mrs Chan: groups that i work with use symbols as a means for convergence

queenbee: (the anthropologists are out in force!)

queenbee: questions?

queenbee: comments?

queenbee: from the room.. here:

"Murray Turoff": the concept of stakeholders in any real world problem is used in many areas such as business learning, managment, policy assessment, sociological analysis etc.

queenbee: ok murray

"Jeanne": help. I am out of allignment and getting motion sick. How do I reallign?

Mrs Chan: business simulations seems a hot area as well

queenbee: by the way folks, all this is being logged, to realaudio files and text files too

"Jeanne": business sims are great in VR

queenbee: for later posting in our proceedings

queenbee: what are the social relationships of learning?

"Murray Turoff": you need a whole set of avatars representing famous people in history, good and bad!!

queenbee: hmm who would you have in these worlds re: famous folks?

Mrs Chan: learning now can be diverse and geographically distinct

"Murray Turoff": imagine all the famous philisophers and the studnet taking one of those avators has to exmaine a mondern issue as that person whould have!!

"Jeanne": "henry the VIII?

"Jeanne": "Ann Bolyn

queenbee: most of her research h as been on the teaching of history, social groups..

Mrs Chan: what a cool way to learn history

Sammer Mammer: Definitely!

virtualmike: probably more the philosopher football game, a la Monty Python

queenbee: you would have to very careful in the selection of the groups, their narrative, how it informs..

queenbee: how can you test representations?

queenbee: would a conservative christian group have a very different representation? different characters?

queenbee: this environment would allow multiple conflicting versions of history..

Mrs Chan: yet people can have their own worlds

queenbee: accomodating contradiction, conflicting views of history

virtualmike: would this further ghettoize subgroups, however?

queenbee: our textbooks tend to represent one world views

virtualmike: I

queenbee: the representations would concern me, the selection of avatars? how woudl we represent hitler for example?

virtualmike: I fear some solution in which we all chat with like persons, and ignore those different from us

Mrs Chan: yet diversity can be accessed--you have more than one "book" to choose from

Sammer Mammer: Carefully.

queenbee: (that came from the speaker)

queenbee: well we are wrapping up this panel

queenbee: clap folks!!!

"Murray Turoff": i have to leave for a ballet at lincoln center, some day i hope to be able to watch a dance prefornance in AW