Conceptualizing Virtual Research Arena Framework: Learning Activities across Physical and Virtual Spaces

Editor's Notes

• #2: Good afternoon! My name is Mikhail Fominykh. I am a PhD-candidate at NTNU and I study the use of 3D virtual environments for learning. Today I’d like to present you our paper “ Conceptualizing Virtual Research Arena Framework: Learning Activities across Physical and Virtual Spaces ” .
• #3: In this paper we talk about 3D virtual environments. At the moment we are working with the one called Second Life and I think most of you are familiar with this platform.
• #4: We identify 3 main reasons for choosing this technology for collaborative work with 3D content: 1. Collaborative work on 3D content is a new, creative and extraordinary activity. And we are investigating how it can be used for educational process. 2. In addition, 3D virtual environments allow people interacting in a way that conveys a sense of presence lacking in other media. This creates possibilities for other activities such as meetings and role-paying 3. The third reason is a possibility for visual expression and creativity
• #5: The main research questions that we are trying to answer in this paper are all related to the Collaborative work on 3D content : Why is it worth using this technology for Collaborative work on 3D content? How to describe, analyze and evaluate Collaborative work on 3D content? How to design an environment, tools and facilities for Collaborative work on 3D content? How to support and facilitate communities around Collaborative work on 3D content?
• #6: In this paper, we consolidate the results of our previous studies on the use of 3D CVEs for learning to conceptualize a Virtual Research Arena (VRA) framework. We present an overview and a context of the framework as well as a discussion on its practical use.
• #7: In the previous research, we were exploring collaborative work on 3D content in a virtual campus and virtual city context. The VRA contributes to the conceptual framework ‘Universcity’, in which we seek to integrate different aspects of city life, such as culture, society, education and entertainment. We consider ‘Universcity’ as an integral organism, since in reality all these aspects are interconnected. The ‘Universcity’ framework has 4 layers that correspond to the aspects of city life. Each layer has its own specifics and major infrastructure elements or facilities (Fig. 2).
• #10: In this paper, we present initial results of implementing and using Virtual Research Arena – a framework for creating awareness about educational and research activities, promoting cross-fertilization between different environments and engaging the general public. The idea of the Virtual Research Arena emerged after we were invited to participate in an annual scientific festival and present our work there. Our goal was to attract scientists who wanted to demonstrate their work on the festival in a virtual mode and to build visualizations of their projects
• #17: The results of the work presented contribute to 3 main areas that are connected by the VRA: first, collaborative work on 3D content ; second, services contained in a virtual campus; and third, community represented by virtual city. In the following, we attempt to form a concept of the VRA out of our observations, results of studies conducted and feedbacks.
• #18: The results of the work presented contribute to 3 main areas that are connected by the VRA: first, collaborative work on 3D content ; second, services contained in a virtual campus; and third, community represented by virtual city. In the following, we attempt to form a concept of the VRA out of our observations, results of studies conducted and feedbacks.
• #19: On the content level the VRA introduces basic methods for facilitating 3D construction process and elaborating on 3D content. These methods are based on the typology of the 3D content and visualization means , which provides a classification of content types in 3D CVEs (text, multimedia and 3D objects) and their appropriateness for different purposes. a specification of the visualization means in 3D CVEs, which includes three major aspects of the presentation form of the content (aesthetics, functionality and expressed meaning) and their roles.
• #20: On this slide, you can see a summary of the 3D construction analysis.
• #21: The Virtual Campus with a number of reconstructed buildings provides an appealing atmosphere and contains community places, tools and facilities for seminars, meetings and discussions. These tools and features that provide this support within the VRA are designed based on the principal ideas of the CVW (Fig. 3) and include a virtual workplace equipped with tutorials and tools, providing assistance for control and navigation, communication and work with content. The workplace is linked to a library with ready-to-use 3D objects, textures, scripts and other resources. A virtual stage provides support for sharing and presenting content and is equipped with corresponding facilities, such as a slide-show screen and a place for presenting 3D constructions. The stage is surrounded by a virtual gallery where constructions are stored and exhibited.
• #22: By means of the VRA, it is possible to support ties between different communities such as students and teachers, external experts and the general public. In addition, we provide initial boundary objects and introduce shared artefacts around which the interaction and collaboration are structured. Based on the CVW framework, we are developing a virtual gallery that will serve as a community repository [ 7 ], exhibiting 3D constructions. In the ‘ Universcity ’ framework, the Virtual Research Arena and the Virtual Campus are infrastructure elements, which represent the layer of education and research and are connected to each other (Fig. 3). This layer is considered for supporting educational/research activities and networks. Following the ‘Universcity’ strategy of integrating different aspects of community life, the VRA is linked to the three other layers (cultural, social and entertainment) by attracting international visitors and tourists, connecting research environment and the general public, creating awareness of the local and international research and entertaining the visitors.
• #23: Conceptualization of the VRA raised a number of challenges, such as complexity of assessing and evaluating collaborative work on 3D content, sophistication and ambiguity of 3D visualizations, difficulty of establishing communities in 3D CVEs, possibilities of connecting physical and virtual spaces and events.