presentation lsbu 2012

«How playing with identities mightchange the way we teach & learn»

«Liberté, égalité, et fraternité»

in the virtual classroomProf. Dr. Marcus Birkenkrahe

Berlin School of Economics and Law

The video: http://bit.ly/wjtWdw The wiki: http://bit.ly/wOUYrn

Overview

Quality of teaching ina virtual classroom

using online identities



What is a virtualclassroom anyway?


What does „virtual identity“ mean for participants?

What does „virtual identity“ mean for participants?

How should weevaluate the

quality of Web 2.0 teaching & learning?



Course format and tools

«Freedom, equality, community»

Quality control

Discussion: whatwould Open Science 2.0

mean for you?


mean for you?

Where are we?







What does „virtualstudent identity“

mean?

What does „virtualstudent identity“

mean?







Quality control


mean for you?


mean for you?

The virtual classroom I:Course format and examples

Distance courseor blended learning?

Distance courseor blended learning?

Distance course: Practice supervisionin an international

Bus. Mgmt. program

Distance course: Practice supervisionin an international

Bus. Mgmt. program

Blended learning: Company succession

Laboratory in adedicated program

Blended learning: Company succession

Laboratory in adedicated program

Block event includes virtualboth physical and virtuallectures & exercises; ca. 35 participants; 3D installations based on textbook; „companysuccession house“ and samplefirm building with avatar-bots.

Course can only take place virtually/online; ca. 40participants world-wide. Two 2 hr in-world meetings per week (runs since 2010).

Value-add: spatialadvantages; inter-national platform;

converting conceptsIn 3 dimensions

The video: http://bit.ly/wjtWdw

The virtual classroom II:virtual Web 2.0 toolbox

Virtual island of theBerlin School of

Economics (BSEL): 6 haland in Second Life®

Virtual island of theBerlin School of

Economics (BSEL): 6 haland in Second Life®

Off-World tools(not in Second Life)

Off-World tools(not in Second Life) In-World tools

(in Second Life)

In-World tools(in Second Life)

Analogous to thephysical classroom:avatars meet at agreedtimes in a dedicated work space.

Regular computer-supported mode= Blended Learning

Virtual space is (non-trivially) largerthan physical spaceand can be exploitedmore flexibly.

The virtual classroom III:Off-world tools and media

Off-World Werkzeuge(not in Second Life®,but can be reached and used from there)

Off-World Werkzeuge(not in Second Life®,but can be reached and used from there)

Platform: forum discussions

and course materials

Platform: forum discussions

and course materials

Wiki for structuredpost mortem anddiscussion withexternal experts

Wiki for structuredpost mortem anddiscussion withexternal experts

Change of mediais the standard

in the virtualclassroom, notthe exception!

Blogs as course journal, for case

studies, discussions

Blogs as course journal, for case

studies, discussions

BSEL: Moodle

BSEL: Moodle-WikiWikiversity-Wiki

WordPress blog

Sharing of presentations; shared media

walls; social media

Sharing of presentations; shared media

walls; social media

Google toolsFacebookTwitterSlideshareWiki...etc etc

Where are we?







What does „virtualidentity“ mean

for participants?


for participants?







Quality control


mean for you?


mean for you?

Benefits of virtual identity:freedom, equality, community

Freedom (of expression)Equality (of position)

Community (of interest)

Freedom (of expression)Equality (of position)

Community (of interest)

„Freedom“: Teaching and learning

profoundly alteridentity & personality.


profoundly alteridentity & personality.

„Equality“: "On the Internet nobody knows you're a dog"

„Equality“: "On the Internet nobody knows you're a dog"

„Community“: Create and support

the formation ofgroups or tribes;

establish friendship

„Community“: Create and support



Benefits of virtual identities I:Freedom to express oneself


profoundly alter/changeidentity & personality.


profoundly alter/changeidentity & personality.

Break downestablishedpersona,changeone's mask

Break downestablishedpersona,changeone's mask

Experimentvirtually with changes, try

new things on

Experimentvirtually with changes, try

new things on

Student in Second Life:“My avatar was robot from

standard collection of avatars. Others would probably think that im

boring or lazy or have no sense of beauty or imagine

myself an Iron Man from the fairy-tale and in search of

real heart.”

Student in Second Life:“My avatar was robot from

standard collection of avatars. Others would probably think that im

boring or lazy or have no sense of beauty or imagine

myself an Iron Man from the fairy-tale and in search of

real heart.”

Teaching altersthe teacher

Teaching altersthe teacher

Learning altersthe learner

Learning altersthe learner

Role plays workmuch better in thevirtual classroom

than in the physicalclassroom situation

Interlude: learningalters the learner

You don't just learn "stuff", you also learn things about yourself.

The things you (really) learn about yourself become part of your identity.

Your identity as a learner becomes part of your learning experience.

Your learner identity can be helpful or hindering to your learning "stuff".

Interlude: learningexample = you

Take yourself:

When you look at your avatar as it is right now:

what message are you sending about yourself as a learner?

Source: The Paper Chase (1973)

Interlude: teachingalters the teacher

You don't just teach "stuff", you also model identity.

The things you (really) teach influence your students' identities.

Your identity as a teacher becomes part of your teaching performance.

Your teacher identity can be helpful or hindering to your teaching.

Interlude: teachingexample = me

Take me inSecond Life® ;-)

When you look at my avatar as a teacher's avatar:

what message am I sending about me as a teacher?

Benefits of virtual identities II:equality of power position

„Equality“: "On the Internet nobody knows

that you're a dog"

„Equality“: "On the Internet nobody knows

that you're a dog"

Reduce powerdifferential bychanging your

appearance

Reduce powerdifferential bychanging your

appearance

Active Plenaryby role changesand letting go

Active Plenaryby role changesand letting go

Studentin in Second Life:«To be very honest, my first

thought on your avatar's appearence was: "so weird". Of

course it was not weird, but rather clever of you to choose the

centaur. Your avatar told us to embrace the possibilities of

identity change within second life, while the human part of the centaur was some sort of

concession to the seriousness of the module. However, I don't think

you would have needed a big, mighty appearence to maintain

your authority. Maybe you should try a very little avatar, like a flying mouse with a human body, on the

next course to see if this does anything to students' attention or

respect of you.»

Studentin in Second Life:«To be very honest, my first

thought on your avatar's appearence was: "so weird". Of

course it was not weird, but rather clever of you to choose the

centaur. Your avatar told us to embrace the possibilities of

identity change within second life, while the human part of the centaur was some sort of

concession to the seriousness of the module. However, I don't think

you would have needed a big, mighty appearence to maintain

your authority. Maybe you should try a very little avatar, like a flying mouse with a human body, on the

next course to see if this does anything to students' attention or

respect of you.»

Relaxation For both teachers

and learners

Relaxation For both teachers

and learners

In virtual worlds, avatars canfreely choose appearance,

gestures, voice etc.

Benefits of virtual identities III:forming communities of interest

Community: Create and support



Community: Create and support



Cohesion:Home stead for

„tribal meetings“

Cohesion:Home stead for

„tribal meetings“

Networkingas a part ofeducation

Networkingas a part ofeducation

Student in Second Life:“I am convinced that changing one's

personality can potentially enhance the learning experience. This might especially be true where social

"handcuffs" or group dynamics prevent students that are rather shy or don't

trust in their capabilities from developing their full potential. ”

Student in Second Life:“I am convinced that changing one's

personality can potentially enhance the learning experience. This might especially be true where social

"handcuffs" or group dynamics prevent students that are rather shy or don't

trust in their capabilities from developing their full potential. ”

Supportingindividualsby forminggroups &

teams

Supportingindividualsby forminggroups &

teams«Most of our thinking has a social purpose.»

(N.A.Christakis)

Where are we?








for participants?


for participants?







Quality control


mean for you?


mean for you?

Quality of teaching with Web 2.0:Media-compliant evaluation?

Media-compliantEvaluation 2.0:

Quality of teaching& learning supported

by Web 2.0 tools

Media-compliantEvaluation 2.0:

Quality of teaching& learning supported

by Web 2.0 tools

New, moreopen ways of

research &teaching?

New, moreopen ways of

research &teaching?

Higher or lowerquality or simply

different?

Higher or lowerquality or simply

different?

Marshall McLuhan:«Electromagnetic technology requires utter human docility and quiescence of meditation

such as befits an organism that now wears its brain

outside its skull and its nerves outside its hide. Man must

serve his electronic technology with the same servo-

mechanistic fidelity with which he served his coracle, his

canoe, his typography, and all other extensions of his

physical organs. But there is this difference, that previous technologies were partial and fragmentary, and the electric

is total and inclusive.»

Marshall McLuhan:«Electromagnetic technology requires utter human docility and quiescence of meditation

such as befits an organism that now wears its brain

outside its skull and its nerves outside its hide. Man must

serve his electronic technology with the same servo-

mechanistic fidelity with which he served his coracle, his

canoe, his typography, and all other extensions of his

physical organs. But there is this difference, that previous technologies were partial and fragmentary, and the electric

is total and inclusive.»

Do we neednew indicatorsand criteria orjust look more

closely?

Do we neednew indicatorsand criteria orjust look more

closely?

Performativity inresearch &

Open Science 2.0

«Don't trust in anything.Discuss everything.»

(J Calacanis)

«Pass it on, let it go, let it flow.»

(T Nørretranders)

Conclusions so far...

● To maintain the quality of teaching in thevirtual classroom, new tools must be masteredand space must be used as a new metaphor

● The virtualisation of teaching can yield morefreedom, more equality and more community

● Teaching with Web 2.0 tools requires adaptationof evaluation procedures and interpretations

● Processes of re-positioning and sense-makinghappen in many knowledge areas right now

Quality of Open Science 2.0:Ignore, ignite, irritate or incend?

Sou

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Questions for discussion

● What are your experiences with virtual classroomsor how do you imagine it would be?

● Which possibilities and threats do you see?● How could playing with identities be relevant for

research?● What would implications be for your own work?● What could your next steps be?

Thanks for your attention!

msb @ hwr-berlin.de

Blog: http://elerner.de

Wiki: http://bit.ly/wOUYrn

The video: http://bit.ly/wjtWdw

http://elerner.de/

http://bit.ly/wOUYrn

presentation lsbu 2012

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