W3- Pary photo blog

Ok guys...Let's do this.

Before going around and having fun explorations, I completed my shiny blue AUT sign...ready to hear your positive feedback on that =)

And yes...I made it all blue cause I love it that way..the measuring and stretching were not a problem for me, but I had a hard time locating it in the right place. (not building problem...just my eyes!)

So I first did a little comparison between a real life experience and the virtual one.

Since I got a piercing in real life, I wanted to see if my avatar could have the same thing! So I searched the places where sold piercings for avatars and went for the first one on the list.(Exactly like real life...)

Below you can see the picture of the place...and guys!they really sell piercings...like actually sell! For real money...and they are definitely not cheap! More expensive than actual piercing!

After this failed shopping experience I went to a landmark where an exhibition was held.
 The university students have shown their works here using SL.

I have to say it was really impressive, every student had managed to link SL presentation to their own field of interest. From poems to short films. Maybe we could go there and have a look around and get inspired during our class.

The only thing which was not perfect was the long distance between every student's artwork.
The place was huge! I think the large space would be taken by next semester's student.
Aw, BTW the exhibition and the place belongs to a university in Australia.

Amanda W3- article review

Source: Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, Vol. 6 No. 1

Language Learning in Virtual Worlds: The Role of Foreign Language and Technical Anxiety 

This article gives a new point of view of language learning in virtual world, not only analysis students' attitude about study a foreign language in virtual world but also investigate the technical anxiety, which could lead to the result indicate the usage of virtual world (second life especially) of language learning.
  

Aim of study:

The aim of this study is test that foreign language anxiety, which has been reported as having a negative impact on learning in face-to-face classrooms, works similarly in 3D virtual environment, and the level of technical anxiety of this technology.

Methods:

55 students of Chinese at Monash University completed pre- and post-lesson online surveys, undertake three 1.5 hour lessons each semester in a simulation of a Chinese township (which has a number of venues used to conduct task-based learning activities related to themes in the textbook) in Second Life.

And all the lessons had task involves students must use Chinese character text-chat to communicate with non-player characters (NPCs) programmed to recognize and respond to student input. Students must use conversational language learnt and practiced during classroom-based lessons in free-form. If communication breaks down due to incorrect language, mistakes in characters or where sufficient information to move on with the task has not been elicited by preceding interactions, students must re- formulate their output until they obtain the information or artefacts they require.

  

Main Findings :

1.There are multiple sources of FLA in both classroom and virtual environments related with gender,age, previous study experience.

2.Students who learn foreign language through virtual environment felt less stressful in terms of use language to communicate and complete tasks

3. No significant inherent level of technical related anxiety while using second life taking language study courses.

Somayeh, W3 Article Review

4 August 2017

Virtual Reality for Pain Management in Cardiac Surgery

Reference: CYBERPSYCHOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, AND SOCIAL NETWORKING Volume 17, Number 6, 2014
a Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2014.0198
DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2014.0198

The aim of Study: 

In surgical procedures especially before the operation, patients usually get stress. Surgical anxiety can easily affect psychological and physiological stress, therefore, it causes complications in surgical procedures, and patients prolong recovery. Giving calm and intensive care to patients before operation, can moderate patient vital signs and reduce discomfort. The aim of this study is to reduce postoperative anxieties by using Virtual Reality (VR) cyber therapy for patients who recently got cardiac surgery. The value of VR as an emerging technology in the surgical procedure introduced. 

Methods:

Virtual reality methods, using application of VR distraction therapy. for postoperative cases with two groups of Patients (n = 67; 25 female, 42 male) in the cardiac surgery department of IMSS La Raza National Medical Center were asked to participate in the study. This sixty-seven patient were monitored at IMSS La Raza National Medical Center within 24 hours of cardiac surgery. Patients navigated through a 30-minute VR simulation designed for pain management. Using prestimulation questionnaire to measure patient discomfort. Procedural instructions were given to the patients after their admission to the ICU. Patients participated and basic demographic information was collected.

Main Findings:

Results were analysed through comparison of pre and postoperative vital signs and Likert scale survey data. A connection was found in several physiological factors with subjective responses from the Likert scale survey. A positive correlation existed between breathing rate and Likert ratings, and a moderate correlation was found between mean arterial pressure and Likert ratings and heart rate and Likert ratings, which all indicated lower pain and stress within patients. Further study of these factors resulted in the categorization of patients based upon their vital signs and subjective response, providing a context for the effectiveness of the therapy to specific groups of patients. hospitals would improve surgery outcomes, patient recovery, and patient psychological and physical well-being. Efforts are currently centred on pre- operative anxiety. Medical interventions, such as midazolam, and therapeutic attempts, such as music in waiting rooms, have shown mixed results. Some studies show subjective pain measurements decreased under VR conditions, others show that no measurable differences were found in either pain or distress. Advancements in technology have allowed the use of VR in intensive care units (ICUs) to fulfil standard pain management techniques. Intensive surgical anxieties can activate the sympathetic nervous system and downregulate immune functions. Results indicate that post therapy pain ratings dropped, patients spent less time thinking about the pain, and majority enjoyed the simulation.

      

Amanda W3-- Photo blog

This place is called Old Italy, the reason why I choose this place because I've been to Italy and I really like the country, so I'm wondering what is looks like in Second Life. In general, two islands were included in this place. I fly to the first one.  

As I arrived, this church is attract me, in front door is a guestbook, click on it we could read it and it's free.

I walked into the church, the design is fantastic, and it was also called wedding hall. the printing definitely represent the Art of Italy. On my lift hand, there are many candles and click on it you could light them.   

Then I fly to the biggest island, from the aerial view, the architecture looks different between these two islands.

I landing in the central square, and the whole place seems a CBD area and I'm looking forward to exploring, and it remind me about my trip in Florence Italy. 

There are many shops in both side of the street, some are for clothes, some are cafes, of-cause one thing can not miss in Italy is the art gallery. If I got money,I could buy money stuffs here. Here is a really good place to see.   

Habib W2 Article Review

The effects of Second Life on the motivation of undergraduate students learning a foreign language

Wehner, A. K., Gump, A. W., & Downey, S. (2011).

The aim of the article was to conduct research on the emerging technology of using a virtual world to teach a foreign language. There is not much work done in the past on the motivation levels of the students who experience virtual world.

The research, along with some other things, is primarily based on the idea of ‘total immersion’ where language learners are exposed to the target language as much as possible. The idea is to find out how motivated or de-motivated they feel after that.

Essentially, the learners are divided into two groups: both the groups are taught by the same teacher using the same course material and for exactly the same number of hours. The only difference is that one of the groups will have a simulation environment while the other will not.

The research questions were:

            .  Does Second Life affect the motivation of students learning Spanish as a foreign language? 


            .  Is there a difference in students’ attitude toward Spanish culture between students who use Second Life to enhance their learning experience and those who do not? 


            .  Is there a difference in students’ anxiety toward using Spanish between students who use Second Life to enhance their learning experience and those who do not? 


            .  Is there a difference in students’ interest in learning Spanish as a foreign language between students who use Second Life to enhance their learning experience and those who do not? 


            .  Is there a difference in the students’ motivational intensity toward learning Spanish between students who use Second Life to enhance their learning experience and those who do not? 


The literature for this study revolved around virtual world and its types such as purposeful and general purpose, it suitability for education or language learning and the concept of bringing language acquisition and guided learning closer.

The teaching methodology was to make the learners experience a virtual reality where they interact with native speakers, have their own virtual identities in the culture of the speakers of the target language, use the text chat technology and virtually visit the historical places of the country where the target language is spoken.

The research questions were worded in a broad way on purpose as the researchers aimed to cover as much as they could. For the first two questions, the findings were quite significant and the data showed that the language learners who experienced the virtual world felt more motivated. For the last two questions, the researchers could not find any significant stats.

The Reference:

Wehner, A. K., Gump, A. W., & Downey, S. (2011). The effects of Second Life on the motivation of undergraduate students learning a foreign language. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 24(3), 277-289.

W2-Photo blog Pary

 OK....So I've had visited SL few times during the week. But I forgot to take any pictures.

Here is the snaps from my latest visit there. I went to two places from popular destinations.

One of them was surprisingly empty but really beautiful (Above picture) which was called Heritage Village.
I tried to talk to an avatar there...but as you can see the picture..he was not in the mood I guess!

 I thought I should get more familiar with the virtual world to gain the trust of other avatars...after all people judge you by the look there(no difference from real world eh?)

In order to buy some clothes and become more popular (girls problem!) I bought some Lindon Money. It is quite cheap guys..2.5 US dollars are approximately 500 LD

 Above you can see the not really succesfull result of my shopping! I was not pleased to see a panel around me instead of clothes. Just then I recalled that Darryl had mentioned something about changing clothes in homepage instead of other destinations. So....here we go to home...to get changed.

Nope! Still a nice panel around me...Maybe we can solve this together in the class guys.
See you All.

(P.S- the other destination was Hiroba Japan. Full of people,no one communicated with another person...and it felt like the first day of school.Oh and I saw like three prostitutes trying to have business!!)

W2 Article Review, Farid

Task-based teaching approaches of Chinese as a foreign language in Second Life through teachers’ perspectives
 Procedia Technology   13  ( 2014 )  16 – 22
SLACTIONS 2013: Research conference on virtual worlds - Learning with simulations


In the past five years, the use of 3D Multiuser Virtual Environment (MUVE) in education has received considerable attention. Researches have shown that using virtual learning environments can effectively increase learning motivation and engagement, reduce learner anxiety, support the development of learner autonomy, and promote interactive and creative ways of teaching and learning.


Aim of the study:

the aim of the study is to share the experience of teaching beginning level Chinese as a foreign language courses in Second Life from the perspective of an expert virtual world user and three novice users. Also, to discusses the utilisation of challenges that arose while implementing the learning tasks.

Methods:

an exploratory qualitative methodology was used as the research design. Participants engaged in this study were four instructors from two countries and 144 CFL undergraduate students at a major Australian university. One of the four instructors was an expert user of Second Life at the Australian university with more than 5 years teaching experience; the other three instructors were beginner users in Taiwan who had never taught courses in Second Life before.

 The class was divided to two hours, the first hour was taught by the instructor in Australia. in this session, learners mobilized language learned in the foreign language classroom during the semester to carry out authentic communicative tasks that simulate real life scenarios, engaging in Chinese character-based text chat with highly interactive non-player character (NPC) interlocutors. the second hour was taught by the instructor in Taiwan with a technical support from the Australian instructor. in the second hour three activity units and 25 sessions of one hour each were the span of one semester.

Findings:

1- provide opportunities to set clear goals.
2-ensuring student-centred and authentic approaches to learning.
3-providing multiple opportunities fpr input, production, and feedback.
4-promote a comfortable learning environment.

Habib W2 photo blog

I went to the freebie shopping centre to buy some clothes but I couldn’t. Then, I asked someone who works in the shop to help me out, he was a nice guy and helped 

me with that.

  This time I do understand how can I change my clothes and how to buy new one. Actually, I changed my clothes many times until I found the suitable one.

After that, I visited Arab Gate. It shows some of Arab traditional life. This is very similar for what I’ve seen it in the real traditional. We can see that, this picture for the symbol of the Arab.

This picture shows a nice old building (castle)

Also, here we can see the simple way to get the water. They used the camel to takeout the water from the hole.