1. Introduction

1.1 Conceptualizing and Defining Immersive Environments

1.1 What is an "Immersive Environment?"

William Blake. Europe a Prophecy Copy K, 1821 (Fitzwilliam Museum)

Steven Warburton, in his 2009 article Second Life in higher education: Assessing the potential for and the barriers to deploying virtual worlds in learning and teaching, provides this extended definition in his account of the development of virtual ("immersive") environments:

The story of virtual worlds is one that cannot be separated from technological change. As we witness increasing maturity and convergence in broadband, wireless computing,video and audio technologies, we see virtual immersive environments becoming more practical and useable...Virtual worlds have existed in some form since the early 1980s, but their absolute definition remains contested. This reflects the general nature of a term that draws on multiple writings of the virtual and the difficulties in attempting to fix descriptions in an area that is undergoing persistent technological development. The numerous contextual descriptions that have appeared, from the perspectives of writers, academics, industry professionals and the media, have further complicated agreement on a common understanding of virtual worlds. Bell (2008) has approached this problem by suggesting a combined definition based on the work of Bartle (2004), Castronova
(2004) and Koster (2004), drawing the work together using key terms that relate to: synchronicity, persistence, network of people, avatar representation and facilitation of the experience by networked computers. But perhaps the most satisfying and simplest insight comes from Schroeder (1996, 2008) who has consistently argued that virtual environments and virtual reality technologies should be defined as:"A computer-generated display that allows or compels the user (or users) to have a sense of being present in an environment other than the one they are actually in, and to interact with that environment(Schroeder, 1996, p. 25)

In other words, a virtual world provides an experience set within a technological environment that gives the user a strong sense of being there. The multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) of today share common features that reflect their roots in the gaming worlds of multi-user dungeons and massively multiplayer online games (MMOs), made more popular in recent times through titles such as NeverWinter Nights and World of Warcraft, both based on the Dungeons and Dragons genre of role-playing game. Virtual worlds may appear in different forms yet they possess a number of recurrent features that include:
? persistence of the in-world environment
? a shared space allowing multiple users to participate simultaneously
? virtual embodiment in the form of an avatar (a personisable 3-D representation of the self)
? interactions that occur between users and objects in a 3-D environment
? an immediacy of action such that interactions occur in real time
? similarities to the real world such as topography, movement and physics that provide the illusion of being there.(Smart, Cascio & Paffendof, 2007

(For entire article,see:[^Warburton.pdf])
While this is an excellent account of how digital technologies have enabled us to alter,re-create or replicate our physical or mental "environments" to the point where the term "virtual reality" no longer seems nearly as pretentious as it was in the early 1980's, where VR meant wearing clunky helmets and goggles tightly tethered to a (frequently-crashing) mainframe computer, it doesn't address the question of how or why we became interested in immersive environments in the first place. Or, to put it another way, which came first, the computer or the immersive environment – is digital technology the necessary or just sufficient cause for the conceptualization of immersive environments?

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The definition(s) proposed abocve would seem to preclude the inclusion of any human artefact that preceded the digital age. On the other hand, Marshall McLuhan – the patron saint of Wired Magazine - suggested that all "man-made" artefacts are communications media to the extent that they are "the extensions of man," (i.e., extensions of our senses); and that all electronic communications media can be seen as evolutions of some previous technology even as they obsolece or replace them. We must agree with McLuhan to some extent: after all, role-playing games and multi-user games – often used as examples of immersive environments – pre-existed their computer adaptations, even as the scope of their "immersiveness" was increased exponentially by their incorporation into MMO's and social networking platforms.

For instance, our William Blake example points out two crucial aspects of immersive environments; the opening stanza of his illuminated text runs as follows:

Five windows light the cavern'd Man; thro' one he breathes the air;
Thro' one, hears music of the spheres; thro' one, the eternal vine
Flourishes, that he may recieve the grapes; thro' one can look.
And see small portions of the eternal world that ever groweth;
Thro' one, himself pass out what time he please, but he will not;
For stolen joys are sweet, & bread eaten in secret pleasant.

How does this 18th-century work relate to computer-mediated immersive environments? First, the opening lines provide a nice poetic metaphor on how we experience reality through our five senses. Compare this to the development of multimedia technolgies: The "Windows" interface began by adding a layer of graphic richness to what had been a rudimentary typographic display on a primitive monochromatic CRT display. This was soon replaced by richer graphics that dramatically improved visual interaction. Ezra Pound's assertion that "artists are the antennae of the race" is aptly demonstrated by our Blake example: Blake's concept of his "illuminated manuscripts" was brought about by his dissatisfaction with just the printed word: and so he created a hybrid of poetry and painting, whereby simple text (think DOS)could have a new layer of meaning added to it by graphic "illumination" of the text (think Windows and similar interfaces). Similarly, the development of sophisticated immersive environments can also be viewed in terms of the gradual improvement of the technology's ability to simultaneously engage us in a multisensory interactive environment.

As a next step in this pedagogical approach, can we think of other immersive environments which pre-existed the computer age, and suggest ways in which computer-based IE's have enhanced older ones? Here's one to begin: a brief tour of the Mustag cave environment in Nepal...

holodeck

Lets consider some of the pedagogical approaches that have been used for this theme by students in the past. These are typically found under "implementations" sections in the various theme pages.

Here is a link to the Immersive Environments theme page

1. Readings

There has typically been at least one reading per week. (you might find these under References section, but most likely under "homework" pages - these can be admittedly disorganized, as sometimes they were also sent via e-mail. We have tied to keep it neat).

Question: What are some of the interesting readings that have been assigned? (fill in below)

1. Emerging Technologies for Collaborative, Mediated, Immersive Learning by Jody Clarke, Chris Dede, and Ed Dieterle.
2. Virtual Worlds: Inherently Immersive, Highly Social Learning Spaces by Laurence F. Johnson and Alan H. Levine.

Virtual Worlds? "Outlook Good." by AJ Kelton ("AJ Brooks"). EDUCAUSE Review.

There was a comment in a previous section about there not being much literature available yet so I set out to find some recent articles on immersive environments and learning and education. These can be viewed here and here.

2. Homeworks.

"Homeworks" are typically assigned to help give everyone in the class a sense of the knowledge media. If the theme involves augmented reality with handhelds/phones, etc, then the homework might involve some assignment where we all had to actually use our handheld or phone to augment our own reality. Or an assignment where we had to go to some setting in our everyday lives and imagine what augmentation was missing. Its tricky. We have typically used wiki to coordinate this, asking each person to add an entry into a table. Sometimes the homeworks also prepare us for what will come in class. For instance, in the immersive reality theme, we were once assigned to create avatars in SmallWorlds and perform one orientation task, so that we would be ready to use our avatars in an in-class activity.

Question: What are some of the interesting homework activities that have been used? How did they help orient our learning community toward the theme and prepare us for the class session? (fill in below)

Homework activities that were given to members of the class was to creat their own avatars in SmallWorlds and perform one orientation task. This activity was then followed up by a reading question answer where the students who made their avatars shared their experiences and discussed aspects of environment they found promising for enabling learning. It ensured that the class had a hands-on feel of the immersive environment.

In viewing the Wesch video, (http://umanitoba.ca/ist/production/streaming/podcast_wesch.html) the class was able to see how knowledge communities or collaborative learning environments can be incorporated into a university classroom. A digital environment, such as this wiki page, allows students to broaden their knowledge by a) reading about other works available in a digital environment and b) collaborating with classmates as to the usefulness of the information. This allows the knowledge community to create real- time information that is current and easily accessible. In other words, knowledge that can be used by everyone.

We can ask the class to visit this page before our session. We can ask participants to select an immersive environment from the table or select another (digital or not) to evaluate.

3. In-class pedagogical designs

The in-class activities have varied widely across the years and themes. They typically involve break outs into small groups, often with the groups taking on different perspectives or dimensions of the problem. The small groups often have a wiki page to guide them (tailored to their specific task). Sometimes, the groups prepare a page and then new groups are formed to "consume" the pages - react to them, process them, etc. If at all possible, we like to get our hands on some of these technologies - not just as a demo, but as a means of learning. This is not always possible, but it is an interesting challenge to try to think up ways to do it! When we moved, last year, to 2 weeks per theme, it added a new pedagogical dimension, where in week 1 we could perform some background or contextual work/discussions, etc - then homework between the two weeks to prepare for week 2, followed by week 2 activities. In other words, there is a lot of space in which to design.
Question: What are some of the interesting designs that have been enacted by your predecessors in this theme? (fill in below)

On day one the group basically were on lecture mode to address the Immersive environment. They then watched David Perry's "Ted Talk". They also divided the class into small groups and had small group discussions to come up with design ideas. Then they had class discussion. The class was asked to make an evaluation of various immersive environments listed in the wiki space. Design idea brainstorming was done using this wiki space and Doodle was also used to summarise the ideas.

Virtual Cell (http://vcell.ndsu.edu/) is a virtual learning environment where students can learn about general cell information and perform a series of experiments. This environment is useful because in many ways it resembles a "real life" classroom/lab environment.

Another idea is to bring in a technology into the classroom (I.E. wii fit, or a networked ie game).

4. Thoughts or ideas for your own theme

As you worked through this activity - please feel free to jot down any ideas, however formative, on [_this page_] - we will come back to it in coming weeks, as it can serve as a design space for your group to think about its activities, homeworks, etc.

I would like to see how I can incorporate the Wii Fit into a technologically useful pedagogical tool that is cost effective for use in a Physical Education environment. This Immersive Environment, I believe, will enable all students to be engaged in physical activity regardless of their individual physical fitness level, yet be entertaining and interactive for all ages to enjoy. - Sarah

Tour of ancient Mustag Caves in Nepal

Immersive Environments - Pedagogical approaches 2010