Introduction

What is an "Immersive Environment"?

"An immersive digital environment is an artificial, interactive, computer-created scene or "world" within which a user can immerse themselves. Immersive digital environments could be thought of as synonymous with Virtual Reality, but without the implication that actual "reality" is being simulated. An immersive digital environment could be a model of reality, but it could also be a complete fantasy user interface or abstraction, as long as the user of the environment is immersed within it. The definition of immersion is wide and variable, but here it is assumed to mean simply that the user feels like they are part of the simulated 'universe'". From Wikipedia "Immersive Digital Environments"

Immersive environments are simulations or representations of either a real life or alternative reality environment where the goal is the best possible replication of the represented environment for the purposes of training, knowledge building, entertainment or all of the above. Given the recent rate of technological advancement in the field of 3D graphics and other simulation environment most people tend to associate immersive environments with high technology, but this is not necessarily always the case.

Modern immersive environments were pioneered by the airlines industry, who used them for simulating plane flights for pilots training purposes. There are a number of advantages that immersive environments offer over traditional training methods:

• Safety: Immersive environments offer a safe alternative to training situations that may involve danger to participants, ie, military training or aircraft operation.

• Cost-effectiveness: Immersive environments are cost-effective as they reduce the necessity of operating actual equipments as well as transport and housing costs that are involved in non-local training facilities.

• Variety: Immersive environments can replicate situations that are not easily replicable in real-life training situations.

The non-training uses of immersive environments are seen in computer games that simulate a world where the player is represented by an on-screen avatar/incarnation playing a specific role. The rapidly increasing performance of 3D computer graphics have enabled these games to come to life with richer graphics and sound that allow for more expansive and detailed environment which go further towards deepening the immersion in the environment.

Examples of immersive environments arranged in terms of increasing technological complexity include:

• Kendo: Japanese Martial arts with wooden swords and face masks

• 3D Movie goggles: Relatively 'low-tech' equipment used to affect the dimensionality of the cinematic environment.

• Video games (XBox 360, PS3, Wii): Fairly sophisticated graphical and motion technology used to simulate a variety of environments ranging from locales as diverse as race courses, tennis courts and areas and times of historical significance (ie. WW2).

• Aircraft simulators and other industrial grade simulators: Extremely accurate simulation using high-end equipment and technology, primarily used for training purposes.

As we can observe in the above, the range of immersive environments can be placed on a spectrum of increasing technological sophistication. Although high technology does not guarantee an accurate replication of the actual environment it is often shows strong correlation with increased immersion on part of the user; The more Tiger Woods looks like his real-life counterpart due to the complexity of the 3D graphics, the better the suspension of disbelief on part of the user.

Spectrum of Immersive Environments

The following graph is our representation of the spectrum of immersive environments based on their fidelity and the amount of "suspension of disbelief" that participants must overcome to accept the experience as being "real". Fidelity is ultimately the measure of how real an immersive environment/experience is to the participant(s).

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As designers/users of technology for education purposes, this notion of fidelity drives much of the process in the design of educational materials, and ultimately is hotly debated and contested when the subject of funding a project is broached.

Immersive environments can also be categorized as follows:

Pedagogical Goals and Approaches

• To create an awareness and understanding of immersive technology
• To create a discussion of immersive environment implementation and possibilities and opportunities
• To provide an opportunity for classmates to play in immersive environments
• Initiate discussion on the pros and cons of immersive environments as a knowledge building collaborative community
• Provide a groundwork of essential concepts and terminology

We also looked at three different avenues of learning and knowledge sharing as applied to immersive environments:

1. Situated Learning

LEARNING HAPPENS:

• in a specific social and physical context/ situation
• with learners (agents) possessing specific intentions
• in response to specific affordances of the learning environment

Juxtapose situated learning with decontextualized (traditional) learning:

• Well-defined problems in school versus ill-defined problems outside
• Content structured by theoretical systems in school versus structured by problems outside
• Individual cognition in school versus shared cognition outside
• Pure mentation in school versus tool manipulation outside
• Generalized learning in school versus situation-specific competencies outside (Renkl, 2001)
  ...

The Approach
Create a situational context for learning that strongly resembles possible application situations in order to assure that the learning experiences foster 'real-life' problem solvingSecond Language Learning
"The most effective way to learn a language is to participate in a community in which the target language is used to communicate in a real context. In such an environment, the language learners are left with no place to hide. They are forced and encouraged to think, speak, and write in the target language. In other words, they become immersed in an input-rich, natural, and meaningful context in which the target language can be acquired spontaneously." (Shih & Yang, 2008)

Language is not decontextualized but intertwined with cultural practices, perspectives, and products.
Example 1. German language and culture in VR

• focus on enhancing student's awareness of target culture along with linguistic goals
• created a virtual world based loosely on Salzburg, Austria
• three settings: computer lab, projected in classroom, CAVE (computer automated visual environment)
• game is available for download

Example 2. Chinese language and culture in an MMOG

• Zon is "a multiplayer, online learning environment designed to teach Chinese language and culture through gameplay"
• Players are motivated not only by their intrinsic desireto learn more about Chinese language and culture, but also the ability to interact with engaging story-driven plot lines, interesting characters, and fellow players
• Players learn from non-player characters (NPCs), responsive game agents, and other players
• Goal: "to fare well and advance socially and economically, with players advancing from "tourists" to "residents" and finally to "citizens" of modern China"
• Screen captures: Log on, Hotel, Store

2. Distributed Cognition

• Distributed cognition is a theoretical approach that is concerned with the interactions between
  people, artifacts and both internal and external representations.
• Rather than focusing exclusively on an individual's internal cognitive processes, that traditional cognitive approaches do, it focuses on the processes that take place in an extended 'cognitive system'.
• The distributed cognition approach was developed by Hutchins and his colleagues in the mid to late 80s as a new paradigm for conceptualizing cognition.
• Cognitive systems that consist of more than one individual have properties that differ from the individuals that participate in them. For example, individuals working together on a collaborative task possess different kinds of knowledge and so will engage in interactions that will allow them to pool the various resources to accomplish their tasks (Rogers, 2004).Community Knowledge, Collective Responsibility
• Contributions to shared, top-level goals of the organization are prized and rewarded as much as individual achievements. Team members produce ideas of value to others and share responsibility for the overall advancement of knowledge in the community (Scardamalia, 2002).

Example 1. Second Life

• A user-generated 3D environment that comes with relatively easy-to-use building and scripting tools
• Uses a simple primitive-based 3D modeling tool
• The scripting language is called LSL ("Linden Scripting Language") which can be used to add autonomous behaviour to these objects
  • An internal, event-driven, C/Java-style language which allows you to control object and avatar behavior, up to and including mini-games and other complex programs.
  • Educational uses in second life
  • Open-Source Museum of Open-Source Art photos 

3. Affective Learning 

Example 1. SNOW WORLD/ SPIDERWORLD

VR reseacher Hunter Hoffman has created a virtual world program to try and distract burn patients from feeling pain as their dressings and bandages are being changed.
Based on the "Gate Theory," that states that psychological processes can interact with the physiological and draw attention away from sensations of pain, or people's perceptions of pain.

"I mean, at some level I knew she was working on me, but I wasn't thinking about it because I was inside that SnowWorld" - Mike Robinson, patient (view BBC article here)

Example 2. Paramedic Training in Second Life
visit article here
"Everything you do has a consequence" -_ James Lafferty, Paramedic student

Transactive Engagement

  The user engages in consequential actions which result in both the user and the world in which he/she is immersed being changed.

• User experiences a deep sense of immersion in the virtual world both perceptually and conceptually
• has a legitimate goal and role within that world
• Self-perceptions can change, and things learned can (hopefully) be transferred and applied to other settings.

With specific focus on educational MUVE's, disciplinary concepts are not learned as abstractions, but are used as tools that have functional value in that world - learning comes through their use and thus learning about concepts becomes a way of seeing, being, or acting upon that world.

Reflections, evaluations and ideas for the future

Immersive technology is a burgeoning environment and both literature and research was limited.  It made for exciting moments in the process of the presentation because it felt like (for the moderators at least) there were no "right" or "wrong" answers. 

References and Resources

Examples of Immersive Environments

• Everquest A 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG).
• Metaplace Users build their own virtual world to appear on any site as a 3D virtual widget.
• There! A 3D chat room with activities.
• World of Warcraft
• Xbox live
• Flight Training
• Military Training
• Car Driving Simulators
• hapheastus
• River City
• Puzzle Quest
• Smallworlds
• Zon
• Second Life - requires download
• Salzburg - requires download of VirTools plugin & Salzburg file
• Quest Atlantis - requires download; go to 'Explore Quest Atlantis' and click download
• Habbo
• Google Lively: requires Windows Vista/XP with Internet Explorer or Firefox & small download
• There: requires download
• Active Worlds Educational Universe: requires download
• Meez

Readings and other References

1. Schroeder, R., Huxor, A., and Smith, A.(2001). Activeworlss: geography and social interaction in virtual reality. Futures, 33 (2001), 569-587. pdf version
2. Roussos, M., Johnson, A., Moher, T., Leigh, J., Vasilakis, C., Barens, C. () Learning and Building Together in an Immersive Virtual World. pdf version
3. Dede, C.The Evolution of Constructivist Learning Environments: Immersion in Distributed, Virtual Worlds. To be published in a forthcoming issue of Educational Technology pdf version
4. Corbit, M. (September/October 2005). Game Worlds for Learning. pdf version
5. Clarke, J., Dede, C., Ketelhut, D. J., & Nelson, B. (2006). A Design-based Research Strategy to Promote Scalability for Educational Innovations. Educational Technology (46), 3 (May-June), 27-36.  pdf version
6. Benford, S.,Snowdon, S., Colebourne, A., O'Brien, j., Rodden, T. Informing the Design of Collaborative Virtual Environments pdf version
7. Browne, A. & Campione, J. (1996).  Psychological Theory and The Design of Innovative Learning Environments:  On Procedures, Principles, and Systems.  (Chapter 13). pdf version
8. O'Brien, M.G., & Levy, R.M. (2008). Exploration through Virtual Reality: Encounters with the Target Culture. The Canadian Modern Language Review. 64(4), 663-691.
9. Renkl, A. (2001). Situated Learning: Out of School and in the Classroom. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Elsevier Ltd.
10. Robbins-Bell, S. (2008). Higher Education as Virtual Conversation. EDUCAUSE Review, 43(5).
11. Rogers, Y. (2004). Distributed Cognition and Communication. An updated introduction to Distributed Cognition. To appear in The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics 2nd Edition. PDF version Online: http://www.slis.indiana.edu/faculty/yrogers/papers/Rogers_DCog04.pdf
12. Scardamalia, M. (2002). Collective Cognitive Responsibility for the Advancement of Knowledge. In B. Smith (Ed.), Liberal Education in a Knowledge Society, pp. 67-98. Chicago: Open Court. PDF version Online: http://ikit.org/fulltext/inpressCollectiveCog.pdf
13. Shih, Y.-C., & Yang, M.-T. (2008). A Collaborative Virtual Environment for Situated Language Learning Using VEC3D. Educational Technology & Society, 11 (1), 56-68.
14. Situated Cognition. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situated_cognition
15. Wenger, E. (2001). Communities of Practice. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences.
16. Clarke, J., Dede, C., Dieterle, E. (2008).  Emerging Technologies for Collaborative, Mediated, Immersive
    Learning (pp. 901-910).  In International Handbook of Information Technology in Education. Springer Publications. 
17. Johnson, L.F., & Levine, A.H. Virtual Worlds. Inherently Immersive, Highly Social Learning Spaces. Available online: http://immersiveeducation.org/library/Immersive_Learning-Johnson_and_Levine.pdf
18. Kelton, A.J. (2008)Virtual Worlds? "Outlook Good." EDUCAUSE Review. 43(5) (September/October 2008). Available online :http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Review/VirtualWorldsOutlookGood/47219

Additional Resources on Immersive Environments

• A link to the River City Project website, an excellent example of an immersive digital learning environment: http://muve.gse.harvard.edu/rivercityproject/index.html
• A shortcut to the introductory video for the River City Project can be found here
• Another example of an immersive digital learning environment, the N.I.C.E. (Narrative Immersive Constructionist/Collaborative Environments) can be found at: http://www.evl.uic.edu/tile/NICE/NICE/intro.html

Implementations

• Fall, 2008
• Fall, 2007
• Fall, 2006 Immersive Environments activity
• 2005

Design Ideas

• T-Life - A teacher's immersive environment
• Supporting Workplace Knowledge Communities with Immersive Environments